Three Preachers You Should Be Listening To Right Now
Bonus Article
There is no shortage of preaching out there for you to listen to. The online preaching directory, Sermonaudio.com have accrued so much over the years, that they are building a worldwide network of servers to make sure that their catalogue is safe for generations to come. I cannot imagine how much data that is.
Today, I want to introduce you to the three preachers you should definitely be listening to though.
The Shepherd
This fortnight past, Mrs R and I have been looking after a beautiful, snow white dog. He is about 90% long white fur, 10% body. It took about four seconds for those white hairs to appear on our clothes. If your socks are feeling a bit thin, just come and walk around they’ll be thick again in no time!
Pastors should be covered. In tears. In stories. In joyful and heartbreaking news. It should stick out like white hairs on a black t-shirt. One of the ways this happens is when we listen, when we ask questions, and when we thank them for the ways they serve us.
I’m indebted to preachers around the world who have uploaded sermons for all to hear. I often listen to pastors like Matt Chandler,
, and Sam Alberry, but what’s the one thing they all have in common?They have no clue what is going on in my life.
None of them even live on the same continent that I do right now! Your pastor may not be speaking to you specifically each Sunday, but he has his flock buried in his heart. Once, maybe twice a week, you get to sit down and listen to him. Take every precaution to be awake and attentive during that time. Drink coffee, sit with people who won’t distract you, pray for him as he stands to preach.
Our pastors are not perfect.
Neither are the ones online who look pristine from afar.
If you’re struggling to know how, I wrote a series all about this last year for Gospel Centered Discipleship (.)
The Ancient Friend
If you wonder why I'm always quoting Augustine, he's my ancient friend. I think everybody should have one. I just picked Augustine. I read everything he ever wrote and anything written about him. Peter Brown's biography is probably the most dense, difficult book I've read, and yet he has just become my ancient buddy. So I oftentimes go, "Oh yeah, Augustine. We had that conversation that day over coffee."
Matt Chandler1
The second person you should listen to wasn’t born in this century, they might even have been born 1600 years ago! As helpful as it is to listen to and read people who are speaking and writing today, there is a clarity that an ancient friend can bring that no one else can. Your friends and family can be changeable. A favourite preacher might turn out to have fallen in an egregious way. Those who came before are done. They’re worshipping in heaven now, and they don’t have a care in the world.
As you read them, you’ll be challenged. One area I’m always profoundly shocked by is love. I’m reading a biography right now, and ways that this person loved their friends—even the language he used—was beautiful. That isn’t something I hear much today.
You can choose this ancient friend from a long list of Christians who have gone before us. If you want some suggestions, I’d commend some of the following to you. Klaas Schilder was a pastor during WWII, who saw his country overrun by the Nazis. He kept the faith. He kept writing, even when he was ordered not to. And he kept the following central: Preaching and prayer.
Polycarp was a disciple of John, and a bishop in the early church. He was a faithful martyr who gave his life for the sake of his saviour, and who loved his people dearly. You can read all about his letter to the Philippians here.
Finally, Charles Spurgeon—a man often called the Prince of Preacher—was a baptist minister in London. If open up the Bible to any page, there’s a good chance he preached on it, and he left behind his a treasure trove of sermons and writings. You might start with this one.
I could go on recommending people for pages and pages. For now though, just go and find one. There are plenty out there, and many of them are freely available to you online. Download and print out their work.
Read, and read, and read.2
Yourself
You don’t have a choice as to whether you preach to yourself or not. You just have a choice about how to do it. What will you choose?
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life
Jude 20-213
We all have lies we tell ourselves. We’re remarkably good at that. We’ll find something, or hear something, and it will just stick in our brains. We will repeat them over and over. The enemy sits back and laughs.
This proves how capable we are though of learning things and teaching them to ourselves. If you can pick up a lie, you can definitely hold on to the truth.
In Psalm 119 we read:
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;I will not forget your word.
Psalm 119:11-164
Read the word of word. Contemplate what God is saying. Memorise it, and train yourself in it. Ask God for his help, and expect the Spirit to stir within you. You are the only one that is always with you. You know yourself. I’d guess that you’ve even got a pretty good idea of your weaknesses too!
Which sins are you most prone to?
How does the enemy catch you out?
Take up the word of God daily. Speak it out, preach it to yourself.
Why not start right now?
Grace and Peace,
Recommend Media of the Week
Carl Trueman is better qualified than most to engage with the theories that underpin much of modern day thinking. Especially those most people are unaware of. In this episode of Life & Books & Everything with Kevin DeYoung, Trueman brings the full force of that understanding to bear—winsomely and irenically. I’d recommend you listen in for two reasons, 1. To learn how to disagree well, and 2. So you can get to know the real philosophy and practice behind much of what is being propagated around the western world today.
MKBDH—otherwise known as Marques Browlee—is probably the biggest name in tech journalism today. His podcast is a must listen, in which he invites other members of his team to discuss to the most important news in tech. There are also some ridiculous trivia questions. In this latest episode they discussed the iRobot style Tesla event earlier this month, and it was excellent as always.
I’m late to the game on this one. After hearing about Theopolis’ Deuteronomy series for a year and a half, I finally got on with listening to it.
, Peter Leithart, Jeff Meyers, and Alastair Roberts do a fantastic job of opening up the Scriptures and gleaning everything they can from them. Better still, they invite us to join them. This is not a short series by any measure, and I’m still only 10% of the way through…Earlier this week at
The Kingdom Remade, May 14th 2018 https://www.thevillagechurch.net/resources/sermons/the-kingdom-remade
If you’re interested, my most frequently read Ancient Friends are Augustus Toplady and John Chrysostom.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jud 20–21.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 119:11–16.
I like the idea of an ancient friend. I'm going to have to think fora but about who I want that person to be. Justin Martyr perhaps, or John Chrysostom... I dunno.
Love this! A very cheeky list, not who I was expecting you to recommend, but you supposed my expectations!