Category Archives: need to read

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“the almost feverish search for new books”: What I’m Learned From Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Early Sermons

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I am enjoying Kimnach’s analysis of Jonathan Edwards’s sermon making as much as Edwards’s sermons (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 10, Sermons and Discourses 1720-1723).

One of the reasons why Edwards was so effective in his day is because he read more than the average person in his day. We would find that most pastor/theologians we respect and admire are also voracious readers. Think Tim Keller, for instance.

Kimnach writes,

“Much of Edwards’ routine is summed up in this one entry. First is the reference to “books to read,” hinting at the almost feverish search for new books…” (p. 53).

I continue to find that masters and doctoral level students in ministry are not reading well. Due to extremely busy schedules–Edwards wrote often about the challenge of time management!–they are not able to read as much as they know they should. And by and large they are not reading well in the sense of the right material.

If it’s true that one of the top concerns of U.S. pastors is getting more people in the door to pay the bills, you can imagine how that affects what they read and study: church growth.

Edwards’s reading program comprised of three things:

  1. Reading as many books as he could find on theology and his world.
  2. Read the Scriptures a lot! [To this day I would still say the best reading practice is reading through the Scriptures every year in Canonical order.]
  3. Read and rewriting his own writings.

This third one helped Edwards develop as a writer, but also as a preacher. First, as someone said, writing makes you exact. Yet, many preachers do not write out their sermons. Second, the habit of writing forces you to think hard about your topic. That includes more research.

You don’t have to be wired as a scholar like Edwards; you just need to practice writing stuff down, anything that pertains to your pastoral ministry.

And our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you read and write!

Randal

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You Need To Read: Preaching That Matters

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This brief break from preaching through Chronicles–I know you’re disappointed–highlights a very helpful book. It’s

Preaching That Matters: Reflective Practices for Transforming Sermons by Lori J. Carrell.

First, Michael Quicke wrote the foreword. Michael and I met years ago through the Evangelical Homiletics Society. He is one of the most delightful persons I’ve ever met. Plus, he’s an excellent homiletician. His books are worth reading too.

But Carrell’s book is helpful for those of us who truly want to improve our preaching. It helps by providing so many snippets of interviews with pastors who wrestle with their preaching in light of attending preaching training sessions. You will find Carrell’s survey insightful, providing data from preachers and their listeners.

So, from time to time as I work my way through the rest of Chronicles, I will include some of Carrell’s insights that have helped me and may help you too.

Like, for instance, the preacher who says, even though he knows preaching is two-directional (the preacher communicates and the listeners must also think through what the preacher says):

“but my behavior when I’m preaching makes it appear that I don’t think anything is happening in the minds of my listeners” (p. 25).

So, when we’re preparing to preach and while we’re preaching we must keep in mind what may be in their minds when they hear what God is saying to the church.

Before Sunday, think about spending sermon minutes devoted to thinking about what your listeners are thinking. We send the message out; they, however, must receive that message. One way we work at preaching is making sure God’s message we preach isn’t distorted by the listeners. Look for things in your preaching portion that will get a reaction from your listeners. If that reaction is anything but genuine acceptance, do some work to reorient their thinking…

So God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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The High EQ Preacher (Part 2)

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A couple of weeks ago I completed reading, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, written by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves (TalentSmart, San Diego, 2009). My good friend, Andy Bunn, highly recommended it. Andy is near completion of a Ph.D. in leadership studies and the subject of EQ is important.

Sidenote: Andy is the head of Leadership Vistas, a missions agency that trains pastors and church leaders in Africa. If your church is looking for a way to provide excellent training for national pastors who have no training, contact Andy.

I’m glad I read the book. Especially when I read this:

“We’ve tested EQ alongside 33 other important skills and found that it subsumes the majority of them, including time management, decision-making, and communication” (p. 20, emphasis added).

Preaching is communication. Preaching is a form of communication that involves a mixture of ability and spiritual gift. From a human perspective, a preacher’s EQ greatly affects their ability to communicate with others. Everything we do during a sermon happens within the context of relationships we have with our congregants. Our EQ largely determines the success of those relationships.

I’m also glad I took the EQ test. If you purchase the book, you’ll receive a code that provides access to the test. It took about 15-20 minutes. I took the test on June 15, 2017 because I didn’t want to just guess and think I had a relatively high EQ. My scores out of 100 were:

Personal Competence: 93 (combined score of self-awareness and self-management)

Self-Awareness: 88 (the ability to accurately perceive my own emotions and staying aware of them as they happen)

Self-Management: 98 (utilizing that knowledge to affect my behavior)

Social Competence: 95 (combined score of social awareness and relationship management)

Social Awareness: 95 (the ability to perceive the emotions of others)

Relationship Management: 95 (utilizing that knowledge to build effective relationships)

Overall EQ score: 94

The perfectionist in me was disappointed. I resisted the urge to re-test.

If you’ve never read anything on EQ, I recommend this book; if it’s been a while since you’ve read about EQ, I recommend this book. It will help you remember how much pastoral preaching is relational. It will help remind you to work as much on your relationships as you do on your messages…

and all for God’s glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

 

 

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Read More, Preach Better

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From a human perspective (FHP), there are some things we can do to improve our preaching. For instance, if you haven’t read some of my recent posts, you might enjoy the summary takeaways from TED Talks. Providing the Holy Spirit is carrying you and your listeners during your sermon, you will be a better communicator of God’s Word by putting into practice the best practices of the best communicators.

And here’s another one: READ MORE. PERIOD.

Christmas week of 2016 I set a goal to read one book each week (no more than 250 pages, which means large books bleed into the next week).

The backstory: Back in the mid-eighties at Dallas Theological Seminary, Prof. Howard Hendricks encouraged us to follow his practice of reading one book per week. As a young masters level student, I remember being impressed by this seemingly out-of-reach goal (not realizing that all the pages of required reading in my formal studies easily equaled this!). As a young pastor, I remember thinking: “Ya, but Prof. doesn’t realize that pastors are not professors. We don’t have the luxury of devoting all that time to research.”

It only took me thirty years to finally see Prof’s wisdom (He’s probably doing his famous sniffle in heaven at the thought of this!).

And this practice has changed my life/ministry. Try it.

  • Convince yourself you can do it. No excuses.
  • Discipline yourself to do it. Schedule between 30-60 minutes.
  • Read authors that will stretch your thinking. Don’t waste your time on things you already know and practice. Aim for theological depth.
  • Skim whenever you can. I’ve learned that even the best of books can be read quickly if I do not allow myself to get bogged down by reading every word. Many sentences and paragraphs do not provide what you are reading the book to gain.
  • Don’t ever read without a highlighter in hand. You’re reading for research, not for pleasure (you have other times for that).
  • Use Evernote or some other system to record your notes for future use.

Watch what happens. You will gain momentum and your preaching will reach another level of sophistication (in the best sense of the word). God will receive His due in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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You Need To Read: Reading Backwards

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I’m always looking for books that help me preach Christ while maintaining the integrity of the meaning of the preaching portion. I’m also always looking for books that help me understand how the New Testament human authors reread the Old Testament and how their rereading affects the meaning of the Old Testament.

Richard Hays’ book, Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness, helped me do both (Hays did not intend for his book to do the latter).

You’ll enjoy and profit from the book if you do much preaching in the Gospels. Hays does a superb job showing how the four Evangelists used the Old Testament Scriptures to show the divinity of Jesus. And his commentary various passages in all four Gospels is extremely insightful.

For instance, there is much talk today about Jesus being the kinder, gentler God who is much more palatable to post-moderns. Hays writes, “The OT focuses our understanding of Jesus’ role as an eschatological prophet of God’s judgment. The sweet, infinitely inclusive Jesus meek and mild, so beloved by modern Protestantism, is a Jesus cut loose from his OT roots” (p. 12). So, while a particular Gospel scene might show Jesus being kind to sinners like the woman “caught” in adultery, that doesn’t mean that’s the only reaction He has to sinners, especially in the eschaton.

Anyway, I highly recommend the book. If you are as serious as I am about hermeneutics and homiletics, this is a good read. And, as I said at the beginning of the post, an important, probably unbeknownst-to-Hays benefit of the book is how his analysis leads to fresh insights about how to interpret the OT Christologically.

Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness

Preach well for the sake of His reputation in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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You Need To Read: Making Sense of the Bible

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Adam Hamilton Photo and Book 03062014

I wanted to read Adam Hamilton’s book, Making Sense of the Bible, in order to begin to understand how some Christians are reading the Bible, but not arriving at what I consider to be conservative, evangelical conclusions about some big issues. Issues like women in ministry, homosexuality, and how the Bible is authoritative.

Being raised a fundamentalist with a capital “F,” I have the tendency to think that anyone who does not arrive at conservative, evangelical conclusions cannot believe that the Bible is authoritative. As you may already realize, this boils down to interpretation. Hamilton believes the Bible is authoritative and defends his views from Scripture. However, he interprets the Bible differently than I do. That’s why I read the book. Plus, I had this sense that someone who looked so pleasant could not be evil.

Hamilton states his purpose for the book: “I love this book…and I wrestle with it. There are parts, if I’m honest, that I have questions about. There are statements on its pages that I don’t believe capture the character and will of God. I’m guessing that if you’re honest, you have questions too….But the book is an attempt to honestly wrestle with the difficult questions often raised by thoughtful Christians and non-Christians concerning things taught in the Bible” (pp. 3, 5).

Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today

The book did not disappoint. Hamilton made me think hard about the nature of inspiration (chapter 14) and how God speaks to and through us (chapter 16).

I learned from Hamilton’s humility: “So I tell my folks, ‘I’ve spent twenty hours studying scripture, reading the commentaries, praying, and reflecting upon this message. I have two degrees in theology and biblical studies, a library of great books, and twenty-five years of ministry experience I’m drawing on, but all of that does not guarantee I’m right’….We do our best to hear from God, but we are all a bit spiritually hard of hearing” (p. 154).

Hamilton reminded me again that our decision to apply some Scripture, but not others, is subjective, more so than I’d like to admit: “it is important to ask by what criteria or hermeneutical principal we decide which scriptures may no longer be binding or which may not capture the will of God for us today” (p.175).

So, if you’re curious about how some people read the Bible concerning things like, squaring the Bible with science (creation vs. evolution), the historicity of Adam and Eve, God’s violence in the OT, God’s role to play in our suffering on earth, four Gospels that don’t always agree, the exclusive claim that Jesus is the only way to God, the subordination of women, and homosexuality, you will benefit from reading Hamilton. He helped equip me with an understanding of how Christians can argue from the Bible and arrive at very different conclusions. I know that some of my listeners have these questions and I’m better equipped to talk with them about their faith journey.

Preach well so God gets the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.

Randal

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You Need To Read (with caution!)

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unapologetic

The title of this sporadic blog series, You Need To Read, is a bit of an overstatement. I do think these books are worth reading, though. So, as I wrote in an earlier post, every once in a while I’ll be telling you about books that are helping me preach. My reviews will be fairly brief compared to some and will focus on how the book/author has helped me. I will not spend hardly any words on my disagreements with the book. I don’t read these books in order to be able to state my disagreements. I read them to profit and realize I won’t agree with everything (we hardly ever read a book like that, right?).

Unapologetic: Why, despite everything, Christianity can still make surprising emotional sense by Francis Spufford (HarperOne, New York, 2013)

Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense

Okay, this is a helpful book, but for two reasons, it may not be a book for everyone. First, Spufford is nowhere near being what I would call a conservative evangelical of the US variety. Second, he swears like an unsanctified sailor. I grew up in an extended family that was adept at swearing in both English and French, so I’m used to hearing profanity. But, at times, thankfully, it still jars me; and Spufford did jar me at time.
Spufford explains his approach: “Why do I swear so much in what you are about to read? To make a tonal point: to suggest that religious sensibilities are not made of glass. do not need to hide themselves nervously from whole dimensions of human experience.” (p. xiii) So, you have been warned.
However, the book helped me like I was hoping it would: by giving me new ways to explain life and the Christian faith to un-Christian attendees.
Reacting to a sign on the atheist bus in London (yes, that’s a real thing! “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” p. 7). Spufford writes, “But enjoyment is one emotion. The only things in the world that are designed to elicit enjoyment and only enjoyment are products, and your life is not a product…” (p. 8). That’s such a good way to challenge the goal of non-Christians. Or, concerning the subject of science versus Christianity: “This world believes that it has science on its side. Indeed, by an act of oblivious metaphorical digestion, it tends to believe that it is science…” (p. 70).
Spufford also made me think about the Christian faith in new ways. For instance, “…it is…a mistake to suppose that it is assent to the propositions that makes you a believer. It is the feelings that are primary. I assent to the ideas because I have the feelings; I don’t have the feelings because I’ve assented to the ideas” (p. 19). I don’t know about you, but I never think about faith at the level of the affections. He actually frames his writing by saying, “This…is a defense of Christian emotions—of their intelligibility, of their grown-up dignity” (p. 23).
Spufford accurately captures the conundrum Jesus creates when He raises the morality bar extremely high in places like the Sermon on the Mount: “He talks as if virtue is almost unachievable, yet still compulsory” (p. 115).
I wished I would have read the book before preaching through all the “one another’s” in the NT. Spufford describes loving each other dearly as: “Our hearts are in our eyes as we look at each other” (p. 200).
I found the author’s definition of sin very insightful: “[sin] always refers to the pleasurable consumption of something….’indulgence’ or ‘enjoyable naughtiness’…. our active inclination to break stuff, ‘stuff’ here including moods, promises, relationships we care about, and our own well-being and other people’s, as well as material objects whose high gloss positively seems to invite a big fat scratch” (pp. 25, 26, 27). (as a huge bonus, the last part of this definition highlights Spufford’s excellent writing style; you will enjoy reading his sentences when he’s not swearing).
And how about his description of our broken world: “We do entirely agree that there’s a crack in everything. (That’s how the light gets in? Oh yes; that most of all) The vision is of an intrinsically imperfect cosmos, hairlined through and through with flaws, chipped and battered and patched” (p. 46).
I especially profited from chapter 4,  Hello, Cruel World. Spufford writes: “Every one of our voyages ends in disaster. Every ship of ours is the Titanic” (p. 92).
And Spufford doesn’t pull punches as it relates to attempting to come to grips with a sovereign God’s part in it all. After seeing a church newsletter where the “Almighty” is thanked for fixing the minister’s car via a miraculously cheap quote from a garage, “For if God was willing to exert Himself over the minister’s sparkplugs, but wouldn’t get out of bed to stop the Holocaust, what sort of picture would that draw?” (p. 94).
Jesus and miracles were never intended to stop the brokenness completely: “One man doing miracles in West Asia doesn’t even move the leprosy statistics. The cruelty of the cruel world reproduces itself far faster than his slow hands can move. He brings sight to blind eyes, and all the causes of blindness rage on” (p. 131).
 And, then, I loved this statement: “We don’t have an argument that solves the problem of the cruel world, but we have a story” (p. 106). That’s what we preach each Sunday: the Story of how our God is redeeming His world through our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
Preach the Story well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in Christ Jesus.
Randal

C. S. Lewis–A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Alister McGrath (Tyndale, 2013)

Some of my readers enjoy reading C. S. Lewis and biographies in general. If that’s you, you will enjoy Alister McGrath’s book, C. S. Lewis–A Life: Eccentric Genius. Reluctant Prophet. I am not an avid reader of biographies, but I’m glad I read this one. As usual, Lewis’s own insights did not disappoint. However, I also found McGrath’s insights very helpful.

Here are a few things that captured my attention:

“An emotionally unintelligent father bade his emotionally neglected sons an emotionally inadequate farewell” (p. 24, describing the situation of Lewis and his brother as they were being shipped off to school only two weeks after their mother died! Like all of us, Lewis brought baggage with him when he went to work.)

“Lewis is a failed poet who found greatness in other spheres of writing” (p. 64. I didn’t expect that! I guess I figured someone like Lewis succeeded at everything. It gave me some hope.)

“His maiden lecture, given on Tuesday, 14 October at University College, was attended by a mere four people” (p. 108. Wow! What a way to start your professorial duties!).

One of the more interesting features of the book was information about Lewis’s relationship with Tolkien: “Tolkien was a niggling perfectionist, and he knew it. Indeed, his late story, ‘Leaf by Niggle’–which deals with a painter who can never finish his painting of a tree because of his constant desire to expand and improve it–can be seen as a self-parodying critique of Tolkien’s own difficulties in writing. Someone had to help him conquer his perfectionism. And what Tolkien needed he found in Lewis….it is no exaggeration to say that Lewis would become the chief midwife to one of the great works of twentieth-century literature–Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings” (p. 130).

You’ll also enjoy reading about Lewis’s arriving at saving faith: “In Surprised by Joy, Lewis sets out the series of moves which led him to faith in God, using a chessboard analogy. None of these is logically or philosophically decisive; all are at best suggestive. Yet their force lies not in their individual importance, but in their cumulative weight. Lewis portrays these, not as moves which he made, but moves which were made against him. The narrative of Surprised by Joy is not that of Lewis’s discovery of God, but of God’s patient approach to Lewis…. ‘Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about ‘man’s search for God.’ To me, as I then was, they might as well have talked about the mouse’s search for the cat'” (pp. 136, 138).

Read well. Preach well.

Randal

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Pastor, Scholar, or Both?

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How do you see yourself? More of a pastor or more of a scholar?

I’m fortunate each year to study with pastors from all over the world who are both pastors and scholars. They are pursuing advanced degrees partly because they enjoy studying hard. But I also rub shoulders with pastors who do not see themselves as the scholarly type. If you see yourself like that, you need to read John Piper’s segment of the little paperback, The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor. Professors will enjoy Carson’s take on how the professor functions for the Church.

Piper writes, “[God] did not have to give the church a book….So the very existence of the Bible as a book signals that the pastor is called to read carefully and accurately and thoroughly and honestly. That is, he is called to be a ‘scholar’….If I am scholarly, it is not…because I try to stay on the cutting edge in the discipline of biblical and theological studies. I am far too limited for that [Piper is very open about his limitations in his, largely autobiographical chapter]. What ‘scholarly’ would mean for me is that the greatest object of knowledge is God and that he has revealed himself authoritatively in a book; and that I should work with all my might and all my heart and all my soul and all my mind to know and enjoy him and to make him known for the joy of others. Surely this is the goal of every pastor” (pp. 66-67).

When you put it like that, surely this is our goal. Let me give you two ways to move in that direction if you don’t see yourself functioning as the scholarly type:

  • Subscribe to a scholarly journal, read at least two articles and the book review section in each issue. I enjoy BibSac, JEHS, and Preaching journals, but there are many good ones to choose from .
  • Make reading in biblical and theology studies a regular part of your week. There is a lot of pressure on us to read only church growth or practical ministry material. Find authors that will stretch your ability to think theologically.

Study hard and preach well for the sake of His reputation in the Church and in the world.

Randal

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You Need To Read, Princeton and Preaching

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If you’ve read my blog, you know I refer to books from time to time. This new sporadic series, You Need To Read, will introduce you to some of the authors that have stimulated my hermeneutical, theological, and homiletical thinking. I am linked with WTS’s bookstore and also Amazon and will receive colossal cash from them if you ever decide to purchase a book directly from my blog. Okay, maybe colossal is an overstatement.

Over the years, my students have heard me talk about the importance of reading-to-become-a-theologian. I am indebted to so many authors! I know you feel the same way about the value that good reading adds to your preaching ministry.

So, you need to read Garretson’s, Princeton and Preaching. Some of my readers will be interested in Garretson’s first goal: “to enable church historians and students of American history to better understand the significant role that ministerial training played in shaping the ethos of American church history” (p. xix). Most readers will appreciate the second goal: “to assist pastors and preachers in their ministry and care of the people of God” (p. xix).

I benefited from Garretson's assistance, especially the sections on the qualifications for the ministry, preparing the preacher's heart, minister as shepherd, and the difficulties and challenges of the ministry. Garretson's description of Alexander made me want to be a better Christian even more than wanting to be a better soul-watcher.

Preach well for the sake of Christ's reputation.

Randal