Description: According to the Reformers, preaching is the word of God. As the word of God, preaching is a foundation for the church. It is also vital for the personal growth of a Christian. But Christians are poorly equipped to understand how preaching is the word of God. Some Christians look for preaching that closely reproduces the text in the Bible. Other Christians look for preaching that creates maximal emotional and existential impact. And there is a lot of name-calling with Christians accusing preachers of "not preaching the word." But what type of preaching is the word of God? The purpose of this book is to equip Christians to understand how preaching can be God speaking. It accomplishes this with a survey of the problem in the history of the church, a detailed overview of key biblical texts, and finally the application of the contemporary philosophical tool of speech act theory.
Brief description: Sam Chan is a global citizen. He was born in Hong Kong, raised in Australia, worked as a medical doctor in Sydney, and earned a PhD in theology in the United States. He connects with young, postmodern, post-reached, post-Christian audiences. His book, Preaching as the Word of God, applies speech-act theory to preaching. Chan is currently a public speaker for City Bible Forum. He speaks to high school students, professionals, seminary students, and academics. His topics cover evangelism, ethics, preaching, story-telling, and apologetics. His blog, EspressoTheology.com, gives a short burst of theology "from your world to Jesus in 60 seconds."