One of our readers, C. Johnson, wrote a perceptive comment which reads in part:

To a large degree, what is said, heard and done (in the pulpit) is all prepackaged. Even the words that are used, are for the most part scripted long before a text is exegeted and expounded.

and further

Too many who populate pulpits reduce the Bible to the script of the people we serve and as a result, lead them into both mediocrity and blindness.

Using the Pulpit to Beat our Enemies

In the African American Preaching Tradition the ability to “tell the story” is highly prized. It is also helpful when preaching to any ethnic group. There is something about stories that captures the imagination of the hearer in ways that no other method can. Stories grab the people and place them in the Bible story as they recognize parts of the story playing out in their own lives. Stories are powerful especially Bible stories.