Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching: In Honor of R. Kent Hughes

You don't see too many books written by pastoral colleagues in honor of another pastor. I'm not sure why. I'd love to see a similar volume prepared for Chuck Swindoll or John Macarthur or me (just kidding :). But this is a terrific book. Each essay was written on an aspect of preaching that would interest Dr. Hughes. Paul House had a great essay on preaching the great Old Testament narratives. He notes that for the early church, they were the God-breathed Scriptures. The aforementioned Dr. Grudem has a great article where he notes the importance of seeing the big picture, how the books of the Bible each have their own message and yet convey one unified thought (there are no contradictions). John Macarthur (drawing on previously released material) has a nice essay on how he goes about his sermon preparation. The only area where I disagreed was how he waits until the end of the process to consult the commentaries. I look at those early on, after I've read the text and drawn up a preliminary central truth statement. Why, you say? Because the people who wrote these commentaries know their stuff! I want them with me throughout the process of sermon preparation, not just at the end. D.A Carson's article about the challenges facing 21st century preachers is actually an adaptation of a talk he gave back in 2005. Some of the challenges include pressures to water down scriptural teaching, post modernism's insistence that there is no objective truth, and the inadequate training a pastor may have. Philip Jensen, in the same vain, challenges seminaries to gear their entire curriculum toward the training of expository preachers. Throughout the book, authors make attempts at defining expository preaching, but my favorite one is the one Bryan Chapell gives where he says that expository preaching is when the message of the Scripture reading is the message of the sermon (or something close to that) The most boring article was the one by Duane Litfin about the foolishness of preaching. I skimmed that one :) On the other hand, the article describing Charles Simeon's philosophy of preaching was fascinating, and his ideas are still relevant today. There was also a wonderful (and convicting) article by Bruce Winter on Paul's paradigm for preaching. His main idea is that preaching that simply exegetes the scripture is insufficient. You also have to know something about the people and the culture you are ministering to, and you need to apply the message to them. Winter's example is 1 Corinthians chapters 1-6. The last article was a brief biography of R. Kent Hughes' life. It was lovingly written, and it shows how much prayer and family were important to Dr. Hughes. You also see how important it was for him to preach through books of the Bible as opposed to jumping around. I sensed a great deal of love and respect for the Word of God and for one of its finest expositors, Dr. R. Ken Hughes. Highly recommended.

Knowing the current state of the American pastorate, I am always impressed by longevity in ministry. All too often in today's evangelical community, pastors come and go like the seasons. Whether it is the fault of congregations or pastors is not really the issue. The issue is relational. How can a pastor faithfully shepherd a flock of people when he is barely there long enough to learn their names? In this tumultuous time of pastoral turnover, Kent Hughes has been one of the exceptions. He has been in pastoral ministry for the past 41 years, 27 of which was as the senior pastor of College Church in Wheaton, IL. In December of 2006, he stepped down from his full-time pulpit ministry and was given the title, Senior Pastor Emeritus. Now, he is spending his "retirement" years training other pastors in the areas of biblical exposition and preaching. Because of his expertise in, and passionate advocacy for, expository preaching, it is only fitting that his festschrift focuses exclusively on that subject. In Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching: In Honor of R. Kent Hughes , Leland Ryken and Todd Wilson collected sixteen essays by Hughes' admirers. While I was not initially familiar with all of the writers, I was familiar with several of them such as Leland and Philip Ryken, Wayne Grudem, John MacArthur, J. I. Packer, Phillip Jensen and D. A. Carson Many times, multi-author collections are disjointed. They more often resemble theological journals than consistently unified, coherent books. That is not the case with this book. The marvelous editorial design is evident as each essay highlights a new facet of the broad section in which it was placed. And the facets of each section combine to form a true picture of the holistic beauty of expository preaching. The success of the end product came about when the editors picked the individual authors. As they asked each author, they asked them to write about the area about which they were most passionate. Of course, that passion comes across in each individual essay, but it also creates a unified flow and a great overall picture. While I can easily see this book becoming a staple in seminary classes, it should not be limited to academia. This is not an ivory tower book--it belongs in the libraries of local pastors. It should be read carefully with a highlighter, notebook and a pen. And, at least in my case, certain chapters should be read repeatedly as I seek to be as faithful in my ministry as Kent Hughes has been in his.

R. Kent Hughes has faithfully heralded the Scriptures for over four decades. As a result, fifteen of Hughes' friends and colleagues from across the globe, including J.I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, John MacArthur, Peter Jensen and D.A. Carson, got together and contributed essays on expository preaching to honor the Word of God and encourage men to continue to faithfully herald the text, week in and week out. As a pastor, I am very thankful for Preach the Word. The contributors hit on a myriad of themes and topics. This becomes a strength and a weakness of the book. It is a strength because of the diversity of topics covered and a weakness in the sense that there is sometimes a lack of development or continuity. Some of the chapters and themes include, interprative principles, biblical and historcal paradigms, comtemporary aims and challenges to expository preaching, the priority of training (both through the local church and through seminaries). Some of my favorite essays were D.A. Carson's chapter on challenges for the 21st Century Pulpit. It is what we have come to expect from Carson, biblical, practical and motivating. In addition, Leland Ryken's essay on the Bible as Literature made me think and has caused me to be more careful in my handling of the various genres. MacArthur's chapter entitled, "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth" was outstanding. It was very practical and therefore helpful. The essay's also reached back to the past to highlight faithful men who have been heralding long before our day. Wallace Benn highlighted the ministry of Richard Baxter and J.I. Packer used Charles Simeon as a model for preaching. Overall this is a flat out encouraging book for preachers or those who enjoy preaching. I really think it should be on every preaching pastor's bookshelf to serve as an instructive shot in the arm on a regular basis.

A fitting tribute to an exemplary life in the service of the Lord. From cover to cover, this book wraps the reader in sermons that lay bare the mysteries of God's Word. You'll love it! dj