MINISTRY OF THE WORD
By Wallace Benn
10Publishing. 41 pages. £2.99
ISBN 978 1 912 373 246
Those new to ministry need a clear idea of what they are about. Those who have been in ministry for a longer period need to refocus and find new stimulus from time to time. This little booklet is brilliant for both.
The beloved former bishop of Lewes, and founding chairman of the Bible By The Beach conference, takes us to Acts 20 and Paul’s final pep-talk to the Ephesian elders.
Various verbs
He opens the text primarily in terms of the different verbs the apostle uses concerning the preaching and teaching task. These include bearing witness, making known, instructing, heralding, offering counsel, not hiding the truth, praying for God to be at work. These seven ideas are not for separate occasions, but are all to be included as ingredients, to a greater or lesser extent, in every message we give. There is fine handling of the original language and grammar, into which is woven many useful comments from the long experience of the writer as to how these things work out in practice.
It is particularly helpful that not simply the mechanics of preaching are dealt with, but that there is a resounding challenge concerning the life and heart necessary for a true minister of the gospel. Paul had not just preached to these folk, but had shed tears over them. This booklet makes a short but very pungent read.
