Digital Logos Edition
Walk into most Christian churches in the western world today, and the chances of you hearing a biblically based and penetrating relevant message is, to be polite, slim. Even churches claiming to be evangelical or reformed all too often tend towards market led, comforting talks on the one hand and impenetrable, jargon-filled theological lectures on the other. How can preachers maintain a sensible balance?
Robert Reymond has trained hundreds of pastors, and has an intimate understanding of the areas where preachers are inclined to fail. He points to eight qualities that all pastors should aspire to in their ministries, qualities that are all too often lacking. These include the need for a scripturally grounded pulpit, the need for a theologically articulate pulpit and the need for an evangelistic pulpit.
“The necessity of Scripture for both theology and ministry, in short, is grounded in two facts: the insufficiency of natural revelation and the cessation of special revelation.” (Page 14)
“the resurrection itself does not and cannot ‘divinize’ humanity in any sense of the word” (Page 110)
“The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.” (Page 14)
“Indulgentiarum, declares that the church will no longer sell indulgences as it did in the Middle Ages; now Catholics are going to have to earn them by their good works!” (Page 144)
“Accordingly, God decreed to ‘permit [the fall], having purposed to order it to his own glory” (Page 93)
I would highly recommend this book to preachers. The theological points are well argued and very relevant to our own day. It is the sort of book that one may refer to time and again, benefiting from studying individual chapters. Above all, the emphasis that preaching and worship should be God-centered and God-glorifying is refreshing.
—The Evangelical Times
Robert L. Reymond taught for more than 25 years on the faculties of Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri and Knox Theological Seminary, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He holds B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Bob Jones University and did post-doctoral studies at Fuller Seminary, New York University, Union Seminary, New York, Tyndale House, Cambridge, and Rutherford House, Edinburgh. Currently he is the Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology at Knox Theological Seminary, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.