Is the King James Bible too difficult to understand?

ANSWER:

1. THE KJV DOES HAVE SOME ANTIQUATED WORDS AND FORMS OF SPEECH, BUT THERE ARE NOT TOO MANY OF THESE.

The Trinitarian Bible Society publishes a list of 618 antiquated words. It is called Bible Word List. That is not very many, and most of them can be understood by considering the context. There are only about 300 antiquated words in the KJV that are so difficult that you really need a dictionary to understand them.

2. THE OVERALL READING LEVEL OF THE KJV IS NOT VERY HIGH.

The KJV is written on an 8th to 10th grade level. This has been proven from computer analysis made by Dr. Donald Waite. He ran several books of the KJV through the Right Writer program and found that Genesis 1, Exodus 1, and Romans 8 are on the 8th grade level; Romans 1 and Jude are on the 10th grade level; and Romans 3:1-23 is on the 6th grade level.

In the book The Art of Plain Talk (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1946), Dr. Rudolf Flesch analyzed the reading level of various documents and rated them on a scale from Very Easy to Very Difficult. He testified, "The best example of very easy prose (about 20 affixes per 200 words) is the King James Version of the Bible..." Dr. Flesch became famous with the publication of his book Why Johnny Can't Read.

3. THE KJV HAS A SMALL VOCABULARY AND USES SIMPLE WORDS THROUGHOUT. MOST ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO SYLLABLES.

"While Shakespeare used a vocabulary of roughly 37,000 English words, the King James Bible used only 8,000" (John Wesley Sawyer, The Newe Testament by William Tindale, p. 10, quoting BBC TV, "The Story of English," copyright 1986).

4. THE KJV USES SIMPLE WORDS; MOST ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO SYLLABLES.
Consider Psalm 23, for example:

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the
still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for
his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Of the 119 words in this Psalm, only 24 are more than two syllables; 19 of those 24 words are two syllables and only 5 are three syllables.

This Psalm illustrates why the King James Bible is called "peerless among literary masterpieces," "unquestionably the most beautiful book in the world," "the noblest monument of English prose," "incomparably the best English translation in its rhythm," "the touchstone of affective power," "matchless in its literary qualities among all English translations," "the supremely literary English translation," "the touchstone of literary excellence," "stylistically the greatest English Bible translation ever produced." These quotes from various men are from the book The Word of God
in English by Leland Ryken (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2002, pp. 270, 267, 258, 259, 206, 188, 163, 62, 51).

5. ACCURACY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SIMPLICITY IN A BIBLE VERSION.
The most important thing in a Bible translation is not simple language but faithfulness to the original. Dr. Waite made the following excellent comment in a recent edition of his newsletter:

"The Bible is not a first grade primer. It is God's book. It is a book that must be diligently read. It is only by 'searching the Scriptures' that we find what pertains to life and death. It tells of creation, of the mighty universe, of the future or the past, of the Mighty God and His wonders, of the Holy Spirit's ministry among Christians, of the Son of God's great sacrifice for sin, of home in Heaven for the believer, and of a fiery hell for the unsaved. How dare we assume that His Word can be capsulated in a comic book [or a version that reads 'like the morning newspaper']."

Also consider this statement by Leland Ryken, a professor of English at Wheaton College:

"An English Bible translation should strive for maximum readability only within the parameters of accurately expressing what the original actually says, including the difficulty inherent in the original text. The crucial question that should govern translation is what the original authors actually wrote, not our speculations over how they would express themselves
today or how we would express the content of the Bible. The fact that the New Testament was written in koine Greek should not lead translators to translate the Bible in a uniformly colloquial style. Finally, a good translation does not attempt to make the Bible simpler than it was for the original audience" (Leland Ryken, The Word of God in English, pp. 100, 101).

