The Preacher’s Portrait

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Welcome to no content radio. My name is Mike even draw your host today Welcome to no content radio

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Well, it's better than no compost radio, right way better right both but all three could be no co

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Right no CEO. Uh -huh No collaboration radio no,

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I mean there's all sorts of no co possibilities Steve We're gonna do part two today on the oh no.

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Oh, yeah on books I was gonna say on Baker's Dictionary of Theology, but that was our first book. We've got a stack of books here

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We're talking about the books and for 28 minutes. We talked about Baker's Dictionary of Theology and Maybe maybe we should have an

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Amazon smile account set up through that because they're probably going off the shelf like mad The Amazon smile thing is when's that going off?

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It's going off the shelf speaking of the shelf They're gonna end that whole program. I know I know I normally get like if someone calls me and says

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We're raising money for muscular dystrophy. I usually say, you know, I'm glad what for what you're doing.

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Thank you I hope there's a cure. I give the money that I would donate to the local church I'm a

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Christian But I did pick the Amazon smile for a cancer society because my mom died of cancer my dad died of cancer and who knows how much was given, you know, probably 50 bucks or something, but That was my my well it turns out

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Jeff Bezos needs the money So, oh, well, is he gonna buy gonna buy a football team or something?

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Yeah, so, you know, hey, thanks for all that Amazon smile stuff, but now the money's really needed for important stuff, right?

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Steve I don't know when this show will air some Tuesday in the future But I read yesterday that Bethany Hamilton the surfer who had her arm bitten off by the shark

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Christian lady who went on to get back into surfing and kind of an interesting story with her and how her dad made a special handle on her first surfboards after the

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Shark a shark attack. Yeah, and she's Competing professionally again. Now.

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They want to have people that are Transgender, you know, they're male bodies competing at the women pro surf contest and she said well

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I'm just not gonna surf then because this is not right Forget the fair part. She could probably beat most of those so -called trans men

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Transgendered men she could probably do better job than they could and she's got one arm But I'm glad she's standing up and saying

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I'm just not gonna do it. It's so I mean this whole You're either a guy or you're not right and so this sort of well,

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I'm transitioning and no you're not You know, you're mutilating your body. You're doing a lot of things, but you're still a guy and Deep down Steve after I am bugged it, you know women's sports are gonna be decimated and all that kind of stuff

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I just think to myself I feel sorry for people Who are going through problems in life? I mean as we all do but some of these problems are really big problems and There's a solution to be found and I know who the solution is, but they don't know the solution and now you've got all kinds of people even behind parents backs

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Forcing issues and that's not going to ultimately help them right? The solution is not in hormone therapy

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I know I know so sad. So the books we have left here on my studio

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Anxious benches If The foot if the listeners could see this bench they'd go yeah,

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I'm a little nervous too, you know Hey, there's a Joel cube up there. Yeah, here is a book that is priced at five shillings five shillings

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That's not bad that then that that is a great price. Yeah. Uh -huh, and it's called the preacher's portrait written by JRW stot

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Rector also Church, London and it's on Tyndale Press and here's the five chapters a preacher is one a steward a

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Herald a witness a father and a servant

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So the steward has you know, it's who's my what's my message? I I don't have my own message, right?

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I'm a steward herald. I I proclaim it and give an appeal witness It does something in me and so they should see a preacher's humility and experience father preachers love and gentleness servant a preacher's power and motive

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Mmm, that's one of my favorite little books on preaching because it doesn't tell you how to preach it just tell you what a preacher

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Should look like well, I think you know, even from that brief introduction. It also gives you kind of an idea of How he should be thinking about himself

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Right, I mean you know if We've said this before but if if what

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I'm going to preach hasn't impacted me during the week Why would I expect it's going to impact anybody on Sunday morning

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Steve? I'm sure we've said it dozens of times The sooner in the week are the earlier in the week where we have that I don't want to call it encounter, but that just those those moments before the

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Lord where we think Thank you Lord for this message and I repent I'm sorry, please forgive me

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I want to live this out better Whatever those moments are based on the passage if that happens on a

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Tuesday, it's better than on a Saturday night Well the even when you say that, you know, sometimes Because I'm one listeners understand that when we're going when we're prepping it's not always negative, right?

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A lot of times we're just like we're going man. That's good I can't wait to say that on Sunday morning or you know, this is exciting, right?

