Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the ‘aweful’ task of preaching

From Preaching & Preachers, p. 107:

Indeed it seems to be the case that the greater the preacher the more hesitant he has been generally to preach. Oftentimes such men have had to be persuaded by ministers and elders and others to do this; they so shrank from the dread responsibility. This was true of George Whitefield, one of the greatest and most eloquent preachers ever to adorn a pulpit. And it has been true of many others. My argument is, therefore, that a man who feels that he is competent, and that he can do this easily, and so rushes to preach without any sense of fear or trembling, or any hesitation whatsoever, is a man who is proclaiming that he has never been ‘called’ to be a preacher. The man who is called by God is a man who realises what he is called to do, and he so realises the awefulness of the task that he shrinks from it. Nothing but this overwhelming sense of being called, and of compulsion, should ever lead anyone to preach.

Thabiti Anyabwile on Celebrity Pastors

Thabiti Anyabwile is Senior Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Grand Caymen on the Cayman Islands and a regular blogger at The Gospel Coalition. He is recently blogging on the multi-site phenomenon in church growth as well as on the phenomenon of so called “Celebrity” or “Rock Star” pastors.  He spoke with Paul on Monday, October 17, 2011.

Thabiti_Anyabwile_on_Celebrity_Pastors.mp3

Dr. James White and Dr. Robert Jeffress on Mormonism

Dr. James White is the founder of Alpha & Omega Ministries based in Phoenix, AZ and the leading Christian apologist in America.  Paul spoke with Dr. White on Thursday, October 13, 2011 about whether or not Dr. Robert Jeffress was right to characterize Mormonism as a cult and to say that Mitt Romney is not a Christian.  Also joining the conversation is Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of the 10,000 member First Baptist Church of Dallas, TX:

James_White_on_Mormonism.mp3

Stephen Mansfield on the Religious Influence of Oprah Winfrey

On Thursday, October 13, 2011 Paul spoke with Stephen Mansfield, author of Oprah: The Religious Influence of the World’s Most Famous Woman

Stephen_Mansfield_on_Oprah.mp3

From the publisher’s description of Oprah: The Religious Influence of the World’s Most Famous Woman:

Born into poverty in Mississippi in 1954 and rising through talent, hard work and despite tragedy-she was raped at the age of nine and lost an infant son at 14-Oprah Winfrey has become one of the wealthiest, most powerful, and most popular women of her age. These facts alone would make Winfrey worthy of study, yet what makes her of even more profound impact on American society is her decision to champion the cause of “New Age Christianity.” She is, as Christianity Today has proclaimed, “a postmodern priestess-an icon of church-free spirituality.” Rejecting her Baptist roots, Winfrey has become a champion of the Course in Miracles, a seminar in which Christianity is reinterpreted in terms of self-actualization, personal divinity, and self-empowerment. She has also become a disciple of Eckhart Tolle, the increasingly popular teacher of a form of spirituality that blends Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Christianity.

Author Stephen Mansfield explores the Winfrey spiritual phenomenon-much as Mansfield has with figures like George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI, and Winston Churchill.

Stephen Mansfield is a New York Times bestselling author, an acclaimed lecturer, an advisor to leaders around the world and an activist in a variety of social causes.