Issue 12 Interactive PreachingBlog | Books for Life Essential Reading for Preachers
Books for Life Essential Reading for Preachers
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 23.09.17
Garbage in – garbage out. That was the watchword in computer programming when I first attempted to code as a teenager on my little home computer. If bad or poor data is put into a computer programme it will lead to bad quality results. The same is true with preaching. No matter how skilled an orator we may be, no matter how well we craft our sermons, if they are based on a misunderstanding of what the Bible actually teaches then we are in danger of preaching garbage – confusing or misleading our listeners. So how can we invest into making sure we have correctly understood the Bible text we are preaching? The following four books have been invaluable to me in preparation. Some played a foundational role – the books I read early in my preaching ministry that formed the basis on which all of my sermons were developed. Others play an ongoing assistive role in my life as I come back to them often when I am preparing to preach.
None of these books are traditional Bible commentaries. Choosing commentaries is like choosing friends: we seek out those who agree with us on most things, but we nevertheless expect them to disagree with us occasionally. The best ones are those who are faithful, honest, true and willing to challenge us whenever we need it. I am assuming that we always consult at least a couple of commentaries when preparing to expound a passage of the Bible. What a privilege it is to have access to the scholarship of those who have invested a significant chunk of their lives to the study of just one portion of the Bible. To not take advantage of their expertise would be as short-sighted as the scientist who ignores groundbreaking research, or an explorer who tries to navigate without a map. Commentaries aside, here are the books that I think are invaluable to our preparation as biblical preachers:
