Preaching...

When I was in high school I was captivated by the art or preaching. I loved listening to a good preacher, thankfully I was in a church that had a great one from whom I've learned much! I loved the storytelling, the comic timing, the intentional use of words. It would be that preacher that I listened to for three years who would give me my first opportunity to preach and that man's encouragement that pointed me down the path I am on.

In college I slowly and painfully learned the nuts and bolts of preaching as I did a B.A. in the subject (you probably didn't know that existed huh?). I remember preaching classes where we would deliver sermons that would be instantly critiqued by our peers and the two preaching professors (one gracious and gentle, another more like a lion) although I loved and respected them both. I'm not sure how many bad sermons these guys have had to listen to, but I'm fairly sure it amounts to more than the bad singing Simon Cowell has put up with. Plus Simon doesn't have to listen to someone dying for 30 minutes at a time!

As the college years went on, my friends and I started doing "pulpit supply" on Sundays which basically meant we were rented out to small, dying churches who couldn't afford a full time pastor. It was in these small country Illinois churches that I started to learn what it meant to "die to self". One time I remember preaching at Irish Grove Presbyterian Church to four people, all in the front row! (one of which died about three weeks later). A second memory I have is a church where the same woman would get up every week, someone would start the tape and she would sing "Majesty". Strangely it seemed that people enjoyed it just as much every week.

But there were moments of glory as well! Getting asked to preach at Focus (a midweek student led service) was a highly sought after gig and strangely now, I don't even remember it. I do however remember my senior sermon which i still have a tape of. At the time it was the largest group I had ever preached to and probably the longest I've ever preached. Apparently I thought should milk every second for what it was worth. Unfortunately, that same day I also borrowed a pair of pants from a "friend" which were much too thin and revealed way too much! Longest 45 minutes of my life!

After that I did a preaching internship in Florida for 6 months and then moved to New York City where I would preach about 8-10 times a year (including one failed attempt at a first-person narrative of David). And now of course, at Evergreen I'm the primary teacher at the Hawthorne gathering. If I've learned anything about preaching in the last year it is this: it is a lot easier to preach when you are the "breath of fresh air", that is, when you are the one preaching once every six weeks. Because, regardless of whether it was good or not, the fact that it was a change from the norm excites people, it gives them the variety they need now and again and you receive tons of compliments! But something clearly changes when you become the norm! Now, suddenly you find you're not near as exciting as you used to be (nor as funny), you're simply the baseline, and that is HARD work.

One of my favorite quotes about preaching comes from Reinhold Niebuhr when he was 22 years old and just getting started:

“Now that I have preached about a dozen sermons I find I am repeating myself. A different text simply means a different pretext for saying the same thing over again. The few ideas that I had worked into sermons at the seminary have all been used, and now what? They say a young preacher must catch his second wind before he can really preach. I’d better catch it pretty soon or the weekly sermon will become a terrible chore."

For all you theology nerds....

If anyone is just dying to read a theology of God's providence, feel free to give mine a read.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.

And no, I'm not an Open Theist :)

A Theology of God's Providence

It may be easier to copy and paste it into a Word Document to read it. I hate how Google Docs formats.

Also, since writing this paper last year I am also really interested in Jurgen Moltmann's idea that God's locus of being is in the future so it's not that God knows the future, it's that He's simply remembering the past. Interesting stuff!

Some May Music Recs

Viva Voce - Rose City
I remember when my friend Gunnar told me about Viva Voce when I was still in high school. I liked Hooray for Now but haven't heard anything from them since then (although they've put out several records). This was a good reintroduction to a band that has changed quite a bit. If you've been wondering what's been playing at Evergreen Hawthorne on Sunday mornings before the gathering, this is it!





Son Volt - American Central Dust
I'm still a sucker for alt-country. You gotta problem with that?












Sonic Youth - The Eternal
I've never been a huge Sonic Youth fan, although I've seen them live a few times in NYC. But this record is grabbing my attention for some reason.










Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
I've enjoyed everything GLS' have done. No difference here.












Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, the Commuter
I liked Grandaddy what can I say? I've heard this guy is pretty horrible live though. That's the word on the street, anyway.










Jeremy Enigk - OK Bear
I'm glad to see Enigk still on the scene and making good music. You never know what's going to happen musically after someone comes to Jesus! But he is as good as ever. Phew!









The Antlers - Hospice
I think this is a good record, and worth a listen but I don't picture myself listening to it all the time.












So far this year there still hasn't been anything that has really wowed me. I'm hoping for a strong finish for 2009!
Anything I should know about?