Preaching the Word: an interview with evangelist Charles D. Brooks

Charles D. Brooks has preached the Word for more than half a century. As a result of his evangelistic preaching, thousands have accepted Christ as their personal Savior. For 23 years, he served as director-speaker of the Breath of Life television ministry.

Derek Morris: For more than fifty years, you have preached the Word of God with holy boldness. Just like Timothy, you have done "the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:2, 5). Through your ministry God has touched thousands of lives. When did you first hear the call to preach?

Charles D. Brooks: I had no intention of becoming a preacher. I had already been accepted into a predentistry program, and two weeks before classes began the Lord spoke to me. I was sitting in Earl Cleveland's evangelistic tent, by myself, and the Lord impressed my mind in a most definite way: "This is what I want you to do and I will help you to make truth clear." I spoke to my mother about this and she said to me, "Son, when you were born, I gave you to the Lord. Now, He's calling you." And I have never looked back.

DM: When I was a young preacher in Pennsylvania, I listened to your evangelistic sermons. I had never heard anyone preach the Word with such boldness. It was as if there were fire in your bones! Is evangelism a special gift or is every preacher called to preach evangelistic sermons?

CDB: I believe that there is the special gift of "evangelist." That is not something that I chose. But I also believe that everyone who is called to preach is called to preach the truth of God's Word.

DM: I have noticed that many young preachers are skeptical about evangelistic preaching. They have been told that the days of public evangelistic preaching are over. Some are convinced that people won't come to a public meeting and listen to someone preach. How would you respond to that skepticism?

CDB: This idea that it won't work didn't come from God. The best days of evangelism are before us. We are going to see thousands baptized in a day. And it's happening now. I was holding some meetings in Chicago and about fifteen young preachers were assigned to work with me. Some of them were skeptical about evangelistic preaching. But those young preachers worked with us and more than two hundred individuals committed their lives to Christ and were baptized! Those young preachers found a passion for evangelistic preaching.

DM: I've noticed in your evangelistic sermons that you challenge your hearers to think. Here's an excerpt from one of your sermons on the theme of salvation: "Our subject tonight deals with a question that is so vital, I don't know how to impress you with its importance. Friends, please do this, for your own sake. When you came in you were given a blank piece of paper. We wish you'd use that piece of paper to write down the Scriptures we give you, and any notes you might like to take. You're going to hear things from night to night as you continue attending that you perhaps have not heard before and you need to check to see if I'm telling you the truth. Do you know, one of the reasons there's so much confusion in the Christian church today is folks just sit and swallow everything that preachers say. Now you don't know me. So check and see if it's there. And if it's not there, you don't have to believe it." ¹

That's a refreshing approach. You challenge your hearers to think with you. Did you learn that approach from other evangelists or did you develop that style as a result of personal experience?

CDB: To be honest with you, I don't think I've given five minutes thought to style. This is just the way my mind is influenced to work. I was taught that because truth is offensive to unbelievers, we have to be wise in presenting it. I will often present a proposition that demands scriptural proof. I believe that there is power in the Word.

There was a mother in Columbus, Ohio, who picked up one of my handbills and began reading the topics. She then called her daughter and said, "Let's go and see what this fool is talking about!" They came to the meeting, and while I was preaching the sermon, I saw a whole row of people stand. As they stood, I thought, Lord, have I offended these people? Are they walking out? But instead of walking out, they turned and started walking to the front. When they got closer, I saw that it was this mother and her daughter, and their children. No appeal had been made. There's power in the Word of God!

DM: Evangelistic preaching involves calling people to make life-changing decisions. That's intimidating to some preachers. What counsel would you give to preachers about calling for a response as part of evangelistic preaching?

CDB: I've had some preachers tell me that they become so nervous when they call people to respond to the Word of God that they are actually falling apart! I would say to them, "When you feel that you are responsible for how people will respond, you are actually taking on a responsibility that is not yours."

Our responsibility as preachers is to give our hearers an opportunity to respond. What happens in the heart of the hearer is between that person and God. If you give an invitation for people to accept Christ and no one responds, don't feel bad. Maybe everyone is saved already! Don't be afraid to give an invitation.

