Fresh Air in the Pulpit: Challenges and Encouragement from a Seasoned Preacher

by Stuart Briscoe

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801010713
• ISBN13: 9780801010712
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group (MI)
• Length: 189 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Written by a pastor, for a pastor

This is a book written for pastors by a pastor. Its purpose is to help out "fresh air' back into preachers who may have grown tire or stale in their preaching. Briscoe's promise is that pastors need help in a media soaked culture. Surrounded by pulpit "superstars" local pastors are finding it increasingly difficult to "deliver the goods" to their churches. Briscoe covers the full range of preaching from the preacher's attitude and preparation to the delivery of sermons. By far the greatest strength of this book is that the author recognizes and expounds on the role of the Holy Spirit in the act of preaching. The pastor is anointed by God to be His spokesmen. Thus, he is to expect something supernatural to happen in the very act of preaching, "When the word is preached in power, progress is one of the inevitable results." I also appreciate that he addresses character issues- that we are to be men of the Word, studying, mediating, praying and walking in the Spirit. Briscoe has the confidence to laugh at himself (preaching a sixty week series on I Corinthians). He is also very pragmatic, taking the read step by step through the process of sermon preparation and proclamation. The only thing I gook issue with was chapter 9, "The Predictable and the Unpredictable." His premise is good: Each worship service should have predictable elements presented in unpredictable ways. Yet, the examples he gives seem to be novelty for novelty sake. His word of worship (pg. 83) reflects the traditional order of worship that Rutz (The Open Church) attributes to Martin Luther. If Briscoe really wants unpredictability in the worship service, why did he choose an order of worship that is the same "week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation, world without end, amen?" c.f., Rutz, pgs. 61. Briscoe's advice to combine different worship styles within a given worship service is suspect, very few people can make it work. Aside from these minor problems, this is an excellent book for any preacher. Great book on preaching.