Alyce M. McKenzie

Arts and Preaching

Preaching & Worship

“Yang’s holistic-aesthetic vision of preaching recovers its identity as art, a medium through which the numinous is both made possible and experienced.”

Circles in the Stream

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Paul Koptak’s Circles in the Stream is a gift to those preachers who feel that the burden of creating connections between text and listeners Sunday after Sunday rests on their shoulders. Koptak makes a compelling case that the connections are already there, waiting to be found. . . . Readers of Circles in the Stream will find that applying its methods will allow both text and life to shine light on each other.”

Dancing with Metaphors in the Pulpit

Preaching & Worship

“Rodney Kennedy’s Dancing with Metaphors in the Pulpit passionately seeks to persuade preachers to be lifelong readers, and not just of the usual suspect topics: theology, biblical studies, ethics, and homiletics. While firmly rooted in biblical, theological, and historical perspectives, he eloquently nudges us to ‘voyage to other planets,’ to visit the kingdoms of novelists, poets, philosophers, and rhetoricians.”

God and Randomness

Science & Faith

“God and Randomness. . . challenges readers to rethink their assumptions about randomness, using a lively writing style, that draws on autobiography of the authors and their profound knowledge of history, science, and religion. The book invites readers to view randomness, not as meaninglessness, but as a golden thread in the tapestry being woven by a purposeful God.”

God Is Here to Stay

Science & Faith

“I think this book would be of interest to theologians, biblical scholars, and to my colleagues in Southern Methodist University's graduate program in religious studies. It is written by two people eminently positioned to collaborate from their areas of individual expertise. This book is written with accessible depth, so that academics as well as general readers will benefit from it.”

Is It a Sermon?

Preaching & Worship

“Donyelle McCray blurs the boundaries of traditional preaching and invites readers to experience the lives and art of several historical and contemporary figures as expressions of proclamation. While appreciating aspects of the traditional 30-minute oration, she reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the source of the church’s preaching and invites us to become attuned to the Spirit’s proclamation outside as well as inside church walls. Not content with abstractions, Is it a Sermon? highlights specific rhetorical strategies African American musicians, visual and literary artists, and dancers have used to convey spiritual wisdom.”

Second Thoughts about Hell

Theology

“In Second Thoughts about Hell , authors Allen and Cornwall guide readers on a journey of understandings of hell in the Bible, the history of the church, and more recent theological reflection. They helpfully summarize the major views of hell today, from a literal hell to universal salvation, advocating for an understanding of hell that supports rather than undermines a life-affirming, hope-filled depiction of God and the human future. Readers will appreciate the book’s clarity and the authenticity with which the authors share, but do not impose, their own beliefs. A study guide for small groups and web-accessible suggestions for both topical and lectionary-based sermon series accompany the book.”

Telling the Whole Story

Preaching & Worship

“Holbert makes a compelling case for the inclusion of story preaching in the preacher's repertoire. . . . He equips the reader to do far more than just admire the artistry of others. He gives us the interpretive tools to imitate it in our own preaching. This book offers several stunning story sermons from the Old Testament, complete with exegetical insights and evaluation. It is a joy to read and put into practice, a must-have for preachers and teachers of Scripture.”

The Evolution of Faith

Science & Faith

“The Evolution of Faith, the third in a trilogy dealing with religion and science co-authored by Thomas McFaul and Al Brunsting, is an astute exploration of how the discoveries of modern science can interact with the insights of religious pluralism to shape how Christians view God and Christ. The authors develop a new perspective called ‘evolutionary pluralism,’ and their cross-disciplinary collaboration promises to stretch readers’ minds and ultimately clarify and strengthen faith.”

The Gospel of Mark

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Wes Allen’s The Gospel of Mark is a work of homiletical, exegetical, and theological depth. The genius of his interpretation is seen in the rich harvest of theological, homiletical insights it yields for contemporary preachers in complex contexts. Each passage includes general suggestions for preaching, followed by an analysis of literary context, theological and homiletical reflections, and exegetical notes. This magisterial work should be on the shelf of every biblical scholar and preacher !”

The Non-Violent Radical

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The Nonviolent Radical by Charles McCollough is an inspired melding of lively, accessible scholarship and visual art in a study of Jesus' proverbial wisdom teachings. As the foreword attests, McCullough sculpts both words and clay so that the sayings of Jesus 'cut to the marrow of our being.' McCollough places Jesus' often spiritualized, individualized wisdom sayings in their political economic context, the brutality and inequity of the first century, highlighting parallels with the twenty-first century . . . The sculptures the author/artist has created and the stories behind them become an incarnation in clay of Jesus' wisdom teachings.”

The Story of Narrative Preaching

Preaching & Worship

“Mike Graves's The Story of Narrative Preaching reclaims narrative preaching as an instrument for touching, not only people's emotions, but also their intellects. Its very form embodies Graves's central premise--that narrative is capable of both stirring creativity and offering crucial content. Shaped as an account of a seminary course in narrative preaching through the use of short stories, the book lives up to its title in its engaging, skillful interweaving of experience and exposition. . . . No book can be all things to all people, but this one comes close.”

The Witness of Preaching, Third Edition

Preaching & Worship

“The only preaching textbook that I can imagine improving on The Witness of Preaching is this third edition, which updates the content for the next generation of preachers. It features an updated version of the biblical exegesis process that takes cutting-edge methodologies into account, a chapter on digital technology in relation to preaching, and a new section that features Long’s analysis of the form of sermons by several of today’s most accomplished pulpit communicators. The Witness of Preaching equips today’s witnesses to preach compelling, coherent sermons to a new generation. It will take its place at the top of the required reading list as my mainstay `go-to’ textbook for my next preaching class!”

W. E. Sangster

Preaching & Worship

“W. E. Sangster: Sermons in America places the reader in the pew to listen to the voice of one of the preeminent preachers of the twentieth century. This volume of transcriptions of ten previously unpublished sermons on holy living preached by Sangster at the 1956 World Methodist Conference at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, reveals Sangster as a preacher with much to teach twenty-first century preachers. . . . Contemporary preachers, take and read!”

Where Have You Seen God?

Christian Living

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

Writing for the Ear, Preaching from the Heart

Preaching & Worship

“This book is a fresh, helpful guide for the preacher who yearns to be able to remember her sermon during its delivery and for it to live in her congregation's memory long after she has ceased to speak.”