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Preaching with Power: Dynamic Insights from Twenty Top Communicators
For twenty years Preaching magazine has observed, encouraged, and reported on the state of Christian proclamation. Among the most important and popular features of the publication are the personal interviews with outstanding preachers and influencers of preaching. Preaching with Power combines the best of the most recent interviews to build a resource that imparts valuable insight from many gifted communicators. Editor Michael Duduit has skillfully combined interviews with such luminaries as Bryan Chapell, T. D. Jakes, Haddon Robinson, Rick Warren, and more. Each tells his own story in his own words, speaking about his passion to preach God's truth. Better than any volume currently available, this collection captures the rich diversity and power of preaching in America.
- GenresLeadership
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2006
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November 4, 2017
Michael Duduit is an editor at Preaching Today and this 2006 volume Preaching with Power represents his interviews with some of the best preachers in America. This best-of interview format means that while there is some really good content, the book is uneven (through no fault of Duduit) and there are plenty of points of tension and even disagreement among the preachers represented.
The motley crew includes Jerry Falwell, TD Jakes, David Jeremiah, John MacArthur, Brian McLaren, Haddon Robinson, Andy Stanley, and Rick Warren. One of the interesting on-going points of contention is what constitutes faithful preaching. For some faithful preaching is expository preaching, for others, faithful preaching is connecting to the culture, for others, faithful preaching sparks spiritual connections.
Bryan Chapell’s interview kicks off the book. Chapell defends his belief that faithful preaching is expository preaching. He explains that, “An expository sermon gets its main idea, its main points, and its subpoints or its development components from the text… so it is by methodology binding the preacher to say what the text is saying. The preacher becomes a bond servant of the text working according to the thought of the original author.” By this, Chapell doesn’t mean that preaching is an academic exercise. On the contrary, “I am not simply preaching for information; I am preaching for a transformative purpose. I am preaching for transformation.” On this front, there is nearly total agreement. Rick Warren later echoes Chapell’s words: ‘preaching is about transformation, not information… My goals is not to inform; I came to transform.”
How one moves toward this destination is a question the authors come to different conclusions on. Chapell, Haddon Robinson, and others take up the cause of expository preaching. Others propose different methods.
Andy Stanley’s approach, for instance, prioritizes simplicity and clarity: “I preach one-point messages,” Stanley says. He goes directly after expository preaching, “I don’t know where that [verse by verse expository preaching] came from. Jesus didn’t model it. Nobody modeled it.” The most important thing for Stanley, then, in moving toward transformation, is direct and practical preaching.
Even further away from expository preaching is TD Jakes’s issue-focused approach. TD Jakes says that : “the text is only a backdrop to help me reach the lives of the congregation.” The text, then, is not just one tool to help move toward that transformation. Jakes’s clarifies, “I go through the Word of God looking for illustrations from a biblical perspective that will enhance the congregant’s experience.”
Who is right? Rick Warren pushes back at the divisions over what style of preaching is faithful, “We are all on the same team… The only question that matters is, ‘Does the sermon involve itself in the truth of God’s Word?’” I am sympathetic to Warren’s bridge-building here and do think there is some real merit to it. I consider myself an expositional preacher and yet, I’m sure, that there would be those who would balk at allowing me into the camp. If I could tweak Warren, a bit, I think I would say, the only question that matters is, “Does the sermon submit itself to the truth of God’s Word?”
Beyond this central debate, there are wonderful nuggets of wisdom that are sprinkled throughout the interviews on leadership, loving the flock, and the high stakes of preaching.
On leadership, Andy Stanley urges pastors to have courage. “I feel like so much of the problem with pastors is they are scared to death,” Stanley says. Stanley calls for pastors to preach vision. TD Jakes urges persistence in leadership, “Every time you get out of bed in the morning there is always a reason not to get up out of bed… But if you are relentless—if you can wipe tears and discouragement and frustration out of your face and still jump out of bed and say, ‘I’m still going to do it’ – you can get great things done for God.”
Warren pushes not for vision, but rather for character: “I have learned that the secret of spiritual power is integrity and humility. It is not vision… Vision is a dime a dozen… What God blesses is first integrity.” Adrian Rogers echoes this, “[Y]ou can’t divorce the message from the man. Preaching is just incarnational truth.”
Preaching must be connected to pastoring. OS Hawkins urges, “My main advice would be to be a servant.” John Maxwell shares that leaders aren’t so different from those they lead, “I think most leaders dislike change as much as followers do, unless it’s their idea.” That truth ought to help us to grow in humility and empathy. And we do not stand apart as teachers from students. Like our flock, we too are learners. “Never stop learning,” Rick Warren insists, “All leaders are learners.”
