A book on preaching that doesn't make you feel bad

'Stop all the clocks, keep the dog from barking with a juicy bone'.... I'm not kidding you, Alec Motyer has done what I thought was impossible; a guilt free book on preaching.

 

In a summer that has seen two books come out of Australia on how to make your sermons interesting (struggling with anything in particular Aussies??) Alec Motyer, who is as old as the hills, has come up with a masterpiece.

 

I started to take notes on the book but in the end gave up because on every page there is gold. The guy has to be in his 80s or 90s and gives his distilled wisdom. You'll find yourself with countless sermon outlines at the end of the book. There are 40 pages of daily reading notes which he has given out to accompany his preaching over the years. CFP have done very well to coax this book out of Dr Motyer. It's written in the unique style of his, and full of wit. At one point he confesses to preaching a sermon last year that he first preached in 1963 and has subsequently preached in 19 times! You have to love that kind of honesty. As the books strapline says: 'It is simple teaching on simply preaching'.

 

If you're a preacher, prepare to be liberated by this book to enjoy the Bible, enjoy preaching and enjoy feeding God's people. It's a liberating book and ideal to go through with a group of guys who might be thinking about preaching. It comes recommended by the big guns Tim Keller (don't tell the EPCEW) and Dale Ralph Davis.

If you've not read Alec Motyer you're in for a treat. He's one of the last of the big beasts of conservative Evangelical Anglicanism along with JI Packer and Dick Lucas.

There's a couple of articles that are out of print. He produced a booklet for RTSF on Covenant Theology and one for the Tyndale lecture in the 50's on 'The Revelation of the Divine Name in Scripture'. If you ever find these second hand you should do all you can to get them.