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The most frustrating aspect of this book is that it is no longer in print. I suppose after eight printings, one shouldn’t complain. Most decent theological libraries will have a copy. Still, it seems a shame, that a book of this calibre should fade from the scene. Pitt-Watson offers a strong affirmation for the preaching of the Bible. The "text of Scripture" is the foundation of the preaching people need to hear, but not at the expense of dealing with "the text of life." It is this level of integration that I appreciate so much in this book. That, and the insight the author brings to the listener (see below). Preachers, too long, have neglected to understand how the listener will hear the message they have to share. This book helps to redress that concern. For Pitt-Watson, the sermon is an organic entity. It is alive and dynamic as God speaks in the present tense to people who desperately need to hear his voice. Find a copy where you can. It’s worth the read. KCA
Excerpt: Below the surface, however, tension is mounting in the listener, and sooner or later the frustration must find voice. When it comes it is usually a scream of protest that no one ever hears, but that the preacher can read all too easily in the body language of the congregation. The flaccid postures and dead faces cry to heaven with one voice: "Stop preaching at me!" What has happened? It is worth nothing what usually has happened when in ordinary conversation we say to one another, "Stop preaching!" It is invariably meant to be a severe rebuke. I say it to someone who is making my angry by insisting on telling me what to do and what not to do. I am not angry because the moral precepts being offered me are untrue – if that were the case I would say, "Stop talking nonsense." I am angry because I am being told what I already know to be true and suspect to be no less true of the one who is "preaching at me." I already know that I am not what I ought to be; I know I am doing things that I ought not to do and that I am leaving undone things I ought to do. Like most people, I do not live my life crippled by moral indecision, paralyzed for lack of good advice. For the most part, I know what to do; I’m just not very good at doing it. My problem is not my moral indecision, but my moral impotence. (page 17,18)