Solid faith is best armor in scary world
Steve Montgomery, Idlewild Presbyterian Church Barbara Lundblad at Union Theological Serminary in New York and frequent Calvary Lenten preacher, has all the gifts of preaching that I look for: imaginative looks at familiar biblical stories, enabling me to hear them as I have never heard before; solid theological grounding that is enlivening; passionate presentations that demonstrate authenticity; witty, often humorous, but always profound storytelling; and an uncanny ability to speak the truth, all the while being pastoral and prophetic at the same time. Carol Richardson, First Baptist Church When I reflect back on the influential preachers in my life, I remember those who “preached” with their kind and compassionate lives. Dr. Robert Smith at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala., is such a preacher and teacher. He skillfully led me through the basics of preaching as a faltering, older female divinity student with his kind and encouraging words. In the pulpit, he demonstrated before us all the prophetic role of a preacher with his deep, resonant voice and his ability to connect the Gospel story with our own. He lives the words of St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Word always. Sometimes use words.” Dany Sinquefield, Faith Baptist Church, Bartlett Lovett, a Florida pastor and a man the Lord used to shape my own personal life and ministry. He gave me multiple opportunities to learn the craft of preaching — always encouraging me to sharpen the skills of public speaking integrated with clear Bible teaching. His love for God’s Word was contagious. He preached God’s Word with a fearless conviction, and he lived what he preached. He knew how to connect the truth with where people live in a relevant and practical way. Most of all, he understood that the hero of the Bible is Jesus, and he made much of Him. Andy Andrews, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church I appreciate the preacher who can cast the large vision of God’s mysterious, benevolent and transformative activity in our complicated 21st-century world. Alan Jones, former dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, has this gift. He has a keen social critique, pointing out our missteps and fragility. All the while, he is radically optimistic about the future by always highlighting God’s endless love for each of us. Richard Smith, Germantown United Methodist Church My favorite preacher, without question, is Dr. Fred Craddock, now 85 and retired from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He was discouraged from becoming a preacher because he was short, had a soft voice, and didn’t “bring the thunder.” He once said, “No one wants to listen to pulpit bullies, behaving as though they had walked all around God and taken pictures.” Instead, he brought the Bible to life with winsome, honest, down-toearth stories out of his own personal experiences; all the while serving as an astute theologian and Biblical scholar. He brings you into the story so that you yourself can hear God’s voice and word for your personal journey. In the end, his stories lead you closer to God and to your own needed responses. Carla Meisterman, Balmoral Presbyterian Church Barbara Brown Taylor has an uncanny ability to weave theology into strands of everyday life with language that ignites your imagination and invites your participation in the mysteries of God. She is a meaning maker. Her books and her sermons inspire, engage and infuse you with a desire to see the world with new eyes. I once asked her how she was able to find so many real-life experiences of God at work. She looked at me as if I was blind to the obvious and said, “They are all around you!” Bruce Nieli, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church While a high school student in 1963, I chose public speaking as an optional course. When asked by the instructor, Ms. Isabel Ramell, why I was taking her class, I wrote down that I wanted to be a preacher like Bishop Fulton Sheen and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Now, 50 years later, assigned to the Paulist Preaching Apostolate and based in the very neighborhood where Dr. King gave his life, I still find in these two men great models for my ministry. Alex Wellford, Third Church of Christ, Scientist People often ask me, “You are not a preacher, are you? Why are you on the panel?” Although on occasion, ministers from other denominations have joined the Christian Science Church, the church does not ordain clergy, and services are conducted by a First and Second Reader, elected by each congregation for a specific term. In place of a sermon by an ordained minister at the Sunday service, the readers read a Bible lesson, prepared by the headquarters church in Boston for churches all over the world. The Bible and the denominational textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, are considered as the only preachers.
Q: We have two small boys, and we worry about the world they’re going to be facing when they grow up — a bad economy, wars, a breakdown in morals, and so on. What can we do to help prepare them for such a scary future?
— Mrs. A.M.
A: The best thing you can do is to provide them with a foundation of faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ, and faith in God’s Word.
Every generation faces challenges; the world has seldom been a peaceful or easy place to live. By the time they’re grown, your sons may have to face challenges that aren’t even on the horizon right now. What will keep them steady in the midst of life’s storms? Only God can do that — and He will, as they learn to put their trust in Him and be guided by His Word.
Teach your sons that God not only exists, but also that He loves them and wants to help them. Teach them, too, about prayer, and about Jesus and what He did for us by His death and resurrection. Teach them the importance of the Bible to guide them through life. (A Christian bookstore can suggest a Bible for children.) Write “My Answer,” c/o Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit billygraham.org.