I was once listening to the radio and a very popular preacher who pastored a very large church. He was talking about prayer and nothing he said was wrong or sinful; in fact, I might say some of the same things if I were teaching about prayer. But I don’t think this man was actually preaching at all. His preaching method was to make up some talking points about prayer that he wanted to emphasize and periodically find some Scripture to back things up (interestingly, he used a variety of translations to make his points). What he did (at least in the message I heard) was give a pep-talk or motivational speech to Christians. He was winsome and funny; he was great to listen to. I don’t think there is a person in this room who wouldn’t enjoy hearing him, and he wasn’t preaching heresy, but that what he did wasn’t preaching. What that man did was relegate Scripture to be merely a collection of proof texts for whatever point he wanted to make. Real preaching involves exposing the revelation of God for what it actually says, and what the Bible says, it says in a context and that demands studying paragraphs and chapters and books not merely sentences and verses. I really can’t judge the change in lives that might or might not vindicate the preaching of the gospel that does happen in that man’s church, but I will say that I was attracted to what I heard that night, but I don’t think it was because of what the man said as much as how he said it. His winsome personality and phenomenal stage presence left no room for the humanity of the preacher. He was on another level.