Telling the Story: An Interview with Randy Frazee

Randy Frazee is the senior minister at Oak Hill's Church in San Antonio, Texas, where he serves alongside Max Lucado. A pastor for 25 years, he is the author of several books, including his most recent volume, The Heart of the Story. He recently visited with Executive Editor Michael Duduit.

Seeing Scripture Through the Prism of Application

Bob Russell is one of the finest practitioners of application in preaching. In Dave Stone's book Refining Your Style (Group), there's a brief interview with Bob in which he talks about his approach to application: "The ideal for me is about half Bible teaching and half application. I say, 'Here's the point. Here's what happened to King David. Now do you see how this applies to your life? Here's what this Scripture says about people in the workplace. You see how this applies to your life?' Then pretty soon, the people in the pews start anticipating that. They start looking at the Bible through a different prism because they're seeing how it's going to apply.

Return to Book Series?

In a recent post on his blog, Pastor Brady Boyd observed: "About a year ago, I underwent a philosophical shift in the way I preach each week. For years, I was a part of a world that primarily taught sermon series on various topics for four to six weeks, each series complete with a cool logo, title and sermon bumper (the trendy video that plays right before the pastor magically appears on stage)...

The 100 Largest Churches

Outreach has released its annual list of the 100 largest churches in America, and it includes 39 churches with 10,000 or more in weekly attendance. The smallest of the 100 churches averages just under 6,000 a week. (Seven of the churches have pastors who are on the Preaching Board of Contributing Editors. Just sayin'...)

Worshipless Preaching

In his new book Preaching as Worship (Baker), Michael Quicke shares several characteristics of what he calls Myopic Preaching and concludes: "Worshipless sermons are the sad and inevitable outcome of myopic preaching. Theologically thin, spiritually disconnected, empty of God, silent about His grace, self-satisfied and self-oriented, such sermons are devoid of worship. This is partly because the preachers themselves lack awe and wonder at their part in God's call and response."

Walking on Water

In the gospel story, Jesus and Peter walked on water. What is this bizarre story all about? Modern enlightened readers may have some difficulty with the credibility of stories of people walking on water. This couldn't be true. Although incredible, stories of people walking on water are not all that rare. Not long ago, I watched the illusionist Chris Angel on "Mindfreak" walk across a Las Vegas swimming pool. It just meant he could place clear plexiglass just under the surface and fool people into thinking he was like Jesus. More recently, the British illusionist Dynamo walked across the River Thames. I even read that Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, and some of his disciples could walk on waterwell, with hidden planks under the water.

Understanding Your Preaching Style

One of the most interesting and practical preaching books I've seen in some time is Refining Your Style: Learning from Respected Communicators (Group) by Dave Stone. Dave, who shares preaching responsibilities with Bob Russell at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, has identified 13 communication styles that characterize preachers. He cites the Creative Storyteller, Direct Spokesperson, Scholarly Analytic, Revolutionary Leader, Engaging Humorist, Convincing Apologist, Inspiring Orator, Practical Applicator, Persuasive Motivator, Passionate Teacher, Relevant Illustrator, Cultural Prophet and Unorthodox Artist.

Proclaiming Grace

In a brief article at the Covenant Seminary website, Bryan Chapell says: "In our day, two opposing forces challenge the effective proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The first well-documented foe of the gospel is the erosion of authority. The philosophies of subjectivism have joined hands with the skeptics of transcendent truth to create a cultural climate antagonistic toward any authority..."