For over 15 years I’ve carefully manuscripted my sermons. Each one is 2-3k words in length.

I have not regretted this practice one bit.
Seeing this has generated some conversation, let me say a few more things:

1. I carefully manuscript sermons because I believe the Spirit is guiding me to craft words just as much as the Spirit guides me to communicate them.
2. I work hard to internalize the message, so I can “glance and go.”

3. The limit a manuscript brings me at times is the temptation to communicate what’s on paper without truly connecting with people.
4. As @DZRishmawy commented, I’m preaching my message out loud all week trying to hear my words preached. I’m constantly re-writing until my words “preach well.”

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More from @richvillodas

16 Jul
Here a thread of my #Loki preaching points over the course of this first season.

Absolutely loved it. Image
Image
Image
Read 6 tweets
28 Mar
Ever wonder why we wave Palms in church on Palm Sunday? Here’s some historical and theological perspectives:
The Palms we wave and the “Hosannas” we shout speak to our real human desire for liberation but also our human propensity to control the means of salvation.
150 yrs prior to Jesus, Judas Maccabeeus led the Jewish people to victory over the Seluecid dynasty. After leading them to victory, the crowds celebrated by waving palm branches.
Read 8 tweets
30 Jun 20
Like many, I was taught the ACTS model of prayer (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication). While it’s a good framework the model left me exhausted!

This kind of prayer was marked by verbosity and was usually one-sided.

But then I started reading the Desert Fathers.
The way of the desert gave me permission to “be still and know that he is God.”

The more familiar you are with someone the easier it is to be silent in their presence.

Our inability to be silent with God just might reveal how unfamiliar we are with God.
I have found that the way of contemplative prayer has moved me from needing a word from God, to experiencing union with the Word of God.
Read 4 tweets
24 Jun 20
Richard Rohr on liberals and conservatives.

Oh my.
My quick, feeble attempt at throwing Moderates into this conversation. 😁
What shall we say to these things? Here’s a start.

Love deeply.
Do justice.
Repent often.
Pray without ceasing.
Live contemplatively.
Admit our duplicity.
Do the inner work.
Laugh at ourselves.
Proclaim the Lordship of Jesus and his kingdom.

That’s all I got. 😁
Read 4 tweets
9 Jun 20
The exhausting, but important work pastors have is helping the people we lead move beyond enmeshment w/the political figures they support.

People are so enmeshed that it’s hard to distinguish political figures from themselves.

The domino effect of enmeshment looks like this:
To critique the President (or any political leader) it to critique the party I align with.

To critique the party is to critique the values I hold dear.

To critique the values I hold dear is to critique my vision of a flourishing world...
To critique my vision of a world that flourishes is to critique my understanding of God.

To critique my understanding of God is to critique me at my deepest center.

Makes sense why people get defensive when their political leader is criticized.
Read 5 tweets
4 Jun 20
I have found that one of the most important pastoral tasks that must be regularly repeated in pursuing racial justice is defining and redefining these 2 words:

• gospel
• racism

If we get these two words wrong, everything else is bound to fail.
My go to definition of the gospel:

The gospel is the good news that God’s kingdom has come near in Jesus Christ, and through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, the powers of sin and death no longer have the last word.
Re racism, I have found Ibram Kendi’s definition helpful:

Racism is a marriage of racist policies and ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequalities.
Read 4 tweets

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