Mandy Smith

A few months ago, I had the chance to interview Bob Russell, former senior pastor at Southeast Christian, about his new role mentoring younger preachers. In my final question, I asked, "What final words would you like to say to preachers?" Bob didn't hesitate as he said, "Preach with joy. Do the people listening to you think, This preacher really has good news to share?" I describe Bob's advice with two words: joyful urgency. Some preachers are urgent, but they don't convey joy. Other preachers seem joyful, but the urgent message of Christ's lordship doesn't seem urgent to the listener. So I try to ask myself, "Am I preaching with joyful urgency?" Of course, this involves much more than what Mandy Smith calls the "information transfer" approach to preaching. It involves addressing the will and emotions of our listeners. And it involves having our wills confronted and emotions charged with the message of God's Word that we bring to our people.

With that in mind, we're kicking off a series of preaching skills articles on preaching and emotions, or the emotional life of the preacher. This week, we offer Mandy Smith's fine article "The Emotionally Honest Preacher." Mandy won't leave you with a string of practical steps, but she sure asks a lot of hard-but-good questions. Like this one: "Are we willing to risk a whole-person engagement—mind, body, spirit, heart—with the whole person of God? And let our sermons be glimpses into that adventure?"

Geoff Chang

Also, we finish out our two-part series on Jonah (this time on Jonah 3-4) with Geoff Chang. I really appreciate Geoff's simple but exegetically-rich approach to the text. He also writes and speaks with a great deal of clarity. Here's a challenging thought from Geoff's sermon: "[Jonah] thought that God and the universe existed for him and his family and his nation: 'Why else would God have saved me and blessed me?' But as soon as God does something that is inconsistent with that worldview, everything is turned upside down for Jonah." Can anyone besides me relate to that?

Also, check out these new resources:

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• Featured Skills Article: The Emotionally Honest Preacher

Matt Woodley
Editor, PreachingToday.com
mwoodley@christianitytoday.com

Matt Woodley is the pastor of compassion ministries at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois.