{"id":37332,"date":"2016-04-06T13:16:15","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T20:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/?p=37332"},"modified":"2023-03-29T10:06:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T17:06:34","slug":"conversation-kent-hughes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/conversation-kent-hughes\/","title":{"rendered":"A Conversation with Kent Hughes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

R. Kent Hughes was in pastoral ministry for 41 years. He spent the last 27 as Senior Pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. He earned his B.A. from Whittier College, an M.Div. from Talbot Seminary and a D.Min. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Kent is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling Disciplines of a Godly Man<\/em>. He is also the editor of the 41-volume Preaching the Word<\/a> series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"R_Kent_Hughes\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We had a chance to sit down with Dr. Kent Hughes. So, we asked him to share how this series came about and to reflect on the role a commentary can play in a preacher\u2019s study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 40 volumes of the Preaching The Word Commentary, you wrote 22 volumes.<\/strong> How did this project start?<\/strong><\/i><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kent Hughes:<\/strong> I was [the pastor] at College Church in Wheaton which had lots of students and academics. I was very careful about doing all of my work on my sermons and then making them come alive when I preached. Lane Dennis (President of Crossway) and I were at an event and he approached me about publishing my sermons. We came up with the name Preaching the Word<\/b>, which comes from 2 Timothy 4:2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you writing the commentaries, what goals did you have in mind?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kent Hughes:<\/strong> The commentaries are homiletically arranged with careful attention to history, background, words, structure, and theology and with a focus on clarity in how they are presented. It\u2019s important to also know that the content of each commentary has been preached live before a congregation.
<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What type of person is the Preaching the Word Commentary Series written for?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kent Hughes:<\/strong> It\u2019s aimed at pastors, small group leaders, and Bible study groups.  For preachers, it\u2019s not meant to be a substitute for personal study. It\u2019s important that you do your own work first and then <\/i>come to a commentary like Preaching the Word. If you come right to the commentary without doing your own study and outline first, then you\u2019ll most likely end up preaching the commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So,  I\u2019m going to preach on a specific book of the Bible. What role should a commentary play in my sermon preparation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kent Hughes:<\/strong> If it were a small book like Philippians, I\u2019d first read it 30-40 times through, mostly in my preferred translation but also in some others. If you\u2019re able to, also read it in the Greek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I\u2019d ask, \u201cWhat is the big theme of the book?\u201d and look at structure, turning points, and applications \u2013 just try to get the text inside of me. Then I\u2019d try and think of how to break up the book homiletically \u2013 how many sermons, where to break up the passages, and do my best to outline it. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, having done that, I\u2019d open up a commentary and modify my sermon where needed. You should use a commentary like Preaching the Word as a part<\/i> of your sermon-prep process. But if you use a commentary to start your process, you will become a commentary cripple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are a few things you wish you would have known as a young preacher that you could exhort other young preachers toward today?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kent Hughes:<\/strong> This matter of doing your own work is very, very important. You can borrow from all kinds of people and not really do your own thinking. The hardest thing to do is to sit down with the biblical text and ask God to help you. Do your own work first and then you can use a commentary to help you adjust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about The Preaching the Word Commentary Series<\/a> on our website and add it to your library today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
SEE IN STORE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

R. Kent Hughes was in pastoral ministry for 41 years. He spent the last 27 as Senior Pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. He earned his B.A. from Whittier College, an M.Div. from Talbot Seminary and a D.Min. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Kent is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling Disciplines<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":49229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_cf_multicollab_revision_bundle":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5341],"tags":[6109],"class_list":{"0":"post-37332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-topical","8":"tag-preaching-the-word-commentary-series"},"yoast_head":"\nA Conversation with Kent Hughes - Olive Tree Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read an interview between us and Kent Hughes. He's a long-time pastor and author of the Preaching the Word Commentary Series.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Conversation with Kent Hughes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"R. Kent Hughes was in pastoral ministry for 41 years. He spent the last 27 as Senior Pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. He earned his B.A.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Olive Tree Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OliveTreeBible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-06T20:16:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-29T17:06:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/conversation-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"515\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Olive Tree Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OliveTreeBible\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OliveTreeBible\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Olive Tree Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Olive Tree Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9\"},\"headline\":\"A Conversation with Kent Hughes\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-06T20:16:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-29T17:06:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":627,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/conversation-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Preaching the Word Commentary Series\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Topical\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Conversation with Kent Hughes - Olive Tree Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/conversation-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-06T20:16:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-29T17:06:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9\"},\"description\":\"Read an interview between us and Kent Hughes. He's a long-time pastor and author of the Preaching the Word Commentary Series.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/conversation-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/conversation-1.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":515,\"caption\":\"conversation with Kent Hughes\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/conversation-kent-hughes\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Conversation with Kent Hughes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Olive Tree Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9\",\"name\":\"Olive Tree Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Olive Tree Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/olive-tree-staff\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Conversation with Kent Hughes - Olive Tree Blog","description":"Read an interview between us and Kent Hughes. He's a long-time pastor and author of the Preaching the Word Commentary Series.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Conversation with Kent Hughes","og_description":"R. Kent Hughes was in pastoral ministry for 41 years. He spent the last 27 as Senior Pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. He earned his B.A.","og_url":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/","og_site_name":"Olive Tree Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OliveTreeBible\/","article_published_time":"2016-04-06T20:16:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-29T17:06:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":515,"url":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/conversation-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Olive Tree Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@OliveTreeBible","twitter_site":"@OliveTreeBible","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Olive Tree Staff","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/"},"author":{"name":"Olive Tree Staff","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9"},"headline":"A Conversation with Kent Hughes","datePublished":"2016-04-06T20:16:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-29T17:06:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/"},"wordCount":627,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/conversation-1.jpg","keywords":["Preaching the Word Commentary Series"],"articleSection":["Topical"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/","url":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/","name":"A Conversation with Kent Hughes - Olive Tree Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/conversation-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-06T20:16:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-29T17:06:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9"},"description":"Read an interview between us and Kent Hughes. He's a long-time pastor and author of the Preaching the Word Commentary Series.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/conversation-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/conversation-1.jpg","width":1170,"height":515,"caption":"conversation with Kent Hughes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/conversation-kent-hughes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Conversation with Kent Hughes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/","name":"Olive Tree Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9","name":"Olive Tree Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Olive Tree Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/author\/olive-tree-staff\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/conversation-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37332"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53178,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332\/revisions\/53178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}