(Blog) Make America Great Again? - Ep. 995 - October 14, 2026

Making America Great Again Starts in the Pulpit

We believe America's renewal begins with biblical preaching and the power of the Holy Spirit. Political leadership, economic strength, and military readiness can't accomplish what God has called the church to do.

In Episode 995 of The Smith and Rowland Show, Alan Smith and Jeff Rowland connect the nation's future with the spiritual condition of its pulpits. Our discussion begins with a conviction about what made America great, then turns to the preparation, calling, and anointing of those who preach God's Word.

National Renewal Begins in the Pulpit

Jeff opens with a direct claim: America's greatness didn't originate primarily with its founding fathers, military, economy, or natural resources. He regards all those things as blessings from God. However, he places the preaching that came out of early American pulpits at the center of the nation's strength.

"Greatness has got to return to the pulpits."

That conviction shapes our response to the slogan "Make America Great Again." Although we agree with the desire for national restoration, we believe it requires a return to the spiritual foundation that made greatness possible.

Jeff rejects the idea that another political philosophy or more social programs can produce that restoration. He also condemns communism as a system that leaves destruction behind it. His larger argument is that political solutions can't replace the work of God in a nation.

For us, revival means more than renewed enthusiasm. It means restoring the preaching of Scripture and the fire of the Holy Spirit in the pulpit. The question of who trains our pastors matters because those pastors carry a responsibility that reaches beyond their congregations.

Returning to the Word God Has Given

Alan connects that national concern with something he has observed while helping churches in difficulty. He believes a church has both a calling and a word from the Lord that gives direction to its life.

He illustrates this through Jesus calling Peter out of the boat. Alan recalls asking the Lord why he couldn't walk on water as Peter did. In prayer, he felt the Lord answer that the instruction had been given to Peter, not to Alan.

The point is about responding to what God has actually said. Peter could step out because Jesus had called him.

Alan applies that same understanding to America. He believes God has spoken a word of purpose to the nation. Therefore, renewal requires discovering that purpose again and returning to it.

In our discussion, "walking supernaturally" means living in response to God's calling and depending on His power. Just as Peter sank when he took his eyes off the Lord, we believe America puts itself in danger when it abandons the word that has sustained it.

The Purpose We Believe God Gave America

Jeff identifies two purposes he believes explain why God raised up the United States: preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and being a friend to Israel.

Preaching the whole counsel of God

The gospel, as Jeff describes it, must be preached in its totality. He uses the phrase "the whole counsel" of God's Word because his concern extends beyond a narrow selection of familiar messages.

He briefly mentions the expression "full gospel," while recognizing that the term carries associations the conversation doesn't explore. His emphasis remains on preaching the whole of Scripture.

We believe America's spiritual health depends on faithfulness to that calling. Jeff also warns that abandoning the nation's purposes could cost more than its greatness. In his view, the country itself is at risk.

A nation raised up to bless others

Alan connects this belief with the mystery discussed in Ephesians 3. He doesn't claim that the United States is directly named in the Bible. Instead, he sees America's existence and evangelistic purpose as part of a plan once hidden in God's heart.

Jeff draws a parallel with God's work through a nation in the Old Testament to bless the world. However, he explicitly distances that comparison from the idea of replacement. His point is that God can raise up a nation for a purpose that benefits others.

We believe America has fulfilled that purpose to a degree. Our concern is that the nation has moved away from it.

The Great Awakening and Preaching That Required a Decision

Looking back, Jeff connects America's beginnings with the Great Awakening. He describes the 13 colonies as divided and often at odds with one another, then points to revival preaching as part of the nation's early formation.

Jonathan Edwards is central to that discussion. His sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" illustrates the kind of preaching Jeff has in mind: direct, confrontational, and unwilling to leave listeners comfortable in their condition.

Jeff compares its uncompromising character with what people today might associate with independent Baptist fundamentalist preaching. Alan emphasizes the response such preaching required. Listeners faced a decision.

That is the quality we are discussing when we speak about the influence of early pulpits. The sermon carried a demand upon the hearer. It confronted people with God's Word and called for a response.

Our concern is that preaching can lose that purpose when the congregation's main reaction becomes admiration for the preacher's presentation.

The Cultural Changes Behind Our Concern

The conversation also considers what George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin would make of America today.

Alan and Jeff name several concerns: men seeking to compete in women's sports, the election of politicians they describe as communists, and congressional legislation concerning LGBTQ+ issues. They see these developments as evidence of how far the nation has moved from the assumptions of earlier generations.

