extract’d

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: Bible, Ecclesiastes, extract'd, Old Testament, preaching
• Date: Jun 7,2010

Zach Eswine is one of my new favorite bloggers. The dude knows how to turn a phrase. He is lead pastor @ Riverside Church in my former hometown of St. Louis and was recently assistant professor of Homiletics and the director for Doctor of Ministry program @ Covenant Theological Seminary.

He has written a book I can’t wait to get my hands on entitled Preaching to a Post-Everything World: Crafting Biblical Sermons that Connect with our Culture which won Preaching Today’s Book of the Year Award in 2009.

Here is an example of his brilliant writing – in it, he is giving us a “window in” to his thoughts as he works through Ecclesiastes with his church:

God has given us a language for the dark. He has handed us a flashlight and gently walked us down into the creepy basement to show us what He knows is there. He has enabled us to look at death, injustice, misuse, mistreatment, doubt, skepticism, cynicism, greed, lust, emptiness, folly. God, it seems, wants us to grow up regarding our notions of what to expect in this life. He wants us wise toward the harming things we find in the world. If we are like children curled up in our beds as the sound of thunder knocks our trees about, vibrates the walls and rumbles through our yards. He is like a kind and knowing Father who takes our hand, invites us onto the porch and shows us that we can stand steady amid the barrage.

-Zach Eswine, “The Joy of an Ordinary Life, Pt. 1″ from his blog, Preaching Barefoot

(Photo by shizhao + used under Creative Commons)