Review

Al Fasol, Roy Fish, Steve Gaines, and Ralph Douglas West, Preaching Evangelistically: Proclaiming the Saving Message of Jesus (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2006).

The above authors have done preachers a great favor by writing Preaching Evangelistically. The books fills a void in preaching literature.

The book is comprised of seven chapters. Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, writes two of them. "The Setting of the Evangelistic Sermon" deals with the characteristics of an effective evangelistic service and suggests an order of worship for such a service. Gaines also writes a chapter entitled, "Preparing the Evangelistic Sermon," which is a basic sermon prep primer. There are several suggested texts given in the chapter. Ralph Douglas West, pastor of Brookhollow Baptist Church in Houston, deals with how to select a text for an evangelistic sermon. After establishing the need for evangelistic preaching, West briefly deals with the theology of selecting a text, how to properly search for a text, and also warns against misapplying texts such as Rev 3:20. Al Fasol, Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Southwestern, writes two chapters as well. His first one deal with authority. The authority of the preacher is found in the authority of God's call, the scriptures, and his own character. Fasol's second chapter primarily summarizes his book on sermon delivery. Roy Fish, Distinguished Professor of Evangelism at Southwestern, writes a chapter on giving the evangelistic invitation. After establishing the biblical mandate for the invitation, Fish advocates close planning of the invitation and encourages the preacher to use a variety of methods. The final chapter consists of three evangelistic sermons--one from Fasol, Gaines, and L.R. Scarborough [second president of Southwestern]. The three are different examples of how effective evangelistic preaching can be done.

The strengths of the book are many. First, it is brief; it can be read quickly by the busy pastor/preacher. Second, the subject matter is of utmost importance. Every preacher should plan into his schedule a number of evangelistic sermons; this book will give him many ideas on how to do that more effectively. Third, the book is also a refresher on preaching principles in general and many of the ideas could be used for other types of sermons. '

Gaines' chapter 1, "The Setting of the Evangelistic Sermon," bothered me just a bit. Screens are fine for the words of songs in the service but not necessary, and the offering is more than just something we "tack" on at the end of a service. It is worship too. Also, using screens to project the scriptures being used in the sermons, in my opinion, de-emphasizes bringing one's Bible to church. It seems Gaines is giving us an outline of worship at Bellevue, and while that is o.k., evangelistic sermons can be preached in other contexts just as effectively.

West's chapter was a bit confusing. While the title was "Selecting the Text for an Evangelistic Sermon," he did not deal with the topic in reality until several pages into the chapter. I kept saying as I read, "Where is the discussion of the title?"

My favorite chapters dealt with authority and the invitation. Fasol's insistence that biblical authority is directly tied to how tightly the text is tied to the sermon is absolutely correct. Direct biblical authority, which means that the text is allowed to speak in the sermon loudly and clearly, is the standard for which we should strive. Fish's chapter on the invitation gave me serveral ideas on how to vary how I handle it Sunday to Sunday. I was reminded again how important the invitation is and how it should be as well planned as any part of the sermon.

The sermon examples in the last chapter show how evangelistic preaching can be done in different ways yet still have direct biblical authority.

I recommend that preachers read this book. For those who have not been in preaching class in a long time, it will remind them of important, basic homiletical principles. For all of us who preach the Word, the book serves to promote one of the vital purposes of preaching--to see men, women, boys and girls come to Jesus!