Author: David A. Christensen
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725266016
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194
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Book Description
How can we preach persuasively without huckstering, manipulating, or coercing people? Sadly, we are seeing the fall of many pastors not for reasons of sexual immorality, but the pursuit of pride and power. The skillful use of marketing methods creates celebrity pastors who become significant influencers in the evangelical church. The lure of success is seductive, turning pastors into hucksters and Christians into consumers. We need to heed the warnings of the New Testament about the pride of rhetoric and the pursuit of power. David Christensen carefully analyzes the biblical warnings of Paul about the temptations of rhetorical sophistry in the first-century church and applies them to pastoral ministry today. God calls preachers to be ethical and effective persuaders. David develops an ethical grid for pastoral persuasion using principles drawn from the Bible and social science along with practical illustrations from his years of ministry. He calls preachers to be ethical and effective persuaders by emphasizing the centrality of the word of God while depending on the power of the Spirit of God.
Author: R. Larry Overstreet
Publisher: Lexham Press
ISBN: 9781683592181
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 312
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Book Description
Michael Dudit, executive editor of Preaching Magazine, writes in the foreword that "the reader will find in this book a valuable discussion of what persuasion really is, what the Bible has to say about it, how it is modeled in the New Testament, and what role persuasion should and should not play in our own preaching in the twenty-first century. The author has provided solid biblical content and practical guidance that will be a powerful resource for preachers and church leaders. He writes with clarity and--dare I say it?--persuasive power. I hope you will be as blessed by this book as I have been."
Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698195094
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
Pastor, preacher, and New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller shares his wisdom on communicating the Christian faith from the pulpit as well as from the coffee shop. Most Christians—including pastors—struggle to talk about their faith in a way that applies the power of the Christian gospel to change people’s lives. Timothy Keller is known for his insightful, down-to-earth sermons and talks that help people understand themselves, encounter Jesus, and apply the Bible to their lives. In this accessible guide for pastors and laypeople alike, Keller helps readers learn to present the Christian message of grace in a more engaging, passionate, and compassionate way.
Author: Sam Chan
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498220258
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 263
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Book Description
According to the Reformers, preaching is the word of God. As the word of God, preaching is a foundation for the church. It is also vital for the personal growth of a Christian. But Christians are poorly equipped to understand how preaching is the word of God. Some Christians look for preaching that closely reproduces the text in the Bible. Other Christians look for preaching that creates maximal emotional and existential impact. And there is a lot of name-calling with Christians accusing preachers of "not preaching the word." But what type of preaching is the word of God? The purpose of this book is to equip Christians to understand how preaching can be God speaking. It accomplishes this with a survey of the problem in the history of the church, a detailed overview of key biblical texts, and finally the application of the contemporary philosophical tool of speech act theory.
Author: Shauna K. Hannan
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 150646694X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249
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Book Description
The proclamation of the gospel is the responsibility of the baptized rather than the privilege of the ordained. Preaching is not a solo endeavor. It is a communal practice, a ministry of the whole congregation that is most faithful when the process is shared. In The Peoples' Sermon, Shauna K. Hannan argues that it is no longer faithful for a preacher to craft a sermon in isolation, step into "the pulpit" (literally or metaphorically) on Sunday morning, offer a one-sided monologue, and on Monday start all over, alone, with the process of researching and writing in preparation for the following Sunday. Hannan's goal is to create vital worshipping communities where all know and live out their roles in the preaching ministry of the congregation, where both clergy and laity are empowered and equipped in their roles before, during, and after the sermon. She encourages readers to reflect on what preaching is and why the church engages in this practice, and to explore various roles in the preaching ministry of the congregation. She guides readers and their communities through a process that equips hearers to fulfill their active roles in the preaching ministry of the congregation. The Peoples' Sermon dares to suggest that preaching is most faithful when it is collaborative. Pastors do not own the pulpit; they steward it.
