Where Do You Aim?

Where is that which the true follower of Christ aims? Ellen Write wrote in Testimonies Volume 1 page 160

"Those who feel the constraining love of God do not ask how little may be given in order to obtain the heavenly reward; they ask not for the lowest standard, but aim at perfect conformity to the will of their Redeemer."

Where are you shooting? Are you attempting to simply do the bare minimal that is requried of us as Christians? What does that say about our motivations? What does it say about our love for God? You may fail at times, you may make mistakes here and there, but the true follower of God has one goal which is to represent the master in their daily lives. Will we allow ourselves to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2) and shoot for the bare minimum for salvation, or will we allow Jesus to finish the work that He has begun?(Phillipians 1:6)

Worship the True Christ

Are you worshiping the true Christ or the false Christ?

The true Christ doesn't give us false promises of a lack of pain and suffering with this world, instead, He walks with us through the painful storms of this life and the ultimate storm at the end.

The Lost Art of Restitution

It is interesting that Christianity has become more and more a "individual" thing between me and God.   This mindset causes us to ignore the command to "neglect not the assembling of ourselves together."  (Hebrews 10:35)  We come more and more to the selfish conclusion that I don't need to be among others, not realizign the need to help and encourage others as this scripture states.

Another way that this individualization of Christianity has affected us is that when we sin against someone, we have no problems asking God for forgiveness.  We go ask God to forgive us of our sin, but how often do we go ask the one who we have wronged forgiveness?  And even more than that, how often do we restore that which we have done wrong?

The ancient Hebrew Trespass Offering is illustrative here.  Numbers 5:6, 7 tells us that when the sinner sinnned that sinner would confess to God.  this is an important step.   But there are other steps.

Then the sinner would make restitution.  In Numbers 5:7 it tells us that they not only restored but added interest to that restoration.  This shows how serious the penetent is about forgiveness.  It shows whether it is just a sham or whether it is real.  When you have wronged someone, the Biblical imperative is that you must make that wrong right.  You are not off the hook simply by asking God to forgive and going on.

Then The sinner would bring a sacrifice as written in Leveticus 6:6.  Finally the priest would then secure an atonement for forgivness for the sinner.  This is in Leviticus 6:7.  Restitution is not a suggestion, neither is it optional, for the penitent sinner restitution was required.

Zacchaeus recognized this when at his conversion he decided to restore fourfold that which he had gotten by sinful behavor.  (Luke 19:8-10).  In the final analysis the depth of our desire for real forgiveness is shown at least partially by our willingness to set right that which we have set wrong.  Will we be agents of God's resoration by reversing the affects as best we can?  Or will God have to use someone else to work this reveral?

Preaching With Power Concludes

We have now looked at every one of the preachers in the book. This book is an important book for at least 2 reasons. First it is one of the few Adventist homiletics books in print. Secondly, it is specifically about Black Adventist preaching It may be the only book on that subject published by the church.

Here are links to all of the discussions. Please note that I only had 4 questions in mind when reading the book. You might have other questions and thus should go and get the book yourself.

• G. Ralph Thompson


• Benjamin Reaves


• Hyveth Williams


• Henry Wright


• Walter Pearson


• John Nixon


• James Doggette


• E. E. Cleveland


• C. D. Brooks


• Charles Bradford


• Barry Black

Preaching with Power - Henry Wright

As we continue our discussion of the book Preaching With Power by R. Clifford Jones we get to Pastor Henry Wright. Henry Wright is the Senior Pastor of Community Praise SDA Church in Alexandria Virginia. He rose to prominence when he was a professor in the Department of Religion and Theology at Oakwood College. Over his career he has also been a Conference president and Union Secretary. He is well known and considered by many to be a great preacher of the Gospel.

Understanding of Preaching

Elder Wright sees preaching as "God's Word manifested in human personality." He states that this is why he resists the idea of copying anyone else. I think this is an important point. There is a reason why God has called you as an individual preacher to preach the gospel. Our individuality manifests itself in our selection of texts, the questions we ask the text, and even what we do and do not emphasize. Wright continues this idea by stating that the sermon is "God's word sifted through human experience."

Wright's understanding of preaching includes an agony of preaching that that manifests itself in 3 ways. First, the preacher recognizes that he or she is a part of the problem that the preacher is addressing in the sermon. Second, the preacher recognizes that often there are some who know more about the Bible than he or she does. Finally, we realize that the Gospel is always beyond our ability to describe or define it.

Method of Sermon Preparation

Pastor Wright has a very extensive 8 step method of sermon preparation. Before he describes it he states that he makes certain assumptions of the preacher. The first assumption is that the preacher is constantly reading the Bible, theological works, professional material, as well as magazines of current events. The second assumption is that the preacher is living a life of prayer.

Step 1 is to select the passage and read it in as many different translations as possible. During this reading Wright jots down any thoughts that come to his mind. He says that it can take him 2 hours to do this step.

Step 2 is to look up key words making use of his Greek and Hebrew reading ability. He asks questions like who is writing, what is the situation of the writing, to whom was it written? During this step he consults several commentaries and Bible Dictionaries.

Step 3 is to find a theme statement for the sermon. During this phase he asks the question what am I trying to accomplish? He notes that a passage of scripture can point to many differnt possibilities so during this step he decides on the one that he will preach in this sermon.

