I have been reading a very helpful book by fellow blogger Robert Gelinas entitled Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz Shaped Faith. Gelinas uses Jazz as a metaphor for understanding the Christian faith. I want to riff on the book over the next few posts.

I have heard many reflections on the rapidly closing year. Some have said it was a groundbreaking year in which they praise God. Others are happy that what they feel was a dismal …

Dr. Brad Braxton told me many times with various levels of earnestness, “Sherman, if you are going to preach, you are going to have to have courage.” As I interpreted this call, I always found that he was right, we have to have courage. This courage is a courage to tell the truth.

Perhaps you have seen this kind of preacher. She or he speaks with great conviction attacking sin with power. The preacher will often say words like “you may not like it…but I have to tell you” or “I’m gonna preach it anyway…”

Sometimes the people shout, the preacher’s reputation as a great one increases, and the house is wrecked but something is slightly missing. The exhiliration of the moment feels good and yet it is noticable. Too often we can easily miss the cross in our messages.

I was talking to a Black preacher the other day about great Black preachers and Black preaching. This preacher then began to talk about some of the big media preachers and how he is attempting to emulate their style. This preacher even called one of these media preachers a genius. I asked him what was so appealing about the preacher. He mostly talked about the style of the preacher.

There is a phenomenon entitled “church hopping” that is rampant in many places. Church hoppers are notorious for seeking the next big high in town. They want more entertainment. They want more programs.

Is the gospel you preach acceptable to everyone? It seems as though many of us are working under the asumption that our message will never ruffle any feathers and will always make everyone shout. It will never push us to a higher level of living. This type of Gospel presentation can foster no change, becuase it never even asks for it.

One powerful way to think about preaching, especially in this era, is to see the sermon as a series of images. It is set up like a motion picture or a story. …

We are well in the season of Advent. It is here that we look at the Coming Kingdom from three angles. First we look at it from the angle of Christ’s first coming. …