Author: Donyelle C. McCray
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1978709676
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 142
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Book Description
Few have consoled the church as ably as the fourteenth-century mystic Julian of Norwich. However, her prophetic gifts have received little scholarly attention. Drawing on contemporary homiletical theory and the history of Christian spirituality, Donyelle C. McCray presents Julian as a preacher, examining the apostolic dimensions of Julian’s vocation as an anchoress and highlighting the steps she took to align herself with renowned preachers like Saint Cecelia, Mary Magdalene, and the apostle Paul. Like Paul, Julian saw Jesus’ body as her primary text, placed human weakness at the center of her theology, and used her own confined body as a rhetorical tool. Yet she navigated a web of censorship that threatened to silence her. To voice her convictions, Julian developed a novel approach to authority and exploited the fluidity of the medieval English sermon genre. McCray charts this process, revealing Julian as a central personality in the history of preaching whose best contemporary parallels operate outside the pulpit in august figures like retreat leader Evelyn Underhill, gospel singer Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith, and street preacher Reverend Billy.
Author: Bert Decker
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 1433670216
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 246
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Book Description
Whether preaching or witnessing, speaking is a critical communication tool in almost all facets of Christian life. This book brings the Bold Assurance concept to Christian leaders and laypeople, giving them a tool to help them use their minds, mouths, and beings to communicate effectively. Readers will learn the tools for powerful and effective communication based on two things: biblical truth and proven concepts from the business world. For the first time, Christian laypeople and leaders alike can reap the benefits of speaking boldly and skillfully by understanding how God uses us as communicators.
Author: Joshua J. Whitfield
Publisher: Ave Maria Press
ISBN: 1594718369
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
The Crisis of Bad Preaching is an audacious response to a long-simmering pastoral crisis: poorly prepared, often stale, and largely irrelevant homilies that are fueling the mass exodus of people from the Church. Echoing Popes Benedict and Francis, Rev. Joshua Whitfield confronts what is perhaps the most common complaint of Catholics around the world: hollow, vacuous preaching. A parish priest in Dallas, Whitfield encourages fellow preachers to profound renewal, reminding them that preaching is not just something they do, it is essential to who they are. Catholic preaching today often achieves the opposite of what it should, which is connecting the People of God with the Gospel of Christ in a compelling and motivating way. With an insider’s candor, biting honesty, and persuasive conviction, Whitfield stresses that preachers need to return to this ideal because the wellbeing of the Church depends on it. More than just another how-to book, The Crisis of Bad Preaching is at once deeply challenging and uplifting and full of practical advice for a reversal of the status quo. In Part I, Whitfield explores the essential role of the preacher as a public intellectual and member of the communion of preachers that spans the history of the Church. Whitfield offers advice about which great preachers—from Origen, Augustine , and Aquinas to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bishop Robert Barron—to study and what to learn from them. Whitfield also explains why preachers must submit in humility to the fullness of the Church—its teachings, authority, practices, and structures. In Part II, Whitfield explores the important habits of prayer, preparation, cultivating rhetorical skill, and learning to take full advantage of both positive and negative criticism. He explains how the way of the preacher must be the way of the Holy Spirit and argues that without the preacher opening his heart to the fire of evangelical proclamation, he will lack the capacity to preach the transforming grace of the Gospel, his mandate. In a brief epilogue, Whitfield encourages ten habits for listening. Addressed to both laity and the ordained, he asserts that fixing preaching will take the concerted effort of all members of the Church.
Author: Wayne McDill
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 9780805432978
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 330
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Book Description
In this newly expanded second edition of 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching, Dr. Wayne McDill draws on decades of experience as a preacher and homiletics professor to inspire other preachers to live up to their God-given potential. Here are twelve proven ways to pack more content and effectiveness into every sermon, covering all of the bases from general preparation to the end result of increasing each listener's faith. Recent seminary graduates and seasoned pastors alike will identify skills that need personal improvement, and McDill encourages them to strengthen such areas at their own pace and in whatever order they feel is best. Every chapter in this new edition has been revised and updated. Also included are additional worksheet helps and sermon examples.
Author: Timothy H. Sherwood
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739142631
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 155
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Book Description
The greatness of America's most influential preachers of the twentieth century came from their significant contributions to both religious and secular society. Some names, like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Billy Graham, are universally recognized and typically thought of first by people today. Assorted reviews have also listed other notable names from various Christian denominations, but little recognition has been given to the Catholic contribution to preaching in the twentieth century.