Step 4 is to find illustrative material that is applicable to the people that he is preaching to. His favorite source of illustrations is the Reader's Digest.

Step 5 is to write out the sermon. Wright says that he is a manuscript preacher and thus writes it out word by word. While he has a good memory and therefore is not tightly bound to the manuscript, 9 times out of 10 he takes it into the pulpit with him.

Step 6 is to think about how he will end the sermon. He emphasizes that you don't raise new things in the conclusion. This reminds me of one thing my intro to homiletics professor said "Start Strong, End Strong, and make the middle as short as possible."

Step 7 is to evaluate the sermon based on his evaluation method. This method includes asking himself questions like does the sermon flow correctly? Is there unity of thought? Does it have purpose?

Step 8 is to rehearse by reading the sermon out loud.

Understanding of Black Preaching

Wright is both a believer in and not a believer in Black preaching. He states that we should remember that black preacher's learned to preach from white preachers. He notes that the white preachers that Black preachers learned from were not the lecturn lecture-like preachers that we think of today, but the preachers of the plains like Jonathan Edwards. This thought is also echoed by Henry Mitchell in Black preaching that even states that there is a white counterpart to whooping.

After having said that he defines black preaching as a style of preaching that was story-telling, incisive, highly descriptive. He notes that such a style was important for the slaves who could not read the Bible for themselves.

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

In this place he does not directly address Adventist preaching but he does note that our preaching has become more hands on in the last few years versus the years when he was younger. Today you are more likely to hear sermons that tell you how to get along with people or succeed than sermons about doctrinal content. While he believes there is a place for such sermons, he notes that we cannot forget the doctrines or teachings in our sermons.

Preaching with Power - Dr. John Nixon

Our next preacher in the book Preaching with Power is John Nixon. He is an associate ministerial secretary of the North American Division Ministerial Department. He is currently transitioning from being the senior pastor of the Oakwood College Church in Huntsville, AL to being the senior pastor of the Collegedale Church at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN.

Understanding of Preaching

Pastor Nixon believes that preaching is taking that which is behind the text and explaining it to the people. Thus the purpose is to find the meaning of the text and interpret it for today. This is an explicitly theological approach to the preaching event.

Method of Sermon Preparation

Pastor Nixon provides a pretty explicit sermon preparation model. To begin Elder Nixon suggests that the preachers spend 30-40 hours in 5 days on the sermon alone. One wonders how one can keep up such a large number of hours if one is a pastor. Pastor Jones actually asked him twice and Pastor Nixon confirmed. One thing that is pretty certain is that if you spend so much time on a sermon and you follow a plan you will probably come out with a very good sermon.

The first step in preparation is to read the passage several times in different translations. This step is completed before any formal exegesis. This will serve as an orientation for the preacher to the passage. I have seen this suggested by other homilititians like Brad Braxton in Preaching Paul.

Next the preacher will perform formal exegesis to get at the orginal meaning of the text. Pastor Nixon emphasizes that there are two horizons of the text the meaning in the past and the meaning today. This serves to emphasize what was spoken earlier about "the meaning" of the text rather than the text itself being what the preacher is emphasizing.

Next, the preacher must determine the "Christocentric Theology of the Text." This is the component "behind the text" that teaches the gospel. Where is the Gospel in the text? where is the good news in the text? These are the components of the text that we attempt to pull out at this point in the process.

Finally, the form of the sermon (narrative, deductive, inductive, etc) falls naturally out of the sermon preparation precess itself. In other words the process guides the form of the sermon rather than arbitrarily choosing a sermon form or always choosing the semonic approach.

In addition to the above process, Pastor Nixon seeks to have the preacher gain a "homiletical bias" where the preacher looks at the world through the lens of homiletical possibilities which will allow the preacher to gain all the illustrations one needs without resorting to illustration books.

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

Pastor Nixon emphasies the importance of Adventist preaching being "Christ-centered rather than apologetic." I interpret him to mean that we should not simply seek to defend the truth of the doctrines we present (apologetic), but that we should constructively seek to preach the Gospel through our Doctrines. In another place he suggests that the Adventist preacher "explain the Gospel in the form of distinctive Adventist Understandings." I find such an approach to be very interesting.

Understanding of Black Preaching

Dr. Nixon emphasizes that the Black church tradition has an element of form, but it is more theology than form. This way one can actually preach a "Black" sermon in many different styles including a "low-key" approach.

Dr. Nixon defines the theological approach of Black preaching as an emphasis on God's care and concern for the downtrodden and opppressed. He includes in this approach to Black preaching the judging of Kings and Rulers who do not live up to the truth. Dr. Nixon quickly adds that the Black preacher must be "Biblical and not just political." It would be interesting to have him further define and describe what he means in other places.

I especially like Nixon's approach to Adventist preaching which resonates with what I have tried to say. I have attempted to define Adventist preaching as using Adventism as glasses through which we see and understand the Gospel. Dr. Nixon and I both seem to be saying the same thing here. Such an approach opens up the doctrines of Adventism to be used at all times and in all sermons without all sermons becoming didactic or apologetic. I think that there is a time for apologetic and didactic moments, but there are other moments when the preacher must preach in other modes and I think that our Adventism must influence even those preaching moments.

