An Interview with Franklin L. Kirksey

May 21, 2009

Rick Lance: Tell us about your call to preach.

Franklin L. Kirksey: During a summer youth camp in 1979, I sensed the Lord’s call into Christian service. Admiration for the ministries of Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Clyde Narramore and Dr. Tim LaHaye influenced me to pursue a degree in psychology and counseling at William Carey College (now William Carey University) in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, with the intention of becoming a Christian counselor. However, God had other plans. Suddenly, one night, the Lord spoke to me in a still, small voice and asked, “When are you going to do what I told you to do?” Then I knew that I must surrender to the gospel ministry.

Shiloh Baptist Church, Saraland, Alabama, licensed me to the Gospel Ministry on November 7, 1982, and I was ordained at Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, January 17, 1988. My first place of service was Seminary Baptist Church, Hintonville, Mississippi, (near Beaumont) as interim youth director, then interim pastor, while a student at William Carey University and I have since served churches in Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. I have served First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort since 2004.

Rick Lance: How would you define preaching? You may prefer to share the ideas that drive your preaching ministry.

Franklin L. Kirksey: Arriving at a definition of preaching can be difficult. Therefore, in my book, I share the following: “Peter Froese admits that it is a great challenge to construct a definition of biblical preaching that includes the interaction between God, the preacher, and the congregation. He cites [Dr.] Haddon Robinson who writes: 'Biblical preaching is the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and traced though a historical, grammatical, and literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through him to his hearers.” The subtitle of my book titled Sound Biblical Preaching, simply defines preaching as “Giving the Bible a Voice”. Dr. Vernon L. Stanfield explains, “In a sense preaching is giving the Bible a voice.”

[V. L. Stanfield, The Christian Worshiping (Nashville: Convention Press, 1965), p. 47]

Dr. John A. Broadus writes, “Sound Biblical preaching. That thorough study of God's Word, which has been urged as a help to freshness, may be, at the same time, an excellent preventive of undue sensation. A man who is truly intent on discovering from the Scriptures the mind and will of God, and bringing these to bear on the questions of his time, is not likely to err greatly in the direction of an unholy opportunism.”

[Rev. Dr. John A. Broadus, A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons (New York : A.C. Armstrong, 1897) Chapter 5 – #6 Sensational Preaching—Cautions / John Broadus, A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, ed. Edwin Charles Dargan (New York: Hodder and Stoughton, 1898), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 89. Used by permission.]

Rick Lance: What tips would you give to a new preacher?

Franklin L. Kirksey: God's chosen method of communicating His Word is preaching, as I share in the introduction to Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice. Someone wisely observed, “The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.” Another sagely exhorts, “Good, Better, Best, Never let it rest, ‘Til your good isbetterand your betteris best!”

Retooling and Improvement in preaching can be very beneficial. Let me warn at the outset that some preachers die of improvement and advice is like mushrooms, the wrong kind can be fatal. Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again with an expectation of a different outcome.

Do you remember the ad that stated, “You are not getting older; you’re getting better”? Some things get better with age - a bad sermon does not, neither does a good sermon. There is a need for improvement and time alone does not make things better. Real change in your preaching will require real change in your life.

Research and Development is beneficial to the preacher of the Word as well as the producer of widgets. Regrettably some pastors spend all of their time on “sermon development” and little time on “sermon delivery”. Allow Wednesday evening to serve as an opportunity to experiment in both categories. The Wednesday evening service can serve as a preaching laboratory. Generally speaking, the more spiritually minded people are present for this service. Therefore, the feedback will be more helpful and the encouragement will be genuine. A Wednesday evening service is a golden opportunity!

Rejoicing and Excitement from Wednesday evening will positively affect the whole congregation over a period of time. When you admit the need for retooling and improvement and follow the painstaking process of research and development you will come to rejoicing and excitement.

General Motors’ advertisement for Pontiac enthusiastically proclaimed, “We build excitement - Pontiac!” As with any car the new wears off and the car wears out. After a certain amount of time passes on the calendar or a certain number of miles on the odometer, the happy car owner is singing the blues, “The thrill is gone - the thrill has gone away.” Someone noted that enthusiasm is like measles, if you don’t have it you can’t give it. You will be excited about the changes that can take place in your preaching and your congregation will get a new preacher!

Allow me to ask about your Wednesday evening, “Are you missing a golden opportunity?”

[“Are you missing a golden opportunity?” By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527 fkirksey@bellsouth.net (251) 626-6210 / © March 4, 2009 All Rights Reserved]

Rick Lance: Do you have a process you follow week to week?

