{"id":20986,"date":"2020-08-25T20:24:53","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T01:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=20986"},"modified":"2020-08-25T20:25:16","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T01:25:16","slug":"preacher-lets-say-youre-on-a-big-program-find-out-whom-you-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/preacher-lets-say-youre-on-a-big-program-find-out-whom-you-follow\/","title":{"rendered":"Preacher: Let’s say you’re on a big program; Find out whom you follow"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the death of comic genius Robin Williams, someone was reminiscing about the time he preceded Bob Hope on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For some reason, Bob Hope was late arriving at the studio that night. So, instead of Robin Williams following him, which had been the plan, Williams went on stage first and did his hilarious knock-em-dead routine.\u00a0 People were beside themselves with laughter.<\/p>\n

The great Bob Hope arrived and had to follow that.<\/p>\n

Robin Williams said, \u201cI don\u2019t think he was angry, but he was not pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Bob Hope walked out onto the stage and settled into the chair, Johnny Carson said, \u201cRobin Williams. Isn\u2019t he funny?\u201d\u00a0 Hope said, \u201cYeah. He\u2019s wild. But you know, Johnny, it\u2019s great to be back here with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let’s talk about me. I smile. Even the great Bob Hope could not handle that.<\/p>\n

No right-thinking person would voluntarily follow Robin Williams on the program.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sometimes we preachers find ourselves scheduled to speak on a big program.\u00a0 Woe to the one who has to follow the most popular preacher in the land.<\/p>\n

As a college student, I participated in a speakers tournament against six or eight outstanding young people with a great deal to offer.\u00a0 The young man who preceded me, however, had an unfortunate thing to happen. In the middle of his five-to-seven minute piece, a train went by. The building shook and the noise drowned out his voice.\u00a0 Not knowing what else to do, he kept talking.\u00a0 Clearly, one of the judges should have stopped it and allowed him to start from the beginning after quiet was restored. But that did not happen. No one was hearing\u00a0a thing he said.<\/p>\n

The train went by and the fellow finished his little speech. \u00a0 Then, as though nothing had happened, the leader introduced me.<\/p>\n

I hit it out of the park.<\/p>\n

It was hard not to do a great job because of what I was following.<\/p>\n

(And, yes, I do recall the name of that unfortunate young man. We became seminary classmates and some years later, I stayed in his home while preaching a revival for him.\u00a0 We never mentioned the time the train plowed through the middle of his speech.)<\/p>\n

A generation ago, Houston\u2019s John Bisagno and E. V. Hill of Los Angeles were featured speakers at a conference I was attending. Hill, an eloquent fiery preacher in the best tradition of African-American stemwinders, blew the windows out of the church with his message and left the congregation of a thousand on their feet cheering and shouting. As order settled in on the auditorium, our host introduced Bisagno.<\/p>\n

Brother John–a great and eloquent preacher in his own right–walked to the pulpit and softly related a little story that was ideal for that situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlie Brown, Lucy, and Linus were lying in the grass gazing at the puffy white clouds. Lucy says, \u2018If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formation\u2026What do you think you see, Linus?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLinus said, \u2018Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of the British Honduras in the Caribbean\u2026.That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor\u2026and that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen\u2026I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side\u2026.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLucy says, \u2018Uh huh\u2026That\u2019s very good\u2026 What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?\u2019 And Charlie Brown answers, \u2018Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bisagno looked out at his audience and said, \u201cI was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but after that sermon from Dr. Hill, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll say anything now!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The audience erupted with laughter and applause\u2013and, may I add\u2013complete understanding. Not one preacher in the house would have wanted to follow E. V. Hill that day.<\/p>\n

If anyone could do it, however, John Bisagno was the man.<\/p>\n

When a preacher is slated to speak on a program along with others, he would do well to get there early and listen to the fellow who precedes him.\u00a0 He might discover, for instance, that the speaker uses the same story he had been planning as his piece de resistance!\u00a0 That has happened before, and has caused some mighty fast reconfiguring of the planned sermon!<\/p>\n

Question: What is the preacher to do when the fellow just before him hits a home run and leaves the audience standing on their feet, calling for more?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What you do not do is try to top that speaker.<\/p>\n

What you do not do is try to imitate that speaker.<\/p>\n

Neither do you try to address the situation you find yourself in.<\/p>\n

What you do do is…<\/p>\n

…You send up a quick prayer to the Father to help you do your best in sharing what He has given you for this moment.<\/p>\n

…You hope for a song or a choir special in between you and the eloquent one.<\/p>\n

…You should not \u00a0be surprised if a number of people leave during that little break.\u00a0 The previous speaker has left them wrung out and some are deciding their cup is full and cannot take any more. It\u2019s not about you, so don\u2019t take it personally.<\/p>\n

…Just be yourself.<\/p>\n

…Speak softly and naturally at first.\u00a0 If you acknowledge the outstanding job the previous guy did, plan your words.\u00a0\u00a0 If you have a nice little story that fits here, this would be a good time for it.<\/p>\n

…You must \u00a0not apologize for your limited abilities or try to display a false modesty.\u00a0 You and that brother are not in competition for anything, but are fellow team members.\u00a0 His success will almost guarantee that you will be effective if you know your business and do this right.\u00a0 After all, someone thought you could preach well or you’d never have been put on this program.<\/p>\n

…Just ease into your message while giving the audience time to adjust to your more subdued style.<\/p>\n

Soon, you will be\u00a0doing what you do best and love most: proclaiming the good news of the glorious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

If, when it\u2019s all over and as you leave the building everyone is still talking about the preacher who preceded you, do not take that personally either.\u00a0 God used you, just as He did that fellow, but in different ways.<\/p>\n

When you recover from the experience, you might decide the program committee paid you a high compliment by scheduling you back-to-back with such a powerful preacher.\u00a0 They knew if anyone could handle it, you could.<\/p>\n

So, give yourself a little pat on the back.\u00a0 Now, go take a nap.\u00a0 You need one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the death of comic genius Robin Williams, someone was reminiscing about the time he preceded Bob Hope on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. For some reason, Bob Hope was late arriving at the studio that night. So, instead … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors","category-public-speaking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20986"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21005,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986\/revisions\/21005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}