The Wanderer

A temporarily broken silence, as I wanted to get this news out in good time, especially for friends in the US: the publisher Solid Ground Christian Books is facing some financial rockiness, having already undertaken some belt-tightening maneouvres. As part of their response, they have put some existing stock up for sale at excellent prices, together with offering free postage in the US to anyone ordering more than $20 today (at least, they had at last time of looking).

Some of their newer and upcoming material is outstanding: for example, the excellent Prayer of a Broken Heart by Robert Candlish, a study of Psalm 51; or, the great work of that proto-Puritan, William Perkins, A Golden Chain: The Description of Theology.

Furthermore, there are outstanding deals to be had on works printed longer back: Eadie’s commentaries on the New Testament (all five for $64.95); W. G. T. Shedd’s sermons and other works dirt cheap; the complete Works of Thomas Manton (a beautiful edition) for only £239.95 and a host of other treasures.

If you are looking for some good material for a gift, some books for a pastor, some volumes for a church library, or even a good deal on good Christian literature, you would be helping out a good work by considering an order with Solid Ground.

On Thursday I was introduced to something called Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome. It was the kind of introduction favoured by rapacious man-eating lions when they spot the Great White Hunter walking unarmed and unawares through a field of long grass: unexpected, sudden, and violent.

At present, I am in something shy of mint condition. I should be grateful for your prayers. I hope to be back in better shape before long, God willing.

David Murray set against Kevin DeYoung.

They are not at odds, but by being the former you are often accused of the latter, and when being the former you can easily slide into the latter. Embrace the one; resist the other (not personally, of course).

I am sure it has been around for years, and I have just missed it, but – inspired by the current game in which the Netherlands are in danger of taking England apart in the World Cup – I just came across this excellent, simple explanation of the game of cricket:

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out. When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

See? Perfectly straightforward.

Glimpses of the Inner Life of Our Lord & The Emotions of Jesus

William G. Blaikie & Robert Law

Tentmaker Publications, 1995, 114pp & 76pp., cloth

ISBN 1 899003 12 6

There are not many works that deal sensitively and Scripturally with the emotional life of Christ, but these stand high in the ranks. Blaikie is perhaps a little less speculative than Law, but both works are grounded in Biblical revelation, and avoid flights of fancy. The style is of its time, but not overly florid, rather well-developed and rich. Time and again the reader must simply sit back and bow the head, adoring again the God-man so faithfully and fully presented in these pages, and pleading with God to be conformed to his image. Profoundly devotional while spiritually purifying and demanding, any sincere believer would find these works of great profit, and elders will find themselves thoroughly stimulated for pastoral and pulpit ministry. Both these volumes, published together by Tentmaker, are now available independently of each other in paperback. Either, but perhaps especially Blaikie, would be worth having.

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• Tentmaker
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Dying to Preach: Embracing the Cross in the Pulpit

Steven W. Smith

Kregel, 2010, 176pp., paperback, $14.99

ISBN 978-0-8254-3897-4

This author issues a passionate and persuasive plea to preachers that they must embrace the cross in their pastoral ministry, dying to self so that others might live in imitation of Christ and, following the Lord, Paul. Relying heavily on Paul’s words to the Corinthian church, Smith calls for what he calls “surrendered communication,” demanding with homiletical neatness that the preacher ignite, invite, identify and imitate in his worked-out union with a crucified Saviour. Then, relying heavily on Francois Fénelon’s rhetorical theory, he speaks of surrendering to the text, to the audience, and to the task of preaching. At its heart, this brief volume pleads with preachers to leave questions of preaching style where they belong, and focus on one’s philosophy (we might prefer ‘theology’ here) of preaching. In the lively language of an earnest man, Smith elaborates on this theme, drawing in his helps from a wide range of sources. Although there are Spiritual dynamics to the act of preaching that might be more clearly addressed, and some possible overstatements that might be born of his conviction, this is an excellent, truly challenging volume. Younger preachers who have been ministering for a few years might especially profit from subjecting themselves to the vigorous spiritual probing that Smith provides, asking whether or not we are faithful to the pattern of Christ, and the pattern of Paul, in our embrace of plain truth, plainly spoken, speaking of a crucified Ransomer in a crucified style because we follow our crucified Lord.

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A day or so ago I posted Carey’s commandments in a form supplied by Ray Ortlund. I subsequently discovered that he has condensed a digest of a longer document, the Serampore Contract of 1805. This was a “Form of Agreement respecting the great principles upon which the Brethren of the Mission at Serampore think it is their duty to act in the work of instructing the heathen” and is a relatively concise and dense statement of their priorities and duties. When reading their own language, you realise how these men were at once of their time and ahead of it (a point lost a little in Ray’s otherwise helpful update of the language). So, here is a digest of the longer piece, which I would still recommend.

The Redeemer, in planting us in this heathen nation, rather than in any other, has imposed upon us the cultivation of peculiar qualifications. Upon these points we think it right to fix our serious and abiding attention.

First. In order to be prepared for our great and solemn work, it is absolutely necessary that we set an infinite value upon immortal souls; that we often endeavour to affect our minds with the dreadful loss sustained by an unconverted soul launched into eternity.

Secondly. It is very important that we should gain all the information we can of the snares and delusions in which these heathens are held. By this means we shall be able to converse with them in an intelligible manner.

Thirdly. It is necessary, in our intercourse with the Hindoos, that, as far as we are able, we abstain from those things which would increase their prejudices against the Gospel. Those parts of English manners which are most offensive to them should be kept out of sight as much as possible. [For example,] we should avoid every degree of cruelty to animals.

Fourthly. It becomes us to watch all opportunities of doing good. We are apt to relax in these active exertions, especially in a warm climate; but we shall do well always to fix it in our minds, that life is short, that all around us are perishing, and that we incur a dreadful woe if we proclaim not the glad tidings of salvation.

Fifthly. In preaching to the heathen, we must keep to the example of Paul, and make the great subject of our preaching, Christ the Crucified. It is a well-know fact that the most successful missionaries in the world at the present day make the atonement of Christ their theme.

Sixthly. It is absolutely necessary that the natives should have an entire confidence in us, and feel quite at home in our company. To gain this confidence we must on all occasions be willing to hear their complaints; we must give them kindest advice.

Seventhly. Another important part of our work is to build up, and watch over, the souls that may be gathered. A real missionary becomes in a sense a father to his people.

Eighthly. It is only by means of native preachers that we can hope for the universal spread of the Gospel throughout this immense continent. We think it our duty, as soon as possible, to advise the native brethren who may be formed into separate churches, to choose their pastors and deacons from their own countrymen.

Ninthly. It becomes us also to labor with all our might in forwarding translations of the sacred Scriptures in the languages of Hindoostan. The establishment of native free schools is also an object highly important to the future conquests of the Gospel.

Tenthly. That which, as a means is to fit us for the discharge of these laborious and unutterably important labours, is the being instant in prayer, and the cultivation of personal religion. Let each one of us lay it upon his heart that we will seek to be fervent in spirit, wrestling with God, till He famish these idols and cause the heathen to experience the blessedness that is in Christ.

Finally. Let us give ourselves up unreservedly to this glorious cause. Let us never think that our time, our gifts, our strength, our families, or even the clothes we wear, are our own. To keep these ideas alive in our minds, we resolve that this Agreement shall be read publicly, at every station, at our three annual meetings, viz., on the first Lord’s day in January, in May, and October.

Ray Ortlund passes along William Carey’s directives for missionary labour. You may be interested to read the longer version, which casts more light on the men who wrote it.

1. Set an infinite value on immortal souls.

2. Gain all the information you can about “the snares and delusions in which these heathens are held.”

3. Abstain from all English manners which might increase prejudice against the gospel.

4. Watch for all opportunities for doing good, even when you are tired and hot.

5. Make Christ crucified the great subject of your preaching.

6. Earn the people’s confidence by your friendship.

7. Build up the souls that are gathered.

8. Turn the work over to “the native brethren” as soon as possible.

9. Work with all your might to translate the Bible into their languages. Build schools to this end.

10. Stay alert in prayer, wrestling with God until he “famish these idols and cause the heathen to experience the blessedness that is in Christ.”

11. Give yourself totally to this glorious cause. Surrender your time, gifts, strength, families, the very clothes you wear.

Listed in Christian History, Issue 36, page 34.

It does not take much to translate these as principles into any time and place. It takes a vast amount of love and humility to translate them as our practice into every time and place.

