What happens when sermon illustrations are used improperly?

Is simple preaching a good thing? And what are some of the results of simple preaching?

“Good preaching comes from a preacher that has accountability.” Why is that?

How does your preaching demonstrate Christ to the listener?

To the preacher who seeks to understand God and relate that understanding to the people, every single passage comes to life!

A Berean Christian is aware of what real Bible preaching is and should be.

One must be able to draw as straight of a line as possible from the intent of the passage to the application one is making.

When being a ministry workaholic goes too far…

Without authorial intent, God's people have different opinions of what passages mean based on their desired outcome.

The proper method of sermon criticism, and why you should be utilizing it.

It is usually not recommended to argue with a conspiracy theorist about these things, but Kay suggests that if you must, go small… That seems counter-intuitive. It is.

What they evaluate most, is usually the pastor, the one speaking publicly, the “face” of the ministry. They’re deciding if they can place themselves under the care and authority of someone like you. This is why it hurts any time someone leaves. They’re saying, I can be led by many different people in my life, just not you.

Medical people like talking to other medical people because you don’t have to translate. So, the staff talks to me like a regular person. And then sometimes the person I’m visiting outs me with something like, “This is my pastor. He’s a medical person too.” Then they change how they speak to me. For some reason, it's more fun if they just don’t know.

I’m full-time in the ministry. That confuses some people when I tell them that I also work around thirty hours per month as a Diagnostic Imaging Technologist (this is not a type of nurse). They say something like, “So, you’re part-time in the ministry then?” No. I’m full-time in the ministry.

I know for me, I stink at encouraging. Sure, I can do it, and I do do it. It just doesn’t come as naturally to me as warning does. Does that mean I’m a negative person? Probably.

Has the fear of being misunderstood become obsessive for Independent Baptists, like a mental tick? Has it forced us into utter silence among our peers and others? Is there a point at which the wisdom of being careful with words turns into selfishness because we’re afraid of looking bad or ignorant?

I write this one with some hesitation. People complain about ministry online. Perhaps they want sympathy? I don’t care about getting sympathy.

I have unsaved friends and acquaintances all over the place. I work with them, do business with them, help them when they need it. They almost all still just know me as “Pastor Tom” no matter what my relation is to them.

We tend to think of born leaders as just aggressive, overzealous, and ambitious people, always whipping out their sword at the wrong time (John 18:10) or taking matters into their own hands, but…

While the people of the world are certainly concerned about their reputations, I believe it is the people of God, in particular pastors, whose testimony must be guarded more than others. What if "Deep Fake" technology were to be used in destroying the credibility of spiritual leaders?