| Title | : | Reverberation: How Gods Word Brings Light, Freedom, and Action to His People |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0802422993 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780802422996 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 197 |
| Publication | : | First published January 27, 2011 |
Reverberation explains the pulpit ministry and traces the theme of how the Word continues through the life of the church. Both theological and practical, Reverberation focuses on how the church hears, responds, discusses, implements and is transformed by the Word. No high-octane production, superstar personalities, or postmodern entreaties, just stuff that is really old, really good, and really powerful!
Reverberation: How Gods Word Brings Light, Freedom, and Action to His People Reviews
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I just finished Reverberation by Jonathan Leeman. It is one of those books that clearly brings forth truth that a lot of us take for granted, don't understand the importance of, or just ignorantly forget about. It is also one of the best books I have read in a while and I definitely recommend it. Any church member would do themselves and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ a lot of good by going through this book.
In fact I was so challenged and encouraged by this book, I am going to give a copy away. See details at the bottom of this post.
Reverberation is about how God's word brings light, freedom, and action to His people. Leeman asks straightforward and necessary questions, helping us to see that maybe we have not rightly prioritized God's word, some even loosing confidence in the Word of God. The goal of Reverberate is to essentially to help us see that God's word, working through God's spirit, is God's primary instrument for growing God's church. In fact, God's word is the most powerful force in the universe. God created the universe through his word (Genesis 1:3). He is recreating it through His word (2 Cor 4:6). And He sustains all things by His word (Hebrews 1:3).
Of course we give lip service to that, and we "know" that stuff. But how does that knowledge actually translate into how we choose a church to belong to? How does it translate as church leaders wanting to grow their churches? Does it?
This is one of those books that I wish I could write a review by just quoting the whole thing to you.
The book concentrates on three main topics: the word, the sermon, and the reverberation, and traces how the word of God should reverberate through them all.
1. The word invites and divides, acts, frees, and gathers.
I love how Leeman challenges us to build our churches based on biblical ideals, and that people should join our church because they are in love with the gospel, not because our church is the cool church or the baby boomer church, etc. He also points out that there is a difference between "removing distractions" from the word of God, such as uncomfortable seating, and "creating attractions" in our churches through clothing style, or dramas. He even gives a helpful look at how to remove distractions but not create attractions through clothing, humor, music, charisma, and good works. These are simple concepts, but how many actually take the time to intentionally think about how to simply remove distractions so people can focus on the Word that is being taught, which is what Paul calls us to in 1 Corinthians 1. We should take away all distractions and look to what the Bible wants us to adorn our church with: the holiness and sacrificial love of Christians as they live out their lives together.
The book also challenges readers to unite their churches around one thing: the gospel. Not social affinity. Not ethnicity. Not "coolness." Not intellectualism. Not age. Leeman proposes that giving into that temptation risks undermining the gospel. Can I get an amen?
2. The sermon should expose, announce, and confront.
In a section titled "How Then Do We Preach?" Leeman has some very intelligent things to say that I wish I could rip out and just give to all the pastors I know. He speaks to using creativity very wisely and carefully, realizing that it is NOT our creativity that builds the church, but it is the word of God. The goal of any sermon is to expose God's word, not hide it among our creatively packaged opinions. He compares it to the mailman, a reporter, and a receptionist- they don't deliver their own letters, but someone else's, they don't make up the news, they report it, they don't receive a phone call and pass on a random message, they pass on the caller's message. Likewise, a pastor must preach the word of God and not his own message or ideas. He proposes that the best method of preaching is expositional, so as to "expose God's word" and let IT set the agenda, instead of coming to it with our own agenda, which is a danger of topical preaching.
I really appreciated how Leeman approaches sermon theory. Much of what he says is counter cultural, even among the Christian culture, but in my opinion, he is spot on.
3. The reverberation of the word- how it works, how it sings, prays, disciples, scatters, and once again invites.
One thing that stood out to me in this section was the chapter titled "The Reverberation Sings." The section is talking about the point of singing in church, and the point is that "singing in church should be about the church singing." It goes on to say that
"God has given music to the gathered church so that the people together can own, affirm, rejoice in, and unite around God's word. Far better than the sweet harmonies of a few trained singers is the rough and hale sound of pardoned criminals, delighting with one voice in their Saviour."
