We Prepare and Preach, edited by Clarence Stonelynn Roddy, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1959, 190 pages, $3.25.
I have often thought that it would be of practical value to know how the world's most effective and successful ministers prepare their sermons. I would not be interested merely in the general homiletic principles that can be found in any textbook, but I would like to learn the actual procedure that a man follows when he sits down at his desk and prepares his sermon message.
The new book, We Prepare and Preach, gives me that experience. Therein are revealed the preparation methods of eleven outstanding preachers in the evangelistic field today. These proved pulpit masters have opened the private doors of their experience and told us how they do it. Here they share their secrets—their techniques and preparation formulas peculiar to their own personalities and habits.
Because of their varied backgrounds and skills these ministers approach their sermon preparation in a variety of ways sufficient to meet the needs of almost any man. They speak not from the "towers of academic cloisters but from the throbbing, pulsating forums of life." For example, Robert G. Lee tells how he has developed his sermons for more than forty years. For those who are interested in expository preaching, the chapters by Harold J. Ockenga, the late Donald Gray Barnhouse, and Wilber Moorehead Smith will be of unusual value.
Others who share their years of experience are William Ward Ayer, Howard W. Ferrin, J. Lester Harnish, J. Vernon McGee. Alan Redpath, Paul Stromberg, and J. R. W. Stott. Along with each section of preparation ideas a typical sermon has been included by the author.
Any theological student, young pastor, evangelist, or mature, seasoned preacher will find this volume both inspirational and of service.
Andrew Fearing
How to Get Along with People in the Church, A. Donald Bell, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids 6, Michigan, 1960, 159 pages, $2.50.
What a blessing it is when the minister, church officers, and members get along smoothly in all their personal and church relations! There are those who have acquired an excellent knowledge of scripture and have a proper understanding of the best methods of organization, yet they fail because they cannot deal with people tactfully. The problem is that of human relations.
How to Get Along with People in the Church is a book for those who wish to improve their ability to work for and with others. Pastors, educators, musicians, Sabbath school superintendents, teachers, and church officers will find guidance, helpful illustrations, and practical solutions to problems that appear daily in many church activities and associations. This volume will also be a source of strength to those who may feel that their efforts for the Lord are not appreciated, and to those who are charged with the responsibility of enlisting and employing the talents of others in the Master's service.
Study is given to how Christ dealt with people, the wise use of psychological principles, how to determine the proper approach toward different types of people, direct and indirect procedures for successful leadership, work with people in groups, how to win the hard-to-reach, how to lead without demanding, and what to do when all other techniques fail.
Three pages of bibliography are given for additional study.
Andrew Fearing
The Human Problems of the Minister, Daniel H. Walker, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1960, 203 pages, $3.95.
This is a volume that offers wholesome advice on practically all the problems and tensions that confront the minister—a fresh revelation and insight into every aspect of his life in the modern world. The author pulls no punches in his dealing with the human side of the man of God. We are all aware that the enemy of our souls is endeavoring to do everything possible to induce the servant of the Lord to sin. Many subtle temptations come to a clergyman that are peculiar to his life and Work.
These counsels were given as a lecture series in a number of ministerial conferences. Daniel Walker is pastor of the First Methodist Church in Oakland, California, and also teaches homiletics at the Pacific School of Religion.
onfusing situations in which a minister might find himself when trying to sin piously. The chapters "The Struggle to Love Our Enemies," "Competing With Our Brothers," "Afraid to Be Radical," and "The Right Thing at the Right Time" are full of sound, serious, and sobering advice. There is a helpful section on the "Clergyman's Family Life" and one on "Spiritual Preaching and Material Comfort" which indicates that even though he is in the lower salary brackets, yet he is well cared for. Let the preacher always be cognizant of his curious position of "preaching a gospel of the cross from the comforts of a couch." Against such a background the gospel of sacrifice could sound hollow. For example, how inconsistent it is for the minister to sing "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord," and at the same time, underneath his breath to say, "If I can be granted the comforts I am accustomed to."
The chapter on disciplined disorder reminds us that while we must have system, the nature of the minister's task makes it quite impossible to live by the cut-and-dried "brittle" rules of necessary business. This book is written in an arresting style, has humor and a multitude of interesting narratives of ministers and church work. It is rewarding reading for any clergyman.
Andrew Fearing
The Seven Last Words, by Clarence W. Cranford, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 78 pages, $1.50.
Dr. Cranford is the pastor of the Calvary Baptist church, Washington, D.C., and is the author of a number of books. He was previously a working pastor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Richmond, Virginia, and he was president of the American Baptist Convention, 1957-1958.
The author has an easy introduction dealing with "prevailing voices" in chapter 1. From there he proceeds to the loud-voiced crowd demanding that Jesus be crucified, and builds around the phrase in Luke 23:23: "And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed." The voice of Caiaphas was the voice of expediency; the voice of Pilate was the voice of violence, which became the voice of cowardice. It was when the crowd shouted, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar," that Pilate's blood turned to water.
Then there was the voice of Herod, or the voice of indulgence. Finally the voice of the mob taunting Jesus was the fickle voice of the people calling "Hosanna!" one day, and "Crucify him!" the next. The author then skillfully switches to "this voice that comes to us from the cross, for this is the voice of love."
Dr. Cranford deals with some thoughtful topics, and at certain points presents some challenging things, about which preachers need to think a great deal more. At one point he tells the story of the minister who was asked, prior to a church service, "When will the service be over?" The minister wisely replied: "The worship of the congregation ends at twelve o'clock, then the service just begins." The obvious meaning is that after the sermon people begin to think and to serve, until life's pilgrimage is ended.
H. W. Lowe
The Cross Still Stands, by Alfred Foerssler, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 135 pages, $2.50.
I sat in the Pilgrim Lutheran church in St. Louis a few years ago and heard the founder and pastor emeritus of the church preach a sermon I have never forgotten. Alfred Foerssler has the distinction of having served this church for a full fifty years (1907-1957). He is still active, in the life of his church.
For a man to found and pastor a church of this size for a half century, and to leave it in a flourishing condition, is just about as high praise as could be given to a man of the Word. This sort of work cannot be done by a man who does not keep his mind fresh and full with the living things of the truths he preaches.
This little book of 135 pages is written around familiar things in a warm, readable, compact style. Here are sermons on almost everything to do with the cross—the road to it, its location, the inscription, the enemies, the prayers emanating from it, the companions surrounding it, the confessors who arose following it, the miracles that have followed in its wake, the revelation of victory through the cross, the blood of the cross, the stupendous claims of the cross, the Redeemer on the cross, the empty tomb after the cross, and above all, the tremendous triumph of the resurrection.
We commend this little book to all those who believe with the readers of this journal that the resurrection is the one bright spot on the horizon of life.
H. W. Lowe