Feed My Sheep: A passionate plea for preaching

The newest book on my blogging list is Feed my Sheep: a passionate plea for preaching. It is a compilation of various speakers, such as: John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and John MacArthur. It is written specifically for those in a Pastoral role and is an encouragement to continue in the role that God has called them.
The theme of the book can be seen in the first chapter with a quote by Martin Luther, "And even if there were no other sign than this alone, it would still suffice to prove that a Christian, holy people must exist there, for God’s Word cannot be without God’s people and, conversely, God’s people cannot be with- out God’s Word."
R. Albert Mohler, Jr. expresses that the first duty of a Pastor is to be a "servant of the word" he brings about a good point that usually when one describes a church the first things mentioned are various ministries, the missions program, the music, but rarely mentioned is the actually preaching. Yet, the preaching is the first priority of the Pastor. Christ will build his church but he will do it through His Word.
James Montgomery Boice reminds us that unbelievers think of preaching as "foolishness". They look at someone preaching the word of God and think of him as a fool because he has put himself into the box of absolute truth. He has closed his mind because he acknowledges that there is a Higher Being who has preserved His words to every generation, that He has a moral law and that man has broken his law and therefore are already condemned. Yet, the preacher also believes that there is hope because of the God Man, Christ Jesus who came to redeem those who were already condemned and through his death and resurrection that many would be brought to life through belief in this absolute and marvelous truth.
Derek W. H. Thomas writes about preaching using the expository method. His advice is practical and he offers a quote by John Calvin to summarize why preaching the word of God in this fashion is extremely necessary, "We owe to the Scriptures the same reverence as we owe to God, since it has its only source in Him and has nothing of human origin mixed with it."
R.C. Sproul stresses the aspect of the "teaching preacher" since this is a requirement of the pastoral office. However, many would rather have a Pastor who preaches entertaining sermons rather than one who teaches them the truth and doctrine of scripture. In order for the Pastor to faithfully teach the word of God then he must know it himself and also continue to be a constant learner.
I found this book extremely interesting to read because it reminds me how much we need to pray for those who are preaching in our churches. We must pray for the Pastor as he feeds the sheep that God has brought to Him. The job the Pastor has is extremely difficult because as we so most of the world looks at him as a fool and to often those in the church are looking for him to entertain them rather than to feed them. This book can easily be read by those who are not in a Pastoral role to remember to pray for their Pastor and then after reading it they can give it to their Pastor so it will encourage him to continue teaching and preaching the word of God.

*I will receive a hard copy of this book for writing a blog post.