Preaching

In a previous post, I challenged you to consider how you're living life ... aimlessly or on purpose? The challenge was taken from these words of the apostle Paul: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). For those of us who are in the communication business, I'd like to reframe the challenge: are you an aimless communicator? I'm not sure how many sermons, presentations, or classes I've sat through in my lifetime. My guess is, I've…

As a church, we've been working our way through 1 Corinthians -- Paul's prescription for this new community called the church. On this blog, I've taken a part of chapter nine and looked at it through the lens of a communicator. One important lesson we can learn is the principle of communicating with self-control: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). I love Paul's line: "Every athlete exercises self-control in all things." Communicating with self-control is…

We've been looking at Paul's challenge to the Corinthian church through the eyes of a communicator. Here's the passage: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to win the prize. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). If you are paid to persuade, inform, or transform, let me ask you this: are you preparing in such a way as to win the prize? In other words, are you doing everything possible to be the best possible communicator? Communicators are no different than other…

At Opportunity Camp, several of the little campers would come up to me and ask, "Kensley, do you get nervous up on stage?" Standing in front of 140 kids ranging in age from 7-14 does not make me nervous. Afraid, terrified but not nervous. Just kidding ... I'm not all that terrified except when they are holding objects that can be thrown at the stage. But that's not I told them. Instead, I told them that I'm comfortable from having down it so much that I don't get all that nervous any more. "How did you get comfortable?" By doing it. That's the advice I give to any young person contemplating public speaking. Just start doing it. I have found that the only way to get comfortable in front of a crowd is to start standing in front of a crowd. If you're still breathing when it's all over, that…