6. PREVIOUS GENERATIONS EDUCATED THE PEOPLE UP TO THE BIBLE, AND THAT IS WHAT WE SHOULD DO TODAY.

"Instead of lowering the Bible to a lowest common denominator, why should we not educate people to rise to the level required to experience the Bible in its full richness and exaltation? Instead of expecting the least from Bible readers, we should expect the most from them. The greatness of the Bible requires the best, not the least. ... The most difficult of modern English translations -- the King James -- is used most by segments of our society that are relatively uneducated as defined by formal education. ...
research has shown repeatedly that people are capable of rising to surprising and even amazing abilities to read and master a subject that is important to them. ... Previous generations did not find the King James Bible, with its theological heaviness, beyond their comprehension. Nor do readers and congregations who continue to use the King James translation find it incomprehensible. Neither of my parents finished grade school, and they learned to understand the King James Bible from their reading of it and the preaching they heard based on it. We do not need to assume a
theologically inept readership for the Bible. Furthermore, if modern readers are less adept at theology than they can and should be, it is the task of the church to educate them, not to give them Bible translations that will permanently deprive them of the theological content that is really present in the Bible." (Leland Ryken, The Word of God in English, pp. 107, 109)

7. THERE ARE MANY TOOLS AVAILABLE TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE KJV.

Following are a few of these:
The Bible Word List from the Trinitarian Bible Society.

The Concise King James Bible Dictionary, available from Way of Life Literature.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.

The Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity.

The Defined King James Bible available from Bible for Today, 800 Park Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108.

"If you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine: and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. . . . If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." John 8.31, 32, 38

"DUSTY BIBLES LEAD TO DIRTY LIVES"

All the following verses are the evangelist's choice of the top 50 verses for memorizing: (Two verses together are considered one.) Every believer should know these verses by heart.

Gen. 3:15, Lev. 17:11, Joshua 24:15, 1 Sam.16:7, Job 19:25-27, Ps.9:17, 40:2,3, 51:4, 139:23,24; Prov. 3:5,6, 14:12; Isa. 1:18, 9:6, 26:3, 40:31, 45:22, 53:5, 55:8,9; 11, 59:2, 64:6; Jer. 13:23; Ezek. 3:18;
Matt. 10:28, 11:28-30; Mk. 8:36; Jn. 1:12, 1:29, 3:3, 3:16, 14:6, 15:13; Acts 4:12, 16:30b,31; Rom. 3:23, 5:12, 6:23, 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8,9; Ph. 1:6; 1 Tim. 1:15, 2:5; 2 Tim. 2:15; Tit. 3:5; Heb. 9:22, 1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Pet. 1:20,21, 3:8; 1 Jn. 1:9; Rev. 3:20

EVANGELICAL DILEMMA

By William MacDonald

There is a CURIOUS PROBLEM today in the evangelical world---one that poses sobering questions for the church and for the individual believer. The PROBLEM in brief is this: a great army of personal soul-winners has been mobilized to reach the populace for Christ. They are EARNEST, ZEALOUS, ENTHUSIASTIC and PERSUASIVE. To their credit it must be said, that they are on the job. And it is one of the phenomena of our times, that they rack up an astounding number of conversions. Everything so far seems to be on the plus side.

But the PROBLEM is this: The CONVERSIONS DO NOT STICK. The fruit does not remain. Six months later there is nothing to be seen for all the aggressive evangelism. The capsule technique of soul winning has produced stillbirths (ie FALSE PROFESSIONS).

What lies at the back of all this MALPRACTICE in bringing souls to birth? Strangely enough, it begins with the valid determination to preach the PURE gospel of the grace of God. We want to keep the message SIMPLE – uncluttered by any suggestion that man can ever earn or deserve eternal life. Justification by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore the message is “ONLY BELIEVE>”

From there we reduce the message to a CONCISE FORMULA. For instance, the evangelical process is cut down to a few basic questions, and answers, as follows:

“Do you BELIEVE you are a sinner?”

“Yes”

“Do you BELIEVE Christ died for sinners?”

“Yes”

“Will you RECEIVE him as your saviour?”

“Yes”

“Then you ARE SAVED!”

“I am?”

