Good news from my sermon buddy
Yesterday we went over my script from August 13.
There really wasn't much she had taken exception to. Once or twice she wondered quite what I was getting at (they had the same problem at Deeside, I think...) and I do have difficulties with the word "de", but then she said "Who doesn't?"
So I felt very encouraged.
I also took the opportunity to ask her about one or two things:
1) Direct preaching.
Like I used to in Britain, I preach saying you - using "vous" when I am talking to the whole wide world and "tu" when I want it to feel as if I am addressing each person individually. French preachers tend to say rather "What will we do, what will one do".
So I asked her if she felt my way was too direct, too brutal for the French ear. She said "I think you can get away with it with your English accent". In fact several people have commented on how much they appreciated being spoken to directly in preaching.
2) Liaisons
Last time I preached it was on Isa 55. I read it like the guy on my MP3 of the Bible. Venez_aux_eaux (vunézozo). But that night when a French lad read it he didn't do ANY of the verb ending liaisons. They are generally regarded as being for formal speech. He said Venez aux_eaux (vunéozo).
I asked her whether it would be best to do the posh liaisons when I read, but drop them when I preach, for fear of sounding too "posh".
She said "Frankly, with your English accent, that's the least of your worries!"
(Actually she didn't put it quite as forcefully as that, but that was the upshot...)
OK! I shall not worry about that!
And maybe having an 'English accent' is not so bad after all if it means you can get away with preaching directly to people, like God does when he speaks to his people and like the New Testament preachers do.
There really wasn't much she had taken exception to. Once or twice she wondered quite what I was getting at (they had the same problem at Deeside, I think...) and I do have difficulties with the word "de", but then she said "Who doesn't?"
So I felt very encouraged.
I also took the opportunity to ask her about one or two things:
1) Direct preaching.
Like I used to in Britain, I preach saying you - using "vous" when I am talking to the whole wide world and "tu" when I want it to feel as if I am addressing each person individually. French preachers tend to say rather "What will we do, what will one do".
So I asked her if she felt my way was too direct, too brutal for the French ear. She said "I think you can get away with it with your English accent". In fact several people have commented on how much they appreciated being spoken to directly in preaching.
2) Liaisons
Last time I preached it was on Isa 55. I read it like the guy on my MP3 of the Bible. Venez_aux_eaux (vunézozo). But that night when a French lad read it he didn't do ANY of the verb ending liaisons. They are generally regarded as being for formal speech. He said Venez aux_eaux (vunéozo).
I asked her whether it would be best to do the posh liaisons when I read, but drop them when I preach, for fear of sounding too "posh".
She said "Frankly, with your English accent, that's the least of your worries!"
(Actually she didn't put it quite as forcefully as that, but that was the upshot...)
OK! I shall not worry about that!
And maybe having an 'English accent' is not so bad after all if it means you can get away with preaching directly to people, like God does when he speaks to his people and like the New Testament preachers do.
Comments
I have recently been quite alarmed as to where a preachers criticism can come from. The closer we are, the more careful we should be and not impose on people's friendship. Most preachers I know are well aware of their faults and it's good just to centre on the Word of God that has been proclaimed, for that is what it's all about in the end.
It's quite unusual for missionaries to buy a house in the place where they live and serve. Normally they buy a holiday home they can retire to one day, or they buy a house in their mother country.
We want to own the house we live in PARTLY because rents in Bordeaux are SO expensive, but also because this is it. We are here and we are staying. We are here to work. We are here for the sake of the city and for Jesus' church. And whatever happens we'll stick it out. A bit like jeremiah buying his cousin's field.
Though it has been quite cold today...
And sometimes an accent helps a bit.