Jeff then makes one of the episode's strongest claims. He believes America was spiritually stronger before seminaries became the dominant means of preparing pastors. He remembers a model in which preachers sought God in prayer, received their preparation through dependence on the Holy Spirit, and then preached the Word.

That claim leads into a closer examination of theological education. Both hosts value serious study. Their concern is what happens when credentials receive greater attention than the spiritual authority and responsibility of preaching.

Why American Seminaries Developed

The article discussed on the show, identified as coming from Christian Archives, traces the development of American seminaries to concern about pastoral quality.

It names Andover in 1808, Princeton in 1812, and Auburn in 1818. According to the article, these institutions developed amid questions about the preparation of preachers during revival movements associated with the Second Great Awakening.

Revival brought large numbers of converts into churches. However, enthusiasm and persuasive speaking didn't always come with substantial theological knowledge. Seminary founders therefore sought rigorous preparation in Scripture, theology, and the historic practices of Christian ministry.

We agree with the need for that preparation. Throughout the conversation, both Alan and Jeff insist that pastors must know the Word of God.

However, Jeff challenges how churches define "pastoral quality." He argues that assessments often focus on academic or liturgical understanding while giving too little attention to the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

The distinction matters because a school can teach material that a preacher needs without being able to produce everything that makes preaching spiritually effective.

What the Master of Divinity Provided

The article describes the Master of Divinity as the expected credential for ordination in many Protestant denominations. Congregations also came to expect it, so denominational requirements and church expectations reinforced one another.

A traditional three-year M.Div. covered:

• Biblical languages and the Old and New Testaments.
• Systematic theology and church history.
• Homiletics, pastoral care, and practical ministry.

This model gave pastors a shared theological vocabulary, common biblical and historical knowledge, and an extended period of formation. It also treated ministry as work that required serious preparation.

Alan and Jeff agree with that principle. In their own training, serious preparation ranked near the top of a pastor's responsibilities.

However, Alan distinguishes preparation guided by personal preference from preparation shaped by what the Holy Spirit requires. Study has a purpose beyond satisfying the preacher's interests.

Both hosts also recall learning that language has rules. They connect their dispensational understanding of Scripture with that commitment to reading words according to those rules.

Their support for theological foundations remains clear. The criticism concerns what education can miss and what churches may begin to value above the calling itself.

Knowledge Alone Can't Produce Spiritual Anointing

Jeff uses the parable of the talents to explain why education, visibility, and ministry size don't tell the whole story.

One servant received five talents and gained five more. Another received two and gained two. The servant who received one hid it.

For Jeff, the central issue is faithfulness with what God gives. He names Billy Graham and Jack Hyles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, as examples of ministers with extensive reach. He and Alan speak of Graham as the greatest evangelist within their own knowledge and experience.

Yet Jeff's point doesn't depend on a preacher becoming widely known. He believes God honors faithful service according to the gifts and opportunities entrusted to each person.

A minister with fewer opportunities can still invest what God has given and reap a harvest. That understanding leads Jeff to a preacher whose name meant nothing to Alan but whose ministry left a lasting impression on Jeff.

A Childhood Memory of Willard Greasy's Preaching

Jeff remembers Willard Greasy, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in the mountains. About 40 people gathered, and Jeff listened as a young boy.

Greasy preached with tears running off his chin and sweat pouring. At times, he stood on the front pew as he preached. Jeff recalls being captivated.

He also remembers what wasn't part of that experience. He didn't have a coloring book, a separate daycare room, or a bouncy house. He sat and listened to the preaching.

Jeff doesn't claim Greasy possessed the biblical knowledge of Billy Graham or Jack Hyles. Instead, he remembers an anointing of the Holy Spirit that affected people who heard him.

In Jeff's understanding of the talents, Greasy faithfully invested what God gave him. Although he remained unknown to many, his ministry bore fruit. Jeff believes he received the same welcome of "Well done" that he associates with faithful ministers whose names became famous.

That is the kind of spiritual anointing we believe a seminary can't teach. Academic learning matters, but it doesn't explain the whole effect of a preacher's ministry.

Explain the Passage Before Preaching Its Applications

Our discussion of pastoral preparation becomes most specific when Jeff describes the responsibility of handling a biblical text.

He learned early that a preacher should first explain what a passage says. Applications and principles follow that work.