“Yes, the Bible says you ARE SAVED.”

At first blush the method and the message might seem above criticism. But on closer study we are forced to have second thoughts and to conclude that – we have OVERSIMPLIFIED the gospel.

The FIRST FATAL FLAW --- is the missing emphasis on REPENTANCE. There can be NO true conversion without CONVICTION OF SIN. It is one thing to agree that I am a sinner; it is quite another thing to experience the convicting ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT in my life. Unless I have a Spirit-wrought consciousness of my utterly LOST CONDITION, I can never exercise saving faith. It is useless to tell unconvicted sinners to believe on Jesus---that message is only for those who KNOW they are lost. We sugar-coat the gospel when we de-emphasize man’s lost condition. With that kind of watered-down message people receive the Word with joy instead of deep contrition. They do not have deep roots, and though they might endure for a while, they soon give up all profession when persecution or trouble comes (Matthew 13 v 21). We have forgotten that the message is REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD as well as FAITH IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

A SECOND SERIOUS OMISSION --- is a missing emphasis on the LORDSHIP OF CHRIST. A light, jovial mental assent that Jesus is Saviour misses the point. Jesus is FIRST LORD, then Saviour. The New Testament always places His LORDSHIP before His Saviourhood. Do we present the full implications of His LORDSHIP to the people? HE ALWAYS DID.

A THIRD DEFECT in our message is our tendency to keep the terms of DISCIPLESHIP hidden until a decision has been made for Jesus. Our Lord never did this. The message He preached included the CROSS as well as the CROWN. “HE never hid His scars to win disciples.” He revealed the worst along with the best, then told His listeners to COUNT THE COST. We popularize the message and promise fun.

THE RESULT OF ALL THIS is that we have people believing without knowing what they believe. In many cases they have NO DOCTRINAL BASIS for their decision. They do not know the IMPLICATIONS of commitment to Christ. They have never experienced the mysterious, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.

And of course we have others who are TALKED INTO A PROFESSION because of the slick salesmanship techniques of the soul-winner. Or some who want to please the affable. Personable young man with the winning smile. And some who only want to get id of this religious interloper who intruded on their privacy. Satan laughs when their conversions are announced on earth.

I WOULD LIKE TO RAISE SEVERAL QUESTIONS that might lead us to some changes in our STRATEGY of evangelism.

The FIRST QUESTION: Can we generally expect people to make an intelligent commitment to Christ, the first time they hear the gospel? Certainly, there is the exceptional case where a person has already been prepared by the Holy Spirit. But generally speaking, the process involves sowing the seed, watering it, then sometime later reaping the harvest. In our mania for instant conversion, we have forgotten that conception, gestation, and birth do not occur on the same day.

The SECOND QUESTION: Can capsule presentation of the gospel really do justice to so great a message? As one who has written several gospel tracts, I confess to a certain sense of misgiving in even attempting to condense the good news into four small pages. Would we not be wiser to give people the full presentation as it is found in the gospels, or in the New Testament?

The THIRD QUESTION: Is all this pressure for decisions really Scriptural? Where in the New Testament were people ever pressured into making a profession? We justify our practise by saying that if only one out of ten is genuine, it is worth it. But what about the other nine---DISILLUSIONED, BITTER, perhaps DECEIVED enroute to Hell by a FALSE PROFESSION?

The FOURTH QUESTION: Is all this boasting about conversions really accurate? You’ve met the of the man who solemnly tells you of ten people he contacted that day and all of them were saved. A young doctor testified that every he goes to a new city, he looks in the phone book for people with his last name. Then he calls them one by one and leads them through the 4 steps to salvation. Amazingly enough, every one of them opens the door of his heart to Jesus. I don’t want to doubt the honesty of people like this, but am I wrong in thinking that they are extremely naïve? WHERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE SAVED? They cannot be found.