Andrew Fuller: Model Pastor-Theologian

Paul Brewster

B&H Publishing Group, 2010, 224pp., paperback, £15.75 / $24.99

ISBN 978-0805449822

Among the most significant Baptist theologians of the past 300 years, Andrew Fuller is slowly developing the reputation and garnering the attention he deserves. Paul Brewster’s study of Fuller as pastor-theologian will only contribute to this momentum. Brewster, himself what some call a ‘reverend doctor’ (a phrase Fuller would have loathed from his soul), contends that Baptists need more men who – like Fuller – combine an earnest and faithful pastor’s heart with orthodox and profound theological acumen. To encourage this, he puts Fuller in his context, then considers his theological method (this chapter is particularly strong and fresh), his soteriology (intelligently discussing Fuller’s commitment to substitutionary atonement alongside his use of governmental language), and his pastoral practice (including his evangelistic and missionary labours). The author’s concluding sketch of Fuller as pastor-theologian shows that Brewster is no mere hagiographer, but an insightful and careful student as he gives us a sympathetic but carefully nuanced portrait of this man of God. Brewster’s style can be a little workmanlike at times, and one might take careful issue with his contention that Fuller opened the door to radical and unhealthy changes in Baptist theology (other, stronger currents feeding this stream can be identified). Nevertheless, pastors would be well-served to consider the model presented here, and Brewster’s cogent plea to embrace and pursue it. Any servant of God seeking the means and a pattern for the establishment and exercise of an accurate and active theology might profitably start here.

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Baptist Autographs in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 1741-1845

Transcribed and ed. Timothy D. Whelan

Mercer University Press, 2010, 522pp., cloth, $55 / £48.95

ISBN 978-0881461442

The ‘accidental’ discovery of a few letters by the editor of this volume led to further burrowing into the archives of the John Rylands University Library, eventually bringing to light some 300 letters sent within the Baptist community from 1741 to 1845, the vast majority previously unpublished. Diving in, we enter worlds at once strange and familiar, displaying a whole range of theological, ecclesiastical, and domestic concerns across a fascinating and seminal one hundred years of denominational history. In this, the volume transcends the merely academic sphere, and sheds light on a swathe of issues of principle and practice, both seemingly prosaic and indisputably significant. Although many letters involve luminaries such as John Sutcliff (prominently), Andrew Fuller, John Gill, the senior and junior Rylands, William Carey, William Knibb, Joseph Ivimey and John Rippon, there are hosts of less well-known men and women represented, plus non-Baptists such as George Whitefield and John Newton. The biographical footnotes and the magnificent 126 pages of biographical index, giving sketches of some 300 individuals, are probably worth the price of the book in themselves, not to mention a variety of helpful indeces. We owe Dr Whelan a great debt of gratitude for his painstaking labours, which have made available an invaluable resource for Baptist historians, and one which individuals as well as colleges and seminaries will crave.

PS I know it’s a Ronseal title, and not the most thrilling (this may not be a field where imagination is in great demand), but at least you’ll not forget what’s inside.

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A holy life is both the best platform for and the best proof of the gospel proclaimed by God’s people.

Moses’ Self-Denial

Jeremiah Burroughs

Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, 160pp., cloth, $22 / £16.99

ISBN 9781601780942

This volume is a slow burner, but it is worth waiting for the show to begin, because the momentum builds and the pay-off is eminently worth your patient engagement. Following an introduction giving a sketch of Moses’ circumstances and decisions, the bulk of the book is composed of three sections. In the first, Burroughs suggests that all honours and delights are to be denied for Christ (the language sounds absolute, but Burroughs is more nuanced); in the second, he presses further, teaching that – like Moses – we must deny worldly pleasures and preferments in our prime, when they might be most fully enjoyed. As would be expected, Burroughs gives uses of comfort, reproof and instruction for these teachings. In section three, the book takes off, as Burroughs develops the theme that faith is the operative principle in all such self-denial, probing and challenging and exhorting the reader as to the reality and vitality of our faith, and whether we are ready to suffer for Christ. There are comforts and directions for the faithful as well. In a place and age in which Christians perhaps too readily ask how much can they keep and still honour Christ, Burroughs offers a necessary and recommended counter-cultural purgative.

