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Preaching That Pleases God: The Keys To Life-Changing Bible Exposition
We live in a day when many people in Christendom give lip service to the authoritative preaching of the Word of God. Yet, upon closer inspection, we see that preaching is being greatly diminished among Bible-believing Christians. Some who claim that preaching is a priority are often found doing less and less of it. In many so-called local churches, the sound exposition of Scripture has been replaced by carnal worship, secular entertainment, drama, dance, movies, and secular psychology.Of equal concern is the growing lack of sound exposition in churches that do believe in preaching. Often the sermons of modern day preachers are ill-prepared, out of context, and inaccurate to God s Word rather than prepared with diligent study and prayer. While the delivery may be showy, entertaining, passionate, and zealous, the result of such preaching is powerless and fruitless. This is because we have departed from God s model of ministry the preaching of His Word, His way. In this carnal day of the emergent church movement, Preaching That Pleases God provides a clarion call for preachers and Bible students everywhere to return to biblical preaching as God defined it in His Word. It is a call to return to God s authority, to God s mandate, and to God s model of authentic ministry. It is a call away from the never-ending pursuit of fads and trends, and back to the pursuit of Christ and the accurately preached Word.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published May 28, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 29, 2019
An excellent book on the mechanics of preaching designed for the new preacher in college undergoing training.
October 12, 2014
I started reading this book the week I attended a "Preach the Word" conference in Baltimore, Maryland. That conference, along with this book, has really challenged me concerning the preaching of the Word of God!
Outstanding, solid read! If I was teaching a college-level class on the subject of preaching, this would definitely make the list of textbooks for the students to read, study, and dissect.
It does not take long for one to realize that the author has done his homework concerning this book. Of course, his preaching ministry over the past thirty years only adds to his vast knowledge and wisdom concerning this topic. I love the humility of this author as he teaches all of the facets of preaching.
The material is very applicable but I also find it quite inspiring. Going back through the book, I found I had underlined over one-hundred sixty sentences, thoughts, or illustrations. The book has four parts:
1. The Commission for Preaching
2. The Comprehension of Preaching
3. The Construction of Preaching
4. The Communication of Preaching
Here are several items I really enjoyed about the book. First of all, the author makes points throughout the book in an alliterative fashion. Being a lover of words, I found it fascinating and could only imagine that he preaches in the same style.
Second, the wide variety from which the author gathered quotes, illustrations, and anecdotes continued to capture my attention throughout the book.
Third, an entire chapter was given concerning the public invitation at the end of the service. The author submits that the invitation is as much of a part of the preaching as the message is. However, what I found fascinating was that he set forth two differing viewpoints on the public invitation from well-known godly men of the past. He concludes with reasons he believes are Biblical for having a public invitation and pressing for decisions. It is just good to see a Bible-believer actually set forth opposing viewpoints and allow the reader to actually think for themselves.
Fourth, at the end of every chapter is an actual outline of the chapter just read. What a help to the student and another aid to help remember the truths set forth in that chapter!
Any preacher or teacher of the Word of God would learn much and do well to have this book in their library!
Some favorite quotes:
"The Bible was spoken by God to man so that man could speak for God to man." p. 18
"The God-called preacher must be prepared and propelled to preach whether he is cheered or jeered, whether he is received or rejected, whether he is thrilled or threatened."p. 23
"Fame, females, and finances have destroyed many a preacher of the Gospel." p. 33
"Dynamic proclamation of the Word demands diligent preparation in the Word." p. 41
"Meditation on a text is like the marinating of meat." p. 79
"Normally the congregation will identify more quickly with a preacher's weaknesses than with his strengths." p. 80
"Take care not to impose your personal application of principles on your people. 'Thus saith the preacher' is not the same as 'thus saith the Lord.' " p. 92
"Before you begin to preach, remind yourself that you have been living with your text for several days, but your audience has not. You cannot expect them to catch a moving train; you must invite and entice them to step on board while the train is stopped." p. 106
"There are boring preachers, bearable preachers, and blessing preachers." p. 109
"The Biblical preacher argues for both faith in God and faithfulness to God." p. 126
"The fear of false fire may be the reason for little fire in many pulpits." p. 171
"Preach for the throne, not the throng. Preach for Christ, not the crowd." p. 190
"As preachers, we have no right to dilute, delete, diminish, or dumb down anything that God said." p. 191
"Preach Hell hot and Heaven sweet. Make much of Jesus." p. 198
Outstanding, solid read! If I was teaching a college-level class on the subject of preaching, this would definitely make the list of textbooks for the students to read, study, and dissect.
