All #ourCOG News 5.0
Here is a Church of God preacher preaching at Miracle Valley, AZ. (Video # 1). How many Church of God preachers preach like this today?
Discussion
8 comments
-
He certainly had a lot of energy in his delivery.
When I was watching I noticed a lot of little details. One of the things I noticed was that he had a mic on his tie with a wire. I didn’t know they had those back then. It was a bigger mic. I also wonder if male preachers wearing TV make-up was a big issue of conscience back then.
-
We’ve discussed delivery styles in the past. I’m not against someone being excited like this, and preaching in the ‘old time’ Pentecostal (Baptist, etc.) way like that, like some of the preachers have probably been doing since either the Great Awakening or the Second Great Awakening. (I suspect some aspects of it go back to emulating aspects of Whitfield’s style.)
Does anyone thing it is more holy, Holy Ghost filled, etc. to preach like this than it is to use a regular tone of voice? Part of preaching (loosely called, more often exhorting or teaching in a Biblical sense) is holding the audience’s attention to communicate an important message. Isn’t it just as easy for a child or even an adult to ‘zone out’ during a message with this kind of delivery as it is when the speaker is speaking with a more normal tone of voice?
I don’t think the loud, out-of-breath preaching style is automatically anointed. I heard a man, jokingly, pretend like he was preaching a sermon about cooking a turkey at Thanksgiving, “And uh, I put the turkey in the oven, uh….” The style doesn’t produce the anointing. It’s an unnatural style for the unchurched, and the weirdness of it, to them, might distract from the message.
I grew hearing a mix of preaching styles. I’ve heard this type, but more of the ‘natural speech’ method of delivery. I couldn’t pull off preaching like this. It is just not ‘me’. I suppose I could do it if I wanted to. But I would feel unnatural, like I would if I were putting on a British, African American, or Indian accent during a sermon. I’ve got to speak in Indonesian Sunday, Lord willing, so I’ll be focusing a lot on getting the words out, probably more than on finer points like issues of style. I don’t think of those when I’m speaking in English, either.
As far as old fashioned preaching styles go, Jimmy Swaggart has one that is not out-of-breath, but still old fashioned sounding preaching. As far delivery goes, he may be the best public speaker of that style, or tied for it. He has a masterful use of the pause.
I used to teach presentation skills, so I apologize if my breaking this issue down in this unusual, analytical, way is a bit dry or foreign to other readers.
-
Link Hudson, that is the way they were able to preach, using a microphone, which enabled them to have their hands free. A A Allen and others did the same.
-
In those days, they did not wear TV make-up and they did not have professional lighting system as we do today. They were just breaking the ground by doing national television work.
-
These men could feel what they were preaching from down deep inside. It came from their heart; whereas today, it only appears to come from their head.
-
How can we evaluate a minister and his preaching ability? Simple. Looks at the response of the congregation. Look at the number of people seeking God in the altar following a sermon. Today, if there is any reaction whatsoever, it is usually just a hand clap. There are not shouts of praise, or AMENS or GLORY or HALLELUJAH today among Pentecostal congregations.
-
It may be that a better way of evaluating is to look at how people’s lives change outside of the church building, but there is a problem with that, too. God let Isaiah know that people wouldn’t listen to what he had to say. Jeremiah had the same kind of problem with people not listening to him. It wasn’t that they were doing a poor job as preachers or prophets.
I’m thinking of some of the people groups in parts of the world I’ve lived in. Chinese and Javanese seem rather receptive. Some of the other people groups, not as much so.
I don’t know that style, one way or another, is a key issue. But we should use those natural things, like keeping people’s attention, persuasive skill, etc. for the glory of God, too. God gave us our natural abilities as well.
-
[…] Here is a Church of God preacher preaching at Miracle… […]
Comments