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• Evangelical Press
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Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative

Carl R. Trueman

Presbyterian & Reformed, 2010, 144pp., paperback, $9.99

ISBN 978-1-59638-183-4

Provocative, punchy and playfully perverse, Professor Trueman writes with gleeful awareness of his contrariness. This republocrat’s fundamental assertion is that theological conservatism and political conservatism do not necessarily walk together in lock-step, in the course of addressing which he turns his guns with deliberate abandon on both the left and (mainly) the right of the political spectrum (including the yoking of religion and patriotism, Fox News, Max Weber, and democracy itself). It is the literary equivalent of deliberately shooting fireworks from the hip: you will enjoy the delightful verbal pyrotechnics, but there may be little real damage done. It relies substantially on the perspective of a British immigrant, and will therefore be of most interest to American believers, although those looking in, and familiar with the more conservative Christian scene in the US, may find it less bewildering and more relevant. This is a volume that raises rather than addresses a variety of interesting issues, and asks some serious questions in a manner so playful as almost to undo itself. I imagine that you will have as much fun reading it as Trueman probably did writing it.

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A couple of MacArthur-related bits that I appreciated follow.

First, Kevin DeYoung speaks of his pulpit authority, quoting Hughes Old’s work on reading and preaching to demonstrate why he is so compelling:

Why do so many people listen to MacArthur, this product of all the wrong schools? How can he pack out a church on Sunday morning in an age in which church attendance has seriously lagged? Here is a preacher who has nothing in the way of a winning personality, good looks, or charm. Here is a preacher who offers us nothing in the way of sophisticated homiletical packaging. No one would suggest that he is a master of the art of oratory. What he seems to have is a witness to true authority. He recognizes in Scripture the Word of God, and when he preaches, it is Scripture that one hears. It is not that the words of John MacArthur are so interesting as it is that the Word of God is of surpassing interest. That is why one listens. (Vol. 7, 557-58, emphasis added)

Second, Tim Challies has interviewed MacArthur, and in answering a question about dangers to the church, MacArthur said:

A third major issue that I see is the Arminian methodology that seems to characterize many in the Young Restless Reformed crowd in contradiction to their Reformed credo.

If you ask me (and I should point out that nobody has), this is spot on. Kevin’s post and Tim’s blend nicely together: a man who believes in the sovereignty of God should preach as if he believes in the sovereignty of God and leave a sovereign God to provide the blessing.

David Murray suggests that Christians should be ready to use the media to engage with the world:

Despite the usually negative context to media interest, despite their general hostility towards us, and despite their frequent misrepresentation of us, I’d like to encourage pastors (and other well-educated Christians) to engage more with the media, as opportunity arises. I’m afraid that if sane Christian voices remain silent, there’s no shortage of “Christian” ego-maniacs to fill the journalistic void.

Here are David’s suggestions for such engagement:

1. Pick your targets.
2. Ask for time.
3. Keep your target in view.
4. Get your facts right.
5. Be respectful.
6. Listen carefully to the question.
7. Keep your most important answers short.
8. Don’t insist on the last word.
9. Learn from your mistakes.
10. Love the journalist.

PS Smile more than normal on TV, and talk faster than usual on the radio.

Read it all.

I know we have been here before, but I so enjoyed the way that Mr Trueman puts it that I thought it was worth revisiting:

Of all the many earthly blessings the Lord has given me, from friendship with Derek Thomas (for my sanctification) to that with Paul Levy (just have to cling blindly to Rom. 8:28 on that one), having a normal, down-to-earth wife is surely the greatest.

Indeed, when asked by a student spouse the other week how she kept up with reading all that I read so that she could support me in my work, my wife’s response (worthy of Newman himself) was ‘Read what he’s reading??? Lovey, I don’t even bother to read what he’s writing!’ In fact, she famously claims never to have read anything I have ever written. Why should she? She lives with me and knows what I am really like; and her interest in my job is primarily that of ‘does it pay the mortgage and enable him to be a decent husband?’ not `is he changing the world or hanging with the right people?’

Splendid, with the added benefit of being true. Read it all.

The pastor, preacher and theologian William M. Taylor tells the following story concerning the readiness of Christlike men to set aside all airs and graces and speak to others without pretension:

I have somewhere read of a hardened criminal who was condemned to die and waiting for execution. Christian people were deeply interested in him and wished for his salvation. Pastors of different churches visited him and talked with him and prayed with him. But all they did and said seemed only to harden him the more, for they never got near him. They were afraid of him. They never touched him. At length, they bethought themselves of a member of the community, known of all men for his holiness and tenderness and wisdom in the winning of souls, and they got him to visit him. When he entered the condemned cell, he sat down beside the prisoner, by whom also he was well known, and told him the simple story of the cross, and when he had finished it, he laid his hand upon the criminal’s shoulder and said to him with a look of inexpressible emotion: “Now wasn’t it a great sacrifice for the Son of God to lay down his life for guilty sinners like me and you?” In a moment the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The heart of the man was touched. The big tears ran down his cheeks, and the bursting sobs seemed to convulse his frame. From that time he was a different man, and listened with interest to all that was said to him, while ever and anon he would exclaim, “To think of such a good and holy man, as I know him to be, putting himself on a level with me, and saying ‘Sinners like me and you’!”

