Christopher Ash's The Priority of Preaching

Speaking of preaching, I was very pleased to see that one of the book give-aways at Together for the Gospel last week was Christopher Ash's book, The Priority of Preaching. You may remember a few previous posts I wrote back in the Fall on Christopher Ash's work - one here on the Priority of Preaching and one here on Listen Up: A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons. Both of these are excellent resources.

Christopher Ash works with The Proclamation Trust and directs the Cornhill Training Course (a training course for preachers in the UK).

The Priority of Preaching

You may remember my post a while back on Christopher Ash's little booklet, Listen Up: A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons. This past week, one of my undergraduate professors, Greg Thornbury, gave me a copy of Ash's book on preaching - The Priority of Preaching. It is a quick but worthwhile read, one which I would certainly encourage preachers to consider. I thoroughly enjoyed it (reading most of it in one sitting).

Here are just a few of the things I appreciated about the book:

1) It is a book on preaching that is based on texts from Deuteronomy (which is both rare and refreshing)

2) It begins with a word "for discouraged preachers" (which always seems an appropriate way to begin a book on preaching, considering that preachers are often discouraged)

3) It clearly (and rightly, in my opinion) fleshes out the authority of the preached Word (oh, that more preachers and more churches believed this!)

4) It encourages gospel-centered and grace-filled preaching

5) It articulates the significance of our gathering to hear the Word preached (this was one of my favorite parts of the book and a concept that seems underdeveloped in the minds of too many pastors)

Pastors - get this book and read it. Both you and your church will benefit from it!