Preaching is personal.  The preacher who tries to be something different in the pulpit from what he is outside of the pulpit will eventually suffer from an identity crisis.  When public persona doesn’t coincide with private practices, men have trouble remembering who they are.  Life and ministry develops internally. Authentic, Spirit-filled preaching is cultivated before and after the worship service, not during.

It is the burden of my heart to encourage men of God to order their private worlds in such a way that their ministry flows from the inside out. With that notion in mind, I am pleased to introduce the latest book from Cross Roads Publications entitled, The Private Life of the Preacher.

Below you will find the introduction to the book along with a link to our bookstore.

We are offering the book at an introductory sales price of 10.00 (plus 1.25 for shipping) from now to Sunday (May 11, 2014).  Regular price is 15.00 after Mother’s Day.

The Contents of the Book include:

The Preacher and His CALLING

The Preacher and His FAMILY

The Preacher and His MIND

The Preacher and His WORDS

The Preacher and His INFLUENCE

The Preacher and His CRITICS

The Preacher and His HOLINESS

The Preacher and His ACCOUNTABILITY

The Preacher and His CHARACTER

The Preacher and His TIME

The Preacher and His PREACHING

The Preacher and His DEVOTION

The Preacher and His HEALTH

The Preacher and His ADVERSITY

The Preacher and His EDUCATION

Introduction to THE PRIVATE LIFE OF THE PREACHER

I am a preacher.

First and foremost, that is what I am.  I have a variety of titles and a wide range of responsibilities, but if I had to use one word to describe what God has called me to do in this world, I would use the word “preach.”

Only God-called preachers understand the pressure that is associated with such a task.  When I answered the call nearly twenty years ago, I had no real sense of ministry, administration, vision, style, direction, or networking.  All I knew was that my heart and soul had a burden to speak on behalf of God.  In those initial days I not only struggled with why God would use me; I also wondered how God would use me. Sometimes I still do.

Over the years, I have come to realize that God grows the preacher through his private, personal life.  Anyone can imitate and mimic the gestures, phrases, and sermons of others.  But a real preacher is made over time and season.  As E.M. Bounds said, “Preaching is not the performance of the hour – it is the outflow of a life.”

Power in preaching is generated through the spiritual logistics of your relationship with Christ.  God’s most dynamic work in the life of the preacher is ordained through the most ordinary of moments.  You cannot separate the public ministry of the preacher from his private life.

I have written this book not because I feel overly-qualified to do so.  On the contrary, most of the observations and considerations throughout these pages have been processed through my own faults, plunders, and mistakes.  I have written the book to help all preachers, especially younger preachers, understand the magnitude and enormity of the mundane. Although preaching is demonstrated through personality, performance, and position, it is ultimately cultivated and developed through character, integrity, and personal holiness.

When we preach, people may hear our voice, watch our movements, and connect with our demeanor; but the reality is, they are actually getting the culmination and totality of who we are. And most of “who we are” is established in our private lives.

It is my prayer that this book will be more than a checklist of qualifications, but rather a manual for practical and personal living. May the Lord speak to your heart as you read through these pages. And may every God-called preacher rise up in these last days and do the one thing we have been instructed to do: preach!

Purchase book by clicking HERE!