He runneth upon me like a giant...

It has been my great pleasure and privilege over the past couple of weeks to get to know Glenn Hitchcock. Priscilla and I met Glenn first at the Palmetto Bible Lectureship over in Greer. His preaching style was so very refreshing and he sticks to the Bible, which I'm told is a very admirable quality in a preacher.

I should mention that Glenn is a rather large fellow. I'm 6'1, and when Glenn hugs me, my head does not even rest on his shoulder. Priscilla lovingly calls him the "gentle giant." The folks at Union have nicknamed him "Shorty." Glenn told us that when he was born, he weighed 13.9 pounds. (For the sake of perspective, Priscilla and I have an dog--whose name is Shorty as well, coincidentally--that doesn't weigh that much full grown.)

We got to have dinner with Glenn earlier tonight before hearing him preach on the final night of the gospel meeting in Union, SC. I don't think I've laughed so much while eating in quite some time. We were also blessed to be in the company of Richard and Carla Carlson and their kids Adam and Leah, so we couldn't have asked for any better company.

I've often said before that I really enjoy listening to African-American preachers, particularly while sitting in a predominately black congregation. In fact, given the choice, I'd almost always choose to be with our black brothers, because quite often the "black" churches have the most enthusiasm and spirit in their worship. And it seems like their preaching is more plain--less concerned with Greek etymology and more concerned with getting right! I've always enjoyed it when the audience said "amen" and got into the worship. And I've always enjoyed the vigor with which their preachers have spoken. I thought at first that this was what attracted me to Glenn's preaching, as well.

But I realized tonight that it wasn't a "black" thing, for lack of a better way to put it. It was a "truth" thing. Glenn is one of those very few gospel preachers who enters the pulpit with absolutely no fear at all. He doesn't hesitate to tell you the Bible truth, and he doesn't mince words with it. He, unlike many of us, is not concerned with the political correctness of his speech. He simply wants to tell the truth and have as many people come to heaven with him as he can. It's not his culture that shapes his preaching style; it's his pure zeal and desire that everyone within the sound of his voice would obey the gospel.

Listening to him for the past week, I've realized that at times I stop short in my sermons, because I'm afraid of offending somebody or making someone mad at me. I couch the truth behind soft words because I don't want to step on someone's toes. Listening to Glenn tonight, I wonder more and more if I shouldn't strive to preach more like him and give the gospel my full gusto, regardless of whom the truth of Christ offends. After all, if someone takes umbrage at the truth, is it not Christ they are rejecting, and not me?

In any case, Glenn has got me fired up, and it's a good feeling. And I hope that I may help you, dear readers, get fired up too by sharing a recent sermon of Glenn's.

Click the following link to get to the audio file of
Glenn's sermon on Biblical Authority

If you'd like to follow along with his lesson, you can find the outline in the Palmetto Bible Lectureship book.

I hope to bring you more great gospel sermons in mp3 format to take with you and learn from as the blog continues. Some of them may even be my own!

God bless!