Resources by Charlie Wingard
Old School Sermon Feedback
Professor James Benjamin Green could be tough on seminary students. He began teaching at Columbia Seminary in 1921. After one student’s sermon, he offered this critique: “There were three problems with this sermon: first, it was read; second, it was read poorly; third, it wasn’t worth reading.” Another student preached a sermon titled “The Double-Barreled Gospel” and received this feedback: “What a subject! ‘The double-barreled gospel.’ Unfortunately, neither barrel was loaded.” – David B. Calhoun Our Southern Zion: Old Columbia Seminary, 1828-1927 (Banner of Truth, 2012), 356-357.
Read MoreThe solitude of night can bring its share of anxiety, and especially when accompanied by regrets of a day misspent. The opposite is also true: “The more we abound in God’s work the more comfort we may expect in him; if the day has been busy for him, the night will be easy in him. Silence and retirement befriend our communion with God.” – Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 3:4-5
Read MoreWhen does effective preaching become possible? “Dr. Wilbur Chapman has this to say of the handicaps which befall the minister: ‘when trials are many, when burdens are heavy, when tears are blinding, when the heart is almost broken, then, as a rule, ministers come to an experience when effective preaching is possible.’” – William Childs Robinson, The Certainties of the Gospel (Zondervan: 1935), 130.
Read MoreWork done uniformly well and on time should be the goal of every pastor. W.G.T. Shedd advises: The religious character of the clergyman is strengthened as he “performs every clerical duty, be it in active or contemplative life, with punctuality, uniformity, and thoroughness. . . . The habit of doing work uniformly well and uniformly in time, is one of the best kinds of discipline . . . . A thorough an punctual performance of pastoral duties, is a direct means of grace.” – William G.T. Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology. 11th ed. (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1902), 338-339, 340.
Read MoreRead with Understanding!
To read is important; to read with understanding much more so. Charles Bridges (1794-1869) cautions: “No man can read everything; nor would our real store be increased by the capacity to do so. The digestive powers would be overloaded for want of time to act, and uncontrolled confusion would reign within. It is far more easy to furnish our library than our understanding.” Therefore, Bridges argues, the quality of what we read is more important than the quantity, and for reading to have it’s greatest value, it must have as its companions “reflection, conversation and composition.” – Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry (1830; Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1991), 46-47.
Read More“Love the father of the family and you will embrace in your love and good will His entire household.” Today is the 505th anniversary of the French Reformer, John Calvin. A devoted pastor, he pleads with his flock to help, love, and pray for the Christian family nearby and faraway: Extend our hands to one another, Help one another we must, And especially we commend Our brethren to the providential care Of the best of Fathers. For if He is kind and favorable, Nothing else at all can be desired. This very thing, indeed, we owe To our Father. Love the father of the family And you will embrace In your love and good will His entire household. To His…
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