Franklin L. Kirksey: This question reminds me of one posed during a question and answer session at the Conference of the 90s held at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee. Dr. Ron Dunn responded to a similar question with a pause and proceeded to explain that although he had no set pattern but he spent many hours in the study with the Lord and His Word. From his description you could sense the joy of discovery that he regularly experienced in his sermon preparation. Due to the erratic nature of the pastoral ministry, we must develop a discipline of making the most of every opportunity in sermon development.

Semper Fi is short for the Latin phrase “Semper Fidelis” meaning “always faithful”. Since 1883 this has been the motto for the United States Marines. Before the days of “High Definition” television some stereo systems were referred to as “Hi Fi” short for “High Fidelity”. This indicated that the sound of the system was faithful to the true sound, with no distortions.

There is a price to pay to be faithful to the text in sermon building. Using the following acrostic forming the word “P-R-I-C-E” we will discover five ways to make sure the sermon is faithful to the text.

Preparation through prayer is essential to remain faithful to the text. It is only by the work of the Holy Spirit that we receive spiritual truth. It must be spiritually discerned. The natural mind does not have the ability to properly assimilate the Word of God. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Revelation is the method that God chooses to make Himself known to man. We have the revelation of the living Word, Jesus Christ, and the revelation of the written Word. We are told to “preach the Word” as Paul told Timothy. The Word of God is a divine revelation. According to Jesus, God has revealed these things to babes, but has hidden them from the wise and prudent. The Word of God is revealed to some and concealed to others according to the book of Isaiah. The sermon must be founded on the Word of God and it must be framed and fitted on the same.

Investigation of the text is now in order. Dr. Stephen F. Olford used to say, “Stay with a text until it yields its treasure.” It is helpful to diagram the text in a similar fashion to the method used in English Grammar exercises. The investigation needs to continue to define unfamiliar words or phrases. Also, it is advantageous to answer certain questions about the text. For example: “Is there a promise to claim?” or “Is there a sin to avoid?” etcetera.

Consultation of the commentaries will assist greatly in terms of confirmation of conclusions drawn in the initial stages of study. At this point new information may be derived that will further enhance your understanding of the text. It will allow an opportunity to make corrections before the process of outlining the message takes place.

Evaluation of the material needs to take place with the light the Holy Spirit sheds on the passage and the process of outlining and organizing the thoughts will take place at this point.

This is the ultimate editing that can take place even in the pulpit in the process of delivery. Following this procedure will insure that your sermon is much more faithful to the text. May we be “always faithful” to the text in our preaching. Semper Fi! (251) 626-6210 © January 22, 2007 All Rights Reserved]

[“Semper Fi!” By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort P.O. Box 7111 Spanish Fort, Alabama 36577 fkirksey@bellsouth.net

Rick Lance: When it comes to the special days on the Christian calendar, how do you stay fresh from year to year?

Franklin L. Kirksey: Preaching on special days on the Christian calendar can create a sense of delight or a sense of dread. Developing a sacred sense of imagination is helpful in preparation for these annual events. This is especially true if you are in the process of preaching through a particular book of the Bible. Observation of text selection of gifted pastors can provide much food for thought in this area. We should learn from each other. Above all we must seek the Lord for what He wants us to share, which produces a perennial source of freshness!

Rick Lance: In the electronic age, many of our younger pastors do research on the web. Are there some pastors or sources on the web that you use? How about in books and etc.

Franklin L. Kirksey: Research can be extremely productive in the electronic age. You will discover books long since out of print, now published electronically online. There are some interesting things online on the WORDsearch Corp. website, for example, they provide some books and resources for free. There are many other good resources for pastors online like, PreachingPoint.com, Preaching.com, PastorLife.com, SermonCentral.com, PulpitHelps.com, Guido Gardens Library at http://library.guidogardens.com , the R.G. Lee Society of Fellows at http://www.uu.edu/centers/rglee/fellows/ and 2ProphetU.com . Bible Study tools such as Bible concordances and dictionaries are available online as well. Dr. D. Stuart Briscoe offers much for the pastor at http://www.tellingthetruth.org . Dr. Ron Dunn, Dr. W.A. Criswell, Dr. Adrian Rogers and Dr. Jerry Vines are just a few who have a presence on the Internet that will provide assistance to the pastor.

Researching on the Internet is exciting for the pastor, but a word of warning is in order. Please remember that just because you find something published or posted on the Internet does not make it true. Use discernment in this medium as you would in any other. Another suggestion is to document material derived from the internet in the following way, “Available from: http://www.preaching.com/resources/preaching_online/11583321/page1/ Accessed: 05/20/09”. This will allow you to find material easily at a later date and will also allow you to help to build the base of knowledge for the reader. There are several ideas to have a more productive search for material on the Internet. For example, uses different search engines and used different approaches. Approach the search using the primary subject or scripture text inside quotation marks. This will provide more specific search results.

Rick Lance: Please tell us about your book.

Franklin L. Kirksey: Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice is a comprehensive book on preaching that remarkably provides a survey of the whole subject in a short page span. It is my prayer that it will accomplish God’s high and holy purpose for His glory alone. more on the book

Rick Lance: Give a general encouraging word to discouraged preachers.

Franklin L. Kirksey: Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) shares the following on “Ministers and Success”: “The minister is not responsible for his success. He is responsible for what he preaches; he is accountable for his life and actions; but he is not responsible for other people. If I do but preach God's word, if there never were a soul saved, the King would say, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" If I do but tell my message, if none should listen to it, He would say:—"Thou hast fought the good fight: receive thy crown." You hear the words of the text: "We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, as well in them that perish, as in them that are saved." This will appear, if I just tell you what a gospel minister is called in the Bible. Sometimes he is called an ambassador. Now, for what is an ambassador responsible? He goes to a country as a plenipotentiary; he carries terms of peace to the conference; he uses all his talents for his master; he tries to show that the war is inimical to the prosperity of the different countries; he endeavours to bring about peace; but the other kings haughtily refuse it. When he comes home does his master say, "Why did not you make peace?" "Why, my Lord," he would say, "I told them the terms; but they said nothing." "Well, then," he will say, "thou hast done thy duty; I am not to condemn thee if the war continues." Again: the minister of the gospel is called a fisherman. Now a fisherman is not responsible for the quantity of fish he catches, but for the way he fishes. That is a mercy for some ministers, I am sure, for they have neither caught fish, nor even attracted any round their nets. They have been spending all their life fishing with most elegant silk lines, and gold and silver hooks; they always use nicely polished phrases; but the fish will not bite for all that, whereas we of a rougher order have put the hook into the jaws of hundreds. However, if we cast the gospel net in the right place, even if we catch none, the Master will find no fault with us. He will say: "Fisherman! didst thou labour? Didst thou throw the net into the sea in the time of storms?" "Yes, my Lord, I did." "What hast thou caught?" "Only one or two." "Well, I could have sent thee a shoal, if it so pleased me; it is not thy fault; I give in my sovereignty where I please; or withhold when I choose; but as for thee, thou hast well laboured, therefore there is thy reward." Sometimes the minister is called a sower. Now, no farmer expects a sower to be responsible for the harvest; all he is responsible for is, does he sow the seed? and does he sow the right seed? If he scatters it on good soil, then he is happy; but if it falls by the way-side, and the fowls of the air devour it, who shall blame the sower? Could he help it? Nay, he did his duty; he scattered the seed broad-cast, and there he left it Who is to blame? Certainly not the sower.

So if a minister comes to heaven with but one sheaf on his shoulder, his Master will say, "O reaper! once a sower! where didst thou gather thy sheaf?" "My Lord, I sowed upon the rock, and it would not grow; only one seed on a chance Sabbath-morning was blown a little awry by the wind, and it fell upon a prepared heart; and this is my one sheaf." "Hallelujah!" the angelic choirs resound, "one sheaf from a rock is more honour to God than a thousand sheaves from a good soil; therefore, let him take his seat as near the throne as yon man, who, stooping beneath his many sheaves, comes from some fertile land, bringing his sheaves with him." I believe that if there are degrees in glory, they will not be in proportion to success, but in proportion to the earnestness of our endeavours. If we mean right, and if with all our heart we strive to do the right thing as ministers if we never see any effect, still shall we receive the crown. But how much more happy is the man who shall have it in heaven said to him: "He shines for ever, because He was wise, and won many souls unto righteousness." It is always my greatest joy to believe, that if I should enter heaven, I shall in future days see heaven's gates open, and in shall fly a cherub, who, looking me in the face, will smilingly pass along to God's throne, and there bow down before Him; and when he has paid his homage and his adoration, he may fly to me, and though unknown, shall clasp my hand, and if there were tears in heaven, surely I should weep, and he would say: "Brother, from Thy lips I heard the word; Thy voice first admonished me of my sin; here I am, and Thou the instrument of my salvation." And as the gates open one after another, still will they come in; souls ransomed, souls ransomed; and for each one of these a star; for each one of these another gem in the diadem of glory; for each one of them another honour, and another note in the song of praise. Blessed be that man that shall die in the Lord, and his works shall follow him; for thus saith the Spirit.

