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Preaching magazine editor Michael Duduit takes on the challenging task of naming the most important preachers from the recent past. When Preaching magazine was launched in 1985, a look at our list of contributing editors gave you a sense of who would be listed among the most influential preachers in America. That original group included Stuart Briscoe, Maxie Dunnam, Jim Henry, David Allan Hubbard, John Huffman, D.E. King, James Earl Massey, Calvin Miller, Lloyd John Ogilvie, Stephen F. Olford, Haddon Robinson, J. Alfred Smith, John Wesley White and William Willimon, along with several more.Thankfully, many of those preachers are still...

There are four aspects of powerful preaching displayed by Jesus in this passage. As such, Jesus is not just a powerful preacher himself, but also models what it means to be a powerful and effective preacher.In using the word “preacher” here we ought to be careful not to reduce preaching merely to what takes place in a church. For surely the clergy have churches in which to preach. But every Catholic parent ought also to learn from Jesus here, for they have the church of their home in which to preach, and the pulpit of the dining room table,...

Life sure can be funny.  You have ups, you have downs, and you have to be certain not to get hung up anywhere along the way.  I have been blessed over the years to teach, preach, and write for a variety of venues.  Whether it has been large or small congregations; classrooms with little kids, teens, or adults; a prison facility; outdoors in a park; VBS gatherings; camps; senior centers; online forums and websites, or in someone’s home, the gospel has been spread in earnest.   Sometimes folks grab on to the gospel with complete gusto!  Most times they can...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The killing of Osama bin Laden, a man who was America's face of evil for nearly a decade, left Christians, Jews and Muslims relieved, proud or even jubilant. For their religious leaders, it was sometimes hard to know just what to say. There is at least some dissonance between the values they preach and the triumphant response on the streets of New York and Washington to the death of a human being — even one responsible for thousands of killings in those areas and around the world. "Justice may have been served, but we Catholics never...

Those of us who are entrusted with the task of expositing the Scriptures in a local church must take care to verify our sources, illustrations, and stories. No matter how helpful an illustration may be, it is dishonoring to God if it is untrue. Here are a number of urban legends that get repeated in sermons. Some are more pervasive than others, even appearing in commentaries and scholarly works. 1. The “eye of the needle” refers to a gate outside Jerusalem. ...

Preaching the Word of God has been an integral part of God’s plan of redemption since the very beginning of time. Paul told Timothy to preach the word. If you don’t teach, people will turn aside. II Timothy 4:2-4

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) announced today that the City of Dearborn, its Mayor, John B. O’Reilly, its Chief of Police, Ronald Haddad, 17 City police officers, and two executives of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce were named as defendants in a ninety-six page federal civil rights lawsuit filed in the Federal District Court in Detroit this morning. The lawsuit, brought by TMLC and co-counsel and Sharia law expert, David Yerushalmi, stems from two separate police actions at the June 2010 Dearborn, Michigan Annual International Arab Festival. Richard Thompson, TMLC President and Chief Counsel, commented, “Muslims dominate the...

Police have been ordered to pay compensation to a Christian street preacher who was hauled off in handcuffs for saying that gays will go to hell. A judge condemned the arrest of Anthony Rollins, who quoted the King James Bible on the subject of the ‘effeminate’ as he preached in Birmingham. Mr Rollins was handcuffed and then held in a cell for nearly four hours after a passer-by dialled 999 and complained that his language was ‘hugely offensive’. The ruling – which ended with West Midlands police ordered to pay more than £4,000 in damages to the 45-year-old preacher –...

I often hear the question, "how do you apply the text in an expositional sermon?" Behind this question may be many questionable assumptions. The questioner may be remembering "expositional" sermons he has heard (or maybe preached) that were no different from some Bible lectures at seminary—well-structured and accurate but demonstrating little godly urgency or pastoral wisdom. These expositional sermons may have had little if any application. On the other hand, the questioner may simply not know how to recognize application when he hears it. William Perkins, the great sixteenth-century puritan theologian in Cambridge, instructed preachers to imagine the various kinds...

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the Word.Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.(Acts 8:4-5)But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.(Acts 8:12) Phillip, as we have noted earlier was not one of the apostles, nor at this point was he a noted evangelist. Rather, he was a servant of Jesus Christ, in practical matters of the church, involved in the distribution of relief to widows. But when a very zealous...

