Pressure Points: A Voice in the Wilderness
Overview
The Pressure is On.
Sometimes you may feel like you are facing a football defensive line: a half-ton mass and muscle whose sole objective is to pound you into the turf. The demands of the ministry can feel like that, especially when you’re faced by pressures like: How can I compete with the communication “masters” my parishioners listen to on the radio and television every week?
How can I preach about love when my own marriage is strained?
How do I really know if I’m making a difference?
Questions like these can unnerve us. They can destroy us. Or, like the pressure of weights against muscle, they can make our preaching strong. These issues—and more—are addressed in A Voice in the Wilderness, practical guidance for transforming ministry’s pressures into opportunities to excel, written by three of the most respected preachers in America today.
Top Highlights
“Martin Luther once said, ‘A good preacher should have these properties and virtues: first, to teach systematically; secondly, he should have a ready wit; thirdly, he should be eloquent; fourthly, he should have a good voice; fifthly, a good memory; sixthly, he should know when to make an end; seventhly, he should be sure of his doctrine; eighthly, he should venture and engage body and blood, wealth and honor, in the Word; ninthly, he should suffer himself to be mocked and jeered of every one.’” (Page 12)
“Steve, people look at us as representatives of God. I don’t like this, and it’s not biblical. But the way they treat us is the way they feel they can treat God. So if you allow people to walk over you, they think they can do that to God.’” (Page 37)
“Our words are not mere words. With them we unloose the powerful and wildly unpredictable truths of the gospel, transforming lives in the here and now—and forever.” (Page 23)
“Modern listeners respond well to an inductive approach to sermons, where a number of examples from life are given and then principles extracted from them. Listeners are a bit bored when we begin by expounding principles, even if the principles are illustrated. Many modern hearers prefer to explore a subject and discover answers along with the preacher, rather than simply being told the conclusions.” (Page 32)
“Luther had been preaching in his Wittenberg church for years, but the longer he preached, the more discouraged he grew. People just didn’t get it. They gladly heard him, but instead of being inspired to discipleship, they only became lethargic. Luther noted that despite his preaching, ‘no one acts accordingly, but instead the people become so crude, cold, and lazy that it is a shame, and they do much less than before.’” (Page 7)
Product Details
- Title: Pressure Points: A Voice in the Wilderness
- Authors: William H. Willimon, Stephen W. Brown, Haddon W. Robinson
- Publisher: Multnomah Books
- Publication Date: 1993
- Pages: 153