Preach Magazine Issue 3 - Preaching and the Holy Spirit | Page 58

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SERIAL

Pulpit Bloopers
For those of us who preach regularly, it is inevitable that from
time to time we may not say quite what we meant to say…

W

riter and preacher Jayson
Bradley tweets: ‘True story: I
did a wedding & meant to say
“by the power invested in me”
and accidentally said, “by the power of
greyskull.” No one laughed.’
One vicar recalls visiting a Christian
college and listening to a freshly minted
graduate guest preaching. His subject?
‘The joys of immorality.’ He meant,
of course, the joys of immortality. He
only said it a couple times and tried to
cover up as if he hadn’t said it. But the
damage was done and giggling broke out
occasionally even when he said it right.
Pastor Thom Rainer didn’t think he was
particularly active or animated when

he was preaching one Sunday. But this
was early in his career, money was tight
and perhaps his clothes were not the
highest quality. Whatever the reason
halfway through his sermon his trousers
split in the rear with a very recognizable
noise. He writes, ‘the small congregation
tried to act as if nothing had happened.
I appreciated their decorum. But my
problem was twofold. First, my five-yearold son was giggling uncontrollably.
Second, the small choir b Z[