I also like the defining of Black preaching as primarily theological. We have seen such an approach in some of the other preachers in this series as well as other homiliticians such as Cleophas LaRue who defines Black preaching as largely about an approach to the Bible where God is actively invovled in history. The belief that God is standing with the opporessed seems to be a common theme that some homiliticians see as at the foundation of Black Preaching.

Preaching with Power - Dr. James Doggette

James Doggette is a professor at Oakwood College as well as the Pastor of the Madison Mission Seventh-day Adventist Church in Huntsville, Alabama. Dr. Doggette is a dynamic speaker who relatively recently has held an Amazing Facts seminar in Huntsville Alabama.

Understanding of Preaching

Dr. Doggette like Barry Black sees importance in Phillip Brooks definition of preaching as "truth poured out through personality." Dr. Doggette nuances this insight by stating that "Preaching is divine truth or biblical truth communicated through personality." Dr. Doggette also echos Paul Scott Wilson by emphasizing that preaching is an event and not "merely verbal communication."

Method of Sermon Preparation

Pastor Doggette states that he first seeks to know the story, then he condenses the sermon from that story into one sentence. He and Dr. Jones notes that this is what Haddon Robinson refers to as the Big idea. Doggette notes that Haddon Robinson's work has influenced his preaching more than any other book.

Pastor Doggette's main exegetical approach is to look at the Biblical story and seek to find the story either in the passage or behind the passage. He states that he is not really concerned primarily about word studies, but about getting at the story. He notes that every passage has as story.

Also Doggette, contrary to much opinion, does not either use a manuscript in the pulpit or write out one. He refers to the performed sermon as a "jazz performance in that feeling plays a big role in the outcome of the sermon."

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

Pastor Doggette reminds all Black Adventist preachers to be sure to preach the Seventh-day Adventist doctrinal and prophetic themes in addition to themes of liberation and the mangement of power. Doggette does not want Adventist preachers to forget that they are Adventist. He believes that a "greener grass" idea is creeping into the Black Adventist ministry as more and more Black Adventist pastors obtain graduate degrees and doctorates from other schools. Doggette believes that rubbing shoulders with great preachers from other denominations has caused the Black Adventist preacher in many cases to "discount the distinctive truths and values we have as Adventists."

Understanding of Black Preaching

Dr. Doggette sees black preaching as primarily prophetic in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets. He sees, therefore, a primary purpose of the Black preacher is to "stir things up." He suggests that Black Adventist preachers who seek to be true to Black preaching and Seventh-day Adventist preaching should study the lives of the prophets and note that they were often opposed but it was God who held them up when others did not.

Dr. Doggette's brings a theological focus to both Black preaching and Adventist preaching. He sees importance in the Black Adventist preacher being true to both traditions. I like Doggette's statement that Black preaching is prophetic. Too often we think of Black preaching as just a style of preaching. Others may think of it as a structure to our sermons like "narrative preaching." Doggette sees it as primarily an approach to preaching that "stirs things up" as it prophetically challenges those with power to use it correctly.

Dr. Doggette also points out that there is a great temptation to set aside distinctive Adventist teachings to run after the "greener grass." I believe that the Adventist distinctive teachings, but also the Adventist distinctive "mindset" or "theological approach" should undergird all that we do. As I have stated elsewhere "If it ain't the gospel it shouldn't be preached, if it ain't Adventist, why has God chosen you to preach it?"

Preaching with Power - E. E. Cleveland

The next interview is with E. E. Cleveland. He is probably the greatest Adventist Evangelist of our time. When one thinks of Adventist Evangelists E. E. Cleveland's name will almost certainly come up

Understanding of Preaching

Elder Cleveland did not explicitly speak about his?theology of preaching, but he did speak of a few important points. First he notes that the preacher must have a holy boldness. Next, the preacher must be totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. Next, all of our preaching must be Christ-centered.? Cleveland reminds us that we should not allow T. D. Jakes or Rod Parsely to have a corner on preaching Jesus.

Another interesting point that Cleveland brings out is that the preacher cannot always recognize the difference between a good and a bad sermon.? Just preach your sermon and leave the results to God.? Cleveland tells the story of a time he thouhgt the sermon was not really that good, but someone came, this taught him to just preach.

Method of Sermon Preparation

Once again Elder Cleveland does not really give a method, but he does say that he always prepares by daily reading three texts. First is 2 Samuel 7:8. The second is Nehimiah 13:14. The third is Exodus 23:25.? It is interesting that all three are Old Testament texts which shows how the Adventist preacher and the Black preacher uses the Old Testament just as much as the New.

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

Elder Clevland emphasizes that Jesus must be at the center of our presentations as Adventist ministers. He states that Black Adventist preachers have remembered this. He gives the example of the Sanctuary. He states that Black Advnetists have always kept Jesus first in this doctrine and have not gotten caught up in the perephnalia of the Sanctuary. Elder Cleveland quotes Henry Wright who spoke about the Sanctuary and stated in effect, "I don't care if the throne is moveable or not, all I care is that there is a thrown and we have an advocate."

Understanding of Black Preaching

Elder Cleveland emphasizes that it is important to know Black history if you are to be a black preacher. Cleveland believes that Black preaching is not about emotion, but about contextually relating the Gospel to the historic struggles of black people. He believes that?this kind of Black preaching is?totally compatible with Adventist preaching.