In CONCLUSION: What it all means is that we should SERIOUSLY RE-EXAMINE our streamlined CAPSULE EVANGELISM. We should be willing to spend time preaching the gospel, laying a SOLID FOUNDATION doctrinally for faith to rest on. We should stress the NECESSITY -FOR REPENTANCE – a complete about-face with regard to sin. We should stress the FULL IMPLICATIONS of the LORDSHIP OF CHRIST and the CONDITIONS of TRUE DISCPLESHIP. We should explain what belief really involves. We should be willing to wait for the Holy Spirit produce genuine conviction of sin. Then we should be ready to lead the person to saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

If we do this, we’ll have less astronomical figures of so-called conversions, but more genuine cases of spiritual rebirth.

[Reprinted from “HELP and FOOD” Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune NJ]

Best Advice ever

Mary, mother of Jesus, in John 2:5. Speaking to the servants, regarding Jesus, she said:

Do whatever he tells you.

Shall we scratch the surface of Mormonism?

17. Church Prejudice Against Blacks

From the translated scroll written by Abraham comes the important doctrine that descendants of Cain (taught by Mormons to be African-Americans) are unworthy to hold the priesthood, the authority to act in God’s name. This clearly racist policy was changed in 1978 through another “revelation.” While Blacks could always be baptized into the Mormon Church, up until 1978 they could not hold the priesthood. This excluded them from the “saving ordinances” of the temple, and thus kept them from exaltation as the Mormons defined it.

Consider the following declarations by church Prophets and Apostles:

President Brigham Young:

“Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African Race? If the White man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.” (Journal of Discourses 10:110)

President Joseph Fielding Smith:

“There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less.” (Doctrines of Salvation, p. 61)

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie:

“Negroes in this life are denied the priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty. The gospel message of salvation is not carried affirmatively to them… Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned…” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 343)

Apostle Mark E. Petersen:

“God has commanded Israel not to intermarry. To go against this commandment of God would be in sin. Those who willfully sin with their eyes open to this wrong will not be surprised to find that they will be separated from the presence of God in the world to come. This is spiritual death…

“The reason that one would lose his blessings by marrying a Negro is due to the restriction placed upon them. “No person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood” (Brigham Young). It does not matter if they are one-sixth Negro or one-hundred and sixth, the curse of no Priesthood is the same. If an individual who is entitled to the Priesthood marries a Negro, the Lord has decreed that only spirits who are not eligible for the Priesthood will come to that marriage as children. To intermarry with a Negro is to forfeit a “Nation of Priesthood holders…

“The discussion on civil rights, especially over the last 20 years, has drawn some very sharp lines. It has blinded the thinking of some of our own people, I believe. They have allowed their political affiliations to color their thinking to some extent, and then, of course, they have been persuaded by some of the arguments that have been put forth…We who teach in the Church certainly must have our feet on the ground and not to be led astray by the philosophies of men on this subject…

“I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after. He is not just seeking the opportunity of sitting down in a cafe where white people eat. He isn’t just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. It isn’t that he just desires to go to the same theater as the white people. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage. That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, ‘First we pity, then endure, then embrace’…

“Now let’s talk about segregation again for a few moments. Was segregation a wrong principle? When the Lord chose the nations to which the spirits were to come, determining that some would be Japanese and some would be Chinese and some Negroes and some Americans, He engaged in an act of segregation…

“When he told Enoch not preach the gospel to the descendants of Cain who were black, the Lord engaged in segregation. When He cursed the descendants of Cain as to the Priesthood, He engaged in segregation…

“Who placed the Negroes originally in darkest Africa? Was it some man, or was it God? And when He placed them there, He segregated them…

“The Lord segregated the people both as to blood and place of residence. At least in the cases of the Lamanites and the Negro we have the definite word of the Lord Himself that he placed a dark skin upon them as a curse — as a punishment and as a sign to all others. He forbade intermarriage with them under threat of extension of the curse. And He certainly segregated the descendants of Cain when He cursed the Negro as to the Priesthood, and drew an absolute line. You may even say He dropped an Iron curtain there…

“Now we are generous with the Negro. We are willing that the Negro have the highest education. I would be willing to let every Negro drive a Cadillac if they could afford it. I would be willing that they have all the advantages they can get out of life in the world. But let them enjoy these things among themselves. I think the Lord segregated the Negro and who is man to change that segregation? It reminds me of the scripture on marriage, ‘what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.’ Only here we have the reverse of the thing - what God hath separated, let not man bring together again.