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So, I mean there there are the moments of conviction. Yes, there are moments of I I don't even

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I'm This is a positive moment where it's like, I don't you know if I can adequately express

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How how much this motivates me how exciting this is what a great Savior we have in Jesus Christ You know

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There are times where you just like like you say you want to get into your three -point stance It's like there aren't enough stances, you know, it's like for now for Steve's gonna do four -point stances now.

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He's a nose guard Yeah, I mean you're just so fired up. You're like, oh man Can can we just skip all the opening songs and all that other stuff and let's just get to the sermon man

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I'm ready When I felt that way a little bit on Sunday Steve in Colossians 2 I've been doing chapter by chapter just big picture and I really

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I could probably slow down some of course But what I loved is for instance in chapter 2 verse 15

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He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him

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And I've just taken in my study by well, Jesus Jesus just destroyed them and he it was a triumph

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It's this Roman triumph, but I didn't have to I didn't have to go into a sermon What about first Peter 3 and where'd he go and what happened and everything else?

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It's just no what Paul is trying to say is you're worshiping possible angel aeons this that and the other no

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No, Jesus is the one who did it all and he's the one who at the cross and I just think oh man

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I'm excited to talk about it. I just can't wait to get into it. Yeah Okay, here's what you didn't know

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Steve. Okay. I know I did not know it either. Mm -hmm. This book is an expansion of the 1961 series delivered at Fuller Theological Cemetery Those were the days

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Those were the days my friend, you know, if you know if When you think about an alternate history, right if Fuller hadn't gone off the rails

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You know, you and I could have you and I could have gone there I mean right because maybe Master's Seminary never comes into existence

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John's it's like, you know what Fuller's a great seminary. Everybody should just go there Steve we could have had our degrees there.

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Yeah. Yeah, I Remember I was at Master's Seminary and at the time, you know You love your school and all that stuff and you got to be true to your school

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Masters was the best master. I mean, why would I go to something? That wasn't the best and I remember meeting a guy maybe either

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Personally are through my brother's conversation. Well, what school do you think? You know, how did you pick

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Masters? you know what went through your mind well, you know, I live in Southern, California and Didn't know whether to go to Masters or Fuller and I don't know.

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I just picked Masters. It was closer We couldn't believe this guy Wow Wow, I mean that was it, right?

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Yeah, it was kind of equidistant, you know, I sort of lived in I Don't know. What would that be

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Burbank or something right Glendale, you know, and he's like, yeah could have been either way So funny

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Machen. So good. I was like I was trying to figure out which way the traffic would be better Gresham Machen wisely said we must do our utmost to give people good reasons why they should believe

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But it is the Holy Spirit who opens their minds to attend to the evidence Talk about that a little bit.

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I mean What's our role as a pastor as a preacher what are our limitations what can't we do but what must we do?

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Well, I think even what Machen's saying there. I think we talked about it maybe recently but you know this whole idea of I Want to make things in the text as explicit as I can but when it comes to how

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And each person should have it applied to them how you know How it should if I were to use another term how it should afflict them comfort them

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Encourage them exhort them Whatever. However, it's going to impact them in in toto

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That's not my job. That's the Holy Spirit's job. My job is to present it accurately with Enthusiasm right and and to really press all the truths that I can, you know muster with my meager faculties from the

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Word of God upon them and then It's up to the Holy Spirit after that Amen Stott writes in the

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Herald chapter After three months ministry in the synagogue Paul withdrew and argued daily in the hall of Tyrannus Some manuscripts adding from the fifth hour to the tenth for two years a

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Daily five -hour lecture throughout two years. That's a that's a lot that works out

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Stott says that over 25 ,000 hours of gospel preaching No wonder we read in verse 10 that as a result all the residents of Asia heard the word of the

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Lord both Jews and Greeks man Attend 25 ,000 hours, how do we do that?

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Can you imagine you know a Sunday school? I have you done 25 ,000 hours of teaching an entire life, right? Well, I mean, you know again, it gets all the more remarkable because you know, what would

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Paul be arguing from? The Old Testament, right, right so that and you just go hmm.

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Well, maybe he was just sticking with a few texts You know Genesis 3 15 and just a few other texts precious few texts that definitely point to Jesus Only the ones that say types are types.

