PowerPoint in Preaching?NO!: Intertesting argument that Columbia space shuttle disaster might have been prevented had not engineers been reduced to using PowerPoint to try to communicate complex information. This was an oversimplification of a very complex set of circumstances that led to this disaster from the books I have read on it. This turned me off immediately from this article. Bottom line - for someone who says the word is to be persuaive, he failed miserably at that very task!
PowerPoint in Preaching?: I appreciated this article that it gave a thumbs up for PowerPoint, but did qualify it with very specific guidance for its usage. As a military officer who has put together and seen thousands of PowerPoint briefings, I found this article particularly useful in rethinking the actual mechanics of how a PowerPoint could be used to help illustrate a sermon. I will use this article as guidance for my sermon this week.
Ethics and the Use of Sermon Resources: Our Into to Preaching Class last semester read Thomas Long's book on preaching. He was quoted in this article - "spoke to the need of preachers to provide their congregations with a 'fresh act of interpretation." The author then quoted Neste from Union University. What point do you think the author was trying to convey?
Video as Ethos: I kept wading through the article wondering when the author was finally going to get to the point. However, having said that, from taking History of Lutheranism last semester and having written the final paper on Seminex (main issue what Professors were not teaching doctrine and using the Historical-Critical method), I found the content leading to her final opinion on the use of Video riveting.
Having run out of time to post on the other articles on my own blog, I have to say that I agree with your statement about the first article (Powerpoint? No!). I'm not sure the author sustained or strengthened his point by offering the Columbia shuttle as his example.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated your statement about the Powerpoint? Yes! article. This was my sense, too: that the author argues for using powerpoint in sermons, while also being cautious and aware of what/how you are using it. Thanks for your reflections!
I agree that the comment about the space shuttle was cheesy and oversimplified. He is demonstrating to us the way NOT to be persuasive.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Powerpoint/yes article gave some good tips on using Powerpoint for a sermon. Certainly, the audience in a sermon is NOT military officers or students (who need to absorb large amounts of information), but folks who would benefit from brief, succinct ideas. Keep it simple (and in large font!) is good advice.