Being Dope is a book that will challenge what you think you know about rap and rappers. It is not a typical memoir and is as much about genre as it is about anything else: history, hip hop scholarship, storytelling, and theorizing through rap. Each section features A.D. Carson's mixtap/e/ssay lyrics alongside poetry, reflective prose, and critical analysis that provide social, historical, academic, and personal context. Being Dope is about permission and sanctioning. As C...

This is not another book on what view to hold about the reality of Jesus' return but it is about how to live in the light of his imminent return. D. A. Carson accurately determines that the Christian church has always lived in what the bible terms 'the last days'...the period between his ascension to his Father in heaven and his return on the clouds of heaven. Based on Paul's teaching in 2 Timothy 3, D. A. Carson gives wise counsel to today's church to avoid false teaching and to seek good me...

The church needs a strong reminder of the glorious weight of Scripture. The Bible is preached from the pulpit less and less, and we need to return to what is most important. The Gospel Coalition seeks to address this need. It exists “to be robustly biblical, richly theological, constantly elevating what God himself in his own Word makes central.”Stemming from the coalition’s 2009 National Conference and edited by D. A. Carson, this book explores the great responsibility of being en...

Master the craft of effective communication that grabs attention and wins hearts.Like everyone else, preachers long to be understood. Unfortunately, the rules first learned in seminary, if misapplied, can quickly turn homiletic precision into listener boredom.To capture heart and mind, Mark Galli and Craig Larsen suggest preachers turn to the lessons of journalism. In Preaching That Connects, they show how the same keys used to create effective, captivating communication in the media can t...

In this concise and compelling handbook, respected evangelical theologian Charles Ryrie writes to Bible students and practicing pastors alike about the importance of communicating the doctrines of Scripture. Clearly, he explains why doctrinal truth from the Bible must be a key part of every preacher's message. Using practical illustrations and applications, Ryrie addresses the reasons why so many people neglect doctrine and offers helpful ways of embracing doctrine through the use of major...

Though the apostle Paul boldly proclaimed “Christ crucified” as the heart of the gospel, Fleming Rutledge notes that preaching about the cross of Christ is remarkably neglected in most churches today. In this book Rutledge addresses the issues and controversies that have caused pastors to speak of the cross only in the most general, bland terms, precluding a full understanding and embrace of the gospel by their congregations.Countering our contemporary tendency to bypass Jesus’ cru...

Much has changed over Calvin Miller’s decades of pastoral ministry, but he believes two things remain the same: God is love and people are broken. Now God is calling young pastors to stand in that gap. And in this honest, warm and humorous series of letters, Miller shares his wisdom and experience so you can flourish in your future ministry—without ever wanting to resign on Monday.

Zack Eswine starts this unique pastoral resource with a captivating question: Could I now reach who I once was? Challenging the idea that today's preachers must do away with biblical or expository preaching if they are to reach non-Christian people, Eswine offers a way of preaching that embraces biblical exposition in missional terms. Recognizing all of the different cultural situations in which the gospel must be preached, he gives preachers practical advice on preaching in a global conte...

Lasso Them With LaughterThe way to your listeners’ hearts is through their funny bones. Want to grab their attention? Do it with humor. Need to drive home a point they’ll remember? Nothing does it better than a rib-tickling anecdote—like the ones in this book. 1002 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking is jam-packed with one-liners, jokes, humorous stories, and pithy proverbs for just about any subject or circumstance under the sun. Pick your topic. Appearances, Communication, Opportu...

Today it seems extraordinary that a nation the size of the United States could have been so profoundly affected by the minister of a little Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. But at a turning point in American history, Martin Luther King, Jr., had an incalculable effect on the fabric of daily life and the laws of the nation. As no other preacher in living memory and no politician since Lincoln, he transposed the themes of love, suffering, deliverance, and justice from the sacred shelte...

There is often an unfortunate division between the technical work of biblical scholars and the practical work of preachers who construct sermons each week. These two fields of study, which ought to be mutually informed and supportive, are more often practically divided by divergent methods, interests, and goals. Narrative Reading, Narrative Preaching aims to bridge that divide.Using narrative as an organizing theme, the contributors work through the New Testament offering examples o...

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers". Spurgeon was to 19th century England what D. L Moody was to America. Although Spurgeon never attended theological school, by the age of twenty-one he was the most popular preacher in London. A strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church i...