The video refused to load. These pictures were made the same evening!
This is a case for storytelling. I've heard some folk try to tell a story and somehow, it just wouldn't come out right. I've tried to tell stories in my preaching - but only stories that relate to the subject and make a valid point. At times my story fell apart - or I would forget something significant in setting the basis for the story. Sometimes the Lord helped me in spite of myself! Storytelling is a major form of passing down history in many tribes of Africa where I've worked for the last 20 years. By telling stories th
I've heard some say that storytelling is becoming a lost art in America - but I beg to differ. Storytelling abounds in our modern video world. TV and the Internet are taking over. The attention span of our children seems shorter and shorter. On one of our TV channels, (AMC, I think) they state frequently, "Story Matters Here". I've heard a few folks criticize "storytellers" versus what they call "Bible Preachers"... and on the surface their reasoning sounds good. It goes something like this: "The Bible is meant to be preached. I don't want to hear a bunch of stories. I just want to hear the Bible. If it's not in the Bible I don't want to hear it in the pulpit. Just stick to the Word of God and don't try to tell me one of your stories." Do they forget that the Bible is a collection of stories? Do they forget that Jesus often used parables (stories) with which He explained the Word of God to common people?
One of the best preacher's I have ever known personally was F. J. (Joe) May. He could get the attention of an audience and drive home a Biblical point using stories of everyday life. He was my teacher at the Seminary when I studied Expository Preaching and we students loved hearing his personal stories. Sometimes we thought we were "getting him off the lesson" but his stories inevitably proved beneficial to our goal of learning how to preach from the Bible. I've also heard him minister in state Camp Meetings and in local church Bible Studies. There are others, too numerous to list. Billy Sunday Myers, Jake Roberts, C.B. Donahue, John D. Nichols, Gene D. Rice, are just a few. Other great preachers I've been fortunate to know and hear are men like Ray H. Hughes, Paul Henson, George Alford, Wade H. Horton, F.W. Goff, R. Leonard Carroll, and of course, My Dad, Louis A. Brannen and my Mother, Bonnie Jones Brannen and her Mother, Lula Lee Jones. I'm sure I'm leaving out somebody very special to me - but that is not because of a lack of love nor for a lack of respect. It is because of a lack of a good memory.
A few weeks ago, a man I've known for fifty years came through and visited us at our regular family Bible Study time. I had no idea how well he could tell a story, although I knew he was an author who has written several books. We also knew he had done "chalk talk" sermons and "kids crusades" back in the day. We had confidence in Jack Darnell - so we asked him to share a Bible story with our family. Our grand-daughter, Chloe, was engrossed as he told the story of the angel's visit to Manoah And His Wife (the parents of Samson). As you watch the video you will see that even the older ones present (including my Mom) were also very focused on every word from this master storyteller. I'm so glad I captured this brief video of his storytelling.
Oh well - - - I've just received an error message saying that my video would not upload. I'll try again. If you don't see it, you know I couldn't get it to load.
