Jerry Vines Ministries

A few days ago I listened to a message I preached in 1964 (yes, they did have tape recording in the dark ages!). I don’t advise it. Now I know why I developed major voice problems. Remember, I was only 26. And, I was preaching at a place where you had to take your coat off, sweat like a horse, unloose your tie, preach on about two inches of your shirttail  and get so hoarse you could hardly talk before it was considered preaching.

I sounded like a machine gun with the hiccups. I stayed on one pitch. I had only two volumes—loud and louder. And, as I chronicle in my book “Power In The Pulpit,” I developed serious voice problems.

Through that experience I learned how to use my voice as an instrument. Not that I’m where I want to be. I constantly try to improve my sermon delivery. I try to read extensively in the field of communication theory. I review good habits of vocal production.

Our body, including our voice, is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. That’s what got me thinking about what was going on with my voice problems. If I was preaching “in the Spirit,” why was the Holy Spirit damaging His Temple? The logic of that caused me to re-gear my vocal mechanism.

I believe the result has helped, not hindered the delivery of the gospel, the preaching of God’s Word.