Chapter 8

My style of preaching.--Decidedly practical.--Using Christianity as a means for making bad people into good ones, and good ones always better.--Reasons for this method.--A family trait.--Hereditary.--Great need of practical preaching.--Folly of other kinds of Preaching.--Littleness of great Preachers.--Worthlessness of great sermons.--The Truly Great are the Greatly Good and Greatly Useful.--My Models.--The Bible.--Jesus.--My Favorite Preachers.--Billy Dawson, David Stoner, James Parsons.--My Favorite Books.--The Bible--Nature.--Simple Common Sense, instructive, earnest, moving books.--How my preaching was received by the people.--Its effects on churches and congregations.--Uneasiness of my colleagues.--Fresh mutterings; tale bearings; controversies; and more bad feeling, 82