"You do your best to tell people what that scripture is saying before you preach it."

Alan identifies this as expository preaching. Together, they emphasize context and the biblical author's intent.

Jeff objects when a preacher draws an idea from a passage without explaining the passage itself. The idea might even be true. However, that doesn't mean the congregation has learned what the text says.

For him, this can reveal a preference for creativity over study. Explaining the passage requires work that a memorable observation can't replace.

A proper preacher therefore remains a student. Serious preparation continues throughout ministry.

Alan adds another test: whether the preacher is discussing Scripture to prove himself right or to change minds. The goal is conviction and changed lives. A sermon that earns compliments for its delivery hasn't necessarily accomplished that purpose.

Preaching and the Definition of Pastoral Work

The article also raises a common criticism of seminary education: academic strength doesn't always produce practical readiness.

A graduate might read Greek and debate soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, without having visited a dying parishioner or counseled a couple through a collapsing marriage.

Jeff challenges the use of those activities as the biblical standard for pastoring. He repeatedly says he isn't against compassion for someone who is dying or help for a struggling couple. However, he places the preaching of God's Word at the center of the pastor's responsibility.

In his view, explaining Scripture from the pulpit provides counsel that can help a marriage and reach others in the congregation at the same time. Personal visits can't compensate for a pulpit that fails to deliver the Word.

The hosts point to Jesus sending His followers out two by two to preach. Jeff also invokes Jesus' statement about letting the dead bury their dead as part of his argument about the priority of the calling.

This is a disagreement about how pastoral work is defined. We support preparation, but we question a definition of readiness that gives practical expectations greater weight than preaching the gospel.

Seminary Costs and the Limits of Pastoral Pay

The financial burden adds another difficulty for people who feel called to ministry. Alan and Jeff question whether an expensive graduate credential is a workable expectation when many churches offer modest pay.

The episode cites the following education costs and compensation figures:

The salary figures come from data the article attributes to the National Association of Church Business Administration for 2022. These are the figures discussed in the episode, rather than a price or salary schedule for every school or church.

Some congregations can't afford a full-time pastor at all. As a result, the cost of preparation can be difficult to repay through ministry income.

The article compares this with a lawyer carrying $150,000 in education debt who might enter a job paying $70,000 to $120,000 in many markets. A seminary graduate with similar debt could earn a fraction of that amount.

Jeff observes that a pastor might need another qualification and another job simply to afford using the required ministry degree. That financial pressure raises a practical question about how churches prepare and support those God calls.

The Smaller Preacher Schools We Remember

Alan and Jeff recall another model of preparation: smaller ministry schools, often called "preacher schools."

Both have taught in such settings. Students commonly kept their day jobs and attended classes at night. After a period of study, often a couple of years, they could be ordained for ministry.

The hosts remember strong preachers who came through those schools. Their formal academic achievements might not have matched those of advanced seminary graduates, but Alan emphasizes their ability to minister amid the devastation in people's lives.

Jeff favors returning to that kind of preparation. His argument follows the same concern that runs through the episode: training should support God's calling without making an expensive credential the controlling measure of a preacher.

Alan also uses a lighthearted description of the Holy Spirit as our "spiritual makeup." He explains that the Spirit "makes us look better than we really are." Beneath the humor is the same conviction about dependence on God rather than confidence in personal ability.

God Is Still Calling People to Preach

Jeff doesn't believe the present difficulty comes from a shortage of Holy Spirit anointing. He believes too few people are willing to receive it and walk in it.

Alan connects that concern with the prayer principles used in their Sunday night meetings. One of those principles, established a couple of years earlier, was learning how to answer God's call.

The emphasis is on responding. We believe God is still calling people, but those who hear must be willing to say yes.

That also places a responsibility on churches. If a congregation values formal credentials more than the work of the Holy Spirit, it can misunderstand what it should recognize in a preacher.

Our discussion holds preparation and anointing together. Pastors need biblical knowledge, disciplined study, and a willingness to explain Scripture faithfully. They also need the power of God that academic achievement alone can't supply.

America's Renewal Requires a Restored Pulpit

Our conclusion is that America's future depends on spiritual renewal in its churches. Donald Trump can't produce that renewal, and neither can a stronger economy, military power, or eloquent speeches in Congress.

We believe faithful biblical preaching and pastors answering God's call belong at the center of national restoration. The return to greatness we are describing begins with the power of God in America's pulpits.

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