Proclaimer Blog
Introducing the 2011 EMA books (1)
Each day at the EMA we have a special stage recommendation. Day 1's recommendation is Preaching to a post-everything world by Zack Eswine. This is a really useful book with some great help. For example, Zack encourages readers not to make what he calls "expository bans" – aspects of biblical reality we tend to avoid because they are culturally forbidden. He gives some categories of what he means:
- expository censoring – actions that we think should be expunged – e.g. Judges 19.22-30
- expository muting – words that make us feel uncomfortable – e.g. Song of Solomon 7.6-9
- expository equivocations – taking words with one meaning and infusing them with another, e.g. Joseph was thrown into the pit, what are your pits?
- expository evictions – removing people from their places (i.e. what we might call ignoring context)
- expository cynicism – suspicious of human motive and behaviour
This is Keller's endorsement:
Zack moves the Christ centred preaching movement forward with this volume. He not only calls us to carefully contextualize our message to various cultures, sensibilities and habits of heart, but he also gives us a host of practical tools, inventories and guidelines for doing it. All the while he assumes and strengthens the foundational commitment to preaching Christ and his restoring grace from every text. A great contribution.