I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I always liked much of what Spurgeon wrote and
preached. He was the peoples preacher for sure and had a unique way of talking
to the common folks. He had a big heart to offer men Christ and attempt to help
them understand that Jesus loves them and wants them to be saved and made a
new creation. I like how in his sermons he preached the full counsel of God and
always brought the listeners to a point of decision. He also was good at
defending the faith. I remember one time Spurgeon took out a newspaper Ad to
warn people who were of the Plymouth brethren about John Nelson Darby and his
false teachings on the rapture and how he taught that James is not a NT book.
I agree that being able to apply the modern things of today to the times of Jesus
and the Old Testament books is a great skill. The morals and truths taught in the
Bible obviously don't change but the way in which we explain them or connect
them to the culture in which we are ministering to can and should in many cases.
We should always strive to be guided by the Holy Spirit when expounding His
Word of Truth
Dr. Martin Luther King will forever be a part of history. Dr. King's human
experience alone is a sermon all by itself. As a Minister, I have grown to
understand why our testimonies are so important. As Dr. King shared his human
experience so do we. I once heard a comedian say he was told to write jokes
about himself in order to draw your audience in. He was given great advice.
People are more willing to listen when you can relate to their story. "Don't tell me
what you heard, tell me what you know". Dr. King was a man of grace and poise.
He practiced what he preached by showing love to his enemies. I agree with his
thought that your sermon should appeal to your audience. Nothing is more
disheartening or frightening than to see people bored or asleep during your
sermon delivery. It takes practice and skill to learn how to connect with your
audience.
Adrien Rogers had a purpose for the outcome of his message. Preaching and
reaching people is about transformation. If we are not changing we are not
growing. I have been in church my entire life, I've seen people come and go or
come and grow.Martin Luther King Jr. was a magnificent orator and excelled at
connecting in an intimate and passionate way with those he was speaking to. I
would absolutely agree that King used the Oratory Presentation skill uniquely but I
would also say with extreme intelligence and for maximum effect. I found King's
ability to connect the human experience with the Gospel message to be quite
compelling done with such creativity that I felt as though I was experiencing both
parties feelings and emotions that King was describing. King at one point states:
"But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day
we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves." What a powerful and thought
provoking statement! That through the suffering of others that not only would
those suffering one day be freed of their oppressors, but that it could be done in
such a way that the oppressors would also be set free from their hatred and
wrath toward those they are oppressing. King does not explicitly state that the
oppressors will experience this specific freedom but that they will become free
from something. However, this was the gut feeling that this portion of his sermon
excerpt pierced me with. g g I think it was great to see you cover different legacy
preachers and how they reflect McDill's skill sets in 12 Essential Skills for Great
Preaching. I think you are right when it comes to Dr. Martin Luther King and how
he uses his human experience with his preaching and how it is netted in the fiber
of his preaching. He was doing more than just preaching; Dr. Martin Luther King
was making a movement that involved many lives and much of a human aspect. I
had a hard time pinpointing one skill set for Dr. Martin Luther King because I can
see many of these skills in his legacy of preaching, but you are spot on in saying
the one that stuck out the most was the human experience. You are right; he was
not only using his experiences but those who were right beside him and
experiencing the same injustice that he was experiencing. Doing this was pushing
for a movement that would last a lifetime and greatly impact many generations.
Thank you for choosing such a wonderful legacy preacher! It was great to see
another perspective on this one!
g g g 1Benjamin Forest, Kevin L. King, Bill Curtis, and Dwayne Milioni, “A Legacy of
Preaching, Volume Two:
Enlightenment to the Present Day: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great
Preachers, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 480.
