"In my own language please."

I heard some commotion in the living room this afternoon.

My oldest son Judah was extremely frustrated with his brother Jesse. They had been watching a dvd together and at first I couldn't figure out what the problem was. For some reason the show wasn't as engaging as it had been on previous occasions. TV still on: check, volume still good: check, sippy cups in sight: check....so what was the deal with all the racket??

Then as I listened closer I realized that my youngest son must have hit something on the game controller (yeah...we're pretty ghetto and use an old ps2 as our dvd player:) because the animated characters on the screen were no longer speaking in English.....and Judah quickly realized that he didn't understand French!!

As a preacher, I continually find myself asking God for His Grace to to keep this principle in mind whenever I am preparing to communicate His Word.

The Levites involved in the work of the ministry during Ezra's day seemed to get this principle down....the principle of communicating God's Word in a way that their audience to understand it, internalize it and have a chance to apply it.

"They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read." (Nehemiah 8:8)

The greater teacher of preaching, Hadden Robinson said, "If it's a mist in the pulpit, it will be a fog in the pew."

God help all of us preachers!! What an amazing challenge and privilege...to present the most timeless and transformative text in a language our culture can comprehend.