Every Monday, it will be my privilege to share with you principles from the pen, the preaching, and the classroom of great preachers like Wendell Winkler, George Bailey, and others of their spirit whom we have had the joy to hear and know.  Brother Winkler was often called “the preacher’s preacher,” a tribute to how much so many preachers wished to emulate his style, power, and persuasiveness in preaching.  He was also a man of eminent common sense, one who seemed to know the right way or method for the occasion.  This was never on finer display than when he was preaching.  His sermons were always obviously well-researched, textually accurate, scripture-filled, practical and applicable, interesting, well-illustrated, thought-provoking, and moving.  Because he was convicted of the need of training preachers, which he did at Fort Worth Christian College, Brown Trail School of Preaching, Faulkner University, and, until the year of his death, at the Polishing the Pulpit workshop, he was uniquely qualified to speak about the construction and conveyance of God’s Word through preaching.

Many of us,  including myself, sat at his feet in the classroom environment.  It is hard to overstate the richness and usability of his material.  When it came to writing and delivering a sermon, brother Winkler was a master craftsman.  There was an ingenuity about his style, but the hearer was left with the impression of the greatness of God and the power of His Word.  In our homiletics class, and in other courses, he would share this mantra or ideology: “Lord may I preach in such a way that people will leave saying, ‘Oh what a Savior!’ and not, ‘Oh what a preacher!’” He urged us, when we preached, to hide ourselves behind the cross and lift up the Savior.  Such humility and sobriety lay behind his personal philosophy in preaching, and that made an indelible impression upon so many of his students!

For all the superlative ways we can describe the man, there is also the incredibly useful material he continuously gave in the classroom.  While this blog will not simply be a re-telling or re-teaching of his classroom material, which would itself be extremely valuable, even the principles which I believe to be mine will in some way trace their way back to his influence and the influence of many other gospel preachers, beginning with the man who was my local preacher the first eighteen years of my life.  My father, Gary N. Pollard, Sr., a 1964 Freed-Hardeman College graduate and gospel preacher for over fifty years, is an excellent preacher.  He also knew excellent gospel preaching, and as such it was my father who strongly advised me to go to Faulkner University to learn preaching under brother Winkler.  I found two of the greatest blessings of my life on that campus during those years—my wife, Kathy, and an invaluable preaching mentor and instructor, Wendell Winkler.

Hopefully, these weekly entries will help you as you continue to grow as a gospel preacher, a Bible class teacher, one who fills in locally, one who engages in short-term mission work, or one who simply wants to grow and expand in his service to Christ in His kingdom.  I can’t wait to get started!