What a different, glorious, and BIBLICAL take on the purpose of musical worship than the typical concert style "special music" programming of many churches today.
Again, I really enjoyed this book. I think Jonathan Leeman shares with us some really helpful and prudent wisdom about the word of God and how the word "brings light, freedom, and action to God's people." My brief overview does not do it justice.
check out my blog:
http://www.alissamgraham.com/2011/03/... -
This book isn't what you think it is. You might think it's a defense of the sufficiency of Scripture written for a general audience. In fact, it's much more than that. Leeman takes the first and perhaps the most important of the nine marks, expositional preaching, and thinks through the practical impact that mark has on all the other marks. His goal isn't to merely convince you of an idea, but to change the way you live out the Christian life in the local church.
I've just finished reading through this book with the elders of my church. It's been incredibly fruitful and encouraging and I'd highly recommend it for church leaders who are trying to get a handle on what the "nine marks" might look like in the life of their local congregation. -
This is a great, quick read about how the Word is central to the life of a church in every facet. Good for those in ministry or those who are not! Also, Leeman is great at taking otherwise difficult concepts and making them clear. He's also funny and made me laugh out loud a few times.
Grateful for the ministry of IX Marks! -
Reverberation is a pretty good read that mainly focused on the centrality of preaching and studying God's word. Based off the title it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I thought that it would be more focused on how God's word affects (reverberates) in different areas of our lives as individuals. He does talk about that (more-so in the second part), but I guess I had thought that he would have gone more in depth.
I think the main point of the book was that our conformity to Christ comes through the faithful preaching of God's Word working with the Holy Spirit. That theme seemed to resonate through every chapter of the book.
One of the points that really hit home was that our response to God's Word is our response to God Himself, and that the way we view God's Word shows how we view God. One of the main ways that the Lord used this book was in renewing a reverence His Word. Its always nice when you're in the middle of reading a book and want to stop so you can do as it says to go and study God's Word. Leeman constantly points the reader to go to God's Word.
There were a couple areas where I had some questions about Leeman's position on certain things. One of those areas was on platforms for the Word. I do agree that certain things do build good platforms for the Word, like good works, and how a person lives out what they preach. But in that section he also included things like music that is culturally familiar, or how a preacher dresses (or does his hair). I was a bit confused in this section because I wasn't sure if he was in support of or against certain "platforms". I have mixed beliefs on certain platforms. As an unbeliever I refused to attend a certain Bible Study at our old church because I knew that all the youth in that group lived just like everyone else at my school. They listened to the same music, had the same clothes, talked about the same things, etc. Even if these youth faithfully attended church service and even the morning Bible Study at school once a week, the way they lived their lives was one of the things that caused me to look at the Bible with indifference. In my opinion if they were all "Christians" there was no power in their belief, and therefore no hope for me. Why follow a god who has no power to change lives? When I attended a youth Bible Study years later things were different. The man that lead the study was a husband and father who looked like a husband and father (not a 40 year old man trying to fit in with the youth by dressing and acting the same). The youth in this group actually enjoyed studying God's Word and talked freely about what God was doing in their lives and how the battle against sin was going in their lives. Seeing the way they viewed God and how they viewed His Word was one of the "platforms" that God used in my life to draw me to himself. It wasn’t a popular music style or a young “cool” youth pastor, it was their attitude toward God and His Word. So I do think that the main important platform is the person's life. (Rom 2:17-14) As far as other platforms go I don't think most are that important, not even a church building that can comfortably seat people, or a bunch of church programs. Not that I think that large church buildings and church programs are wrong, but I do believe that they can easily become hindrances (when the focus is put on those platforms rather than God's Word, which is what the author repeatedly talks about). As far as music goes I think the author discussed this well with saying that the music needs to come from God's Word. I have heard different types of worship music and there are certain types that caught me by surprise. In 2009 I attended the Legacy Conference in Chicago where many of the preachers were also rap/hip hop artists. To my surprise the lyrics were incredibly biblical (more so than most contemporary songs). These artists do use their music as a platform, but the focus is put on God's Word. I do think that with any artist you will have listeners who just pay attention to the music itself and not the lyrics, so I think it is vitally important that they also preach (which many of them do). I've also been to some contemporary Christian concerts where the platform of music is basically "fluff" and the "preaching" in between songs is not from God's Word but rather from their experiences. Sure they'll pull out a verse or two from Scripture, but it is often used completely out of context. So like the author had talked about I think certain platforms can be good so long as they are used to point a person’s focus to God.