“The Cleansing of the Leper” in The Miracles of Our Saviour (New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1890), 119-120.

Do you put yourselves on a level with men, and say, “Sinners like me and you”?

C.M.

A child I come, my God, and ask:
Let me in Jesus hide,
Lest grief possess, or doubt invade,
Or bitterness reside.

Give me to view with eyes of faith
This one and temporal cross,
Since countless of your smiling acts
Prepared me for the loss.

Eternal blessings ever shine
And cannot be removed,
And in the dark of this day’s trials,
Eternal love is proved.

You brought me here, Lord, keep me here
Till I your lessons learn,
And sweet submission find a home,
And love within me burn.

Give me to feel my Father’s hands,
And know my Father’s smile;
Wrapped in the everlasting arms,
I’ll rest here for a while.

©JRW

See all hymns and psalms.

I like Carl Trueman (not personally, not having met the chap, which is not to say I dislike him or wouldn’t like him, but . . . oh, whatever, you get the drift) because he cheerfully asks the questions that are too readily unasked in a society in which religion and culture are too readily conflated:

Finally, how many Christians would never turn out for a Sunday evening worship service because they had their fix on Sunday mornings, but would rearrange all manner of things to make sure they could see the Superbowl? Watching overpaid spandex-clad blimps playing catch, then running for, oh my, at least 5 seconds and six yards before taking a five minute breather, and as a result trousering too much dosh — or meeting with the living God who gave his Son for us, hearing his word proclaimed, and humbly bowing before him in adoration — not much of a choice is it, really? The spandex and hilarious commercials win every time.

Read it all (and read over his evident distaste for the sport itself to the very real point that he is making, which – it should be pointed out – holds good for any number of sporting events in the UK, and indeed across the globe). The point is not that there should be no Superbowl – that’s a different argument, or should be; the point is where our priorities lie as believers.

In similarly pointed vein, may I also introduce Mr Martin Downes (although it is worth pointing out that a lot of conferences in the UK seem to think that they can share the coolness by buying in to the same limited line-up)?

Good questions, gentlemen.

It was our privilege last week to spend a little time with Brian Croft, pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky, and Ryan Bebee, who is working with Brian at the church and is also a student at SBTS. Brian is the author of Test, Train, Affirm, & Send Into Ministry and Visit the Sick (both from DayOne), and he blogs at Practical Shepherding. I would recommend these resources.

He had originally been planning something a little different, but – with a few days to go – his plans changed radically. Having mutual friends in Louisville, and having been in touch one way or another in a couple of small ways, we were able to help make the most of his visit, and he spent a couple of days with us at each end of his week in the UK. We were able to have him preach the Word of God on Sunday morning, and enjoyed a heart-warming and instructive sermon on Jesus’ sovereignty over sickness and death.

Brian has just added a few notes from his visit to his blog, and it is a pleasure to see my esteemed father honoured as he records some of the lessons learned:

I went to the United Kingdom to serve other pastors and Christ’s church.  Yet, in God’s kind providence, I feel I was served the most.  This came at the hands of a few older, seasoned, and faithful pastors who were in the trenches of pastoral ministry before I was born.  What a rare gift these men are to the church and I was able to sit at the feet of a few and learn. . . . [more]

For myself, it was sweet to have Brian and Ryan in our home, and to hear Brian preach, and to enjoy some delightful fellowship with these brothers (a lot of book talk too). I am looking forward to catching up with them, God willing, when I visit Louisville later this year.

A few weeks ago  I posted a little information about a conference being held at SBTS in Louisville, KY, later this year, The church at the crossroads. The conference is being organised by the Reformed Baptist Church of Louisville, and the preachers are Bill Hughes, Stu Johnston, Jim Savastio and yours truly.

