Developing a Christian Imagination: An Interpretative Anthology

By Warren W. Wiersbe

Book Overview

Warren W. Wiersbe has compiled a creative collection of resources aimed at helping you--the teacher or preacher--to develop the role of imagination in your ministering. If you want to widen your view... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1564764222
• ISBN13: 9781564764225
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Victor Books
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Learn To Use Your Imagination, in all areas of life.

I wish I could send a copy of this book to every pastor. I guarantee it would enrich their preaching to the point of replacing those blank stares from the pews with concentrated listening and note taking. The key is learning METAPHORS. Metpahors allow ideas to been seen and not just heard. Metaphors reach the emotions if well chosen. Jesus often spoke with metaphors to make His point deeply understood. Speaking to unbelieving Pharassies He said, "You are like white washed sepulchres with dead mens bones inside." How vivid and shocking. Metaphorical thinking can be developed by reading poetry, biography, philosophy, history. It makes communication much more interesting and therefore more is retained. I think some pastors have a feeling that they should not use vivid or penetrating imagery when preaching. To them I would say read Dr. Wiersbe's book. I have sat in church services where people talked during the preaching. The preacher either didn't care or was unaware of it. A few well chosen metaphors would have drawn their interest. Also recommended, "Metaphors We Live By", by Lakoff and Johnson (see reviews). It is a further exploration of metaphors.Metaphors apply to many areas of life, not just preaching. Using imagination one can understand others better, underatnd history, sciences, biography, etc. Imagination allows us to project ourselves into the world. So, these books will be useful to everyone who is open to understanding how they relate to the world. Metaphors are like dreams come true, which is one of my favorite metaphors.As Dr. Wiersbe says, "Images feed concepts, concepts discipline images. Images without concepts are blind, concepts without images are sterile." Metaphors use picture words to illustrate the concept.