I opened Reading for Preaching expecting to find a list of a preacher’s “best reading.” Instead, I found doors opening in my heart and soul; doors I did not even know were there. Doors that revealed storerooms filled with treasure and danger, solutions and questions.
The author, Plantinga, remains passionate about stories and the “purple passages” within them—phrases, words, adjectives, and verbs that put skin on God. This book emphasizes the story of a preacher’s love quest for the very best stories; the ones whose messages will resonate with individual parishioners and clothe sermons with Velcro.
The preacher’s story quest continues as an expansive one, leading wherever the Holy Spirit may have promiscuously sown truth. Biographers, poets, journalists, sportscasters, and novelists have often felt the Spirit slip through their keyboards into print. The preacher’s quest discovers that moment of truth and shares it with verbal dexterity.
“Preachers are the guardians of the stories.” “Remember, in the heart of every adult there still lives a child who can be moved by a story.”
Do not buy this as an e-book. Purchase a real one, a paper copy you can dog-ear and underline. Scribble your heart into the margins until it overflows into your preaching. On second thought, buy two copies. One for you, and a second to give away when a pastor friend asks, “What are you preaching this week?”
“Delight your listeners whenever you can. When they are delighted, they want to praise Jesus.”
—Reviewed by Richard Duerksen, storyteller with Maranatha Volunteers International, Roseville, California, United States.