And the way that we communicate matters. Andy Stanley thinks that when we preach from notes we communicate something to the congregation, “I think preaching with notes communicates something. I think it communicates, ‘What I have to say is really important. I hope you put this in your heart. It’s not in mind, you know—I haven’t integrated it, but I hope you will.’”
There is no disagreement about the stakes for preaching. Richard Ogilvie quotes Richard Baxter, “I preach as a dying man to dying men, as if never to preach again.” We are preaching for the sake of others, for the sake of souls. For the sake of salvation. Adrian Rogers asserts that “All preaching is evangelistic preaching if it’s good preaching.” Rick Warren echoes this sentiment: “the deepest kind of preaching, bar none, is preaching for repentance.”
In all of this, we cannot merely depend on ourselves. No matter how hard we work at our craft, no matter how deeply we trust the Bible, what Rick Warren says is true, “the Word isn’t enough, we need the Spirit.”
One critique is that while the volume is only ten years old, the interviews date from 1996-2006 which makes the book feel more dated than just ten years. Another minor critique (perhaps related to its date) are several important themes that are missing. First among those is collaboration and teamwork.
I’m grateful for Duduit’s compilation. While there are certainly forgettable interviews in the bunch and some interviews that drew my ire (TD Jakes and Jerry Falwell, to name two), there are others that alone are worth the price of the book (Bryan Chapell and Rick Warren’s stand out). And there is certainly plenty to learn from this motley crew of preachers.
The motley crew includes Jerry Falwell, TD Jakes, David Jeremiah, John MacArthur, Brian McLaren, Haddon Robinson, Andy Stanley, and Rick Warren. One of the interesting on-going points of contention is what constitutes faithful preaching. For some faithful preaching is expository preaching, for others, faithful preaching is connecting to the culture, for others, faithful preaching sparks spiritual connections.
Bryan Chapell’s interview kicks off the book. Chapell defends his belief that faithful preaching is expository preaching. He explains that, “An expository sermon gets its main idea, its main points, and its subpoints or its development components from the text… so it is by methodology binding the preacher to say what the text is saying. The preacher becomes a bond servant of the text working according to the thought of the original author.” By this, Chapell doesn’t mean that preaching is an academic exercise. On the contrary, “I am not simply preaching for information; I am preaching for a transformative purpose. I am preaching for transformation.” On this front, there is nearly total agreement. Rick Warren later echoes Chapell’s words: ‘preaching is about transformation, not information… My goals is not to inform; I came to transform.”
How one moves toward this destination is a question the authors come to different conclusions on. Chapell, Haddon Robinson, and others take up the cause of expository preaching. Others propose different methods.
Andy Stanley’s approach, for instance, prioritizes simplicity and clarity: “I preach one-point messages,” Stanley says. He goes directly after expository preaching, “I don’t know where that [verse by verse expository preaching] came from. Jesus didn’t model it. Nobody modeled it.” The most important thing for Stanley, then, in moving toward transformation, is direct and practical preaching.
Even further away from expository preaching is TD Jakes’s issue-focused approach. TD Jakes says that : “the text is only a backdrop to help me reach the lives of the congregation.” The text, then, is not just one tool to help move toward that transformation. Jakes’s clarifies, “I go through the Word of God looking for illustrations from a biblical perspective that will enhance the congregant’s experience.”
Who is right? Rick Warren pushes back at the divisions over what style of preaching is faithful, “We are all on the same team… The only question that matters is, ‘Does the sermon involve itself in the truth of God’s Word?’” I am sympathetic to Warren’s bridge-building here and do think there is some real merit to it. I consider myself an expositional preacher and yet, I’m sure, that there would be those who would balk at allowing me into the camp. If I could tweak Warren, a bit, I think I would say, the only question that matters is, “Does the sermon submit itself to the truth of God’s Word?”
Beyond this central debate, there are wonderful nuggets of wisdom that are sprinkled throughout the interviews on leadership, loving the flock, and the high stakes of preaching.
On leadership, Andy Stanley urges pastors to have courage. “I feel like so much of the problem with pastors is they are scared to death,” Stanley says. Stanley calls for pastors to preach vision. TD Jakes urges persistence in leadership, “Every time you get out of bed in the morning there is always a reason not to get up out of bed… But if you are relentless—if you can wipe tears and discouragement and frustration out of your face and still jump out of bed and say, ‘I’m still going to do it’ – you can get great things done for God.”
