Book Review

Title: Preaching with Conviction: Connecting with Postmodern Listeners

Author: By Kenton C. Anderson
Reviewed by Bishop Danilo O. Bantilan., hD
Date: !"ly #$, %&#'
he A"thor o( this boo) Dr. Kenton C. Anderson, had "sed the (orm li)e a
novel or a tr"e li(e story o( a preacher whose main *ob is to preach the word o( +od,
inspite o( many obstacles, str"ggles and disco"raging moment in his li(e that led
him to thin) o( resigning o( his p"lpit ministry. ,owever, he was restored again
"pon )nowing the principles o( preaching ministry (rom his mentor. Perhaps the
good intention o( the writer was to enco"rage the post modern preachers o( the
-ord to go bac) the main b"siness o( preaching the gospel with conviction thro"gh
the "nction o( the .pirit o( +od, co"ple with an idea on how to convince the listeners
to hear (rom +od/s -ord thro"gh the instr"ments o( +od, the pastors. he a"thor
emphasi0ed on his boo) that there/s no room (or retreat nor s"rrender in )ingdom
b"siness no matter what happen. ,e "sed also, many 1"otations *"st to relay his
intention o( writing (or the post modern prechers and listeners. 2athermore, the
1"otations o( sayings (rom di3erent a"thors these (or the p"rpose o( stim"lation
and provocation (or the readers to be enco"raged to si(t and sort.
he a"thor o( this boo) was addressing the needs o( the post modern
preachers on how to addressed also the need o( the post modern listeners. ,e
emphasi0ed that the p"lpit is the o4ce o( the pastors or the preachers to
demonstrate +od/ a"thority by the inspired -ord o( +od. he most common
problem o( the preachers is on how to addressed the belie( o( the post modern
listeners abo"t mystery,pl"rality and technology 5p.#67#89. he scientist always
seaching (or sol"tion o( mystery, and pl"ralism. Pl"ralism according to this boo) is
the people o( di3erent c"lt"res,and world views. hese )ind o( people has a basic
three way di4c"lt 1"estions and all o( them are abo"t tr"th: Does tr"th e:ist; Can
tr"th be )nown; Can tr"th be told; 5p.%#9.
he A"thor made mention also that some people they don/t believe the tr"th.
Post modern people has (all o( do"bt the e:istence o( +od. -hy; Beca"se we are in
the generation o( high technology s"ch as: email, (a:, cellphones,(aceboo) etc. his
)ind o( li(estyles wo"ld be the st"mbling bloc) that these people will not get
interested in listening the logical word o( tr"th. he a"thor also empasi0ed that the
post modern arg"e that there/s no privileged point o( view by which we can
acc"rately chain to )now the tr"th (or everyone. ,e made mention that the Bible
doesn/t *"st b"ild on h"man e:perience. <t re7arranges o"r e:perience 5p.%=9. ,e
added that word/s have m"ltiple meanings and they are s"b*ect to a variety o(
interpretation.here(ore, let/s e:amine care("lly and e:plain it vividly the lang"ages
we "sed or else, there will be a lang"age barriers between the preachers and the
listeners. <n this boo), he made mention also the theology o( preaching and
emphasi0ed it. ,e said, the cleaverness o( o"r sermon e:egesis is not eno"gh to
addressed the h"man needs (or changing lives, it is by +od/ special revelation, ,e is
still revealing and spea)ing ,is will to ,is people. he a"thor says, that it doesn/t
mean that we re*ect the process o( ma)ing a sermon e:pository be(ore we preach it
on the p"lpit. >eanig the e3ort o( thro"gh e:egesis, b"t both st"dying and listening
+od/s revelation d"ring sermon preparation.