One of the other areas where I had some questions about Leeman's belief was in the area of topical preaching. I'm all for expositional preaching but I also think that the church benefits from topical preaching (so long as the preacher has thoroughly studied the subject rather than just pulling out a bunch of verses that mention the subject - 2 Ti 2:15). Leeman mainly describes the risks of topical preaching when he addresses this subject. He said, "in a topical series...God and His all-wise Word does not set the agenda for what the congregation learns" I don't necessarily agree with that. If a pastor notices a certain sin or trial that is prevalent in his flock I think it would be appropriate for him to spend some time preaching on the subject. I do believe that a pastor can be more at risk to pull verses out of context if he does not spend the time needed to study and meditate on the verses that he uses, but I don't believe that just because he preaches on a certain topic that he is not seeking out God's agenda. The apostle Paul wrote different churches about different things he had seen in them or heard about them. If the flock was struggling with a certain sin, he addressed it. So if God's agenda is to conform us to the image of Christ, then I would think that a topical sermon/series that accurately handles the word of God could very well work in sync with God's agenda. From what I understand Leeman is not against topical preaching, but he believes it does not have the same benefit as expositional preaching.
So those are my thoughts on the book Reverberation. It really was a good read, and I would recommend it, especially to someone who is dabbling in or thinking of dabbling in "seeker-sensitive" beliefs and building a church off of programs rather than focusing on the Word. In my opinion, less programs = less distractions. It is a quick read and easy to understand. And like I had mentioned before the main area where he talks about how the Word specifically reverberates in our lives is in the second half of the book. -
**Not a full review, simply some quotations
"Picture in your mind some church you have known. Now, for just a moment, take away the programs. Take away the children's nursery. Take away the parking lot and the musical instruments and the bulletins. Take away the building. Take away everything but the people of the church itself. Imagine all these members of the church standing together in a field. If you like, you can imagine it's a sunny day and that nobody's getting wet. Make the field as nice and flowery as you like. The point is, all you have are the people. Once you have this church in your head, ask the question: What do we need to grow this church in both numbers and spiritual depth? Do we need the building back? Or the musical instruments or bulletins? What must we have?"
"What about the power of sight?...There's nothing new here. People have always been driven by sight. The Israelites felt fear at the sight of Goliath. The lover feels attraction at the sight of his beloved in the Song of Solomon. The temple was decorated with bronze pomegranates and gold flowers. And the apostle John warns his readers about 'the desires of the eyes'...At the same time, we live in the 'age of the ear'...After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God withdrew Himself from the sight of all humanity. He forbade His people from making any representation of Him. And He permitted His favored prophet, Moses, only to see His back...the only physical description [of Jesus is] what Jesus didn't look like....Apparently the Bible doesn't want us to focus on the sight of Jesus."
"We will be tempted to unite people around something other than God's divisive Word, like music, or style or acts of service....Jesus has specifically invited people to a wedding, knowing that many will refuse to put on wedding garments. Believe it or not, Jesus means to divide people through His call to repentance. When we soften the invitation, leaving out the tough bits, we oppose His very purposes."
"What will I as a church leader wear? Hopefully, something that people won't pay any attention to at all--something that will neither attract nor distract."
"There's a difference between removing distractions (uncomfortable seats, hot rooms, strange music, cultural or spiritual offenses) so that the Word is free to do its work; and creating attractions (Through clothes, musical style, drama, etc.). Removing distractions, which is what Paul does, is prudent; creating attractions, generally, is not."
