Preaching Biblical Wisdom in a Self-Help Society PDF Download
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Author: Alyce M. McKenzie
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780687090501
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 255
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Book Description
The shelves at the big bookstore chains are lined with cracker-barrel wisdom manuals, such as Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and Life's Little Instruction Book. Schools display brightly colored, slogan-filled posters to help them teach "the six pillars of character." Many people are going to their local New Age emporium to purchase energy-harmonizing crystals and to sign up for past-life regression seminars. Alyce McKenzie reminds us that this is a new flurry of an old activity: the search for wisdom, for help in finding the principles that can guide our lives and shape our character. The question for those who proclaim the gospel is simple: by whose wisdom will our people live? The wisdom books and genres of the Bible, long neglected, are now the subject of avid scrutiny by biblical scholars. They've turned up the shining insight that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is brimming with materials that axe the ancestors of contemporary slogans and self-help manuals. This is indeed good news! We have proverbs and instruction every bit as vivid and compelling as "Don't sweat the small stuff" -- and far more aware of the depth, complexity, and mystery of life in God's world. McKenzie demonstrates how Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and other biblical wisdom can provide fruitful opportunities to preach to those who are hungry for wisdom, and often unaware of the richness and depth of the Bible's wisdom tradition. Key Features: -- Provides an alternative to shallow catch-phrases that parade in our culture as wisdom; -- Helps preachers harvest the biblical gems that are the ancestors of contemporary slogans and self-help manuals; -- Lets preachers tap into a rich vein of instruction on life that has withstood the test of theological reflection and life experience.
Author: Alyce M. McKenzie
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780687090501
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 255
Get Book Here
Book Description
The shelves at the big bookstore chains are lined with cracker-barrel wisdom manuals, such as Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and Life's Little Instruction Book. Schools display brightly colored, slogan-filled posters to help them teach "the six pillars of character." Many people are going to their local New Age emporium to purchase energy-harmonizing crystals and to sign up for past-life regression seminars. Alyce McKenzie reminds us that this is a new flurry of an old activity: the search for wisdom, for help in finding the principles that can guide our lives and shape our character. The question for those who proclaim the gospel is simple: by whose wisdom will our people live? The wisdom books and genres of the Bible, long neglected, are now the subject of avid scrutiny by biblical scholars. They've turned up the shining insight that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is brimming with materials that axe the ancestors of contemporary slogans and self-help manuals. This is indeed good news! We have proverbs and instruction every bit as vivid and compelling as "Don't sweat the small stuff" -- and far more aware of the depth, complexity, and mystery of life in God's world. McKenzie demonstrates how Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and other biblical wisdom can provide fruitful opportunities to preach to those who are hungry for wisdom, and often unaware of the richness and depth of the Bible's wisdom tradition. Key Features: -- Provides an alternative to shallow catch-phrases that parade in our culture as wisdom; -- Helps preachers harvest the biblical gems that are the ancestors of contemporary slogans and self-help manuals; -- Lets preachers tap into a rich vein of instruction on life that has withstood the test of theological reflection and life experience.
Author: Charles L. Aaron Jr.
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532602812
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 121
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Book Description
What could we accomplish if only we acted more wisely? Could we mitigate the effects of diseases; help the vulnerable feel safer; make progress on justice; cooperate on common problems? We don't see enough wisdom, but neither did Woman Wisdom herself, who cried out in the streets wanting to gain attention. For every preacher who feels the urgency for more wisdom, this book has heard you. We know the urgency and we want to help.
Author: Alyce M. McKenzie
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426721048
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 175
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Book Description
Empowers the preacher to understand the role of wise leader to which he or she has been called, and to claim that role with conviction and joy. Pastors are called to an exciting ministry of proclamation and leadership. That excitement, however, often turns to demoralization and burnout as pastors become increasingly uncertain of what their role is supposed to be. Competing claims by the congregation, the denomination, and society about who and what the pastor is supposed to be breed confusion and disappointment. Are they primarily managers? Therapists? Fundraisers? A way out of this confusion lies in reclaiming the biblical understanding of who the pastor is. One of the biblical roles within the pastoral vocation that often goes neglected is that of wise teacher or sage. Scripture presents as a model of pastoral leadership those who interpret the word and will of God for daily living. Especially in their preaching, pastors are called to help the congregation understand their place in God’s world. In this book, Alyce McKenzie lays out the four qualities of the wise teacher–the bended knee, the listening heart, the cool head, and the courageous voice–and encourages pastors to make each of these integral to their ministry and vocation. She goes on to demonstrate that the sermon is the prime opportunity to function in the role of wise teacher. She offers strategies for applying biblical wisdom to all areas of everyday life. The strategies include: (1) Preaching that is as sensory as life is; using imagery, metaphor, simile, and story to connect with people’s emotions as well as their intellect. (2) Preaching that uses first-person experiences without being narcissistic. (3) Preaching that teaches without boring. (4) Preaching on public, often controversial issues that minimizes defensiveness and maximizes dialogue.
Author: Alyce M. McKenzie
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664256531
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194
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Book Description
Alyce McKenzie offers preachers an effective way to reclaim proverbs in preaching. She corrects popular misconceptions about the nature of proverbs, highlights their usefulness in contemporary situations, and demonstrates their ability to confirm (or subvert) the status quo. Six sermons are provided to illustrate proverbs at work in dealing with contemporary concerns.
