Böcker av Jeremy McCandless

Everyone who has spoken publicly wrestles with the thoughts of how to put together a clear, effective, and interesting presentation. We may all at some point heard someone and recognised that they are an effective communicator. It is at those moments that you ask yourself, "How can I prepare effective messages?" I have asked that question of myself many times over the course of many years. As a young man in my first job in financial services I was sometimes expected to present in an office environment and even take meeting. It was then I began to read books like, the classic, Principles and¿Types of Speech by Allan H. Monroe and some management books by Stephen H Covey and the like Later, as a Christian I read "The Art of Preaching", and Biblical peaching by Dr. Robinson is the and W E Sangster Preaching trough the Bible. Dr. Michael Cocurus of Dallas Seminary and the Moody Church in Chicago and his "Introduction to expository preaching" also shaped my preaching. These resources, along with my own experience of preaching and teaching for over 30 years now have given me a foundation and framework for sermon preparation and preaching. What follows are my limited insights and. In many ways I feel unqualified to offer such advise but in truth sometimes when I hear ministers or church leaders preach and teach nowadays, I feel I perhaps can offer something of a framework to help people. In truth, I am sometimes shocked at the lack of forethought or even basic Bible knowledge that some people bring to the pulpit these days. I offer this advice mainly because I see so little expositional preaching in the modern evangelical church. I believe there are some basic guidelines that we can apply to preaching and to teaching and leading Bible Studies when approaching it from an expository framework.

At first sight, this small book may look like an attempt to explain the reasons why an individual might be a Christian and believe in God. This is partly true however my primary purpose was to first try and take a step back and consider the foundations of the Chris-tian faith. In doing so I also want to consider how one might communicate these foundational ideas to the man and woman in the street. These thoughts and Christian principles are the ideas and concepts upon which I believe our concept of civilisation and mod-ern society have been built for over 2000 years. Questions like how might a modern world view connect with the idea of Jesus if it does not even accept that there is such a thing as absolute morality? Is there is even a reasonable case to be offered for believing that God really exists? How might one expect any child growing up in a socially deprived area of the UK be able to recognise the parenthood of God when they have had no earthly experience to base it upon? How can a young person or even an adult be expected to under-stand the loving fatherhood of God when they have never experienced anything like it in real life?The teachings of Jesus' and by implication one of the commissions of the modern Christian believer is to challenge the generally accepted idea that truth is either non-existent or at best impersonal. If truth is impersonal, then the rules we hold on to will become more important than the people we live along side. However, if truth is personal, if ultimate reality is based on love then morality beautifies the world rather than enslaving it. Morality based upon an under-standing of the love of God can enrich the soul rather than depersonalizing it. Morality viewed through the prism of Christ's teaching returns love and adds value to the world in everything that really matters. In other words, this perspective will build up the human soul.These thoughts and reflections are obviously those of an amateur and open to criticism. They are just thoughts built upon conversations and experiences that have been accumulating in my mind for some time. They often sprang to life following lengthy discussions with ordinary people in everyday situations when I had managed to prompt people to discuss matters eternal. I now feel compelled to develop these thoughts and discussions into these essays. Further-more, having truly experienced the presence of God in my preparation of this book I now have a very human urge to share them.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians church 2000 years ago and to anyone who choose to read his letter today to enlighten them concerning their calling in the church. He urged them to walk worthy of that calling and to encourage everyone not to lose heart. Believers today should remember this and walk worthy of their high calling.