"We should use whatever gifts, resources, and natural affinities we have to proclaim His Word, but we should also do our best to make sure people join our local church because they love the gospel, not because we're the cool church or the intellectual church, the baby-boomer church or the church of a particular ethnicity."
"God speaks through us whenever we plainly and modestly relate whatever He has already said in the Bible. Preachers are to expose God's message, simply and directly."
"Creative people don't need to focus on being creative, and charismatic people don't need to focus on being charismatic...They talk, and it happens....The preacher gives his hearers a chance at life only insofar as he succeeds in faithfully reproducing what God has already said."
"The Word of God can exegete our people far better than we can. It can unpack and explain them. It knows what they really need."
"Christian preaching, if it's about anything, is about announcing the amazingly good news of Jesus Christ....One helpful test is to ask whether a man's sermon could have been preached by a Jewish rabbi or a Muslim imam...there should be something distinctively Christian about a Christian sermon; namely, it should point to the person and work of Christ."
"Ignorance is indeed one of our problems, but even worse is the stiff neck and puffed-out chest of our self-rule."
"The Bible is fundamentally confrontational....You're not who you think you are. And God is not who you think He is."
"Pagans pray, no doubt. They ask God for things. But a key difference between a Christian and a non-Christian's praying is that Christian praying will increasingly conform to the intentions of God's Word. So we will adore, confess, give thanks, and ask for those things which His Word tells us to."
"When a ninety-minute Sunday service includes less than five minutes of prayer, you can see whom they really trust."
"Some things on a church's prayer list should make sense to non-Christians, as with prayer for acute health situations, or prayer for the good of our neighborhood and city. But much of a church's prayer list should look strange and even useless to non-Christians: 'Please pray that...our children would trust in the gospel; we would be faithful in preaching and listening to God's Word; the church down the street would prosper; a church on the other side of the planet would prosper; God would make us sacrificial with our money and time; we would grow in a culture of transparency in one another's lives; we would be united in spite of cultural economic, and generational differences; our members would be faithful in evangelism.'" -
Leeman, Jonathan: Reverberation: How God’s Word Brings Light, Freedom, and Action to His People with forward by Matt Chandler
I would say this is the best book I have read all year, but it is only the second book I have read in 2012 so I will say it is in the top 3 best books I read in 2011 and would be high in my ranking of importance for all books I have read. When Thabiti Anyabwile says in his endorsement “Put this book into the hands of any Christian you wish to give a revolutionizing appreciation of God’s Word in the local church” he hit the nail right on the head. This book will revolutionize your thinking about God’s word, by that I would include all of God’s word spoken in history that brought creation into existence, written in the bible, and Jesus Christ who is the word. This book will also give you a greater appreciation for God’s word reverberated through the pastors’ preaching and Christians sharing the word with others. This book comes in at just under 200 pages, but pack a real punch that will give depth to any motivated reader’s theology.
Leeman divides the book into three main parts first “the word”, second “the sermon”, and thirdly “the reverberation”. In the first he convincingly forms a theology of the word of God that is not mainly concerned with the questions of scriptures inerrancy, infallibility, or historical reliability, although these are assumed. This book deals more with what may fall under the sufficiency of scripture. What is an absolute necessity for a church’s growth, Leeman argues it is the word of God. The second part talks about the method of presenting this word, he argues that God gives us his word in the bible and that we hear God’s word through the faithful preaching of it. He helpfully discusses how pastor should preach the word and how members can know they are hearing God speak through this deliver of the word. In the third and last part of the book Leeman looks at how the local church sings the word, prays the word, and disciples with the word. In the last chapter he looks again at evangelism and how the word scatters the church so that it can gather the church.
This book has a much needed theology of the word for the church today. The content is so great and to make it better it is presented in an easy to consume way, this is a book that doesn’t require a huge amount of former knowledge on this subject. I will recommend this book to younger and older Christians alike. This book will also be helpful to pastors who need this foundation to build there preaching methods upon. As a member of a Southern Baptist Association church it is exciting to see such a helpful book coming from the pen of another Southern Baptist, but don’t let that comment confuse you, this is a book for the church and any who know English I’m convinced would benefit from it.
