PREACHER'S NOTES

Like most of my good ideas, this one was born in the mind of another person.  Preachers and preaching have been a part of my life for fifty years (which happens to be the same number of years I have been alive)!  The earliest memories I have are hearing my Father, and numerous other preachers proclaim the Word of God.  The only thing I have ever wanted to do is preach.  It has been a wonderful blessing for me to be able to attempt to preach the Word of God since 1973.  My closest friends have been preachers. They have encouraged me, inspired me, and challenged me to be a better preacher.  I have a genuine love, respect and admiration for men who have given their lives to the proclamation of the unsearchable riches of Christ.  

My dream is to spend the second half of my life encouraging preachers, especially the young guys. The goal of this series is to assist young men who are preaching to have a deeper understanding of what it means to preach.  For those who read this blog who are not preachers, please bear with us once a week as we attempt to encourage preachers.  This series of posts will appear here on, “Thoughts From the Mound” each Friday morning, and will include a brief introduction of the preacher, as well as notes from a sermon he has preached.  We will ask the preacher of the week to share with us the actual notes he carried into the pulpit with him when he preached the sermon.  Some of the preachers will be preachers who are deceased. Others will be men who have been preaching for many, many years.  Some will be household names (depending on where you live), while others will be lesser know, but great preachers. It is our goal to see how these wonderful men of God prepare and deliver their messages.

You will find different styles and I believe you will enjoy the various styles. Some of these men preach from manuscripts, others write much less. The goal is to show preachers the different ways that preachers work and hopefully encourage them in the preaching task. So if you're a preacher, an aspiring preacher or you're someone who enjoys good preaching, I hope you'll enjoy this series. The first installment in this series will be next week.  Get ready to hear about, "A Preacher's Preacher!"

Personal Note:  Many of you who read this blog will have already heard that Lindsey Warren passed away late this afternoon.  Lindsey was a dear friend and a great man of God! He was as kind and genuine as any man I have ever known. When we were living in the OKC area he was a part of a special fraternity of preachers who were very close. We ate many meals together, we made long road trips together (only a handful of men will remember, "Let me be the first to wish you a Happy Halloween! or the chocolate cookie incident), we celebrated holidays together with our families and we spent countless hours discussing the work of the Lord, as well as the preaching of the Gospel.  Please pray for his dear wife, Susan and their wonderful son, Bart.  A prince of a man and a giant among us has fallen. With the passing of Lindsey Warren, our dear friend and brother in the Lord, there is a void in our hearts.