Preach Magazine Issue 3 - Preaching and the Holy Spirit | Page 5

LETTERS AND TWEETS

Letters
and tweets

5

Jericho. As he goes he looks carefully
at the side of the road to see if there
is anyone lying there who has been
attacked. If there is he bandages them
and takes them on his donkey to an
inn and sees they are cared for.
Keith Austin, Sheffield

Better together
It was good to see that the magazine
is interdenominational. We are all in
the Lord’s service, so it is a good idea
to pool our knowledge and resources.
May I request a new feature please? I
would like to see a good example of a
sermon printed in each issue, with a
forum for us to discuss and comment.
Maybe we could all vote for “Sermon
of the Year” eventually.
Stephen Walter Watson, Leeds

Good news?
I am sorry to say that despite
my hopes, I found the magazine
disappointing and it struggled to
maintain my attention. Maybe it
was because too many of the articles
seemed to come from those of a
somewhat conservative bent.

How will it end?
Congrats on the super, new-style
Preach – I enjoyed reading it cover
to cover. Issue 2, Preaching for the
Planet, is the basis of my current
preaching theme as I prepare my
service as a Local Preacher of 35 years
for Christ the King Sunday with the
wonderful description of that epic day,
from Revelation and Matthew’s “sheep
and goats” judgement details.
Three questions uppermost in people’s
anxious minds appear to be: 1. Will I
be one of the lucky ones returning to
heaven with Jesus, and what about
my unbelieving loved ones in the
separation? 2. Why is it taking Jesus so
long to return? 3. How is it all going to
end on earth?
After researching for my service, I find
these momentous questions superbly

LWPT8693 Preach Magazine - Issue 3 v3 REPRO.indd 5

answered in Peter’s precious letters.
Thank God for dear Peter, Jesus’ right
hand man, Saint and Martyr, the
“Rock” for our church.
Maureen Jones, Wrexham

Lacking imagination
In the winter 2014 edition of Preach,
page 12, Tim Ward writes, “Thus there
is no real place for the exercise of
human imagination in establishing
the core message that the preacher is
to preach.”
I am reminded of the story when Jesus
is approached by one of his followers.
The man says to Jesus that he is
following the example of the Good
Samaritan. Jesus is pleased with this
and asks him what he is doing. The
man replies that each day he takes his
donkey and travels from Jerusalem to

Constructively, may I suggest that
future magazines could take note
of the sentence on page 46: “If you
find an effective way to preach Don
Cupitt’s non-realism or Paul Tillich’s
ontological ground of our being
as good news, by all means let me
know”. I had taken on board Tillich’s
approach before being accredited as a
local preacher over 40 years ago and
have also taken on board some but
maybe not all of Cupitt’s approach.
The good news that Jesus preached
of the Kingdom of God remains
good news for this generation and I
would suggest that this could be the
starting point for future magazines
seeking to speak to the 21st century.
You may wish to seek contributions
from members of the Progressive
Christianity Network to assist in a
broader balance.
Mike Dennis

17/04/2015 15:42:47