Publisher: Moody Publishing
Year:2011
Pages:197
Boards: Paperback
Binding: Glue
Scripture Index: No
Subject Index: No
Persons Index: No
Recommended Reading List: Yes given at the end of each chapter corresponding
This book was given to me free of cost as part of a review program by Moody Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review only to give my honest opinion concerning the book. -
9Marks is one of the leading Evangelical organizations for the promotion of healthy churches. Over the last few years they have begun publishing resources for pastors and laity to better understood the identity and vocation of the local church. One such resource is Reverberation by Jonathan Leeman.
Leeman is passionate about Scripture and it shows in his writing. His intent in writing Reverberation is to help the reader "see that God's Word, working through God's Spirit, is God's primary instrument for growing God's church" (pp. 19). This thesis governs the rest of the whole book.
Reverberation is divided into three parts: (1) The Word, (2) The Sermon, and (3) The Reverberation.
In Part 1, The Word, Leeman sets up his theology of the Word. His chapter titles work well as summaries of the content. God's Word "invites and divides". Functioning now as a sort of pre-Parousia judgement. Second, God's Word "acts". It actually cause change and has transformative power. Third, God's word "frees", it has the ability to liberate and break chains. Freedom is found in the message, the spoken word, of Jesus. And fourth, God's Word "gathers". For Leeman, the center of the church's gathering is the preached Word, it is the instrument of God for gathering his people.
In Part 2, The Sermon, the function and facets the sermon are laid out. Again, Leeman's chapter titles work as a good grounds to evaluate his argument. First, the sermon out to "expose". In other words, sermons ought to be expositional. The preachers purpose it to simply and clearly lay forth the teaching of Scripture. Essentially, preaching is "'re-revelation'...delivering the mail, reporting the news, or passing on the message" (pp. 111). Leeman does allow that there is a time and place for Topical and Dialogical preaching, but it should certainly be limited. In the following two chapters, Leeman works out the content of the sermon. The sermon "announces" and "confronts". Essential to faithful preaching is declaration and challenge.
Finally in Part 3, The Reverberation, Leeman sets out what a Word-centered Church ought to look like. When the Word is preached faithfully, it will reverberate amongst the members of the community in four ways: (1) singing, (2) praying, (3) discipling, and finally (4) scattering and inviting. These are rather simple, yet, essential elements of the what it means to be the Church. The reverberating of the Word ought to create a people characterized by this quadrilateral.
Overall, Leeman's work is a good introduction to the role of Scripture in the Church from a low-church viewpoint. His writing is simple and very clear. I'd recommend it to laity interested in preaching or wondering about the role of the Bible in the Church. Personally, it was what I expected. I was never very engaged in the book. It may be that I am familiar with 9Marks theology of the Word--I did sit under Michael Lawrence's teaching for 3 years. So, I wouldn't recommend it for Bible students or more academically bent folks, but it is certainly a good introduction. I'd say Leeman accomplished what he intended.
NOTE: This book was provided free of charge from Moody Publishers in exchange for an honest review. -
I believe Reverberation is a useful instrument for church leaders to continually calibrate their mission and methods, and for the Christian to grow a deeper understanding of the most foundational component of following Christ, namely the application of the Word to what we do in our church gatherings and in day to day life.
Leeman also includes an excellent list of suggested readings to further your study after each chapter. -
Jonathan Leeman nos apresenta vários tipos de aplicação da Palavra pregada e lida. O título "Reverberation" ("Reverberação") traz a ideia de que o sermão de domingo produz um eco na vida do crente (ex.: na segunda-feira, de manhã, no trabalho, enquanto ouve um patrão chato). O púlpito atinge o casamento dos crentes, a amizade dos jovens e todos os tipos de relacionamentos; também o louvor da igreja, a visão missionária desta e o discipulado são afetados pelo que ouvimos no culto de domingo.