Elder Cleveland's?discussion of the?black struggle for freedom is significant in that he?identifies the freedom movement?as God's movement. The move for black liberation is not peripheral to God's hand in history, but it is God's hand in history. Thus Black history becomes a discussion of God's acts in history and not merely a discussion of abstract facts.? Black history is transformed into looking for God's hand in history.? Thus when one speaks of a narrative approach to preaching we can tell the Biblical story as narrative, but we also can tell the narrative of God's present actions.?

Another interesting point about this kind of preaching is that it reminds us that God cares not merely about individuals, but also about groups.? God cares about Black people as a people.? God cares about individuals AND groups.??Revelation teaches us that Jesus hand is over history.? The Seven Churches teach us that God is taking care of the Church throughout history.? Trimming the lamps so that it can truly be the people of God.?? God is actively invovled in helping us individually, but also as a people.? God is not coming back for an individual or even for us as individuals, but God is coming back for a people a remnant.? It is true that we become members of a group individually, but it is also true that Jesus is coming back for the Bride which is the church corporate and universal.

I think Black Preaching can help us bring back this corporate identity to evangelical Christianity whihc has totally ignored the importance of the corporate in spirituality.? Perhaps this is why some have such a hard time explaining why one should go to church and not just stay home and pray by oneself with their own connection to Jesus.

Preaching with Power - C. D. Brooks

Elder Brooks defined himself as a "traveling Preacher." He has been the Field Secretary of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists as well as the speaker/director for Breath of Life television program.

Understanding of Preaching

Elder Brooks states that his theology of preaching is that he should "exalt Christ and his word."

Method of Preaching

Elder Brooks does not really define a method of preparation, but he does state provide direction to pastors. Brooks suggests that "Sabbath sermons [should] be pastoral, Sunday night's sermons [should] be evangelistic, and those for Wednesday nights [should] deal with things like modeling Jesus and Christian standards." In addition, Brooks emphasizes that one should present the whole "cycle of truth." Including such subjects as "Sabbath, Judgment, Second Coming, Christian Standards, etc."

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

Elder Brooks makes explicit use to Adventist resources throughout his interveiw. He notes that his influences on preaching were Advntist including his mother, E. E. Cleveland, and C. E. Mosely. Interestingly enough after all these years he still quotes his homiletics professor, Elder Mosely, in answering questions. Elder Mosely has had a great influence on him.

Brooks also emphasizes that the content of Advnetist preaching must include things like Sabbath, Judgments, etc. in the full "cycle of truth" as noted above. Perhaps most interesting is that Brooks states that if he had three books to take with him on a desert Island they would be The Great Controversy, Desire of Ages, and the Bible. Brooks states that he could preach from those three books until Jesus comes. Elder Brooks' presentation makes greater use of Adventist materials and refers to Ellen White often and easily.

Understanding of Black Preaching

The interview does not deal with Black Preaching at all. It would be interesting to see what Elder Brooks has to say about the nature of Black PReaching and its connection to the Gospel as understood by Seventh-day Adventists. It would be interesting to take Bradford's idea of Black Preaching being issues oriented and compare that to the explicit Advnetist preaching that Elder Brooks presents. For example, how is preaching about and to the Black communities ultimate quest for liberation look when addressed by the unique resources used in Adventist preaching (Ellen White, Adventist understanding of the Bible)? Another interesting question is: Does Adventism have anything to say to the world beside Jesus will come and clean up all this mess at the Second Coming? Need it say anything else?

We also might bring back Barry Black's suggestion that Adventist preaching might teach the doctrines in the context of narrative. Then we might see some unification of the different kinds of preaching that Elder Brooks brings. Can we preach the Sabbath in such a way that it becomes pastoral, prophetic, and liberative at the same time? I think that Black's suggestion can push us to not just seek to prove the doctrines but also to celebrate them. Perhaps Wednessday night we can teach the truth of the doctrine and on Sabbath morning we can celebrate it?

I think following Black's suggestion to use narrative and also Black's stating the importance of celebration can open up avenues to celebrate Adventism and not just teach the correctness of the doctrine. However, I think that Bradford's understanding also must be kept in mind that the Gospel does address important issues in the community and we should address thsoe as well. And finally, we must keep Bradford's idea that Black Preaching cannot become only for black folk. The social justice that Black preaching is a call for justice to all.

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Preaching with Power - Charles Bradford

The next interview is with Charles Bradford. Elder Bradford has had a very productive career within adventism including becoming the first AFrican American to be elected presdient of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. His career has been largely as an evangelist and church administrator.

Understanding of Preaching

Elder Bradford's theology of preaching is based in the fact that God is the source of all preaching. Bradford emphasizes that the "preacher is one amoung many" in a "preaching community."

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Method of Sermon Preparation

Elder Bradford states that his method of sermon preparation is from the New York Theological Seminary. The approach consists of first looking at the text noting "words, events, thoughts, and nuances." Next he suggests that we develop a theme from this observation and from study. Bradford notes that he believs that one can get a theme from any text. Then Elder Bradford writes out an outline. After completion of the outline, Elder Bradford sets the sermon aside for "a few days." After that he puts on the flesh.

This time is important to Bradford who states that it takes a long time to put a sermon together. He compares it to the growing of a good crop of strawberries. It takes a long time.