It does not take long for one to realize that the author has done his homework concerning this book. Of course, his preaching ministry over the past thirty years only adds to his vast knowledge and wisdom concerning this topic. I love the humility of this author as he teaches all of the facets of preaching.
The material is very applicable but I also find it quite inspiring. Going back through the book, I found I had underlined over one-hundred sixty sentences, thoughts, or illustrations. The book has four parts:
1. The Commission for Preaching
2. The Comprehension of Preaching
3. The Construction of Preaching
4. The Communication of Preaching
Here are several items I really enjoyed about the book. First of all, the author makes points throughout the book in an alliterative fashion. Being a lover of words, I found it fascinating and could only imagine that he preaches in the same style.
Second, the wide variety from which the author gathered quotes, illustrations, and anecdotes continued to capture my attention throughout the book.
Third, an entire chapter was given concerning the public invitation at the end of the service. The author submits that the invitation is as much of a part of the preaching as the message is. However, what I found fascinating was that he set forth two differing viewpoints on the public invitation from well-known godly men of the past. He concludes with reasons he believes are Biblical for having a public invitation and pressing for decisions. It is just good to see a Bible-believer actually set forth opposing viewpoints and allow the reader to actually think for themselves.
Fourth, at the end of every chapter is an actual outline of the chapter just read. What a help to the student and another aid to help remember the truths set forth in that chapter!
Any preacher or teacher of the Word of God would learn much and do well to have this book in their library!
Some favorite quotes:
"The Bible was spoken by God to man so that man could speak for God to man." p. 18
"The God-called preacher must be prepared and propelled to preach whether he is cheered or jeered, whether he is received or rejected, whether he is thrilled or threatened."p. 23
"Fame, females, and finances have destroyed many a preacher of the Gospel." p. 33
"Dynamic proclamation of the Word demands diligent preparation in the Word." p. 41
"Meditation on a text is like the marinating of meat." p. 79
"Normally the congregation will identify more quickly with a preacher's weaknesses than with his strengths." p. 80
"Take care not to impose your personal application of principles on your people. 'Thus saith the preacher' is not the same as 'thus saith the Lord.' " p. 92
"Before you begin to preach, remind yourself that you have been living with your text for several days, but your audience has not. You cannot expect them to catch a moving train; you must invite and entice them to step on board while the train is stopped." p. 106
"There are boring preachers, bearable preachers, and blessing preachers." p. 109
"The Biblical preacher argues for both faith in God and faithfulness to God." p. 126
"The fear of false fire may be the reason for little fire in many pulpits." p. 171
"Preach for the throne, not the throng. Preach for Christ, not the crowd." p. 190
"As preachers, we have no right to dilute, delete, diminish, or dumb down anything that God said." p. 191
"Preach Hell hot and Heaven sweet. Make much of Jesus." p. 198
October 23, 2017
I did gather a couple of good thoughts from this book, but nothing about it seemed to set it apart from any other elementary-level book on preaching.
Instead of "The Keys to Life-Changing Bible Exposition", a better subtitle might be "Preaching for Dummies".
If you are starting at the absolute ground level in preaching, this book may help you. On the other hand, I would recommend Broadus' "On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons" over this book any day.
Instead of "The Keys to Life-Changing Bible Exposition", a better subtitle might be "Preaching for Dummies".
If you are starting at the absolute ground level in preaching, this book may help you. On the other hand, I would recommend Broadus' "On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons" over this book any day.
November 6, 2014
I actually did not finish this book. I enjoy Bro. Tom Farrell, and have always been blessed by his preaching. However I got to one statement in the book that so bothered me, that I did not want to continue reading the book. I don't think that Bro. Farrell meant anything bad by the statement, and maybe didn't really mean for it to come out the way it did in the book. The statement was "God only had one Son, and he was given the highest calling, to be a preacher". This prompted something in my own mind, does that mean if God calls you to be a laymen in a church, that that isn't God's highest calling? I am a preacher myself, does this mean that I am better than everyone else, because God has called me to preach? I don't think that being a preacher is God's highest calling, I think being whatever God has called you to do is his highest calling, whether that is being a garbage collector, school teacher, preacher, ect. God's highest calling is being exactly what God has called you to be, and I would be arrogant to think that just because I am a preacher, that my calling is higher than anyone else.
Maybe one day I will finish reading this book, but for now, it will continue to sit on my Kindle unfinished.
Maybe one day I will finish reading this book, but for now, it will continue to sit on my Kindle unfinished.
September 11, 2012
Phenomenal book, by a man who knows what he is writing about. I really enjoyed, and felt very challenged, and encouraged by this book. So rich you have to pause, regularly, to absorb the material.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews