Preaching Life

I have started 2 books that I could not finish: Preaching Interrupted by Doug Padgitt, and Spotting the Sacred by Bruce Main.

Padgitt posits a radical shift in preaching, which he renames "speaching. He proposes something called "progressional dialogue". Padgitt has gone down the extreme paths of postmodernity, calling preaching "an act of violence" upon the congregation.

He posits that we talk a lot, and learn from the others in the congregation, which I agree with, but he sort of denigrates the role of the preacher.

Anyways, I felt the Padgitt book could have been published as a pamphlet, - the main point can be summed up within a few short pages.

Spotting the Sacred, is by Bruce Main, who is a friend of mine - he runs "Urban Promise" out of Camden New Jersey - a stellar ministry that works among poor urban youth. They were featured on 20/20 recently.

Bruce's book has tons of awesome stories, that will make great sermon illustrations someday, but most of the themes in the books are things that I have read before.

Now reading "the Preaching Life" by Barbara Brown Taylor - and man is this a fantastic book! If you are a pastor, or you preach regularly in your church, PICK UP THIS BOOK!!! It is gold.

Comments

Derek Vreeland said…
Check out Christian Preaching: A Trinitarian Theology of Proclamation by Michael Pasquarello

I took a Dmin class with Pasquarello on "The Trinity and Preaching." I posted a review of the book on my blog here: http://www.derekvreeland.com/2007/08/who-is-god-of-sermon.html

I tried to read a book on narrative preaching, but I found it frustrating.

Pasquarello's book is more of a "why to" than a "how to." I find most "how to" preaching books to be frustrating, because preaching is more of an art than a science.

Recently I have been weighing the value of expository preaching over topical preaching. I am in the middle of an expository series through 1 Corinthians. I am really enjoying the challenge and I am hearing good things from my congregation about it.

Did you know we are podcasting on iTunes? Check it out at www.cornerstoneamericus.com/sermons

Derek
5:07 PM
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