“Think of the Negro, cursed as to the priesthood…This Negro, who, in the pre-existence lived the type of life which justified the Lord in sending him to the earth in their lineage of Cain with a black skin, and possibly being born in darkest Africa–if that Negro is willing when he hears the gospel to accept it, he may have many of the blessings of the gospel. In spite of all he did in the pre-existent life, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get celestial glory.” (Apostle Mark E. Peterson, Race Problems - As They Affect The Church, Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, August 27, 1954)

Apologist Response

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie explained how earlier statements by church leaders on African-Americans and the priesthood should be disregarded because their understanding was limited at the time:

“There are statements in our literature by the early Brethren that we have interpreted to mean that the Negroes would not receive the priesthood in mortality. I have said the same things, and people write me letters and say, “You said such and such, and how is it now that we do such and such?” All I can say is that it is time disbelieving people repented and got in line and believed in a living, modern prophet. Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.

“We get our truth and light line upon line and precept upon precept (2 Ne. 28:30; Isa. 28:9-10; D&C 98:11-12; 128:21). We have now added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don’t matter anymore.” (Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, All Are Alike Unto God, pp. 1-2)

Marvin Perkins explained the Book of Mormon teaching that those “cursed” with a “skin of blackness” could remove the “curse” by coming unto God:

“There are Blacks here today who are members of the Church. Why have we not turned White? But there are Blacks who have joined the Church, married White spouse, and their children became lighter than their Black parents. Then those kids grew up to marry those that believe as they do, which most are White, so they married White, and their kids became even lighter, and so on. Makes you think a bit, doesn’t it? (Marvin Perkins, Blacks and the Priesthood, FAIR)”

President Spencer W. Kimball described the process through which the church decided to bestow all church privileges upon African-Americans:

“It went on for some time as I was searching for this, because I wanted to be sure. We held a meeting of the Council of the Twelve in the temple on the regular day. We considered this very seriously and thoughtfully and prayerfully.
“I asked the Twelve not to go home when the time came. I said, ‘now would you be willing to remain in the temple with us?’ And they were. I offered the final prayer and I told the Lord if it wasn’t right, if He didn’t want this change to come in the Church that I would he true to it all the rest of my life, and I’d fight the world against it if that’s what He wanted.

“We had this special prayer circle, then I knew that the time had come. I had a great deal to fight, of course, myself largely, because I had grown up with this thought that Negroes should not have the priesthood and I was prepared to go all the rest of my life till my death and fight for it and defend it as it was. But this revelation and assurance came to me so clearly that there was no question about it.” (President Spencer W. Kimball, Deseret News, Church Section, January 6, 1979, p. 19)

According to President Gordon B. Hinckley, he simply doesn’t know why Blacks were denied the priesthood until 1978:

“HN: Until 1978 no person of color attained the priesthood in your church. Why did it take so long to overcome the racism?

“GBH: I don’t know. I don’t know. I can only say that. (long pause) But it’s here now. We’re carrying on a very substantial work on Africa for instance and in Brazil. We’re working among their people developing them. We’ve had them among the leadership of the Church and they’re able to do a great work and we love them and appreciate them and we respect them and we are trying to help them.” (Gordon B. Hinckley Interview, ZDF German Television, Salt Lake City, Utah, January 29, 2002, Conducted by Helmut Nemetschek)

MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE

This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrine is holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.

Read it to be wise, believe in it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

Christ is its object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

He never comes out straight with it. Many a Sunday I've walked away with no idea what he said. He never puts the hay down where the goats can get it."