One cannot forget that the preparing of the preacher is very important. Elder Bradford suggests that we make use of the Mystical Disciplines. This is interesting in that one is not often used to hearing Adventists talk about this, but we usually use the terms prayer, meditation, study, etc. I think that such a revival of these disciplines is very much needed today.

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

Elder Bradford's section of the book says very little about traditional Adventist preaching which is surprising in that he has much to say about it in his book Preaching to the Times. That book is a very valuable addition to any Advnetist preacher's library. In future weeks I hope to discuss that book in this blog. But Elder Bradford gives some hints on his thinking on Adventist Preaching in this intereview. First Elder Bradford emphasizes that his influences on preaching came from Adventist sources. Also Elder Bradford seeks to emphasize that we cannot fall into the trap of the "wealth and success...pop psychology" gospel. Next Elder Bradford talks about using Advnetist sources like the Adventist Bible Commentary as well as other commentaries from other denominational traditions.

Elder Bradford reminds us, without saying their names, that we cannot fall into the trap of making the gospel pop-psychology or about wealth and success down here.

Understanding of Black Preaching

Elder Bradford believes that Black preaching is "issue oriented." Here Black preaching addresses issues that are important to the Black community. Elder Bradford however is quick to state that the Gospel is greater than any Black or White issue and transcends them both.

I think that Elder Bradford's concern of a Gospel that is only relevant to or only worries about issues in one community can be problamatic. I think it is interesting that other Black Preachers are wrestling with this issue. Henry Mitchell stated that he beleives that the hope of American Christnaity is in the hands of the Black Church. The idea was that the black church has always stood with the weak and poor and thus represents a struggle for rightness in the world. Not just in terms of Race, but of all who are oppressed.

I am also reminded of a class in the Theology and ministry of the Black Church by Dr. Forrest Harris. The teacher tried to emphasize that when the Black church is true to its principles of equality it is relevant to more than just black people.

Finally, I am reminded of Pastor Frank Thomas who wrote "They Like to Never Quit Praising God." In his lectures on the Book he teaches that we become universal through our very particularism. In other words when a Black preacher goes deep enough into his/her own expereince the preacher teaches a universal Gospel.

I think Elder Bradford reminds us like these other voices that our Gospel cannot become provincial and only applicable to a certain group. But like these other voices, I think that Black "issue" teaching can become universal or trasncendent if we, as Frank Thomas states, push it.

Preaching with Power - Dr. Barry Black

The first interview is with the chaplain of the United States Senate Dr. Barry Black. Dr. Black has had an illustrious career in Chaplaincy and is a demonstration that the Adventist Pastorate is not the only vocation for Seventh-day Adventist preachers.

Understanding of Preaching

Dr. Black acknowledges Phillip Brooks as informing his understanding of preaching and describes it as "truth through personality." Dr. Black states that his "upbringing on welfare" shapes his preaching. I think that this is an important for preachers to recognize that God has chosen them at the present time to preach the Gospel to the people. Dr. Black reminds us that we cannot fight in other's armor but we must preach the Gospel as ourselves.

Method of Sermon Preparation

Dr. Black states that his sermons come from his devotional life. Dr. Black states that he "preaches out of the overflow of [his] devotional life. He emphasizes the importance of reading reference materials, but also encourages preachers to use their own imagination. Dr. Black only provides an outline of his method, but the little he describes reminds me of another pastor's. This pastor kept meticulous notes on his devotional life. His devotions for today are the basis of sermons for next year. That way he knows exactly what he will preach next year. The method is helpful in that it promotes a healthy devotional life, but one must be sure to add the second component of adding resource materials if one is to provide depth to the sermonic event.

Understanding of Adventist Preaching

On page 17 Dr. Black states that Black SDA preachers have the challenge of making Adventist doctrines more attractive. He states one way of doing this as placing the doctrine in the Bible story. For example, he states why not preach the State of the dead within the context of a story like Lazerus. This idea is very intriguing. I was talking to someone the other day about how many times our preachers normally preach with imagination, but when they move to preaching the doctrines we end up with a "proof text method". I think it would be interesting to place the doctrines in the Biblical story and more than Dr. Black's suggestion to ask "why didn't Lazerus tell about the glories of heaven," I would push for a methodology that applies Dr. Mitchell's idea of celebration to the doctrines. I would encourage the Black preacher to ask, "What is there in the doctrine to celebrate?"

Understanding of Black Preaching

In the interview Dr. Black doesn't speak explicitly about the nature of Black Preaching. He does refer to the fact that he has studied with Henry Mitchell. This might explain why Dr. Black explains the Black sermon as "narrative" and that there is a musicality and a lyrical quality. I think we must emphasize the form (narrative) that black sermons often take and the style (musicality and lyrical quality). This is important, but as we shall see, we also must include the distinctive theological focus that Black Preachers bring to the preaching event. This is shown in Cleophas LaRue's Heart of Black Preaching as well as Dr. Calvin Rock's article on Black SDA Preaching found in the September 2000 Ministry Magazine. In addition to the above Dr. Black speaks of the importance of understanding venue. You do not preach in the same way in every location. This is probably an important point for Dr. Black in that he has the opportunity to preach in many different settings. I think that appropriateness is important, but one must also keep in mind the importance of being a prophetic voice. This is a very important thing to keep in mind for those of us who are called to preach in other venues. As one who on occasion had to do this, we must find a way to determine what is appropriate, what should be preached, and also how we can give a call to better living informed by our understanding of the Gospel.