DM: Can you give us an example of an invitation that you might give for people to accept Christ as their personal Savior?

CDB: I might say something like this: "Jesus has gone to prepare a place for you in the heavenly city. And some day soon He's coming to take you home. And the gates of that city are going to swing open. The saints are going to go marching in. Ladies and gentlemen, who are these people? They are rotten, no-good sinners who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We're going to glory to be with Jesus. That's what lies just ahead, and it's ours by faith, because Christ has opened the way. I want to be saved. I want to go to that place where the tree of life is blooming, where there is rest for the weary.

"Somewhere in the fields of Eden God's people can get together. I want to see you there. I want you to see me. I want to shake your hand in the kingdom. Most of all, Jesus wants to see you there. Jesus died that you might be there. He shed His precious blood that you might be saved, that your sins might be washed away and that you might have power to live for Him.

"My question tonight is, How many of you want to accept what Jesus has done for you and want to be saved in His kingdom? If you do, I want you all to stand with me right now as we pray."

Here is another example: "It's decision time. It's time for full surrender. It's time to let Christ take those wrong desires and make something new out of you. If you want to let some things go now, and have your life converted so you don't even miss them, if you want to stand at the foot of the cross this morning and fully surrender your life to Jesus, I want you to stand up right now as we talk to the Lord."

DM: Your examples remind me of an invitation at the conclusion of a sermon by Billy Graham titled "Conversion." He concluded his sermon with these words: "I tell you, when you come to Christ I do not care when it is, I do not care where it is, how it is when you come, you will have to come by repentance and faith, trusting in Him and His death and resurrection alone for salvation. If you haven't come, if you haven't met Christ there, I am asking you to do it tonight. You may be a member of the church. You may be a choir member. You may be an usher here. You may be a Sunday school teacher. But you are not sure that you have actually met Christ and been converted. You want to be sure, and you want to settle it. I am going to ask you to get up out of your seat and come here and say, 'Tonight I will receive Him. I will repent. I will give my life to Christ.' "²

CDB: That's a good example of a simple invitation. As you listen to evangelistic sermons, you learn that there are many ways to give an invitation. Billy Graham used to say, "I'm just going to stand here. You come." The goal is more than merely an emotional response. I tell people, "I want you to think. I would rather you think than just shout and become excited."

DM: When you invite people to respond, I have noticed that you aren't just reciting words off of a piece of paper. Your words, intonation, and body language communicate a heart felt concern for your hearers.

CDB: That's important! People can tell if you are real. I remember the first time I did extensive evangelistic preaching with an interpreter. I was in Egypt. I got a note one night written in Arabic and I asked the interpreter to translate it. It said, "Dear Pastor, We listen to him, but we watch you! And we can tell by your eyes that you mean what you say." I've never for gotten that. I don't preach anything that I don't believe. I don't preach anything that I can't preach with conviction. People can see it. They can feel it. They know if you're just up there doing a job. I want people to feel that I am under the control of the Holy Spirit, and they are too. And it's never to me that they respond. It's to Him.

DM: I hear you saying that it is vitally important to really believe what you are preaching. Your hearers can tell if you are genuine or not. Is there any other counsel that you would give to a preacher who senses God's call to preach to lost people?

CDB: There is the danger of wanting to come across as extremely erudite. But the Bible says that Jesus talked to common people and they heard Him gladly. Read all you want. Fill your head. But when you preach, be simple, honest, direct. People will absorb the message better. They will feel more at ease with you. Don't try to impress your hearers. Be interested in them, and love them.

When you're preaching, effective eye contact is extremely important. I like to look at people and see how they are being affected. And always remember that you are simply a messenger. Nothing of self is to be projected. People are not to be won to you.

DM: What word of encouragement would you give to preachers who sense the call to preach evangelistic sermons?

CDB: When you preach evangelistic sermons, you are doing what God called you to do! God doesn't call you to entertain. He doesn't call you to be witty. God calls you to preach the Word. So make sure that you know the Word yourself. And when you preach the Word, it's going to have an effect!