Preaching and the Power of the Word

So it has been awhile since I wrote last. When you have nothing significant to say it does not seem prudent to waste words just trying to remain current on your blog site. When you add to that the fact that no one reads what you write anyway then there really is no impetus to blog. But I find myself returning to the reason why I started this site and that was to express my own rambling thought process as I painfully make my way from the center of the evangelical camp to some as yet undefined location on my spiritual journey.

So here is today's thought. For the last three weeks I have had the opportunity to preach in the South Royalton church and the experience served to confirm two things....first, I do have the spiritual gifting of preacher/teacher, and second, God puts power in the message I bring. When I look back at the last three weeks I sense that there is even more power to change hearts present than when I was first ordained. I have changed significantly since that time and it is evident in my preparation and message. For one thing, although I preach from the word of God, usually the Gospel lectionary reading for the particular Sunday, I preach about the living Word of God, Jesus. Kathy always tells me, "Just tell me about Jesus". And I find that when I remain true to that simple principle, that there is power in the message, it is contemporary for all of the cross section of the congregation present, and it is heartfelt. One of the reasons I no longer count myself in the evangelical camp (at least the way it is usually defined) is that they tend to make a god out of the written scripture and do all sorts of contortions to defend it (more on that later) when they should be concentrating on the true revelation of God found in Jesus. It almost seems as if Jesus' condemnation of the Pharisees in John 5:39 has come to pass in these ultra evangelicals, "You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that bear witness to Me."