What will become of some good Christians if crowns in heaven are measured in value by the souls that are saved? Some of you will have a crown in heaven without a single star in it. I read a little while ago, a piece upon the starless crown in heaven—a man in heaven with a crown without a star! Not one saved by him! He will sit in heaven as happy as he can be, for sovereign mercy saved him; but oh! to be in heaven without a single star! Mother! what sayest thou to be in heaven without one of thy children to deck thy brow with a star? Minister! what wouldst thou say to be a polished preacher, and yet have no star? Writer! will it well become thee to have written even as gloriously as Milton, if thou shouldst be found in heaven without a star? I am afraid we pay too little regard to this. Men will sit down and write huge folios and tomes, that they may have them put in libraries for ever, and have their names handed down by fame! but how few are looking to win stars for ever in heaven! Toil on; child of God, toil on; for if thou wishest to serve God, thy bread cast upon the waters shall be found after many days. If thou sendest in the feet of the ox or the ass, thou shalt reap a glorious harvest in that day when He comes to gather in His elect. The minister is not responsible for his success.

But yet to preach the gospel is high and solemn work. The minister has been very often degraded into a trade. In these days men are taken and made into ministers who would have made good captains at sea, who could have waited well at the counter, but who were never intended for the pulpit. They are selected by man; they are crammed with literature; they are educated up to a certain point; they are turned out ready dressed; and persons call them ministers. I wish them all God-speed, every one of them; for as good Joseph Irons used to say, "God be with many of them, if it be only to make them hold their tongues." Man-made ministers are of no use in this world, and the sooner we get rid of them the better. Their way is this: they prepare their manuscripts very carefully, then read it on the Sunday most sweetly in sotto voce, and so the people go away pleased. But that is not God's way of preaching. If so, I am sufficient to preach for ever. I can buy manuscript sermons for a shilling; that is to say, provided they have been preached fifty times before, but if I use them for the first time the price is a guinea, or more. But that is not the way. Preaching God's word is not what some seem to think, mere child's play—a mere business or trade to be taken up by any one. A man ought to feel first that he has a solemn call to it; next, he ought to know that he really possesses the Spirit of God, and that when he speaks there is an influence upon him that enables him to speak as God would have him, otherwise out of the pulpit he should go directly; he has no right to be there, even if the living is his own property. He has not been called to preach God's truth, and unto him God says: "What hast thou to do, to declare My statutes?"

What is there difficult about preaching God's gospel? Well it must be somewhat hard; for Paul said: "Who is sufficient for these things?" And first I will tell you, it is difficult because it is so hard as not to be warped by your own prejudices in preaching the word. You want to say a stern thing; and your heart says: "Master! in so doing thou wilt condemn thyself;" then the temptation is not to say it. Another trial is, you are afraid of displeasing the rich in your congregations. You think: "If I say such-and-such a thing, so-and-so will be offended; such an one does not approve of that doctrine; I had better leave it out." Or perhaps you will happen to win the applause of the multitude, and you must not say anything that will displease them, for if they cry, "Hosanna" to-day, they will cry, "Crucify, crucify," to-morrow. All these things work on a minister's heart. He is a man, and he feels it. Then comes again the sharp knife of criticism, and the arrows of those who hate him and hate his Lord; and he cannot help feeling it sometimes. He may put on his armour, and cry, "I care not for your malice;" but there were seasons when the archers sorely grieved even Joseph. Then he stands in another danger, lest he should come out and defend himself; for he is a great fool whoever tries to do it. He who lets his detractors alone, and like the eagle cares not for the chattering of the sparrows, or like the lion will not turn aside to rend the snarling jackal—he is the man, and he shall be honoured. But the danger is, we want to set ourselves right. And oh! who is sufficient to steer clear from these rocks of danger? "Who is sufficient for these things?" To stand up, and to proclaim, Sabbath after Sabbath, and week-day after week-day, "the unsearchable riches of Christ."

Paul E. Scherer (1892-1969) offers the following exhortation to preachers: "The only thing in God's economy that can ever take the place of preaching is better preaching. And every man is capable of that. Not of good preaching. Good preaching may be quite beyond us. But better preaching. That is beyond none of us."

[Cited by Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice (North Charleston, S.C., BookSurge An Amazon.com Company, 2004), p. 108]

*Search the Bible:* HELP

Buscar un pasaje en una o más versiones de la Biblia