Notes taken at the ‘Not Ashamed’ Preaching Conference at International Christian College, Glasgow on Friday 7th March 2008, from a seminar presented by Rev Dr Ian Shaw on the life and ministry of John Bunyan, entitled ‘Preaching under Pressure’.

On Friday 7th March, Fraser Mitchell (Partick), Glen Cartwright (Newton Mearns) & Philip Magee (Dingwall) had the pleasure of attending a preaching entitled “Not Ashamed” which took place at the International Christian College. The main speaker was Liam Goligher who is the Senior minister of Duke Street Church, Richmond. Liam expounded 2nd Timothy and demonstrated and taught on this important matter of preachers rightly handling God’s Word. It was good to get together with fellow preachers be it lay or ministers and hear some teaching. There was another session where Rev. Dr Ian Shaw to a man from Church History who was for all intensive purposes a lay person but can give us lessons that still can effect us today. Below is Glen Cartwright’s notes from that particular session.

Such was the remarkable impact and influence of John Bunyan, that over 300 PhD thesis have been written on an uneducated man! Born in Bedford in 1628 in the time of the Puritans, Bunyan’s father was a tinker (a tool maker). Like other Puritan preachers of the day, John Bunyan had no higher education. In 1644, Bunyan joined the army during the time of Charles I and the Civil War, and at the age of 21 married. His wife had two spiritual books which Bunyan began to read, and during their marriage, they had 4 children. After reading his wife’s books, John Bunyan began attending church in the village of Elstow, and on returning from church one day heard two ladies talking by a door about God. That was a defining moment for Bunyan.

John Gifford, who was minister of the village church which Bunyan attended, had escaped from Maidstone Jail, and on listening to Gifford’s preaching and reading Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians, John Bunyan underwent a “conviction of sin”. Quote Bunyan “sentence fell upon my soul”. John Bunyan was subsequently baptised in the River Great Ouse. He articulated his experience as one of “great sins draw out great grace”.

Bunyan started his preaching against that backdrop and after 2 years Gifford died. Shortly after this, in 1658, Oliver Cromwell died and Charles II ascended to the throne. There then followed a period of oppression which resulted in the Great Ejection of 1662. During this period, in 1660, Bunyan was arrested for not conforming: he had not subjected himself to any episcopal ordination. One day when Bunyan was preaching in Lower Samsol Village Church, he was arrested immediately afterwards and imprisoned, at the age of 32. Despite spending no less than 12 years in prison, Bunyan resolved to suffer rather than violate his faith and his principles. In 1672 he was released from prison, and bought a barn and preached there. He preached around Bedfordshire and Eastern England “nursing and feeding the flock”. In 1675, he was arrested again and released in 1677, before undertaking another 10 years of public preaching ministry.

Frequently Bunyan would preach at 7am in the morning, and it was often said of John Bunyan that “the very essence of the Bible flows from within him”. Sadly Bunyan didn’t live to see the introduction of the Toleration Act which gave greater freedom to preach. He fell ill in London with pneumonia and his last words were from John 1:13 : such was his Christo-centric emphasis.

So what can we learn from Bunyan’s life and preaching ministry? What are the distinctive characteristics that should also define our lives and preaching:

• · A ministry began and continued with great seriousness - with a profound sense of call and sustained by deep commitment;
• · A ministry sustained by serious theological reflection - Bunyan said that the Scriptures were “better than the libraries of the two universities” (referring to Oxford & Cambridge). Bunyan had a Christological emphasis and his preaching was forged on the anvil of experience and opposition;
• · A ministry shaped by profound pastoral concern - an evangelistic concern and a desire to promote godliness and obedience;
• · A ministry shaped and informed by Bunyan’s personality and context;
• · A ministry that displayed real creativity - with use of language and illustration;
• · A ministry in which preaching was understood as a divine event - Bunyan often remarked that “I felt as if an angel of God stood at my back”;
• · A ministry characterised by suffering - Bunyan wrote “Christian climbs the hill difficultly”

PREACHING IS NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS, BUT FOR LIFE.

A lot of emphasis nowadays is placed on the importance of learning not new, but keeping up to date with old skills. In many jobs, it’s compulsory to spend a minimum amount of time each year keeping up to date with developments in your job. So much so that a separate industry providing continuing education in most jobs seems to have emerged. In the case of continuing education of professionals like doctors, lawyers and engineers, many in this separate industry are making a tidy living. Whether we resent the time (and money) spent on simply re-affirming skills we always knew we had and hope will always be with us, or whether we embrace the chance to refresh these skills and develop them to take into account changing circumstances, depends on the nature of the skills.

In the case of preaching, it’s difficult to know whether to resent or to embrace. If God has set you apart to preach surely you’ll always have that gift? Yes, but I don’t think that this precious gift should be taken for granted. That’s why I’ve found the course presently being run by the Scottish Baptist College entitled “The Art and Craft of Preaching” so helpful. Led by Stuart Blythe from the College, and meeting once every two weeks over several weeks, the course deals with a number of aspects of preaching, recommending sound reference material and encouraging lively discussion on preaching practice and technique. What I’ve found most interesting is looking at things in a different way, seeing how things I’ve been used to doing might be improved, and even being reassured that some (...though not many..!) of the things I’ve been doing might be correct.

Leaning on his own experiences in preaching (both from the pulpit and in the College), Stuart encourages us to talk openly and question frankly some of the do’s and the don’ts (and the maybe’s) of preaching. Some are very basic, such as checking you know how to go to a church you’ve never been to before, and how long should you preach for. Others are more profound, such as how to use Scripture effectively when preaching, and how you know when His Spirit is guiding your preaching. But all the guidance is based on Stuart’s relaxed but assured approach to sound and effective preaching in practice, and a challenge to constantly examine our approach to His call to speak to His people in this important way.

The Secretary at a church I preached at recently told me that one of the reasons he liked using preachers in the SBLPA so much was that we were all different and brought a different perspective to God’s Word. I’m not sure whether that was a subtle way of telling me that there was no way I could expect to be invited back, or whether it was a way of saying that God speaks through each of us in different ways and times at different places. Which of the two doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we always remain open to His guidance in our preaching. Surely, for some of us, one of the best ways of doing this is to be conscious that God could be telling us that our existing gifts could be used even more effectively. For me, the College course has been extremely helpful that way.

Maybe the course is just one way in which He is telling me that the gift of preaching is something to be treasured and to be appreciated: it is a gift from Him that, like continuing education, is not just for Christmas – but for life.

Ken Forrest