Preaching the Story That Shapes Us

I had the privilege of sitting under Dr. Boone's ministry at his last pastorate. I also had him as a professor during my Master's Program. Dr. Boone was/is an amazing preacher . . . and in this book he shares his process of sermon development. It is the most relevant work on this subject I have read in years. I know it is already transforming the way I interact and preach the biblical story, and I will be recommending it to my fellow pastors as well. A definate must have!!

As a pastor, I freely admit that I sometimes get stuck in the sermon doldrums - that place where Thursday comes and its time to pull some nugget out of the Bible and dust off some old illustrations and hope that God will somehow honor my effort (or lack thereof) by breathing life into lifeless words... Dan Boone does an excellent job in this book of presenting all those whose calling is to preach the word of God with a creative approach to preparing sermons that are relevant, textually sound, and interesting to hear. Having heard Dr. Boone preach many times, I can attest to the results of his ideas. Though I would not say that there is a weak part to the book, the strongest part is the chapters where Dan details methods for a pastor to get creatively and actively engaged with a text - methods that open up a whole new way of looking at even the most familiar Bible stories. With the tools he provides, no pastor should ever have to abandon a text because "it's been preached too many times" again. I highly recommend this book to anyone who preaches. If there were a way to give it more than five stars I would. In college and graduate school, I have read preaching texts by the likes of Craddock, Robinson, and Lowry. This one stands head and shoulders above them all. Great book!

Preaching the Story That Shapes Us For anyone who has felt the call of God to speak his story to another person, a class, or a congregation, discover how to do it well. Young? Learn early. Mid-life? Ignite the fire again. Seasoned? Fresh stories. Finished? Done that? Pass along the book to the young ones following. A wonderful investment. The End? Not yet.