The Doorstep Evangel Newspaper
The DoorStep Evangel is a bimonthly publication of the Empire Baptist Temple. It is freely distributed to Pastors and Missionaries as a ministry to encourage and edify men of God as they serve in this challenging age.
Archived here you will find a sampling of articles that have appeared in the DoorStep Evangel over the years.
Real Bible Preaching
Dr. Ronald L. Tottingham
Real Bible preaching is not to convince others as we most likely think. It seems that real Bible preaching is not to convince others so much as it is to be to give the scriptural grounds which have convinced the preacher. If the preacher is convinced and gives the grounds which have convinced him, God can use that to work convincing in others.
Too many preachers see their preaching as to convince others, to push on others their own opinion, and often without much biblical grounds. Real Bible preaching is to be from the heart of the one preaching more than just to the crowd. He is to be convinced of the message God has given to him or shown him or he cannot convey that to his listeners. He must be totally sold on what he is preaching to truly be able to "sell" others on the same thing. It is likely that he will not fully convince those of any consequence unless he is first convinced himself. A preacher's job is to persuade others through the preaching. Titus 1:3 says God has chosen preaching to manifest His Word. The preacher therefore, must realize his preaching is God's chosen vehicle for that. I believe the preacher should at least convince his audience that "he is convinced" of what He is trying to persuade others to accept or believe. The preacher needs to believe it first, before he can expect to convince others.
Real Bible preaching then should be a message the preacher is convinced of first then use the same "data" which convinces him to convince an audience.