PREACHING: THE FEAR AND THE FORTUNE

Nothing scares me more than what I love to do most.  That's so paradoxical it most likely is of God.

My childhood of getting nothing out of church attendance greatly influences me still.  Surely it was because I was a kid--an antsy one at that--but the pastor in long robes with a pulpit presence discussing Almighty Gawud in monotone was not enough to keep me focused.  Would it EVER end? 

Eternity felt like it would be so long as I equated going to heaven with going to church.  The 10,000 years song seemed more like a threat than a blessing.  The 1000 years as a day passage was easy for a youngster to interpret for I had spent thousands of  years at church by the time I was in my mid-teens.

It is not surprising, therefore, that every assembly where I am to speak carries with it the need to organize my spiraling and orbiting nerves.  What if the listeners are bored? never escapes my thoughts.  The assignment scared me last week and dis-ease has already set in for tomorrow.  I suffer from the plague of fear.

My fortune is that I get to preach the Word.  There is no better opportunity for me.  What a life!

The secret is never in my nerve order.  It is always and only in the exposure of any audience to the Word.  Tomorrow is such an opportunity.  God has given me a series of verses, that once connected, have a tremendous message of hope. 

Here is a copy of my notes for in the morning:

1. Ex. 31:1-5
2. Ex. 32:7-20
3. Ex. 33:12-20

• I Chron. 1611
• II Chron.  7:14
• Isa. 6:1-8
• Die? Take up cross
• Increase/decrease
• Hebr. 12:18-24

That only stands unless/until He adjusts it....and likely He will.

I know it sounds strange, but I tell my friends that I cannot wait to hear what I have to say!  I never mean such from a platform of arrogance for, with certainty, I am the most nothing person I ever met.  With confidence in the Spirit, I reference the penetrating power of Word Explosion upon good hearts who wish to hear of profound news; Good News.

Week by week I follow the same equation: if I haven't learned anything from God this week why would I think I would cause those in front of me to learn anything? 

Tomorrow morning.....I will be filled with appropriate fear and appreciative fortune.  Yippee!