Trained to See Color

A Short Word, May 2026
“So, what’s the sermon about?” Every week as Pastor Tim Hawman headed to the pulpit, a young woman at the sound board asked him this question. Half the time, Tim realized he didn’t have an answer. He began to suspect that was a problem.

Then, he was invited to a Workshop on Biblical Exposition in Toronto. Tim says the Workshop reminded him of his time in art school. There, he learned to detect variations in color. He grew from being able to see ten thousand color variations, which most people can differentiate, to closer to two million color variations. “We had to be trained at seeing,” Tim says. In a similar way, the Workshop trained him to see the colors in God’s Word. “I could learn to see relationships between words, and key words, and repetitions, and bookends—means of discovering through observation the point of the text and how the text was structured. To me that was a total epiphany.”

Today, after many Workshops, Tim walks into the pulpit knowing what the text—and his sermon—are about.

We hope you’re encouraged. If you’d like to listen to an abridged version of the interview, you can find it here.

In Christ,
Darrell Young
Director of Asian Initiatives and Executive Director (Canada)
Charles Simeon Trust

P.S. Many thanks to Eros Olazabal, Youth Minister at Maple Avenue Baptist Church, for conducting the interview.