Welcome back to my interview with Billy Raies, senior pastor of Christian Life Center in Midland, Texas. You can read part one here.

Billy, if you could study under any theologian in church history (excluding those men in Scripture) who would it be and why?

Charles Spurgeon.

When I read Lectures to My Students I found myself wanting to enroll in his Pastors College. I wanted to learn how to examine each text and find in it a short cut to Christ and the cross. I so appreciate his courage to stand up for the gospel in the Downgrade Controversy, including his resignation and then censure from the Baptist Union. It would have been something to watch the life of a man who stayed true to biblical conviction and Christ-centered preaching even though there was not necessarily an immediate “reward” for taking such a stand. How awesome it would have been to observe a man who lived for the glory of God and not the approval of man. Providential history would vindicate the righteousness of his stand, but Spurgeon would not live to see it.

There would be so much to learn from a man who truly believed that the Lord was his inheritance and that honoring him was its own reward. His example motivates me to learn more about how sound doctrine should mold my demeanor. I long for a greater display of joy and grace during times of trial. Dear Mr. Spurgeon’s life has helped me much in that pursuit.

What single piece of counsel (or constructive criticism) has most improved your preaching?

Please allow me to use the dinner table to illustrate the most constructive criticism that I have received about my preaching.

Do you know how you feel when you have overeaten? Each course of the meal may have been fantastic, but there was just too much of it. The result is that you are left feeling lethargic—definitely not energized to turn the world upside down. Others have helped me to see that one of my biggest problems in serving God’s Word to our church is that I just try to serve too much of it in one sitting. (In fact, too often, just the appetizer, or introduction, has been a meal in itself in either being too long or too extensive a review of the prior message, or an introduction layered on top of another introduction!)

One of the best reminders to help me avoid this error was provided by Jeff Purswell who said,

…we can misconstrue the preaching task as primarily or exclusively one of data transfer…the goal of preaching is not informational, it’s transformational. Your goal is not downloading data to your people, but exposing them to the text so the text can transform their lives.

Thank you so much Jeff!

This has helped me pray that folks would leave our services satisfied in God, hungry for more, and strengthened to do his will.

What books on preaching, or examples of it, have you found most influential in your own preaching?

The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper. It always brings fresh inspiration to communicate God’s Word with the precision, passion, and prayerfulness that the text demands and deserves.

Bryan Chapell’s Christ-Centered Preaching has been very helpful in framing the structure and focus of the sermon.

The one sermon that has most influenced my sermons is Mike Bullmore’s “The Functional Centrality of the Gospel.” This message wonderfully envisioned me to see the need for my sermons to contain not only the saving aspects of the gospel, but also the sustaining, day-to-day applications of the gospel.

What single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your effective use of time?

Arrrghhh! Oh to be more skilled in the effective use of time! I was very much helped when I first entered vocational ministry in hearing a pastor say, “In all of your praying, don’t forget that the best posture for administrating the church is upon your knees. There should be a proportional relationship between prayer and the number of items on your to-do list. Don’t minimize your prayer time when your projects are demanding that you maximize their time.”

Simple thoughts such as “if you are going to add a new responsibility, you need to either drop, delegate, or delay an existing responsibility” and “do the tasks that most intimidate your soul early in the morning after prayer” have been helpful.

C.J., I would encourage everyone to read your posts on biblical productivity (time management, procrastination, etc.) as they are outstanding.

Thanks for the encouragement, Billy. I appreciate it.

Please join me next time for the third and final part of my interview with my friend Billy Raies.