Yes, there are some preachers who have a lot of hay, vast amounts of exegetical information. They're theologically aware. They like to study ancient languages. They have the hay, but they don't know what the goats are talking about or thinking about. And what's worse, they don't know that they don't know the goats. Often they don't even like the goats. They would prefer not to be around goats. They forget that the first test of good teaching is not what the teacher has taught; it's what the learner has learned. They have all this wonderful hay, but they forget that they are stewards of getting hay to goats.

But there are also preachers who know the goats, and who are very clever at being able to attract lots and lots of goats. They can hold the goats' attention, but they have no hay. They have nothing of substance. It's all superficial stuff. And what's worse, they don't know that they don't have any hay.

As preachers and teachers, our job is to get the hay down where the goats can get it. That means immersing ourselves in Scripture and great writing and deep thoughts. But it also means becoming a student of the goats: learning what moves them, what their questions are, and what gives them hope.

We live in a day where we know more about the Bible than any generation that has ever lived. Translations, commentaries, and background information are abundant. Today's challenge is managing the information flow and not being overwhelmed by it. If I'm not clear on where I want the message to go, the information could manage me.

There are usually multiple messages that could be preached from the same text. A friend of mine is a musician. He said in the musical trade they have a saying, "You've got to put it somewhere. If you wait till you're perfectly on pitch, you will never open your mouth to sing. So you got to put it somewhere." The same is true of preaching: you've got to put it somewhere. So decide where you intend the message to go.

Of course, prayer is a huge part of this. Ask, "God, what is it that I need to be talking about? What's at stake here?"

The answer to that question becomes the basis for your sermon introduction. In a good sermon, the introduction almost always answers this question: Why is it urgently important that we talk about what we're going to talk about? If you cannot answer this question, then you are giving the wrong message.

Research the topic. After conceiving the series and clarifying the big idea, the next step is to research the topic. Find a few good writers and spend your time reading them in depth. In my opinion, going deep with one good commentary is far better than skimming seven mediocre commentaries. It's tempting to build a vast library, but instead, look for the good stuff. Avoid the temptation to ride the information flood.

Know your goats. The other side of my research isn't textbook stuff, it's "knowing the goats." I ask, "What's everybody talking about this week?" Is there a current event that helps communicate what I want to say? What questions are people wrestling with?

When I begin the actual writing process, I think about particular people who might be in the audience: someone who just went through a break-up, someone who just got accepted at college, someone who just lost a job, someone who struggles with a sexual addiction and is scared to death someone else is going to find out.

I picture them in my mind. Everybody has a need. Never write for a faceless crowd.

Delivery begins with the writing process, because that is when you flesh out what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. When it comes to sermon writing, generally there are two problems. Some preachers love the research stage but hate the writing, and they start writing too late. Others don't like doing research, so they move way too fast to the writing part. Figure out where you fall in that range, and push yourself in the other direction.

Identify and outline your structure. I don't think there is one magic structure. The goal of preaching is to build Christ in people. Any method that does that and treats the text with integrity is acceptable. The test of a sermon is not what people remember, it's whether their life is transformed as a result.

Structure, however, is like a skeleton. Without a skeleton, the sermon lacks shape and strength. Sometimes the structure is an exoskeleton (and the structure is obvious); sometimes it's an endoskeleton (not so obvious), but it's there. The key is that the structure allows the sermon to unfold in a dynamic way.

In Homiletics: Moves and Structures, David Buttrick says the structure of a message should proceed in a series of moves, similar to people having a conversation. In a conversation between just two people, the moves can happen quite fast.

But when talking to a large group of people, you need to carefully think through how you're going to transition from one move to the next. I've discovered that if I'm having a hard time crafting a transitional sentence, it's often because I'm trying to make the wrong move, not because I'm bad at writing transition sentences.

Another key question: What requires dwelling time? If it's important, you usually need dwelling time. If it's complex, it requires dwelling time. Dwelling might involve repetition, restatement, or illustration. It might require an image or a metaphor.