he A"thor here revealing the doctrine o( revelaion, on how +od revealed
,imsel(: by initiation, incarnation, inspiration and ill"mination. ,e said, that
theology o( preaching is helping people to hear (rom +od. And also is the point o(
integration (or all (o"r 5'9 aspects o( +od/s sel(7revelation 5p.''7'=9. he preachers
is an archaeologist spends time digging aro"nd in the d"st emerging with
ancient treas"res that have little contemporary, practical val"e. he preacher
wo"ld dig into the d"st o( the acient te:t and ?nd some tr"th (rom long ago and (ar
away that loo)ed (or all the world li)e bro)en pottery to their congregations. 5p.'67
'89
Dr. Kenton s"ggested here in this boo) in preaching a"thority. @nder a"thority
both ob*ectively and s"b*ectively. ,e give an e:ample abo"t preaching topic on love
that is ob*ective. <( the people "nderstand and hang on the idea, that is s"b*ective.
Other thing is apprehension was not abo"t (ear the a"thor said, it was a little abo"t
listeners to grab hold o( the tr"th and to ma)e it their own. Apprehension, need to
to"ch the cognitive and int"itive. <( yo" e:plain clearly the message and they
"nderstand it, that is cognitive, then people will e:perience things. hre(ore, preach
clearly, and then the people will respond 5 p.=%7=A9.
he a"thor, in his boo) strongly s"ggested the process in ma)ing a sermon
with conviction in post modern listeners. here are (o"r 5'9 stages mention on this
boo).
#. Discovery
%. Constr"ction
A. Assimilation
'. Delivery
Discovery is the ?rst stage process on ma)ing a sermon preparation. +etting the
message is very important, yo" need to get a message ?rst (rom +od base on the
te:t that we have st"died. <n other words the main idea o( the te:t. Preaching is
helping people to hear (rom +od and strongly s"ggested here that the message
m"st addressed both the heads and the hearts o( the post modern people. wo
terms needed to be distig"ished. Preachers needs to determine what the message
act"ally is be(ore setting down to b"ild a sermon wo"ld comm"nicate that message.
O"ght to discover the message be(ore he tried to constr"ct the sermon. .o what is
the message (rom this te:t; -hat is +od is saying thro"gh this te:t to these people
at this time;
he idea o( the a"thor here is helping the preachers to discover the message be(ore
constr"cting a sermon. 5p.BB7B$9
he a"thor emphasi0ed that te:t aren/t created simply to be "nderstood. e:t
are made to be e:perienced. e:t are abo"t people who live in real time. 5 p.$#9
here/s a story behind every te:t and he led "s to the (o"r 5'9 discovery
1"estions:
#. -hat/s the story;
%. -hat/s the points;
A. -hat/s the problem;
'. -hat/s the di3erence;
he preacher live peaceable i( he has a message o( the te:t then move to the
second is to constr"ct a sermon, applying the e:egetical proced"re 5 p. $69.
he second stage in processing a sermon is constr"ction. .ermon preparation is
bridging the gap between tha acient te:t and contemporary sit"ation. A"thor said,
that preaching does not stop with "nderstand ancient lang"ages, history, c"lt"re,
and c"stoms. @nless the cent"ries can be bridged with contemporary relevance in
the message, then the preaching e:perience di3ers little (rom a classroom
enco"nter. Preachers, m"st process the te:t (or original meaning and then
principali0e the te:t (or c"rrent applicability. he a"thor said when one/s st"dy (all
short the goal o( this step is omitted and slighted. 5p.689
2arthermore, the tas) o( the preacher is to connect the listeners with the te:t
and engage them with the sermon, it might be better to thin) in terms o( the people
rather than the principles. ,e also emphasi0e that the people want to )now C what/s
what ; -hat/s the point; -hat/s the story; .o what; he e3ective comminicator has
to inD"ence the cognitive 5head9 and the a3ective 5heart9 in order to get at the
behavioral 5hands9.