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Yeah, I know All right, here's here's a good quote in the father section like the

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Pastor is supposed to be fatherly, right? You want the people to learn and to grow and this has nothing to do with don't call anybody father, you know

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If it's his attitude, it's not his office preaching involves a personal relationship between preacher and congregation the preacher is not like an actor who

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Declaims from the stage while the audience remains spectators Nor is he only a herald shouting his proclamation from the housetops while people remain unknown to him and he to them he is a father to his children they belong to each other and Before during and after the sermon the preacher is or should be conscientious of this relationship in which he's involved

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Tell us a little bit about that Steve, especially in light of Some folks maybe they who even listen here

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On the radio it seemed like their favorite preachers somebody they don't even know The favorite preacher is somebody online their favorite preacher isn't even their own preacher

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You know, I I want to just say this that sometimes, you know, I mean I I'm gonna go a little far afield here.

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Sometimes, you know, are there times where I think I Don't like the laws here.

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I don't like the weather here I don't like this that the other thing in Massachusetts. Yeah, but the end and then

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I just think could I ever move? well, first of all, you know, we have seven grandkids here, but Secondly, I just think

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I love the people at this church, right? I I I don't want to leave them

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So, I mean, I think I think there has to be that kind of Let's just say familial bond, right?

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I mean you just have a genuine love and I mean, so what is that? What does that include?

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well It includes the fact that when things are going poorly for them or when they're hurting or when they're struggling.

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I Feel that burden. I I feel that pain and I and I share it with them and when things are going well, you know

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I mean, it's like rejoice with those who rejoice weep with those who weep and but it's like that on steroids so true and I'm glad you brought the positive side to which things happen to people and for people that are good and They are material blessings in in their lives from the hand of God we're happy for them.

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Yes It's like wow, you got that raised you got that promotion. You have that grandchild you got to go on that vacation

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You know, that's wonderful Steve I Read this little quote in that same section by stop.

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He said the Pharisees love to make the common people kowtow to them Hmm do you think maybe some seminaries at the risk of saying exe

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Jesus drives everything and Don't exegete the congregation I'm not

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I don't exegete the congregation. But at what point during your study time Do you think I'm really preaching to the people at BBC and they've just lost their husband.

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They just got diagnosed with this In your own study in preparation in acts at what point?

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Do you start thinking that way if you do? Well, I do and I mean sometimes sometimes it just hits you when you're up there preaching

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See, that's what I was gonna say that's when that happens to me the most and and you're looking out of the congregation you see a face and you just kind of you know, you have a twinge either of excitement or pain, you know or sympathy or whatever because You you know, it's just odd that the kind of things that go through your mind while you're preaching

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Sometimes you're like, how do I even stay on track, you know with all the things that are kind of popping into my head and So and that's even more for you because you have more neurons but you know what

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I just can't have more protons I just You know, there are times where you just have to kind of remind yourself.

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I mean sometimes I'll find myself almost like Having having my breath taken away by an emotion, you know, and then

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I just have to kind of remind myself, okay, I Can't do that right now. I can't feel that right now.

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I can't look at that and sometimes I'll dare I'll confess there have been times where I've seen somebody and I just go

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I can't look that way again during the True. Yeah, and sometimes I say to myself

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I've got a message from the scripture and it's something maybe Like even Colossians 3 about sexual sin and put this away and you know beat, you know

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This, you know die to this kind of thing And then I know somebody who's in sexual sin or who's been struggling with it or something like that sometimes

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I almost don't want to look at him because I just want them I'm not like calling him out with my eyes and so I Can't look at them for that reason because I just think you know what?

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I'm just gonna let the word do its work and if they think I'm looking at I'm fine But I'm not gonna stare him down. Yeah, it's not like I'm just gonna reach up and grab the spotlight and put it right on that person.

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So, you know, it'll be really subtle I don't want you know in light of Stott's comment.

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I don't want people to kowtow to me. I don't want people to think okay even here comes another sermon where he just gonna it's just gonna be an assault of just how could you and why don't you live up to this and Conviction only fine preach the law preach conviction talk about repentance

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But there needs to be this comfort on the other side of the the bruised reed stuff, right? And and I think you know getting back to the kowtow thing

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I think there's a sense in which you know, sometimes and you you've I know you've had this but sometimes you just kind of You feel the spirit attending you and you think that was a really good message and you get down people are talking to you

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And they say, you know, that was a great message, you know I don't want

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I I mean I don't it's not that I object to people saying that was a great sermon or whatever

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But I'm always like I just keep in mind who I am. I think it's good to have that mindset, right?

