> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dashhouse.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Discouragement and Preaching
- URL: https://www.dashhouse.com/2015928discouragement-and-preaching/
- Published: 2015-09-29T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2022-08-15T15:24:57.000Z
- Author: Darryl Dash
- Tags: Blog, pastoring, preaching, #DashHouseCom, #wp

I was in a room alone with Haddon Robinson, author of [*Biblical Preaching*](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801049121/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801049121&linkCode=as2&tag=dashhouse-20&linkId=3RLFAHZB2OWKSX7K&ref=dashhouse.com), and another examiner. He and a colleague had read through my Doctor of Ministry thesis. Haddon is kind, but he’s not afraid to tell it like it is. I was concerned by what he’d find in my thesis that just didn’t measure up.

![](https://www.dashhouse.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/150929.jpg)

I don’t remember a lot of his comments from that day, but I remember one. My thesis was on God-centered preaching, which, I argued, is far better than the human-centered preaching that is so easy to do. At one point I argued that God-centered preaching is much less discouraging. “One of the reasons for discouragement in preaching may be that an anthropocentric \[human-centered\] approach is unsatisfying, whereas a theocentric \[God-centered\] approach brings us to the only source of eternal satisfaction and joy,” I wrote.

“I don’t agree with that,” Haddon said. He explained that discouragement is part of ministry, and that no kind of preaching would help a preacher avoid it.

I’m grateful for Haddon’s correction. I don’t get discouraged often, but when I do I remind myself that it’s part of ministry.

I changed the paragraph to one that met with Haddon’s approval:

Discouragement is part of the assignment of preaching, but a theocentric approach reminds us that our sufficiency is not found in ourselves. God, not the preacher, is the only source of eternal satisfaction and joy.

![Discouragement and Preaching](https://www.dashhouse.com/content/images/v7/dashhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/150929.jpg)