hen he led the readers to the third stage o( sermon preparation is
assimilation in 5p.#&=9. ,ere, he said that a(ter yo" discover the message and
constr"cted its time to assimilate the sermon constr"ction. <n assimilation the .pirit
o( +od is there, the word and the li(e o( the sermon. By the way in my e:perienced
(or almost %% years in the p"lpit ministry its my ?rst time to enco"nter the word
CassimilationE in sermon preparation, glory +od (or this boo). he a"thor said, .pirit
wor) re1"ires the .pirit/s power, has to do with prayer and power and read the
message o( +od many times "ntil it sat"rated in yo"r spirit. <t is not by o"r own
words b"t by the .pirit o( the living +od dwells in "s. Preaching is the .pirit/s -or)
and that witho"t the "nction o( the .pirit he wo"ld never have anything li(e7
changing to o3er. he a"thor said, that the word "nction means being ?lled with the
message by the .pirit o( +od 5 ###9.
-hy do we wor) hard on o"r preachingF it is the CDivineG,"manE we do o"r
best, and +od does ,is. Additionally said, in order that the people will response o"r
preaching, we need to be empowered by the ,oly .pirit and it is done thro"gh
spending with +od/s presence on prayer, atleast eight 569 ho"rs a day. 5p. ##%9.
here/s not m"ch point in preaching i( yo"/re not prepare to pray.
he a"thor led "s on stage ' in sermon preparation
he said, that the e3ective way to comm"nicate the sermon is the mastery o( the
man"script he prepared (or a wee). he Dow o( tho"ght and lang"age he "sed, so
that yo" can preach with eye to eye contact with yo"r listeners. ,e has a message
(rom +od then, constr"cted it with assimilation o( +od/s .pirit word and li(e and
then the last is the great event the delivery or e:position o( the sermon. 5 p.##'9
he a"thor said, live the sermon be(ore yo" preach. <( he co"ldn/t live it, he wo"ldn/t
preach it. his boo) give a hint or tips (or the preachers in delivery the sermon, he
m"st pa"se (or a moment be(ore arranging the notes on the p"lpit, with assimilation
the sermon well, and read the passage with conviction. he sermon with
conversational that is inviting and arresting. -hy beca"se, yo"r sermon is .pirit led,
word and li(e. 2ear o( the Lord, not (ear o( people d"ring o"r preaching, it is sense o(
(ear that sho"ld be care("l in handling the -ord o( +od. he a"thor 1"oted the word
o( Charles .p"rgeon that says, li(e, death, hell and world/s "n)nown hang on the
preaching and the hearing o( a sermon 5p.#AA9
Li(e changes or li(e is birth a(ter yo" release the -ord o( +od on the p"lpit
every s"nday.
Being a preacher is a hard tas), b"t challenging. A(ter reading this boo) my p"lpit
ministry was energi0ed and empowered by the ,oly .pirit o( +od.han)s (or this
boo). <n many years o( my p"lpit ministry, honestly, </ve been "sing the proced"re
in ma)ing sermon o"tline,
hermene"tically and homiletically, b"t its more di3erent a(ter reading this boo). <t
has been concreti0ed, and < had learned more steps in preparing e:pository sermon.
Beca"se preaching is helping people to hear (rom +od, as the a"thor said.
here(ore, it is a serio"s *ob among preachers not be ta)en lightly b"t prayer("lly,
serio"sly, and empowered by +od by the "nction o( the ,oly .pirit. A(ter )nowing
the message o( this boo), < (elt the b"rden to share this boo) to my (ellow pastors
to read. Perhaps they co"ld have the passion again to do their responsibility being
the mo"th piece o( +od in this post modern listeners. < had a plan also to teach this
message or some principles on this boo) that < have (o"nd to my >div. .t"dents, in
Asian Hevival College o( heology, starting on !"ly %B, "ntil the end o( the mod"le
on .eptember A&, %&#'. 2irst o( all < really than) +od (or ,is goodness, beca"se ,e
s"pplied the material li)e this boo). And also, < say than) yo" (or the A"thor o( this
Dr. Kenton C. Anderson, (or sharing his tho"ghts to "s. +od bless "s all.