Ed Stetzer spent some time interviewing Andy Stanley about communication. Andy is hailed as one of the best communicators in the world and when you hear him speak you'd have to agree. His talks are compelling and one of my favorite things about him is that he always gives great application for the takeaway. His book "Communicating for a Change" is one of my favorites and has been most helpful in grooming myself as a speaker. In the five-part series on his blog Stetzer asked Stanley "if you could only give one word to young pastors about communicating what would it be?" Here is what he had to say:"Show up every Sunday morning with a burden that is so heavy that you feel like you will die if you don't deliver it. And pray for that. Because if you don't have that, then you just have information. The people will put up with all kinds of a lack of excellence if there is an intensity and a burden that has to be delivered. And many times I have looked at my notes and thought, "Yeah, this might be helpful, but God, what's the thing I can't wait until Sunday morning to deliver? And I honestly can't wait for Sunday morning.
The other thing I always tell pastors, "If you preach from your weaknesses, you will never run out of sermon material."
Labels: Church, Communicating, Communicators, Leadership, Resources, Youth Pastors
Terrace,
great post on the interview between Andy Stanley and Ed Stetzer. Andy's communication, both written and spoken have played a major role in my ministry and life over the last decade. The quote you picked was great. Very few discussions in the blogosphere have gotten me so riled up as when I read some of the silly (and sometimes ignorant) things people were saying against Andy and the point we was making about communicating. Keep up the great work.
good stuff indeed, thanks for posting!
I've recently been listening to Andy - he's really practical, and his teaching is applicable and sticks!