"Audacious faith" was the main message he proclaimed. It's the same message found in his newly released book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible. "There's so many people living with the ache of the ordinary; nothing seems to ever happen supernatural in their lives," he said. The 30-year-old pastor reminded viewers, "We serve a God who can do the impossible." "Why did you stop believing God for the impossible?" he asked. Furtick, who leads Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C., was commemorating the day that his first book was released. Rather than watch...

Because there is typically no such thing as a pulpit in the Byzantine Churches, the priest or deacon who is to preach usually stands on the soleas in front of the Royal Doors, without notes or text, and preaches extemporaneously. Likewise, the Evangelion of the Byzantine Liturgikon is an annual one, without cycles for alternate years; and the temptation to drift far from the Scriptures of the day into less appropriate subject matter, rather than explore ever new and deepening mysteries in the passages provided, is often difficult to resist. The purpose of this web site is to present my...

You Tube's Local Pstor is back at it. His newest clip had me laughing out loud at the song choice... Thanks to Morningstar madness we will soon see Todd and his new, young wife on a platform near you. ...

February 11, 2009 Dear Colleagues in Ministry, “A voice says, ‘Cry out!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’” That daunting exchange from the prophet Isaiah (40:6) has stayed with me since we read it in Advent. I have carried that question as Martin Luther reframed it, “What shall I preach?” and added, “What shall we preach as we live at the intersection of fear and hope?” It is not just my question, however, for it is the shared query of all of us called to the ministry of Word and sacrament. Finally, however, the question belongs to the...

“Preaching Is God’s Great Emancipation Proclamation” (Mark 1:29-39; 1 Corinthians 9:16-27)In the Holy Gospel for today, Jesus says, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.” And then it says, “And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues.” Likewise, in today’s Epistle, St. Paul says, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” Both of these readings emphasize the importance of preaching. It was a top priority for Jesus. It was a top priority for Paul. Why was it so important for them?...

On Monday afternoon the LLM team will be traveling up to DC. Please pray for us and all of the other Christians who will be preaching and witnessing on the street. As many as 5 million people are expected to be coming to DC for the Inauguration so we will all be very busy. Our Truth Truck will also be on the street so pray for the protection of the truck and drivers. Would you like to come along to share the Gospel to the masses? Contact me for more information. "If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap...

Sunday our pastor finished his homily to the sound of applause from the congregation gathered. It didn’t just happen in one Mass, either. Basically, Father William Saunders just preached the truth and presented the clear teaching of the Church concerning the issues of life and the issues of the election. Some were uneasy, I’m sure; but the truth had been proclaimed and the enthusiasm was electric. He had touched a major chord in our hearts. Standing on the shoulders of so many courageous Catholics across the centuries, we, as the Church, are called to stand for the truth and represent...

What Is Needed for a Bible Comeback (Part 1) Interview With Cardinal Albert Vanhoye By Father Lucas Teixeira, LC ROME, OCT. 3, 2008 (Zenit.org).- For the Bible to become an integral part of Catholics' spiritual life, education and mediation are the two things needed, according to a renowned biblical scholar who will be participating in the synod of bishops on the word of God this month. Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, a Jesuit priest and former rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and former secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, spoke with ZENIT about sacred Scripture and the synod that...

ROME, MARCH 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university. Q: Could a layperson, with the diocesan bishop's permission, licitly preach after the Gospel at the Good Friday liturgy, since it is not a Mass? -- C.F., Oakland, California A: Laypeople may preach on certain occasions. The 2004 instruction "Redemptionis Sacramentum," in No. 161, states: "As was already noted above, the homily on account of its importance and its nature is reserved to the Priest or Deacon during Mass. As regards other forms of preaching, if necessity demands it...

Jeff Johnson - OneNewsNow - 2/12/2008 11:00:00 AM Eleven Christians arrested for expressing their beliefs publicly during a so-called "gay pride" festival in Philadelphia several years ago were in court Monday, seeking to have their lawsuit against the city reinstated. The 11 individuals were arrested in 2004 at Philadelphia's "OutFest," a pro-homosexual event held on public property. The Christian activists were charged with various crimes for quoting scriptures while walking on a public street set aside for the event. Charges were dropped almost immediately against all but five of the Christians, and those five were later found not guilty of...