Preaching with Power

Dr. R. Clifford Jones has?edited a book of interviews with prominent African American Seventh-day Adventist preachers entitled Preaching with Power.? You can obtain the book from the ministerial association.? In the next 11 posts I will look at each preacher?s

1. Understanding of preaching.


2. Method of sermon preparation


3. Understanding of Adventist preaching


4. Understanding of Black preaching

I would encourage all preachers to purchase and learn from the book.? In the introduction Dr. Jones presents a few points that have relevance to the four questions above.? First, on page ix Dr. Jones states that sermon preparation is hard work.? It requires much reading and study.? Second, Black preaching is difficult to isolate, but it is more form than style.? Also it has, according to Jones, two ?characteristic themes? God identifies with the oppressed and that the oppressed will eventually be delivered.? Finally Dr. Jones emphasizes that all the preachers believe that Black Adventist preachers must retain their unique Seventh-day Adventist teachings while they hold on to their cultural heritage.

Was Ellen White a Plagiarist?

You have read all of the sites that attack her.

But was she really a plagiarist? In this short ebook, David Conklin attempts to answer the critics and explode the myths about her writings.

Conklin uses a new different methodology to evaluate the charges of plagiarism in Sister White's writings.

Many attempt to accuse Ellen White of plagiarism by only comparing similarities between her writings and the writings she allegedly copied.

However what happens if you do not just look at similarities, but also look at differences?

When you only look at similarities and do not consider differences, according to Conklin, you can overestimate the possibility of  plagiarism.

In this ebook, Conklin has used an approach that emphasizes not just similarities, but also differences.

Download this ebook for free at the following link.

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Unchurched and the Third Angel's Message

There is a new word that has begun to arise amongst us.  It is the word "unchurched."  The word is meant to imply that we should stop trying to preach to the "churched" who presumably already have God, and spend all of our efforts (or at least most of them) on the "unchurched."   It sounds all right on the surface, but is it really our calling?

First of all, the word "churched" is not a Biblical word.  We have all heard the preachers tell us that just because you are a member of a church does not mean that you are converted.  But then some of these same people will change gears when talking about evangelism and speak about addressing the unchurched.  Simply put, we are told to preach to the world.  Whether Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and yes even Adventist, we cannot assume that someone is in a saved relationship with God simply becuase they are "churched."  We cannot assume that we have no message to take to someone simply becuase they are "churched."

But more than that, we Adventists have taking our self identity from the Revelation 14 which we have thought was a message of warning to the entire world.  We are telling everyone to not get caught up with Revelation thirteen's Sea Beast system.  (Revelation 14:6-12).   We are to warn the entire world which presumably includes "chruched" and "unchurched" of the great deception that will be put on humanity.  If that is our identity, to only look at a segment of the world is to betray our mission.

I have not done a scientific study of many of these mega churches, but from my interaction with members, I find that many of the members have simply moved from other churches in town.  They do reach some "unchurched" members, but they also reach a whole lot of "churched" members.  So in a practical sense, why is it that they grow on the basis of transfers and then want to tell you to only address "unchurched" and some want to even follow the idea.

So in a real sense, the whole idea of "unchurched" is against our mission.  On top of it all, who really follows that idea and refuses to engage in what they call "sheep stealing?"  No one, well maybe those few who have bought into the idea...

Keeping Your Eye on the Big Picture

Over the last few weeks a theme has been coming up more and more, at least to me.  That is the idea of Adventists having a vested interest in things getting worse.  Therefore, they overemphasize "bad" things and underemphasize "good" things.  For example, when we find out that the crime rate may have gone down in a particular region, we hear nothing of it, but when we find out that particular storms are on the rise, they find themselves in our sermons and writings.

Interestingly, the last economic crash that began last year had even official Adventist websites and the like predicting that this was the very end, we were told that this was the end of everything.  Let alone the non-official sources that stated with certaintly that this crash was the begining of the very end of time.

And then when things blow over, we hear nothing from these prophets of doom.  I can remember one woman who told me that before Y2K the government was soon going to shut down the borders between the states.  We had to get out now!  Then when such far fetched news turned out to be false, she said nothing, but she did have another prediction about the government that she would tell anyone who would listen.

This kind of thing makes us all have "end of the world" fatigue and just give up on the whole thing.  Our ignorant rantings about what we know not and then our silence when  our illogical and incorrect predictions turn out to be false has created a culture where we either don't care about the end or we are addicted to the charge of the next big thing.

What is of great interest to me, is how these predictions and prophets often lose track of the Big Picture.  We lose track of the Great Controversy and God's quest to right all wrongs when we focus on these supposed end time events.   Many lose sight of who predicted what when we bounce from supposed end time events to other ones.  We sometimes end up quoting those who hate while we set aside the books that we say we believe.  To put it more bluntly, some of us end up reading anti-semetic sources who preach about a global economic plan by certain ethnic groups rather than the writings that have been placed in our hands, namely the Bible and the gift of Ellen White.

Perhaps it is time to get the big picture back.  Certainly there are indications that we are nearing the end, but every prediction by some crackpot is not such an indication.  Maybe if we kept the Big Picture we would be less likely to jump from false prediction to false prediction until we end up in an agnostic haze of wondering if the end really will come.

It's A Lie!

