Honoring Haddon Robinson

Last week I attended the National Preaching Conference at Gordon-Conwell near Boston. The conference was held to honor Haddon Robinson.

I'm pretty much conferenced out these days, but I wanted to attend to honor Haddon. It was worth it.

What's the big deal about Haddon Robinson? His preaching textbook is kind of a big deal. He's been president of two seminaries. He's excelled in his field. And he's clearly invested in the lives of others, so that his influence extends far beyond his fame.

But I'm sure that a large part of his influence is due to his godliness. He would be the first one to point out his flaws, which is actually evidence of his godliness. Ask those who know him the best and you find out that he's the real deal.

It was an encouraging couple of days for me. I appreciated the chance to honor Haddon. And it reminded me of some of the things that matter most, things that aren't always evident in the course of a year or two but that become very clear over a lifetime.

Comments

[Stan Fowler]

Darryl, I'm glad that you were able to be there to give honour to one who certainly deserves it. I was privileged to have Haddon as a seminary professor 42 years ago (yikes, that's a long time!). I could easily have become a cynic about preaching, given much of what I had heard, but Haddon revolutionized my appreciation for the possibilities of biblical preaching. Many of his sayings will live on, but my favourite is, "Sacred cows make the best hamburger, but sometimes the meat is hard to swallow." Why didn't I say it first?