In a recent post below (the power of programs?) I suggested that the church needs to return to its faith in preaching. Dan Kelly’s post seems to suggest that I’m anti-programs, which I’m certainly not. In fact, much of my job is running programs in my church! My concern is that the church and the church leadership (i.e. pastors), spend a lot of time looking for new programs when their role is one of teaching and preaching. That teaching and preaching though must result in action, to Dan’s point. The church, to define my terms, includes all the members of a given body (visible), or even all believers (invisible), but it certainly includes more than the church leadership. When I say that pastors should not create programs, I’m not suggesting that those in the pew should not either. In fact, I’m counting on them to act in response to the pastor’s preaching. The pastor preaches the Word of God and the Spirit applies that Word to the heart of the person in the pew, and such person goes out and starts a program to help the poor. What we need is the leadership in the pulpit that Dan Kelly calls for. That’s exactly what I would expect of good preaching. Here’s the gospel, here’s the gospel applied. Now, through the power of the gospel, strive to live that out