If something is quite complex but needs to be unpacked, I will often use humor. Humor has a way of bringing people back with you. It gives them a little energy. Other times I'll just tell folks, "Okay, the next five minutes is going to be kind of complex, so I need you to stay with me."

Narrow your focus. What if you have something that is quite complex and requires dwelling time, but it's not the most important thing you have to say? Shrink it down to size.

This is so hard. Once you've written something, you get attached to it. This is true of every preacher. We're tempted to spend too much time on secondary material.

The same applies to stories and illustrations. What is the number one law in real estate? "Location. Location. Location." It's exactly the same in preaching. You hear somebody preaching and they tell a story. It's a fabulous story. People laugh at it. They cry at it. It works great. And you think, Oh, man, I've got to tell that story next week. But next week you tell the story, and it falls flat.

Why?

Because what worked wasn't the story. It was the story in location. "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." But it's an apple of gold in a setting of silver only if it's apt. The great temptation is to think the power comes from the story itself, when in reality the power comes from its context.

Use rich imagery. As I work with a text, I look for images that can become key in people's lives. One example: David hiding in the cave of Adullam.

What kind of image is a cave? A happy image or a sad image? You want to ask not only about cognitive content in a text, but about the emotional freight of the image. A cave is dark; it's sad; it's scary. You don't have to say all of that; the image does that.

David is hiding in a cave. We're all going to spend some time in a cave. But what David doesn't know is that God does some of his best work in a cave. You play that out as you preach: how David alone finds God, how God meets with him, and how David encouraged himself in the Lord. Then you shift to your audience: "Some of you are in a cave right now. It's a bankruptcy. It's a divorce. It's a whatever. What you need to know is that God does some of his best work in caves."

I also look for ways to weave together the ancient world and our world. For example, think about Samson. I live in California, and I want my audience to get a picture of what Samson was like. He was a judge. He was incredibly strong, maybe a body builder. He's a glamorous guy; women want to be with him. He becomes the political ruler. Anybody come to mind?

Californians are seeing a Samson named Arnold. All of a sudden they don't know if they're in Jerusalem or Menlo Park, because the world of the Bible and their world have been brought together.

Nail the takeoff and landing. The two most important parts of any message are the beginning and the end. Of those two, which would you say most preachers work harder at developing well? Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, it's the beginning. But the sign of a really skilled preacher is a conclusion that's as well thought-out as the intro.

I think it's a chronological thing, the way our minds are wired. A preacher is so aware of what it's going to feel like at the beginning that we force ourselves to put most of our preparation there. A good introduction will create a sense of urgency in the listener. We think, Well, once I get the plane up there, I'll find a place to land it. But you can squander all the power of your message if you don't know where you're going. If you begin with the end and work backward from there, you will build to something that is going to make a difference.

For every message, make sure you work as hard on the conclusion as you do on the intro. Know where you will land the plane!

are some starting questions:

Was the exegesis accurate and on target?

Was the message logical and clear?

Did the illustrations work?

What do I want people to understand?

What do I want people to do?

What do I want people to feel?

Next, my evaluation includes a question about delivery. Do I have habits that are distracting? How were my voice and my pacing? Preacher who are gifted at this will know when the room needs energy, and they can also read how much silence the room can sustain. They use the whole range of inflection, cadence, and silence to keep attention.

Once you have people who know you well doing the evaluations, you won't necessarily need a form. I think it's good to restrict the number of people who evaluate you. Utilize a few people whom you respect and are there for you. A friend once told me that the kind of people we need are those who say (in effect), "You're not as good as you think you are, and I believe in you."

For me this sermon preparation takes at least 15 hours, and that's after years of practice. If all this sounds like a lot of work, it is. But it's worth it. For me, giving a message that doesn't connect is about the most painful thing in the world, and I cannot bear that pain. So my extensive sermon preparation and evaluation process is not a necessarily a spiritual thing; it's just pain avoidance!

But I believe that preaching is so important that we must do our best to get the hay down where the goats can get it.