I’m excited to announce the publication of my new book!
The title is Preaching for Life: A Pastor’s Journey of Biblical Proclamation.
As with any project, this has been a team effort. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed and helped make this happen. I want give special shout-outs to my friends Mary Ann Fortner for proofreading and Erwin Cabalang for the cover design (more names are in the Acknowledgements section at the end of the book).
I’d also like to thank PublishingServices.com for the excellent formatting work.
Here’s the book description:
What do I wish I knew about preaching when I was first called into ministry years ago? What advice would I give to someone who has just begun preaching? How can you be sure you’ll have something to preach on every Sunday? I answer these and other questions in Preaching for Life. I pray this book will help you start well and finish strong in your ministry of biblical proclamation.
Topics include:
- Preaching by the Book
- Using Illustrations
- Using Humor
- Preaching Holidays
- Preaching Funerals
- Preaching Authentically
- G-rated Preaching in an X-Rated World
- Addressing Political and Social Issues
Also Included:
- Three Sermon Summaries
- Six Devotionals for Pastors
How to Order
This book is available through Amazon in both Kindle and hard copy formats.
How you can help
- Pray that this book would be used to equip and encourage preachers.
- Order the book if you are a interested in the topic.
- Please leave a positive review on Amazon if you think it deserves it.
- Last but not least, please share this post on your social media accounts or invite me to podcasts/Youtube interviews.
Here’s a preview: the book’s introduction (Page 11-17).
Introduction
I grew up in Pinson, Alabama, a small town located about 20 miles northeast of Birmingham. My dad was a high school principal, and my mom was a homemaker. Dad is now retired, and Mom went home to be with the Lord in 2012. I have one older brother, Hoyt who, coincidentally, was the first mayor of our town (It officially incorporated in 2004).
I was blessed with a rich spiritual heritage that was passed down from both sides of my family. My maternal grandfather was a lay preacher who, despite his limited education, was a gifted writer and speaker. I’ll always believe I inherited my knack for writing from him. My paternal grandmother attended and served at First Baptist Pinson (my home church) starting from the days of her youth. Dad faithfully served as a deacon in this same church. Mom and Dad brought us every time there was a worship service, prayer meeting, or activity.
I started to become uneasy about the state of my soul when I was eight years old. We often describe this state as being “under conviction”—being aware of one’s sinfulness. I became increasingly uncomfortable during the altar calls that happened at the end of every worship service. I knew that I needed to make a personal decision about Jesus Christ, but I was hesitant: Walking down a church aisle was a frightening proposition for an extremely shy little boy like me.
My church hosted a revival around this time, meaning we had church services (and agonizing altar calls) for a week straight. The invitation/altar call was exceptionally long one night because people kept responding. I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I released my death grip on the pew (probably around the 80th stanza of Just as I Am) and went forward to the preacher. “I want to be a Christian,” I told him.” “Do you know you are a sinner?” he asked. I didn’t know much theology, but I knew the answer to that question. That night I surrendered my heart to Jesus Christ and was overwhelmed by a sense of renewal and peace. I held back tears. I wish I hadn’t. I was baptized a week or two later.
I became aware of my need to take the Lord more seriously during high school. I did what many would call a rededication of my life, though this time I didn’t make it public. I had seen people make such public rededications over the years, and many of them never demonstrated any real repentance or change. I wanted to show my newfound commitment by the way I lived: I wanted people to see that God was changing me.
I began sensing God calling me to ministry around this time. I was willing to do whatever God wanted, but I found it strange that He would call me to preach. Remember how I mentioned my shyness? I found the idea of public speaking completely terrifying. Regardless, I shared this sense of calling with both my parents and my pastor.
I’m especially grateful for my parents’ response when I told them God was calling me to ministry. They told me to do whatever God was telling me. Their advice reminds me of Eli’s instructions to a young Samuel when the Lord first called him (1 Samuel 3:9). Thinking about it nearly brings me to tears (nearly—but bawling out loud here in a public coffee shop might be awkward).