It is assumed true by just about everyone in the church right now. you don't even have to prove it. The church is full of legalistic finger pointers who are attempting to steal our assurance of salvation. They are running the church. They condemn you for eating cheese, they make those who are caught in sexual sin to feel unloved. They attack and put down. They put the writings of Ellen White above the Bible while they proclaim that they have reached perfection...

Where does this church exist?

I just wonder where this church is located. While it is true that you can find a church here and there or a member here and there that have this problem, I just haven't seen it. The churches I see are overtaken by laxness not strictness. It is laughable to think that we have a widespread problem of condemning folks for eating cheese...There are not many people using Ellen White as a sledgehammer. We are to busy bending over backwards to not offend anybody. I mean many of our preachers don't even use her name, instead they refer to their "favorite Christian author" or a "Christian author from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century." It is interesting that a preacher can refer to to "Billy Graham" or "John Wesley" or even "T. D. Jakes" but still doesn't want to offend anyone by referring to Ellen White.

We Bought the Lie

And yet in this climate, we are accused of "worshiping Ellen White." We have bought into the lie that we are too strict, and now all of our solutions presented have to do with solving this illusionary problem. So we always hear about grace and little about responsibility, well if we assume that all we hear is responsibility then we must set it aside for a while. We hear about what God did and nothing about what we are to do. And it makes sense, because we assume that we are correcting something. Well it is time to stop believing the lie that legalism is rampant. Stop believing the lie that too many are using the health message as a weapon.

Stop Believing the Lie

And if we stop believing the lie, then maybe we can begin to get some real balacne in our presentations. Then maybe we can begin hearing about grace and law. Then maybe we can begin hearing about our need for God's act and our own response. If we stop believing the lie, then we will be in a position to speak to this present world rather than the figment of our own imagination where the readers of the "red books" run wild and vegans run off all of our converts.

The Rise of Spiritualism

Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Ghost Hunters, and numerous movies are coming out that promotes communication and actually gaining help from those of our loved ones who have crossed over into death.  We can listen to the radio and even watch as experts in the supernatural speak to and gain knoweldge and help from the spirit world.

It is almost shocking the sheer amount of material that one can find that actively promotes speaking to the dead.

The Apostle Paul points to the special working of Satan in spiritualism as an event to take place immediately before the second advent of Christ. Paul declares that it is "after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." 2 Thessalonians 2:9.

In addition Peter, describing the dangers to which the church was to be exposed in the last days, says that as there were false prophets who led Israel into sin, so there will be false teachers, "who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them. . . . And many shall follow their pernicious ways." 2 Peter 2:1, 2.

While Satan is preparing the world for his final deceptions, many of us are too busy with the cares of life or entertaining ourselves to recognize how close to the end we really are. At this time we should allow the saving power of Jesus to both forgive and cleanse (1 John 1:9) that we may be prepared for the comign evil days.

Sanctuary in Revelation

One thing that is interesting about relatively recent Adventist study of the book of Revelation is that they have found and teach the obvious and extensive Sanctuary imagery in the Biblical book.  Such imagery demonstrates that a knowledge of the Sanctuary, as well as much of the Old Testament, is needed to understand the last book of the Bible.

A short thumbnail look at the references is as follows:

In Revelation 1 we see Jesus among the candlesticks.  In Revelation 4 we see the seven lamps of fire.  In Revelation 5 we see Christ as the slain lamb of God.  In Revelation 8 we see an angel offering incense on the alter before the throne.  In revelation 11 we see the temple and the alter being measured.  In Revelation 14 an angel comes out of the temple.  In Revelation 15 the temple is filled with smoke.  In Revelation 16 a loud voice comes out of the temple.  In Revelation 21 there is no temple in the city, for the Lamb is our Temple.

It would seem that an understanding of the Sanctuary and the Temple service is very important and necessary if we are to understand this book.   It definitely seems as though Adventists are at least right in saying that one should extensively place the Sanctuary in one's understanding of this book,  and thus the blessing that comes on those who read the book of Revelation (Revelation 1:3) will apply to those of us who attempt to study the Sanctuary and its implications for our present and future.

Why Be Foremost in Uplifting Christ?

Why Should Adventists be foremost in uplifting Christ? That is the question that I attempt to address in this audio. The text for the audio can be found at this link.

Free Adventist Bible Software

The other day I was searching for resources for the very helpful E-Sword program.  This is an effective, powerful, and free Bible Software package.  You can access the program here at this link.

I have played around with the application for a bit and found it to be a pretty good one.  Certainly the paid software is going to be better for original languge research and the like.  However, you can't beat the price of this free package.

But more than that, there is a website that has a number of resources for Adventists that fits into the E-Sword package.  The website is Sharpening the Sword.  This website provides the Sabbath School Lessons and various Ellen White books.  I would encourage you to check out this website and the software.  And just like E-Sword, the files are free.  Check it out at this link.

Underestimating the Power

The Power of God. I had a discussion with someone a little while ago on the issue of obedience to God. The person argued that we cannot perfectly obey God because of our liabilities of being human. When I attempted to speak on the reality of obedience in the Christian life, my friend immediately told me that I was minimizing the extent and damage of sin done to humanity.

The Power of Sin

My friend continued, "Sin has placed us in a position where we cannot help but sin. Sin has totally corupted our nature to the point that sin is the logical and inevitable outcome. Sin is all we can do for we are born sinners and thus must sin."

