Andy Stanley, Communicating for a Change

If Andy Stanley's Communicating for a Change were the only book you ever read about preaching, you'd be left with an incomplete approach to preaching. This is certainly not a book that delivers a robust theology of preaching, that promotes a lofty portrait of the doctrine of revelation, or that cause ones heart to pump faster over the glorious task of proclaiming the gospel to a hungry world.However, that being said, in this brisk read Stanley offers some thoughtful, helpful material on the methodology of preaching. The best component of the book is that everything Stanley says is directed towards persuading the reader to approach the preaching task as though each sermon is to be about one thing/idea only.Years ago when I was just starting out as a preacher, my former pastor offered me some of the best counsel I've ever received about preaching. He told me to "say it in a sentence." He told me that I wasn't ready to preach until I could sum up my message in a single sentence. In this book, Stanley does a great job at arguing and illustrating the importance of "saying it in a sentence."There are a number of other important suggestions and points that Stanley makes in the book, chief among them the imperative of making change, the changing of the people in the pew, the central goal of preaching. I also enjoyed the 80 page preacher's transformation parable (written by Lane Jones) that comprised the first half of the book. Stanley's suggestion that preachers prepare their sermons 3 weeks in advance was also a wise idea (though next to impossible for many pastors).In many ways this book isn't just for the preacher. It's advise, argumentation, and counsel is well suited for any public communicator (teachers, business presenters, public speakers, etc.). If you're someone who speaks publicly on a regular basis and who has trouble clearly organizing your thoughts and engaging your audience, you'll probably benefit from reading this book.