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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 46,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 11 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 41,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 15 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Since this blog site was set up to help me complete my Doctor of Ministry degree The Preacher & The Message through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I thought I would post the following…

Don’t be a Preacher

By Yancey Arrington | January 20, 2010

Don’t be a preacher…

…if you are thin-skinned. It’s a given that people will take shots at your sermons, even more so, they will take shots at you. Get tough or get gone.

…if you are lazy. Preaching is work. No matter how gifted you are, studying and preparing well should regularly take hours out of your week.

…if you are cowardly. The “whole counsel of God” has parts which will challenge and provoke even the godliest of your congregation. Be ready to “gird up your loins.”

…if you are prayerless. The worst sermons are preached by men who confidently but independently alight upon the pulpit. Only God can bring life to dead men’s bones.

…if you are insecure. Preaching doesn’t need to be about you, but unfortunately it will be if your identity is based on your performance in the pulpit. Let preaching be about God’s glory, not yours.

…if you are loveless. Anyone can preach at people, but loving people leads us to preach to people. How we say something really does matter. Loving people will motivate you to practice this well.

What would you add to this list?

My church, Harvey Oaks Baptist Church in Omaha, has been extremely supportive of my Doctor of Ministry studies since I began the program back in 2004.

Now that I have defended my thesis and plan to graduate on May 9, many of my church members have been calling me “Dr. Galloway!” I have also received many cards that are addressed the same way!

I have to admit that it is fun to go through this.

When the dust settles, I will be happy just to be called “Bryan” or “Pastor Bryan”

…to everyone who prayed for me during my D.Min. defense this past Saturday at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.  I am grateful for you.

Bryan

This morning (Saturday) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, I sat down with Dr. Haddon Robinson and Dr. Sid Buzzell to defend my thesis on the impact of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on twenty-first century preaching and preachers.

I am thankful to the Lord to pass it.

I am also thankful to everyone who offered feedback of some kind to the bonhoefferblog. Your contribution helped me to complete my thesis.

I plan to continue to add posts to this blog. It has become part of my life and routine.

Bryan

I am on D.Min. display table at Gordon-Conwell!

I am on D.Min. display table at Gordon-Conwell!

I just finished re-reading my Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) Thesis about the impact of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on twenty-first century preaching and preachers. It me took a few hours to do. It was fun to remind myself why I picked such a topic. Bonhoeffer has much to say to us preachers. I was especially moved on his commitment to Jesus and his love for people in the worst of times.

He lived well and he died well because of the grace of God in his life. That grace was available because Bonhoeffer stayed close to Jesus through prayer, worship and scripture meditation.

Thank you to everyone who responded through feedback of some kind.

This blog site is part my thesis. My D.Min. is through Gordon-Conwell Thelogical Seminary in South Hamilton, MA.

Why did God create days? Is there a purpose? Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers the following insights in his book, Meditating on the Word

Each morning os a beginning of our life. Each day is a finished whole. The present day marks the boundary of our cares and concerns (Matthew 6.34, James 4.14). It is long enough to find God or to lose him, to keep faith or fall into disgrace.

God created day and night for us so we need not wander without boundaries, but may see every morning the goal of the evening ahead. Just as the ancient sun rises anew every day, so the eternal mercy of God is new every morning (Lamentations 3.23).

Every morning God gives us the gift of comprehending anew his faithfulness of old; thus, in the midst of our life with God, we daily begin a new life with him (37).

…Thank you, thank you, thank you….

…To everyone who has contributed to this bonhoefferblog since February of 2008. I greatly appreciate your feedback and input. As you may or may not know, this blog site was created to help me complete my Doctor of Ministry degree through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

I had one final hurdle to go over and I found out yesterday that I cleared it.

Therefore, my next step is to defend sometime early next year, and then Lord willing to graduate in May of 2009.

So thank you, thank you and thank you…

I will continue to post on this blog site

Bryan

Good morning from Jerusalem. My wife and I are about to begin the journey home after a great tour of the Holy Land. My name is Bryan Galloway. I am the senior pastor of Harvey Oaks Baptist Church in Omaha, NE.

Allow me once again to explain the purpose of this blog. It is part of my thesis-project for my Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, MA. My D.Min. track is called The Preacher and the Message“; and it is under the leadership of Dr. Haddon Robinson (see photo on right side of page). I began this program in March of 2004 and have completed all the requirements except this final thesis-project.

The theme for the thesis-project is “The Impact of Dietrich BonhoDietrich Bonhoeffereffer on Twenty-First Century Preaching and Preachers.” The purpose of this blog is to introduce six areas where Bonhoeffer can make an impact on preachers and preaching. You can click the links to the six areas on the top of this page.

On top of that, this blog is also an attempt to receive feedback from preachers and pastors. As I presented the six areas of impact, I asked my readers to respond through an evaluation form.

I would love any additional comments and/or questions about this project. Please comment on any post or e-mail me at bryan@harveyoaksbaptist.org.

Bryan

May 2024
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