When the Pulpit Becomes a Furnace
Preaching is not a performance. It’s not a ritual, a platform for visibility, or a weekly event to impress or inspire. At its core, preaching is a collision—between heaven and earth, spirit and truth, eternity and time. It is the strange but sacred moment where flawed human voices become vessels of eternal wisdom. In 40 years of standing behind pulpits and kneeling before altars, I’ve learned that what we often call “sermon preparation” is far more than a study process. It’s heart surgery. It’s spiritual warfare. It’s obedience to a burden.
This book was born out of decades in the trenches—where revelation had to be wrestled for, not just researched. These pages do not present polished techniques for sermon building. They offer something heavier: truths that have been carried, lived, tested, and wept through. Each chapter distills lessons that have cost something. Not every principle here was learned in the light; many were forged in the dark—when the notes were ready, but the soul was not. When the outline was clean, but the spirit was cluttered. When preaching became a crucible, not just a calling.

What I’ve discovered is simple but sobering: the pulpit will either become a furnace that purifies the preacher or a stage that exposes them.