What S Wrong With Preaching Today

Seventy-five years ago, renowned preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick asked in Harper's Magazine, "what's the matter with preaching?" Fosdick's question is even more relevant today, as both pastors and laity acknowledge the need for improvement in Sunday morning's sermons. And who better for pastors and students to learn from than those who already do it well? The contributors to this book are a some of the best and most thoughtful preachers in the church and classroom today. In their essays, they assess the state of preaching today, identify a variety of issues that challenge effective preaching, and offer helpful suggestions for what can be done to improve preaching. In the process, they help to define what effective preaching is.

The standard textbook on the art and craft of preaching, with a new Foreword by Thomas G. Long.

A Comprehensive Resource for Today’s Christian Communicators. This extensive encyclopedia is the most complete and practical work ever published on the art and craft of biblical preaching. Its 11 major sections contain nearly 200 articles, comprehensively covering topics on preaching and methodology, including: Sermon structure and “the big idea.” The art of introductions, transitions, and conclusions. Methods for sermon prep, from outlining to exercising. Approaches to different types of preaching: topical, expository, evangelistic, and more. Best practices for sermon delivery, speaking with authority, and using humor. Leveraging effective illustrations and stories. Understanding audience. and much more. Entries are characterized by intensely practical and vivid writing designed to help preachers deepen their understanding and sharpen their communication skills. The contributors include a virtual Who’s Who of preaching from a cross section of denominations and traditions, such as Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, Rick Warren, Warren Wiersbe, Alice Mathews, John Piper, Andy Stanley, and many others. Haddon Robinson and Craig Brian Larson—two of today’s most respected voices in preaching—provide editorial oversight. Includes audio CD with preaching technique examples from the book.

Yet many who sit next to us in the pew at church fit that description, says author Wesley Hill. As a celibate gay Christian, Hill gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to wrestle firsthand with God's ''No'' to same-sex relationships. What does it mean for gay Christians to live faithful to God while struggling with the challenge of their homosexuality? What is God's will for believers who experience same-sex desires? Those who choose celibacy are often left to deal with loneliness and the hunger for relationships. How can gay Christians experience God's favor and blessing in the midst of a struggle that for many brings a crippling sense of shame and guilt? Weaving together reflections from his own life and the lives of other Christians, such as Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hill offers a fresh perspective on these questions. He advocates neither unqualified ''healing'' for those who struggle, nor their accommodation to temptation, but rather faithfulness in the midst of brokenness. ''I hope this book may encourage other homosexual Christians to take the risky step of opening up their lives to others in the body of Christ,'' Hill writes. ''In so doing, they may find, as I have, by grace, that being known is spiritually healthier than remaining behind closed doors, that the light is better than the darkness.

The first book in Hendricksons new Preachers Toolbox series brings together a whos who group of todays most influential pastors, who share their understanding of prophetic preaching as well as their skills. The book is divided into two sections, The Calling of Prophetic Preaching and The Craft of Prophetic Preaching, which deliver clear themes and practical takeaways on the art of preaching prophetically. Speaking with grace and authority, preachers such as Francis Chan, Mark Buchanan, John Ortberg, Mark Driscoll, Timothy Keller, and Anne Graham Lotz offer Biblical and personal messages on prophetic preaching.