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I don't want people kowtowing to me because The message was only you know

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That's not from me it's from the Lord and I Just I'm thankful that I'm able to do that.

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But I'm like don't ever think that I'm some great anything because I Just study and I do what

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I do and I don't do it as well as I should and you know I mean the Lord knows the

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Lord knows Steve and he's like, you know I mean, it would be very interesting if the Lord Jesus was standing next to me and and he could just go well

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You know, it wasn't really that good That would probably help me a lot

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Steve isn't it interesting to think with Sinclair Ferguson when he said, you know, sing like you're holding to him

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Jesus no, let's flip it around How should pastors preach if they they know

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Jesus is in the front row? Oh, man Right. Okay. Jesus is sitting there. And so we're gonna get up and just talk about it, you know

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Oh the congregation just wants more practical application and five easy steps and seven seven ways and Three how -tos and you think there's

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Jesus sitting there. I skimmed through this sermon the other day because this This guy

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I won't give too many details, but I I I just know him vaguely and I thought oh Here's a sermon by him.

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And so I I sort of skimmed through it and I just thought If you're whole if you're preaching for an hour on one verse a

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It better be a great verse Be you better be a great preacher And it was a great verse.

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Yeah, it was a great amount of time. Yes, it was Yeah, and I it was a great scold

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And it and I just thought that's kind of a shame, you know It's it took a lot to get the the scold mentality out of my brain part of it was the book of Hebrews and part

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Of it was you know having somebody say have prostate cancer and I realized you know, what do

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I need just to be scolded more? Well, then why would I school the people? Isn't this some means of grace aren't you trying to lift up the

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Lord Jesus and doesn't that? Help with both conviction because you're you you're out of gratitude wanting to obey one that would love you

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So I just think you know what I'm not doing that anymore I'm not scolding people like that.

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Maybe it comes across that way. Oh, I know what I was gonna say Steve. I was preaching on Sunday and I did almost have kind of one of those out of body out of Body experiences where I just thought

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I was almost like watching myself and I could see the spit I stopped that bike.

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It was like I was a foot behind me and I'm like, what am I doing? and of course, you know me better than most and I I I'm just a regular person and I've got big problems, but it's like when you step up there and I had studied

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I knew what I wanted to say I knew it was gonna be Christ -centered and it's like remember Mark MacArthur used to say to his dad

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John, you know, John You're just kind of a regular person. You can't even hardly fix a car But when you get up in the pulpit something happens

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Yeah, and it's because it's the Word of God and the Spirit of God through a man of God, right? Right, and and you know even talk about the scolding thing

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You know We were talking about earlier about how the Bible affects you as you're as you're studying and you're preparing and everything

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And sometimes it it it kind of does beat you down a little bit, right? Because you realize all the ways you fall short, but what do you wind up doing?

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You think? Ultimately you think yes, I am a sinner I'm a great sinner, but thankfully

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I have a great Savior and that is the right then mindset to step into the pulpit and say

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You know, basically we all fall short of the glory of God Yeah, so true, but thanks be to to God that we have a great

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Savior Steve I was reading Colossians 3 this morning and I think three times it talks about being thankful Showing thankfulness, whatever you do word or deed give thanks to God the

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Father through Christ, etc Of course you could preach that are you a thankful people? Well, you know, why aren't you thankful about this that and the other and then probably shouldn't you at the end say?

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Well, let me give you some reasons to be thankful Yeah, it's not a bad idea Luther is quoted in the preacher's portrait in the father section

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Luther said no one can be a good preacher to the people who is not willing to preach in a manner that seems childish and vulgar to some

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It's almost like you're you don't have to preach to the Academy It's not a seminary class.

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You've got eighth grade young people there. You've got five -year -olds Yeah, but you can't leave out all the you know

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Greek phrases and what they what they actually mean in the original Latin. I'm Okay, Jerome See, I tweeted the other day

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Preaching should not sound like a commentary Yes Then the little gift that I put in there was when Shaq dunked on a guy and then pushed him down on the ground afterwards and and Yeah, you know what we call that Thursday, I mean

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I was just in the day, right? Over Shaq. I know. Yeah, this is the running commentary stuff.

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You know, I was asked by the class here the preaching class Well, how do I know what to cut out?

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Yeah, and Basically, I said to them cut out more than you think you should Yeah, I mean what

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I what I would say as we talk about this all the time. How does it preach and You know if people are honest with themselves they go.