Author: Donyelle C. McCray
Publisher: Presbyterian Publishing Corp
ISBN: 1646983947
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 218
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Book Description
Is It a Sermon? is an informative and daring call to blur the boundaries of the sermon genre, exploring the “shoreline” of homiletics, or the place where preaching laps up against other modes of discourse. In this book, Donyelle McCray explores how preaching merges with prayer, song, performance, and activism—the gospel dancing in and out of the forms we create for it. Consider the sermonic performance of Isaiah walking naked and barefoot for three years, the deaconess whose morning prayer rhythmically flows into sermon, or the gospel soloist who pauses in her song to tell a story or break into a sermonette. McCray is interested in the possibilities that emerge when we play at the shoreline, and she questions what modes of preaching get overlooked due to genre classifications. She seeks to discover what we might learn from these shoreline preachers about bearing witness, enacting Scripture, and listening to life. While these questions could be explored generally, McCray focuses on African American preachers who play at the boundaries of the sermon genre, with attention to how genre fluidity provides a means of drawing on ancestral wisdom. Key figures like Mahalia Jackson, Harriet Powers, Rosie Lee Tomkins, Thea Bowman, Howard Thurman, and Toni Morrison are examined as artists, activists, and proclaimers. She shines a new light on their work and points out how they reform preacherly identities and refuse traditional patterns of holding authority. Ultimately, in blurring the boundaries of sermon genre, this book offers readers strategies for embracing their voices more fully within and beyond the pulpit.
Author: David Schnasa Jacobsen
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532613911
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 141
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Book Description
Promise has a long pedigree in the history of Christian understandings of the gospel. This volume gathers together leading homileticians to consider the breadth of its understanding today in light of the struggle to reconcile God’s grace with God’s justice. Assuming that promise is a core sense of the gospel, how does this relate to the variety of contexts in which homiletical theology is done? In this final volume in the series, six homileticians from a variety of contexts and perspectives try to move specifically toward a homiletical theology of promise as a way to articulate the central theological gift and task that is preaching the gospel today.
Author: T. D. Jakes
Publisher: FaithWords
ISBN: 1455595349
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281
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Book Description
Communicate boldly and effectively like never before with the help and guidance of a #1 New York Times bestselling author and trusted Bishop. #1 New York Times bestselling author Bishop Jakes has been speaking in front of audiences large and small for decades, and over the years, he has learned a thing or two about communicating with audiences. Now, for the first time ever, Bishop Jakes shares his wisdom and skills he’s learned to help readers communicate better themselves. Whether you are preparing to speak on stage before thousands or present at the next budget meeting, preach a sermon or deliver a diagnosis, this book is full of practical advice and solutions to help you get your message across. Readers will learn: The process Bishop Jakes uses to create his sermons, which connect with hundreds of thousands each week How to tailor you message for your intended audience The importance of body language How to be ready to make every opportunity count When and how to use silence to speak for you Why how you present yourself matters Drawing lessons from Scripture and his own life, Jakes gives career advice for those who have or want to grow into a speaking career, but he also provides clear direction and insight for everyone who gives presentations, writes emails, or talks to other people in their job or home life. In this book, Bishop Jakes gives you tools and skills so that you can communicate better.
Author: Chloe Lynch
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429671458
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 270
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Book Description
When it comes to talking about the activity of directing the church, the language of leadership and leaders is increasingly popular. Yet what is leadership – and how might theological narratives better resource the discourse and practice of leadership in ecclesial contexts? In identifying and critiquing managerialism as a dominant narrative of leadership in the Western church, this book calls for an alternative approach founded on the concept of friendship. Engaging with the wider field of leadership studies, the book establishes an understanding of leadership activity and brings it into conversation with an incarnational ecclesiology. The result is a prophetic reimagining of ecclesial leadership in terms of a relational, kenotic praxis. This praxis of mutuality and love is framed here in the rich language of Christian friendship. The book also wrestles deeply with the embodiment of such a praxis, making explicit the power behaviours typical of friendship-leadership and offering constructive guidance for practitioners in the task of implementation within a complex and fractured world. This book offers a new vision of the centrality of friendship to leadership of a healthy church community. As such, it will be of great use to scholars of practical theology, ecclesiology and leadership, as well as practitioners in church ministry.
Author: Bland Dave
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
ISBN: 0718844734
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 200
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Book Description
Proverbs and the Formation of Character presses the wisdom of Proverbs into active duty in the trenches of everyday life and puts the principles of character formation in working clothes. The wisdom Proverbs describes is not designed to master life's challenges but to learn to manage them and adapt. In learning to adapt, individuals grow and mature spiritually. Relying on solid biblical scholarship, Dave Bland brings to the fore the neglected sentence literature in Proverbs 10-29 and the vital resources they contribute to the process of character formation. Contrary to popular opinion, the book of Proverbs, even though addressed to youth, is not a book solely for the young, but for those of all ages who desire to continue to grow personally, as well as in their relationship with others and God. The wise in the book of Proverbs employ a plethora of resources to help train up young and old alike to grow into the character of God. Among others, these resources include the value of interacting with others, a healthy understanding of conflict, an appropriate perspective on wealth, a new appreciation for and reliance on the role of the neglected proverb in the education process, and the vital role of family and the faith community.
Author: Richard R. Osmer
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802817653
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
Every church congregation encounters challenging situations, some the same the world over, and others specific to each church. Richard Osmer here seeks to teach congregational leaders -- including, but not limited to, clergy -- the requisite knowledge and skills to meet such situations with sensitivity and creativity. Osmer develops a framework for practical theological interpretation in congregations by focusing on four key questions: What is going on in a given context? Why is this going on? What ought to be going on? and How might the leader shape the context to better embody Christian witness and mission? The book is unique in its attention to interdisciplinary issues and the ways that theological reflection is grounded in the spirituality of leaders. Useful, accessible, and lively -- with lots of specific examples and case studies -- Osmer's Practical Theology effectively equips congregational leaders to guide their communities with theological integrity.