A primeira parte do livro é uma rejeição do famoso pensamento franciscano: "pregue sempre, se necessário use palavras". Leeman mostra que esse pensamento não deriva das Escrituras. Ou seja, a fé vem pelo "OUVIR a Palavra" (Rm 10). O fundamento de todo livro é estabelecido nessa primeira parte.
Na segunda parte, Leeman trata do sermão. O sermão preparado e entregue, sua natureza e importância. O autor demostra também que as obrigações do sermão não estão relacionadas apenas ao pregador, mas o ouvinte tem responsabilidades também: ouvir, meditar, conversar sobre a pregação e, principalmente, colocar em prática.
A terceira parte é a melhor, pois Leeman traz as implicações da Palavra para vários âmbitos da vida cristã.
Leeman é muito cativante, bem-humorado e objetivo quando explica algo. Ele trata o leitor como se estivesse numa sala, segurando nossa mão, com voz amena, enquanto conversamos sobre igreja local tomando café.
Recomendo aos amigos pastores que preparam um bom sermão, mas têm dificuldades sobre como aplicá-lo na vida da igreja local.
Excelente livro. Espero que a Editora Fiel ainda traduza essa obra, pois também faz parte da série 9Marcas e será muito edificante para o leitor brasileiro. -
How does the Bible affect every facet of the local church? Jonathan Leeman offers thoughtful answers, showing its practical connection to evangelism, preaching, teaching, singing, praying, and discipling. In an era when many church experts are developing new theories for church life or programs for church mission, Leeman sticks to the basics. He points the reader consistently back to the Scriptures. His tone is irenic, his prose is superb, and his insights resonate. This is a brother who loves the church and who desires to strengthen it.
While this may draw a yawn from Christians already committed to a Word-centered ministry, expository preaching, or doctrinal fidelity, Leeman observes that it is easy to attend church faithfully and miss letting the Bible reverberate throughout every aspect of our lives and our churches. It's not enough to be doctrinally conservative or follow a verse-by-verse style of preaching, it is also vitally important to connect the BIble to all of life and the church. Leeman makes this connection masterfully in practical concrete explanations, current illustrations, and clear applications.
Church leaders such as elders, deacons, small group leaders and Sunday School teachers should read this book. It is a needed reminder to keep the main thing the main thing, and it is an encouragement for those already engaged in the process. It will provoke good conversation as leaders evaluate their ministries and strive for Gospel growth. I'd also recommend this book to both new church members or visiting guests. It provides a great perspective on local church ministry in an era of consumerism.
Buy it, read it, share it! -
The author gives various overviews of his book:
How important, really, is preaching the Bible to the life and existence of local churches? Not important? Kind of important? One of several things that are important?
My guess is that, if you’re a Christian, you pay at least lip service to the idea that God’s Word is important. Yet my first goal in this book is to help you see theologically and practically how uniquely essential it is. I want to help you see that God’s Word, working through God’s Spirit, is God’s primary instrument for growing God’s church...
... the “ministry of the Word” indeed begins in the pulpit, but then it must continue through the life of the church as members echo God’s Word back and forth to one another. The word reverberates, as in an echo chamber. In a real echo chamber, sound reverberates off walls. In the church, it’s the hearts of people that both absorb and project the sounds of His effectual Word...
... The goal of this book is to... take a theological and practical look at how God’s Word establishes the church and grows it. The Word grows the church as unbelievers are saved and baptized into it, and then it grows church members in their life together. My hope for church leaders reading this book is that they will grow in their conviction of what they must do to build a church. And my hope for all Christians reading it is that they will grown in their conviction of what they need and therefore require in their churches (pp19,25).
I highly recommend this book. -
I really liked this book. If you read Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It has the same rich truth with rich application. This book is for the one that knows the word and the one who does not, this book is for the one that struggles with the word, this is for the one who loves the word. Everyone should read this book. YOU will be richer for it.
Like a bell that sings one note clearly, may my heart ring clear. That all I speak is the gospel.
When we have the attitude of entitlement, we can't carry cross. The word confronts and can be abrasive.
