{"id":8207,"date":"2015-01-20T20:24:46","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T01:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=8207"},"modified":"2015-01-20T20:26:26","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T01:26:26","slug":"ahem-repeat-myself-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/ahem-repeat-myself-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Let me (ahem) repeat myself.  Again."},"content":{"rendered":"<pre>Having done this blog for over 10 years, I find myself going back\r\nand repeating some of my favorite stories.     \r\n\r\nIt has nothing to do with getting old and forgetful.\r\n\r\nAlthough I am getting old and forgetful.\r\n\r\nNearly a lifetime ago, as a new student at New Orleans\r\nBaptist Theological Seminary, I signed up to preach on the streets\r\nof the French Quarter.  Of all the \"field mission\" choices available\r\nto students--working with inner city children, hospital and nursing \r\nhome ministry, jail ministry, etc.--this one, preaching on \r\nthe streets, was the scariest. \r\n\r\nTherefore, it would be perfect for me.\r\n\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n\r\nIt's not that I gravitated toward the scary.  Quite the opposite. I\r\nhated haunted houses, had never been up in a plane (at that time),\r\nand could not stand heights.  But I wanted to learn to\r\nshare my faith and knew that confronting my fears was a huge\r\ncomponent of mastering the technique.\r\n\r\nAl Maury was our leader.  About a half-dozen of us would meet on\r\ncampus each Friday evening and drive the seminary's ancient\r\nVolkswagen van down to the Quarter, maybe 3 miles away.  On the\r\nway, Al told us how to preach to people on the street.\r\n\r\n\"We'll set up the sound system  and one of us can preach while \r\nthe others take tracts and go up and down the street witnessing.\"\r\n\r\nAl continued, \"Let me tell you how to preach on the street.  Do\r\nnot use a prepared sermon. This is not the place for it. From the\r\ntime someone walks into ear-shot til they leave is maybe \r\n5 minutes at the most.  You do not have time for a well thought-out, \r\nformal sermon. Just share the gospel and do it several times. Repeat \r\nyourself for each new group that enters your space.\"\r\n\r\nIt was a good word.\r\n\r\nThe Lord Jesus did not mind repeating Himself. After all, He was not \r\npreaching to the same congregation each time, but kept moving about the \r\ncountry. Furthermore, people were coming and going. Since His sanctuary \r\ntended to be a hillside in the open air, doubtless people were arriving\r\nand moving about constantly. So, it was necessary for Him to repeat \r\nlessons made earlier. \r\n\r\nBut what about a congregation that is basically the same week after \r\nweek? You repeat yourself to them too. The learning technique \r\ncalled \"spaced repetition\" is for everyone, young and old, weak or \r\nstrong, male or female. Now, in the typical church setting, some who \r\nkeep track of these things may accuse the pastor of running out of \r\nmaterial or losing his way if he overdoes the repetition thing. \r\nTherefore, the leader of the flock must occasionally pause in \r\ndeclaring God's Word to remind the people of a few basic teaching \r\ntechniques which he will be using.... \r\n\r\n<strong>1) He will tell them things they already knew but of which they needed \r\nreminding.<\/strong> \r\n\r\nTelling them what they already know is not insulting, but complimenting \r\nthem for knowing this. \"If you know these things,\" Jesus said, \r\n\"blessed are you if you do them\" (John 13:17). For most, it's not the \r\nknowing they're having trouble with, but the doing. \r\n\r\n<strong>2) He will quote people he does not agree with on a hundred points but \r\nwho got something right at least once.<\/strong> \r\n\r\nFor the pastor to quote a writer or personality does not imply he \r\nis endorsing the individual. \r\n<strong>\r\n3) He will have a few solid gold stories which he will sometimes repeat \r\nsimply because they make his point so well and he knows of none better.<\/strong> \r\n\r\nSince congregations are fluid--people coming and going all the \r\ntime--these will be new to some people, so the oldtimers need to be \r\npatient. (I know, I know. Somehow these people feel a necessity \r\nto tell others that they have heard this story before.)\r\n\r\n<strong>4) He will have a few basic principles of life and ministry that have \r\nforever burned themselves into his heart which he will be conveying \r\nto the congregation by means of spaced repetition.<\/strong> \r\n\r\nEveryone needs this.\r\n \r\nOn those rare occasions when I am in the car with my grandchildren, \r\nI do what Grandpas do with these young people who are dearer to me \r\nthan life: I talk to them. And I repeat myself. \r\n\r\nWhen they were small, they wanted repetition.  I think of Grant, now \r\n20 and in college.\r\n\r\nI would be pushing him in the front-yard swing, and he would say,\r\n\"Grandpa, tell me the story about the old man hitting Tracy's car \r\nagain.\" I might say, \"Grant, you were here when it happened, and \r\nI must have told you that story a hundred times.\" He did not reason \r\nout exactly why he wanted Grandpa to narrate that tale again. He \r\nknew only that he wanted to hear it. So I would tell of the time \r\nhe and I were at this very swing when teenager Tracy and her friend \r\npulled up in front of her house across the street, left the car,\r\non the side of the pavement, and went in the house. \r\n\r\nA few minutes later, an old gentleman driving down our street brushed \r\ntoo close to Tracy's car and knocked the side mirror off. He stopped \r\nand got out, and Tracy's family came out of the house. Grant \r\nand I stopped swinging and went over to join the crowd. The driver was \r\n70-ish with a huge mop of white hair. He looked like life had been hard\r\non him. As we approached, little Grant said, \"Grandpa,  he's going \r\nto get me.\" I said, \"No, he's not.\" But he was fearful in the presence \r\nof the old man. \"Hold me, Grandpa.\" So, I picked up my grandson and \r\nhe was all right then. The family took the man's insurance information, \r\nsomeone shot a few pictures with a camera, and we went on with the day. \r\nBut it had made an indelible impression on Grant for some reason. \r\nAnd he loved to be told about that day. \r\n\r\nThere are stories in your life you love to tell and enjoy hearing about \r\nrepeatedly. There are Bible stories that never grow old. There are \r\nsermon subjects you could listen to for hours. \r\n\r\nTell them, preacher. Hold nothing back. \r\n\r\n\r\n<em>\"I love to tell the story. Tis pleasant to repeat what seems each time\r\n I tell it more wonderfully sweet.\"<\/em><\/pre>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having done this blog for over 10 years, I find myself going back and repeating some of my favorite stories. It has nothing to do with getting old and forgetful. Although I am getting old and forgetful. Nearly a lifetime &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/ahem-repeat-myself-again\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8207"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8215,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8207\/revisions\/8215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}