Homeward Bound

Last week I read through a short book entitled The Abolition of Man. Upon completion, my head was spinning from the exercise of attempting to track with its author's (C. S. Lewis) logic. The following week I listened to the audio version (as well as some lectures from Hillsdale College) which helped considerably. I am currently reading through it again because this book is that important. There is no question: we are observing the fulfillment of Lewis's prophecies day by day. Lewis starts off The Abolition of Man by addressing a small quotation from an educational work for "the upper forms of schools" (what he calls the Green book) which states in summary that our feelings having no real relation with things outside of us. Lewis takes this small statement and shows how, when it follows its logical path, will inevitably lead to the abolition of man. Lewis argues that If we teach the young that our emotions do not correlate with anything outside of us we will...

Good Primer; Lacking in Examples Preaching by the Book provides a formulaic step by step approach to producing "text-driven" sermons. Pace is a big proponent of the expositional model in which each sermon point branches off of the one textual big idea. In this short book he provides an excellent summary of sound Biblical interpretation methodology, as well as a very helpful sermon drafting process. There are many streams of wisdom throughout! I appreciated Pace's understanding of the centrality of the Holy Spirit and His involvement in the entire preaching process. The Spirit wrote the Scriptures, helps us understand and communicate the Scriptures, and He convicts the hearts of the listeners with the Scriptures. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it--and as preachers we need to ensure we are doing none of this in our efforts alone. I will say that Pace's preaching model seems a little too rigid. He presents a good exegetical ...