The purpose of scripture is to confront our self-rule. Amazing Grace is when God can break the self-rule thru his word and that is by preaching. I liked the story he had when the preacher was preaching on God who told his people to destroy an entire city. Those are difficult words to hear but if you are a christian, you should know why a verse like this is in the bible. The word is your responsibility. You can say one or two things...the bible is wrong/God is wrong, are figure how this goes with your faith in God and his plan for redemption. The word confronts your present reality and then the spirit gives a new one.
I marked up this book pretty good so I guess I am keeping it. -
Leeman is on staff with Mark Dever at Capital Hill Baptist Church in DC and this book fits into the 9Marks library of volumes on church health. Overall, it is a good addition to the series as it notes how giving primacy of Scripture to a local church "reverberates" throughout everything else. The first two parts of the book provide the foundation for placing God's Word in the premiere place it belongs. This is the strength of the volume. Give high priority to Scripture in the local church and preach it faithfully. That alone should be carefully examined by each pastor. No matter what is claimed, few churches really do this.
The last part of the book merits an entire volume on its own and is its weakest aspect. Leeman explores worship, fellowship, prayer, discipleship, and missions/evangelism and offers a good introduction to biblical faithfulness permeating these areas of ministry, but there is much more that could and should be written what this looks like in the local church. There could even be more comparisons of what it means when reverberation is compromised. Leeman's lack of pastoral experience shows here, but he nonetheless offers a good tool for church leaders to ponder over and build upon. -
If I could put a copy of this book in the hands of every bible teacher, ministry worker, and church member I know, I would. It's that good.
Leeman's thesis is simple: God's Word is effective. As the subtitle says, it brings "light, freedom, and action to his people." Based on this premise, he encourages us to center every aspect of our local churches around Scripture. It seems so simple, yet it is so rarely put into practice. Over the past several decades, Evangelicals have fought tooth and nail for the inerrancy of Scripture. But, along the way, it seems that we've forgotten about the sufficiency and authority of the Scriptures. But what good is as inerrant Bible if we ignore it? Leeman points out this often overlooked problem and exhorts ministers of God's Word to actually base their ministries on God's Word.
Far from being merely theoretical, the book is also very practical. As a Bible teacher, I found the concept of "confrontation" rather than application to be quite helpful. The recommended reading at the end of every chapter is also a plus.
Biblical. Practical. Wonderful.
Read it. And while you're at it, read everything else by Jonathan Leeman. It's all this good. -
Some favorite quotes include:
Our goal now is to trace the Word and Spirit’s power from one area of the church’s life to another, almost like we were following the flow of electricity through power lines from one building to the next.
Sin doesn’t place its chain around your neck, but around your heart—its desires.
Ignorance is indeed one of our problems, but even worse is the stiff neck and puffed-out chest of our self-rule.
the preacher must understand what his hearers believe—the warp and woof of their false worlds. His goal is to confront those beliefs precisely.
My universe was a little less me-centered and a little more God-centered by the time the sermon was over.
Praying Scripture means that church leaders might want to consider preparing their prayers in advance rather than place such a high premium on that quintessential virtue of Romanticism (and not the Bible)—spontaneity
Compared to relationships, events and programs make me think of ice skates gliding across ice. Relationships make me think of gum on the bottom of a shoe on a hot day. That’s probably why it’s so easy to default toward thinking of the local church’s work in terms of programs and events. -
Another thoughtful book from Jonathan Leeman. This book discusses the place of the Word in the life of the church (hence its publication by 9Marks). The Word should flow forth from the pulpit and from the lives of the members and resonate (or, you know, "reverberate") throughout the church and our lives. As with his previous book
The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline , this book is a bit heavy on terrible metaphors and images (which is common amongst pastoral writers, who have the goal of making a point clearly, rather than making a point well). But that is also really the only weakness in the book. It's well worth the short time it takes to read. -
This is a simple book on the inherent power of the Word of God. Leeman believes that when everything is stripped away from the church it has nothing left but the Word that is enough to make it grow. It is the Spirit of God who works through the Word of God. This manifests itself through the preaching of the word, singing of the Word, reading of the Word, praying of the Word and witnessing of the Word.