I also shared this sense of calling with my pastor, Dr. Gary Fisher, and my youth pastor, John Nicholson. They, like my parents, were very encouraging. Dr. Fisher eventually invited me to preach to our congregation on a Wednesday night. I vividly remember that first sermon. I silently prayed this before nervously starting my message: “God, this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It’s your fault if this is a disaster because I never would have attempted this if you hadn’t told me to.” Fortunately, the sermon was not a complete disaster. It went reasonably well as far as first sermons go. I even remember a fellow teenager coming up to me after the message and saying, “I think you have found your calling.” Having said that, I’m thankful my sermons from those early years only survive as cassette tapes some- where in my dad’s basement.
I went on to attend college and was heavily involved in campus ministry. But this is where my path to becoming a pastor diverges from that of many men. Most of the pastors I know met their wives in college (or soon after), married young, and began serving churches while attending seminary. I thought that’s how it would turn out for me, but the younger version of me had no idea of the international adventures that were ahead.
I spent the rest of the 90s working as a substance abuse counselor while studying in seminary (my undergrad degree is in social work). I earned my Master of Divinity and eventually applied to be a missionary through my denomination. This would lead to the next season of life and ministry, which was truly amazing.
I became a missionary to the Philippines in July of 2002. I spent most of my time there doing ministry with college students. I could write another book about those incredible eleven years (2002-2013). But I’ll focus instead on how those years relate to my current season of life as a pastor.
I was never a senior pastor in my eleven years in the Philippines. I did speak and preach to groups (both large and small), but I was never responsible for the kind of week-to-week preaching that I do now that I’m a pastor. My ministry tended to be repetitive in nature: I repeated the same gospel presentation countless times to college students. I presented the same seminar (based on the True Love Waits material) at multiple college campuses and churches. I even tended to preach on the same text when I was back in the States, sharing about my life as a missionary (John 4:1-26 was one of my favorites).
I met Mare Cris, my beautiful wife, towards the end of my time in the Philippines. We married in 2012 and began the process of acquiring her spousal visa soon after. We moved to the States in July 2013. I had the opportunity to preach in a few churches in the Birmingham area, sometimes for one Sunday and sometimes for a few weeks.
I must confess that I was initially intimidated by the thought of preaching in American churches. Why? My ministry in the Philippines was geared towards young Filipinos, most of whom had never participated in a Bible study. It was not unusual for me to tell some of them the page number of the passage we were studying so they could find it in their New Testaments. Now I was preaching to congregations with members who had been listening to sermons since before I was born. But God made it clear that I was to be a pastor in this next season of life. There’s a devotional later in this book called The Ministry of Reminding—there, you can read a few more reflections on the transition from missionary to pastor as it relates to preaching.
This itinerate ministry went on for three (long) years before we found a long-term place of ministry. I became the pastor of Apollo Heights Baptist Church (El Paso, Texas) in October of 2016. I knew God had called me to preach, and I knew God had called me to this church. I had been blessed with excellent theological training and had a pretty good grasp of how to prepare sermons. I had a handful of sermons that I had developed and preached over the years. (We preachers call these favorite sermons “sugar sticks.”) I had also preached a few sermons through the Book of James during the three-year itinerate ministry phase. But I was still quite inexperienced in terms of week-to-week, month-to-month pastoral preaching.
I have shared my testimony and ministry background so you’ll have some idea of who I am and the perspective I bring to the subject at hand. I have now been on this preaching journey for over eight years. I realize that may still make me a rookie in the eyes of more veteran pastors. I don’t claim to have mastered gospel preaching any more than I would claim to have mastered the Bible. But I have learned lessons that I believe to be worth sharing. I will cover some of the basics of exegesis (properly interpreting the Scripture), but I am hoping this book will also help with other topics that may not have received quite as much attention.
Preaching for Life has a double meaning. I want to help you as you prepare and preach messages that impact the lives of your hearers. I also hope this book will encourage you, help you in your own journey of becoming a better preacher, and maybe even help you avoid some of the mistakes I have made along the way.
I’ve divided this book into two sections. The first is on preaching. The second section has a few devotional thoughts (some of which I’ve already posted on my blog). I’ve chosen devotional thoughts that I believe will be specifically encouraging or useful for pastors.
I always hope that my congregation receives at least a fraction of the blessing from hearing my sermons as I receive from preparing them. I wish the same for you, the reader. This book has been a joy to write, and I pray by reading it you will receive at least a small measure of the blessing I have received from writing it.
To God be the glory! -KS
