We perhaps preach best through our actions. As a newly minted deacon [long, long ago in a place far, far away] a wise priest counseled me in words I have never begotten. He said that no one would remember any sermon I preached or teaching I offered. What they would remember was, was I there when they needed me? When they were sick, when a child was being married, when a loved one was dying, when a funeral was in order? Sometimes an old event will flash into memory out of nowhere and I will wonder, did I give me best?
I think that being in the word in a disciplined (and devotional) way makes me more responsive to those moments of others needs. And integrates lifestyle and preaching, as Paul puts it, to avoid "disqualification."
We perhaps preach best through our actions. As a newly minted deacon [long, long ago in a place far, far away] a wise priest counseled me in words I have never begotten. He said that no one would remember any sermon I preached or teaching I offered. What they would remember was, was I there when they needed me? When they were sick, when a child was being married, when a loved one was dying, when a funeral was in order? Sometimes an old event will flash into memory out of nowhere and I will wonder, did I give me best?
I think that being in the word in a disciplined (and devotional) way makes me more responsive to those moments of others needs. And integrates lifestyle and preaching, as Paul puts it, to avoid "disqualification."