%1

Tom Long, one of the preachers I’m tempted to steal from, points out in this issue that stealing sermons is an old phenomenon but easier to do today given the thousands of sermons on the Internet.

A student in one of my preaching courses was struggling terribly. The sermons he preached in class were plodding, disorganized and weakly supported exegetically and theologically. He was aware that he was not meeting expectations, and was frustrated and embarrassed. But then, in his final opportunity to redeem himself in the course, he surprised us all by preaching a stunning sermon, profound and lyrical. It was good—too good.