Evangelistic Preaching in the 21st Century

By Allen M. Baker III

Revival and evangelistic preaching has fallen on hard times in the western world. The theological liberalism of the early Twentieth Century, the neo-orthodoxy of the 1940's to the 1960's, the church growth movement of the 1970's, the seeker friendly movement of the 1980's and 1990's, the emerging church movement of the first decade of the Twenty-first Century, the present emphasis on "hipster" Christianity and hyper-grace, and the Insider Movement (propagated by western missiologists) in the Muslim world all point to the dearth of Spirit anointed revival and evangelistic preaching. How so? Without confidence in the supernatural work of the Spirit to convict and convert sinners, it is only natural for church leaders to look elsewhere for societal impact. The neo-liberal hermeneutic is also at play in today's western church. In a desire to reach the secular unbeliever who rejects Biblical authority out of hand, in order to gain a hearing from "un-churched Harry," in order to appeal to the new atheist who embraces every manner of sexual perversion, in order to bring back into the church the de-churched millennial generation, pastors are interpreting the Bible differently. Some are saying that without an emphasis on social justice then we have no gospel message at all. Some are conveniently overlooking the clear teaching on the roles of husbands and wives in marriage and the prohibition of women's ordination to church offices. God, however, has always powerfully and persuasively used the Spirit anointed preaching of Christ crucified. We see it clearly in the teaching of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see it in the early church fathers--men like Ambrose, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Chrysostom. We see it in powerful pre-Reformation preachers like John Wycliffe and John Hus. We see it in the great Reformers--Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox. If this kind of preaching was used powerfully in the past, why should today be any different?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 152083263X
• ISBN13: 9781520832630
• Release Date: March 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 299 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"