Quotes from David R. Helm

Some preachers use the Bible the way a drunk uses a lamp post . . . more for support than for illumination.

We are not free to do what we want with the Bible. It is sovereign. It must win. Always.

Contextualization is a good dance partner, but she should never be allowed to lead. Put her before the exegetical steps in your sequence of preparation, and problems will quickly emerge.

Do you love Jesus? Do you really love him? Then manifest your love for him by feeding and tending those for whom he died. Learn to love people. The

Christians' future inheritance and exaltation — our eternal share in the glory of Christ — will be awarded to us on the day of his appearing (1:13; 2:12; 4:13; 5:1, 4, 10). But that promised day only comes after this brief season of present-day sufferings.

By experience, we know what it is to plant our faces in the floor and plead for God to accomplish the work that our best efforts in preaching cannot.

True life and true change in our hearers does not come from our ingenuity, but from the Word of the Spirit (John 6:63), set forth in plain speech, by a preacher who is looking to God.

The only necessary key to understanding the Bible is to approach it with a humble and contrite heart softened by the Holy Spirit, ready to listen to what God says, and just as ready to obey him. The

Any committed Christian is capable of initiating a good conversation on a biblical text.

Biblical expositors are not pining away in their studies searching for ways to bring relevancy to their message. They don't need to. The Bible is relevant. Rather, they draw out the implications and applications that are already there in the text in ways that make sense for the culture the church is embedded in.

to humble the sinner; to exalt the Saviour; to promote holiness.

Blind adherence to contextualization alters our preaching in at least three ways, and none of them is for the better. First, it impairs our perspective in the study—in his preparation of his sermon, the preacher becomes preoccupied with the world rather than God's Word. This leads to impressionistic preaching.

Second, it changes our use of the pulpit—the Word now supports our intoxicating plans and purposes, rather than those of God. This is inebriated preaching. Finally, it shifts our understanding of authority—the preacher's "fresh" and "spirit led" devotional reading becomes the determinative point of truth. I call this "inspired" preaching.

Too many of us unconsciously believe that a well-studied understanding of our cultural context, rather than the Bible, is the key to preaching with power.

Expository preaching is empowered preaching that rightfully submits the shape and emphasis of the sermon to the shape and emphasis of a biblical text. In that way, it brings out of the text what the Holy Spirit put there…and does not put into the text what the preacher thinks might be there.

One of the problems with contextualized preaching today, however, is that it often has a misplaced emphasis. By elevating contextualization to a studied discipline overly focused on practical gains, some preachers treat the biblical text in a haphazard and halfhearted way. This is the blind adherence problem. Out of a healthy desire to move the mission of his church forward, the preacher focuses his preparation exclusively on creative and artistic ways he can make his sermon relevant.

Contextualization in preaching is communicating the gospel message in ways that are understandable or appropriate to the listener's cultural context.

If we don't consider the gospel context of the Bible as a whole, even well-exegeted imperatives turn into moralism. And this fosters a legalistic culture in our churches.

Theological reflection…is a rigorous and prayerful discipline of taking the time to meditate on my text and how it relates to God's plan of redemption. It is an exercise that asks how my passage relates to the Bible as a whole, especially to the saving acts of God in Jesus.

A faithful preacher starts the sermon preparation process by paying attention to a biblical text's original audience and a text's purposes for those readers. He 1) gives the biblical context control over the meaning of the text; 2) listens intently until he knows how the text fits within the overall message of the book; 3) sees the structure and emphasis of the text.

Most churches are filled with people who love Jesus and are involved in every way that they feel capable. In reality, they are waiting for someone to invest in them for gospel work.