I recently heard Greg Haslam of Westminster chapel say that as Christians we are left here on earth to cause trouble, to destabilise things.

I suppose that is especially true of preachers. According to Greg the task of the preacher is to tell both the church and the world what neither of them want to hear!

I am fortunate to be in a church where the vast majority if not all of us DO want to hear what the preachers have to say, but nonetheless it takes great boldness to preach the word as we ought to. Like most preachers, I am acutely conscious that I do not preach as I ought nor as I would want to. I want to serve the people more effectively and be more aware of what the old time preachers used to call the 'unction' or the annointing of the Holy Spirit upon preaching.

A preacher�s job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and knowing that you may unsettle your congregation, you are very aware of your need of God to help you in doing so in the right way.

If you are a Christian reading this blog, please take a moment to pray for preachers, and particularly the ones you know. Please pray for me, particularly as I prepare a message for this Sunday. Please pray for us that the Spirit will grant us the boldness and the anointing to preach as we ought, and pray for our hearers that together we will all be doers of the word and not just hearers.