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Well, yeah, it doesn't really kind of preach It doesn't really fit into what I'm talking about. Anyway, well then cut it loose

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You know and and I mean, why are we preaching? We want to extol Christ and so what if people don't think we're smart because we didn't give them, you know

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This is a word study and it's a hotbox and it's only used one time and this that and the other like, okay

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Am I trying to try trying to tell you that I'm smart? Is that my main goal? I want you to know that I'm smart.

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Yeah, this has to do with the ancient practice of Hydroponic gardening gardening and you're just like what they did that when you know, it's very impressive

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Probably because I'm just a goofball half the time, but I really have tried to think Steve to myself now

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I'm seeing the Ferrara kids sitting there I'm seeing the Kranz children sitting there and I look at them.

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This is getting back to because that's half of our church They don't sit in the overflow room because they wouldn't all fit right and so just kidding

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And and I didn't maybe I didn't think about them when I was prepping preparing But then standing up looking

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Right. That's why I think preaching to people is a lot better than to a camera during the whole code Oh, man, and all of a sudden you go.

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Oh and I want to try to explain things to children I remember my kids when they were younger they say dad, you know

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You were talking about first Corinthians 15 about Paul is mocking death. Where's your victory?

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Where's your sting? And then I said something like, you know If you're playing baseball and you say to the person who's up to bat a better a better a better swing are on the playground

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Nana Nana Nana and like dad, what were you doing that for that was cut and I said cuz I'm trying to preach to the children to Everybody needs to hear it right?

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Everybody needs to be able to understand something, right? I mean if you Could we maybe

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I I don't know you could some people could you know preach at such a high level where?

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Everybody in the classroom needs to have advanced degrees great super But then again, not so super because why are you doing that?

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Okay last comment on this book in the father section Stott says this and then

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I want your comments, please Steve We shall need to spend most of our time expounding the central themes of the gospel the more abstruse matters of prophecy

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Questions of a controversial or speculative character we can well afford to leave on one side mean

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People get Interested in or fascinated really shall we say by things that are of secondary tertiary

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I Don't even know what quad what with the fourth level fifth level I mean and and the reality is we need to hear the gospel

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We need to be reminded of you know, the things that are of primary importance first importance. That's what Paul talked about, right?

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And When we study the New Testament the Old Testament all of it, what's it mostly about?

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Loving God loving neighbor, right? Understanding who we genuinely are that we're fallen creatures, you know

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It's all the things that are really ultimately contained and in the gospel and then fruits of the gospel

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So, yeah, I think we need to focus on those things Steve some people when you've been to the

26:34

Bible studies before back in Los Angeles Every lesson is end times. Oh, yeah, by the way that packs out

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Conferences and time stuff. Oh, yeah, I get requests from people a lot of times. Could we do it in times conference?

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We do prophecy conference people at no co -write and say Mike What are your views on eschatology because you don't really say the

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Lord's return? Hey, just look at 1689 that's what I believe in teach people at church

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You know, what? What do you really believe about these end time things? They don't know really where I stand well

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I want to know if they Understand where we stand as a church and where I stand as a preacher and you as an elder

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Steve when it comes to law gospel distinction who Jesus is gospel what

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God commands Third use of the law duplex gratia Christ Center preaching. I don't want anybody at the church to go.

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Where do they stand on that? And I think Stott would be happy Extremely happy and and I I mean when you look at if you pick up eschatology books

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Even people who say that they agree on eschatology They they pretty quickly you know veer away from each other because everybody has a slightly different take on this that or the other thing and Ultimately all those things are going to I'm not gonna say pan out.

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They're gonna shake out, right? I mean, we we don't know what the now. I don't think anybody really knows what the eschatology how it's all.

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Oh, yes We do Steve. It's all that. Okay. Well, maybe you do. I'm not that smart. I can't figure those things out

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Should you study eschatology? Sure. Should you read books on it fine? But we're just we're just talking a couple men here in front of our if I go to most people's homes

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They probably have six books on eschatology for every book on the gospel and that and that's wrong.

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Oh Okay, very interesting Well today we talked about preachers and what they should do

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Pray for your pastors pray for your preachers if you teach your children the Bible this would this would be insightful

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Like like if you're a father, shouldn't you preach to them with fatherly care? Absolutely. How could you well,

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I mean model these things I mean this I I yeah, I think most people could benefit greatly from that book

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Amen, my cave and Arthur with pastor Steve Cooley at the Tuesday guy, and this is no compromise radio.