The booking form has now gone online at the conference website or you can download it here. I hope that if you are in the area or willing to get to it, you might consider attending. I have heard good things about these family conferences, and am looking forward to being a part of this experience.

As you have opportunity, do pray for God’s blessing upon the planning and execution: a good conference is like the proverbial swan: a thing of serene beauty above the surface, and a picture of churning activity beneath. Pray for those enmeshed in the churning machinery, please, and for the smile of the Lord upon these efforts to encourage and equip the church of Christ for his glory in the world.

God will have his people pray for what he hath purposed and promised, to show the great delight he takes in their prayers. As a father, though he can send to his son who lives abroad the money he hath promised for his maintenance, yet let him not have it except he comes over at set times for it. And why? Not to trouble his son, but delight himself in his son’s company. God takes such content in the company of his praying saints, that to prevent all strangeness on their part, he orders it so that they cannot neglect a duty but they shall lose something by it. ‘Ye have not, because ye ask not.’ And the more they abound in prayer the more they shall with blessings. The oftener Joash had ‘smote upon the ground,’ the fuller his victory over Syria had been. As the arrows of prayer are that we shoot to heaven, so will the returns of mercy from thence be. Yet must it not be imputed to any loathness in God to give, that he makes them pray often and long before the mercy comes, but rather to the content he takes in our prayers. He doth all this on a design to draw out the graces of his Spirit in his children, the voice and language of which in prayer makes most sweet melody in the ear of God. The truth is, we are in this too like musicians playing under our window; they play while the money is thrown out to them, and then their pipes are put up. And were our wants so supplied by the answer of one prayer, that we did not suddenly need a new recruit, we would be gone, and God should not hear of us in haste.

William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, 2:301

Kevin DeYoung provides a voice of sober reason and gracious warning concerning the highly esteemed C. S. Lewis:

C.S. Lewis was not an evangelical. Mere Christianity shows why. . . .

All that to say, yes, I have some cautions when it comes to Mere Christianity. Good book. But some serious deficiencies.

As with Bonhoeffer, discussed briefly here, many evangelicals – and I don’t think that this is solely an American phenomenon, but it is interesting that some of these are Europeans carried out of context: I wonder if European evangelicals do the same with American figures, or if it’s just something we all tend to do when we like something about someone? – are more than ready to remake such men in their own image. We must be careful both as a matter of historical integrity and theological clarity, not thoughtlessly embracing or promoting a man in whom the balance of tonic and poison (present in everyone) is evidently and distinctly skewed at prominent points. Kevin’s post shows us how to appreciate the good without skimming over the bad.

David Murray has been posting some stimulating “Christ-rich” material recently:

• Less gospel, more Christ, please
• What’s the Old Testament all about?
• What’s the Old Testament all about? Peter responds.

His material on covenant theology is also very helpful for those who hold to the principle, even if you might not agree with all the nuances. You will find more at the HeadHeartHand Media site.

Very much worth your time.

Kevin DeYoung channels Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

I put next something which is meant partly to correct, or perhaps not so much to correct, as to safeguard, what I have been saying, from misunderstanding. I refer to the element of ‘liveliness.’ This underlines the fact that seriousness does not mean solemnity, does not mean sadness, does not mean morbidity. These are all very important distinctions. The preacher must be lively; and you can be lively and serious at the same time.

Let me put this in other words. The preacher must never be dull, he must never be boring; he should never be what is called ‘heavy.’ I am emphasising these points because of something I am often told and which worries me a great deal. I belong to the Reformed tradition, and may have had perhaps a little to do in Britain with the restoration of this emphasis during the last forty years or so. I am disturbed therefore when I am often told by members of churches that many of the younger Reformed men are very good men, who have no doubt read a great deal, and are very learned men, but they are very dull and boring preachers; and I am told this by people who themselves hold the Reformed position.

This is to me a very serious matter; there is something radically wrong with dull and boring preachers. How can a man be dull when he is handling such themes? I would say that a ‘dull preacher’ is a contradiction in terms; if he is dull he is not a preacher. He may stand in a pulpit and talk, but he is certainly not a preacher. With the grand theme and message of the Bible dullness is impossible. This is the most interesting, the most thrilling, the most absorbing subject in the universe; and the idea that this can be presented in a dull manner makes me seriously doubt whether the men who are guilty of this dullness have ever really understood the doctrine they claim to believe, and which they advocate. We often betray ourselves by our manner.

Preaching and Preachers, 86-87 (emphasis added)