Reviews for The Formation of Pastoral Counselors: Challenges and Opportunities

The average rating for The Formation of Pastoral Counselors: Challenges and Opportunities based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-10-01 00:00:00 Joseph Leveque My Review: The Passion-Driven Sermon, a treatise on the importance of expository preaching, is authored by Jim Shaddix. Shaddix, who is currently a Professor of Preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Senior Fellow for the Center for Preaching and Pastoral Leadership, previously served as Dean of the Chapel at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and has co-authored another work on Biblical preaching, Power in the Pulpit. The Passion-Driven Sermon was written in response to a steady shift in evangelicalism towards man-centered, pragmatic, and non-expository preaching. The book's primary claim is that Bible-centered expository preaching is the preeminent means by which faithful pastors glorify God and shepherd their flock. While Shaddix succeeds in boldly presenting a focused case for expository preaching, he often overstates his case with unsupported assertions. The Passion-Driven Sermon is intended to be read primarily by preaching pastors and is written at a beginner level with a confident and friendly tone. Throughout the book Shaddix contrasts two key phrases, "good stuff," helpful life advice and practical wisdom, and "God stuff," the body of truth that is revealed in the Bible (Shaddix, 65). His plea for the exaltation of "God stuff" in preaching is presented in three sections: "Biblical foundation, philosophical framework, and practical implications" (Shaddix, 4). He devotes three chapters to each section. Across each section, Shaddix's approach centers on his exegesis of 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and is supplemented with personal anecdotes. Shaddix is often so eager to voice his convictions that he sometimes overstates his case with unsupported assertions. One such example can be seen in this passage: "In the language of the New Testament, the verb 'determined' (1 Cor. 2:2) is in the aorist tense, indicating a fact which had come to its conclusion. In other words, preaching only Christ and Him crucified was something the apostle had decided before ever arriving on the church field… Paul had settled the issue of what his preaching content would be long before he ever stepped into the pulpit at Corinth. And that message was both Scripture-driven and Christocentric" (Shaddix, 25). Here Shaddix overstates in two places. First, he concludes that Paul's Christ-centered preaching philosophy had been settled "long before… [arriving at] Corinth" (emphasis added, Shaddix, 25). While the aorist tense does denote punctiliar action, nowhere does this passage state or imply that Paul's Christ-centered preaching philosophy had solidified a long period of time before arriving at Corinth. The aorist tense of the word "determined" could have described Paul setting his mind moments before his arrival. Secondly, Shaddix's assertion that Paul's message was "Scripture-driven" is unsupported by 1 Corinthians 2:1-2. Rather than detailing Paul's philosophy of "Scripture-driven" preaching in another paragraph, Shaddix inserted this textually unsupported claim alongside his apt emphasis on Paul's "Christocentric" preaching philosophy. While both of these overstatements do not compromise the veracity of his claims, they do characterize the occasionally unfounded assertions in the book as a whole. Perhaps the most prominent feature throughout The Passion-Driven Sermon is Shaddix's relentless and repeated focus on his thesis. His focus on the importance of emphasizing the same core truths in each sermon can be seen here: "The fear of repetition leads us to promote a hermeneutical paradigm [- maximizing secondary application and minimizing primary intent -] that we would otherwise shun" (Shaddix, 19). Although this statement describes the importance of not straying from the Gospel in preaching every week, it characterizes the commitment and focus Shaddix has in expounding his thesis throughout The Passion-Driven Sermon. This focus can be seen from beginning to end: He advocates for the "authority of the Word" (Shaddix, 26), stresses the importance of the "meat of the gospel" (Shaddix, 56), exalts "God stuff" over "good stuff" (Shaddix, 79), and trumpets expositional preaching as the best way to showcase the Word of God (Shaddix, 142). All of these instances are simply different ways of driving home the importance of Bible-centered, Christ-exalting expositional preaching. The Passion-Driven Sermon does not consist of one main thesis and supporting argumentation, rather, it is a constant re-emphasis of the importance of expositional preaching by repeatedly proclaiming the thesis in different ways. This strategy of relentless repetition ultimately proves effective, given that Shaddix's primary aim is to inspire and exhort towards an ideal, not to teach a method. Overall, The Passion-Driven Sermon is a flawed, yet sufficiently effective treatise on the importance of Bible-centered, Christ-exalting expository preaching. The book's value lies in the clarity and force of its message, a message for both preacher and congregant. The reader's next step, regardless of their role in the local church, is to engage more critically with the weekly sermon event and pray earnestly for Christ to be chiefly exalted through the preaching of His Word. The Passion-Driven Sermon shows, with bold focus and occasional overstatement, that Bible-centered expository preaching is the preeminent means by which faithful pastors glorify God and shepherd their flock. My Favorite Quotes: "The fear of repetition leads us to promote a hermeneutical paradigm [- maximizing secondary application and minimizing primary intent -] that we would otherwise shun!" (p. 19) "There is a difference between Jesus as a good example or pattern and Jesus as the crucified Lord who lays claim to every person's life." (p. 20) "To be sure, [the cross of Jesus Christ] will bring comfort to the hurting heart. But it will be a lasting comfort because it grows out of the crucified life." (p.49) "Dear preacher, preach for spiritual health, not for practical help!" (p. 56) 'When the minister goes to the pulpit, he is the shepherd in the act of feeding' - Charles Jefferson (p. 60) "How fast believers grow depends totally on how much truth they embrace and apply to their lives." (p.72) "It is far more important for the shepherd to teach people to 'think Christianly' than to act rightly." (p. 115) "[Sermons that use Scripture casually] fail to claim the listeners by the eternal truths of the text and the historical realities which encase them." (p. 150) "The most effective musical worship leaders are those who enter into worship themselves and then simply invite the rest of us to join in with them." Same advice applies to preachers. (p. 159) "This book, instead, has been a humble attempt to extract a practical theology of pastoral preaching from the Bible. Its foundational premise is that preaching - and the sermons that express it - must be driven by a passion for the glory of God." (p.175)

Review # 2 was written on 2014-10-01 00:00:00 Jacqueline Matthews The way this book is laid out is as helpful as the content it contains. Shaddix passionately drives preachers to consider their calling and purpose in preaching, not for the sake of entertainment, but for the benefit of the hearers, and the glory of God. This is another helpful preaching book.