Great Preaching Caught or Taught?
Author: Sherman Haywood Cox II (587 Articles)
Sherman Haywood Cox II is the director of Soul Preaching. He holds the M.Div with an emphasis in Homiletics and a M.S. in Computer Science.
When I was in my twenties and was attempting to learn to play Jazz one book I read said that “all the answers are in the music.” What the author was saying is that we often ask many questions that can only be found by listening to great musicians “play” the answer. One jazz teaching instructor said that he had a student who was having a hard time playing jazz. The instructor asked the student, how much jazz have you listened to? The student said that he hadn’t listened to any. And then the instructor told the student, you will never be a competent performer if you don’t listen to others perform.
Great preaching, I believe, is just like that. You can learn the fundamentals through books and things. You can find different things to look for from mentors and the like. SoulPreaching.Com can help you, but if you are not listening to preached sermons of pastors and preachers then you will not grow as a preacher the way you wish to grow.
How do you end in a celebrative challenge? I can point you to CL Franklin, but he is gonna show you what I am trying to say. How do you preach a three points and a poem sermon? I can split it up and tell you what each sections does on this site, but when you listen to Frederick D. Haynes III you see exactly what I am talking about. On this site, I can tell you about embedding points in your sermon as you preach, but Jerry D. Black illustrates exactly what I am attempting to teach. In short, great preaching is both taught by homiletics instructors and caught from preachers.
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Cox,
You are on the case. Reading about preaching has its place; however, there is a great need to see and hear for yourself. Thanks for the post.
Brother Cox,
I can’t help but agree with you, the late Dr. C. A. W. Clark used to say that, “…there is a we-ness in all of us” in other words when what Dr. Clark said is applied to preaching it means, you have a little bit of your childhood pastor, a little bit of your seminary instructor, your current pastor, your favorite preacher, etc. all wrapped up in one that is instilled in you. I find myself preaching a little like my childhood pastor, the late Rev. John J. Rector, Sr, and a little like my father in the ministry [who happens to be my uncle], the late Rev. Robert Miller, Jr and I don’t try to deliberately mimic them but after witnessing so many sermons preached by them it seemed to just rub off on me. My current pastor, Rev. Dennis Carl Jones is a great influence as well, just like the old folks used to say, “He can preach the horns off a billy goat” and every time he preaches I am in a learning mode.
I like that “we-ness” idea. We certainly are influenced by many we have been in contact with. It is the unique mixture of all these voices that give us our voice…