The idea of the Word of God reverberating is that as the Word is proclaimed in all of these ways it reaches beyond the walls of the church and goes out into the world. The Word spreads out in order to gather people in so that they would spread the Word out again.
Reverberation is a call for all preachers and churches to proclaim the Word of God as the most powerful force in church growth. -
I have long been a fan of 9Marks, and I have recently become a fan of Jonathan Leeman.
This book is a powerful apologetic on the sufficiency of Scripture. As a local church pastor, it brought me great encouragement, as well as conviction. I was reminded that God's Word is powerful, but sometimes the results are slow in coming.
I appreciated the "reverberation" metaphor. In a healthy church where God's Word is honored, the Word of God will reverberate from one believer to another. It will be apparent from the pulpit to the pew. It will heard in their songs and in their prayers. And, it will be heard in their conversations with one another.
I recommend this book for all Christians, not just pastors. -
This is a solid, pew-level book on the necessity of the Word of God for Christian life and growth. The particular contribution of the book, in my opinion, lies in Leeman's arguments for the primacy of Scripture in the life of the Church, including the worship service. Though Leeman could have dug deeper in each of his chapters, Reverberation can be profitably read by anyone. Read it, then give it to someone else.
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Many books talk about the authority and sufficiency of Scripture and Gospel Centered Churches. However, this book by Jonathan Leeman gets beyond the theoretical and provides many practical ways to allow Scripture to change the way we live as individual Christians and the Church.
This books is easy to read and filled with many illustrations and examples. It is solidly based on sound biblical teaching. A must read for anyone desiring to live under the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. -
Leeman puts forward a challenging vision of how broadly and pervasively the Word of God ought to function in the life of the Church. Alongside that, he always holds onto the fact that God's Word will act, freeing us to respond to it, instead of creating artificial emotion or wielding flashly shows or slick marketing to introduce people to Jesus. God's Word is enough; we just need to let it be central.
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I have had this book on my "to be read" shelf for quite a while, but I just got around to reading it this weekend. I had no idea how foundational this book is! Leeman writes about the necessity of God's Word for the church's life and growth. In the future, this will be a book that I quickly recommend to new Christians, Christians needing to understand the importance of the Bible, and pastors who are struggling to remember the slow but powerful effects of God's Word.
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This book has been very influential in my understanding of the central focus of God's Word in all areas of life, within the church and outside her walls. Also, I would recommend this as a springboard book for anyone wanting to dive deeper into the Reformed doctrine of Scripture. It is a gateway book.
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Excellent book about Gods Word and how it reverberate in singing, prayer, discipleship. The Word brings life and is supposed to shape the church and everyone following Christ. The question I ask myself after reading this book is: Where are we placing our confidence?
I encourage pastors, preachers, elders, worship leaders and small group leaders to read this book! -
Tremendously encouraging and insightful. In a world of so much uncertainty and rampant individualism expressed in every conceivable opinion, it's best to stick with what we know for sure: God's Word is true. It is always relevant and applicable. Our obligation...better yet, our privilege...is to read it, study it, obey it, and share it. This book will inspire you and help you to do all the above!
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Another great book from "9 Marks," this time Jonathan Leeman. The whole book is helpful in exhorting all churches and pastors to strive toward Word-centeredness. What was particularly helpful for me was the section on how God's Word must confront hearers in the act of preaching.
Get it! Read it! -
Well written easy read and helpful. The message of the book can be easily summarized as "have confidence in the Bible". This book helps answer what it means to be truly Word centered. What would utter dependence and total confidence in God's Word look like in our churches and daily lives?
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Not sure it's anything revolutionary, however I did find it extremely encouraging and re-affirming. We must labor to preach the gospel resting in God's power through his word to change lives. How easy it is to be swayed from this critical focus!
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Excellent book on how the Word builds and unites the local church. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to any church member or leader wanting to learn more about it. Very helpful, and very accessible.
