PREACHING FOR ADULT CONVERSION AND COMMITMENT by Frank Honeycutt ($20)*

17.95
ABG: 0-687-02314-9

Even though preachers bemoan preaching's loss of importance, in fact it has rarely been more crucial than it is today. We live in a society that is becoming less and less familiar with the Christian gospel. Although preaching is only one part of the complex set of factors and relationships that leads non- Christians to commit themselves to the gospel, it remains the most visible and recognizable part. The central purpose of this book is to answer a key, seemingly simple question: how does preaching assist the Holy Spirit in the ongoing conversion of adult Christians? The book will take a close look at exactly what the sermon is doing in the larger conversion process, first for those who are new to the faith, but also for those longtime members who need a deeper commitment to the faith they claim as their own. The preacher obviously needs to know more about the sermon's specific effectiveness or shortcomings than what is briefly offered at the church door on Sunday mornings from polite (or occasionally honest) parishioners. Therefore, Frank G. Honeycutt contends, pastors seeking to learn more about the difference their sermons are making in the gathered Sunday assembly will need to be more attentive to the "how" of conversion and preaching's unique opportunity to contribute to conversion and commitment.

Reviews:

"Frank Honeycutt has written a scandalous book. It explores a subject rarely mentioned in the literature of spirituality and homiletics--conversion to Jesus Christ." — Richard Lischer, Duke Divinity School, from the foreword

"In the midst of the cacophony of church growth gimmicks and numbers game evangelism schemes, Honeycutt is a wise voice crying out. He offers a shrewd analysis of the complexities of conversion, how that shapes preaching, and in turn, how sermons assist adults coming to faith." — Robert D. Hawkins, Professor of Worship and Music, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary

"Preaching for Adult Conversion and Commitment is an intelligent, eloquent, and provocative book that offers much for laypeople as well as clergy. In an age of spiritual equivocation, Frank Honeycutt has the courage to make himself and his readers aware that Christianity places serious and often unsettling demands on its adherents." — Ron Rash, author of One Foot in Eden and John Parris Professor of Applachian Studies, Western Carolina University

"With a storyteller's pen, a literature-lover's ear, a cultural critic's eye, and the insight of a wise pastoral theologian, Frank Honeycutt relentlessly returns the preacher to Christ. In the endlessly challenging and endlessly encouraging Word made flesh, Honeycutt sees not a source of answers for either life or preaching, but an incomparable invitation to life-transforming relationship." — John Hoffmeyer, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

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