That outstanding teacher of preachers, Dr. Fred Craddock, suggests that it is better to "hold this text before the listeners in (its) full extraordinariness rather than reduce (it) to fit the contour of our experiences. It is better to be led to the foot of the Mount of Transfiguration, to be helped to sense its significance on Jesus and three apostles, and to be left there for a while in awe of i...
2. The Girl in the Front Row
Illustration
Fred Craddock
In a certain village the school bell rang at 8:30 a.m. to call the children to class. The boys and girls left their homes and toys reluctantly, creeping like snails into the school, not late but not a second early. The bell rang again at 3:30 p.m., releasing the children to homes and toys, to which they rushed at the very moment of the tolling of the bell. This is how it was every day, with every ...
3. Two Forces at Work
Mark 1:4-11
Illustration
Fred Craddock
"What's frightening about listening to John preach is that he puts you in the presence of God. And that's what everybody wants, and that's what everybody doesn't want. Because the light at the altar is different from every other light in the world. In the dim lamps of this world, we can compare ourselves with each other, and all of us come off looking good. We convince ourselves that God grades on...