There does seem to be some truth here. Sin has corrupted our nature. Sin has attacked us at the core. But, my friend, accused me of minimizing the extent of the damage done by sin. To that I argue that my friend has minimized the power of God.

Obedience is based on God's ability

If God, who created all out of things that do not appear (Hebrews 11:3), then why can't God keep us from falling (Jude 1:24) as it says in the word?

What sin can do, I declare God can do more. Whatever evil sin can place on us, God has more power! certainly the creative power of God declares to us that God can do it.

We always talk about God making a way for us. But how about recognizing that God can make a way through us. this is why the Psalmist called for God to use that same creative power to renew his Spirit. (Psalm 51:10)

Is it possible? Was it possible that God spoke the worlds into existence? I declare that the answer to both of those questions is the same answer.

Believe it or Not, it Will Happen

Some say obedience will not happen, but John in the Revelation points to a group, he says "Here are they" essentially saying, "Here they are." He notes that there will be a group who are identified as commandment keepers by the faith OF Jesus. They seek to live God's life. (Revelation 14:12)

They will be obedient to the most high God. In short, just because you are not living it, or seeing it, or even believing it, don't limit the power of God to accomplish it! So maybe I am limiting the power of Sin, but that is only in reference to the creative power of God...

Wrong Time for a Blessing?

Proverbs 27:14 reminds us that there can be a wrong time even for a blessing.  When it is time for something else, and someone comes in and loudly shouts even the right sounding thing, we can find out blessing turning into a curse.  This scripture gives the example of someone yelling the blessing to wake up the sleeper.  It is time for sleeping.  Sleeping has benefits and is a need for the human body.  However, someone might feel the need to wake up the sleeper to give her a blessing.

Yes this is a common occurrence.  Maybe not while literally sleeping, but often we find people giving us "blessings" when they are either not needed or not helpful.  In fact, even when the sentiment is true, we might be giving the "blessing" at the wrong time.  How many have been told to keep their chin up because God will be a "doctor in the sick room" right when the person has not even dealt with the reality of the diagnoses?  How many have been told to "stop crying" for God will bless you right when their spouse has died?

Certainly these sentiments may be true, but just as the blessing that wakes the sleeper is the wrong time and becomes a curse, so does our promises of God's aid at the wrong time.  Certainly we should and must bless folks, but what this text tells me is to make sure that the blessing is at the right time, or it will become a curse to the one receiving it.

Do You Want Victory?

We often lose in our battle because we don't really want to win.  We talk about desiring victory over sin, but we keep the emblems of sin around, "just in case."  Sure we want victory, just not the victory that requires sacrifice.  We want the victory that doesn't require giving up anything.  We want an easy victory

Romans 6:11 gives us the key to victory.  It is a key that is not easy.  It is not what we want to hear.  But it is simply to "reckon" or "consider" yourself dead to sin.  This is a very interesting image.  Reckon yourself dead to sin.  How does one do that?  You do that by simply treating yourself as if you already have the victory.  This is not to say that you will not fall again.  You probably will.  But what it does say is that you are not aiding the enemy in your defeat.

You are acting as if you are victorious.  You are living as if you have already won.  You are standing firm in the victory that God has already given to you.  If you want victory, go ahead and stand in it.  Go ahead and live in it.  Victory is already yours.  For we are simply living in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. (Romans 6:8-Romans 6:9)

The Complete Savior

As we near the close of this earth's history, we find ourselves in need of a complete savior. Too often we fall into the trap of only wanting a partial savior. You know the savior who drapes us with a superficial sappy "love", but never disciplines us.

However, the Jesus who came to this earth is both a savior and a from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin in our lives. We need to stop being happy with the "Jesus-lite" that forever promises us money and fame and success, but never changes us. We need to stop being happy with a Gospel that forgives but never empowers. We need to stop being happy with an incomplete savior.

Yes, Jesus is able to keep us from falling (Jude 1:24). Yes Jesus will forgive us, but also cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9). Yes! Let us stop being happy with the "beginning things" and move on to the other things that God wants us to understand and live (Hebrews 6:1-3).

Hope That Transcends Death

Many of us live our lives with little thought for the future.  We assume that we will never have to walk that lonely road that leads into forever.   We see people dying everyday.  We see sickness, accidents, and nature taking away even friends and family, but we never come face to the face with the reality that one day we will not be here.

How can we look at the inevitable demise of our earthly existence?   I am glad that the Apostle reminds us that when we look at death, whether others or our own, we do not have to fear as others fear and have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).   For there is another kingdom that we will have on the other side.   The Apostle reminds us that death itself shall be swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54).

And if death "shall be" swallowed up in victory, then we need not fear death even today.  We need not allow death and the fear of it to keep us from living the lives that God has given us to live.  We should not allow fear, which will be totally defeated, to beat us.  If we simply beieve what God has said, then all of our todays can be lived in light of this reality.  We can seek to love when loving hurts, for our greatest foe, death, has already been defeated.  If we simply believe this truth, then we can work when working is dangerous, for our greatest foe has been vanquished.  If we would belive this, then we can hope again even when it doesn't look like we have anything to hope for, becuase if death has been defeated, then why can'twe assume that God will work in God's own time to take care of the other lessor entities.