Warren pushes not for vision, but rather for character: “I have learned that the secret of spiritual power is integrity and humility. It is not vision… Vision is a dime a dozen… What God blesses is first integrity.” Adrian Rogers echoes this, “[Y]ou can’t divorce the message from the man. Preaching is just incarnational truth.”
Preaching must be connected to pastoring. OS Hawkins urges, “My main advice would be to be a servant.” John Maxwell shares that leaders aren’t so different from those they lead, “I think most leaders dislike change as much as followers do, unless it’s their idea.” That truth ought to help us to grow in humility and empathy. And we do not stand apart as teachers from students. Like our flock, we too are learners. “Never stop learning,” Rick Warren insists, “All leaders are learners.”
And the way that we communicate matters. Andy Stanley thinks that when we preach from notes we communicate something to the congregation, “I think preaching with notes communicates something. I think it communicates, ‘What I have to say is really important. I hope you put this in your heart. It’s not in mind, you know—I haven’t integrated it, but I hope you will.’”
There is no disagreement about the stakes for preaching. Richard Ogilvie quotes Richard Baxter, “I preach as a dying man to dying men, as if never to preach again.” We are preaching for the sake of others, for the sake of souls. For the sake of salvation. Adrian Rogers asserts that “All preaching is evangelistic preaching if it’s good preaching.” Rick Warren echoes this sentiment: “the deepest kind of preaching, bar none, is preaching for repentance.”
In all of this, we cannot merely depend on ourselves. No matter how hard we work at our craft, no matter how deeply we trust the Bible, what Rick Warren says is true, “the Word isn’t enough, we need the Spirit.”
One critique is that while the volume is only ten years old, the interviews date from 1996-2006 which makes the book feel more dated than just ten years. Another minor critique (perhaps related to its date) are several important themes that are missing. First among those is collaboration and teamwork.
I’m grateful for Duduit’s compilation. While there are certainly forgettable interviews in the bunch and some interviews that drew my ire (TD Jakes and Jerry Falwell, to name two), there are others that alone are worth the price of the book (Bryan Chapell and Rick Warren’s stand out). And there is certainly plenty to learn from this motley crew of preachers.
July 26, 2014
As editor of Preaching Magazine, Michael Duduit is able to take good content from that magazine and publish it in book form. This is exactly what this book is. Twenty interviews with top preachers that have appeared in Preaching Magazine and now appear in this book from Baker.
There are some very helpful interviews here. I would particularly note Haddon Robinson on expository preaching in a narrative world, David Jeremiah on preaching through pain, Andy Stanley on preaching without fear and Bryan Chapell on expository preaching.
Other contributors range from John MacArthur and Jerry Falwell to Dan Kimball and Brian MacLaren. From Erwin Lutzer and Lloyd John Ogilvie to T D Jakes and Adrian Rogers. From Jerry Vines to Rick Warren. The contribution is varied and the subjects span a spectrum of related interests.
I won’t extend this review by sharing specific insights from the interviews, I simply want to explain the nature of the book. If you’ve read the magazine for a decade or two then you will have read it all before. If you haven’t been a subscriber to Preaching, then this book might tempt you. This is a worthwhile book to read, or just to pick at when you have spare ten minute chunks of time.
Review originally offered on http://biblicalpreaching.net
There are some very helpful interviews here. I would particularly note Haddon Robinson on expository preaching in a narrative world, David Jeremiah on preaching through pain, Andy Stanley on preaching without fear and Bryan Chapell on expository preaching.
Other contributors range from John MacArthur and Jerry Falwell to Dan Kimball and Brian MacLaren. From Erwin Lutzer and Lloyd John Ogilvie to T D Jakes and Adrian Rogers. From Jerry Vines to Rick Warren. The contribution is varied and the subjects span a spectrum of related interests.
I won’t extend this review by sharing specific insights from the interviews, I simply want to explain the nature of the book. If you’ve read the magazine for a decade or two then you will have read it all before. If you haven’t been a subscriber to Preaching, then this book might tempt you. This is a worthwhile book to read, or just to pick at when you have spare ten minute chunks of time.
Review originally offered on http://biblicalpreaching.net
January 20, 2016
Some of the interviews in this book were very good and others were not so good. There is great understanding of expository preaching by some of the great minds of our time. Not as big a fan of the interview regarding the emergent church. A good book to develop a philosophy, but not to learn how to preach an expository sermon.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews