Perhaps the leading distinctive of Christianity is preaching, and it’s not too likely that this overstates the case – we are, after all, a people marked and shaped and driven by a message we have been given to proclaim.
Greetings, I’m Fred Zaspel, executive editor here at Books At a Glance, and today we’re talking to Joel Beeke and Dustin Benge, co-editors of the new book, Pulpit Aflame: Essays in Honor of Steve Lawson. It’s a wonderful collection of essays on the subject of preaching by various contributors who do it very well.
Dr. Joel Beeke is president and professor of systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Dustin Benge is the editor for Expositor Magazine and the Director of Operations for OnePassion Ministries where he works very closely with Steve Lawson, the one in whose honor this book has been brought about.
Justin, welcome, congratulations on this new book, and thanks for talking to us today.
Benge:
Thank you very much, Fred, it’s a great pleasure of mine to be joining you.
Zaspel:
First, for any who may not be acquainted with him tell us briefly about Steve Lawson.
Benge:
I met Steve Lawson years ago at a conference while doing my master of divinity degree at Southern seminary in Louisville Kentucky. He came in where I was working that evening and we were able to speak and get to know one another. It was several years later that I was invited to join him at Christ Fellowship Baptist Church where he was pastor in Mobile, Alabama, as an associate pastor. Currently Steve is the president and founder of OnePassion Ministries based in Dallas, Texas. He’s also the executive editor of Expositor magazine where I am the editor, so we work very closely on that project. He is also a teaching fellow for Ligonier Ministries and Professor of Preaching and oversees the Doctor of Ministries program at the Masters Seminary.
Steve has pastored for over 30 years in various states, but in 2014 he retired from pastoral ministry to concentrate on OnePassion Ministries and a very busy itinerant schedule of preaching and conferences around the world. Steve has authored over 30 books. He is known for his passionate zeal in the pulpit and his utmost dedication to expository preaching.
Zaspel:
I suspect that if anybody knows anything about Steve it’s his preaching. He is an outstanding preacher, for sure. What are some of the leading traits of Steve’s preaching?
Benge:
Well, Fred, I think the book really says it – Pulpit Aflame, and anyone who knows Steve will know that that rings true. Anytime he enters the pulpit it ignites with a passion for the glory of God, a zeal for the gospel of Christ, all undergirded by the power of the Holy Spirit. Steve is greatly biblically driven in that he is fully committed to the authority and the inerrancy of Scripture, and he is a sequential expositor. I had the great privilege, for the first little bit that I was at Christ Fellowship, to sit under his preaching verse by verse through the book of Philippians. He enjoys preaching through books one at a time. I’m just very encouraged from a number of people that have sat under his ministry for years. They’ve heard him preach through every verse of Romans, every verse of the gospel of Mark. It’s just been a real privilege. He’s also theologically passionate in that he is passionate for the doctrines of grace, the sovereignty of God and then also the message that men and women must be born again.
Zaspel:
What are some major theological emphases in Steve’s preaching?
Benge:
Steve has often said, in our private conversations as well as several times publicly, that if he could be any preacher in church history, he would be the great evangelist George Whitfield because of Whitefield’s emphasis, his preaching upon the new birth, upon calling men and women to repentance and faith. Steve’s preaching is of late, and I think you would agree with this, that preachers evolve in regard to what they emphasize, as they learn, as they read, as they are influenced by certain preachers throughout church history, but I think, as of late, Steve has emphasized perhaps the message of being born again more than any other message. This type of message, of course, includes a great emphasis on the cross and on men turning to Christ in faith and calling upon Christ in salvation. I think now that would be the predominant trait and theme of every sermon that Steve preaches.
Zaspel:
Okay, tell us about this book – can you give us a brief overview? What can the readers expect to find?
Benge:
Absolutely. This book is very close to my heart. I have worked on compiling these essays along with Dr. Beeke for over a year before it was presented to him just a few weeks ago at Ligonier Ministries’ West Coast conference in Seattle, Washington. When readers open the book, they are introduced to Steve in the first chapter with an overview of his life. I wrote that chapter. It was quite interesting. It was, I would say, rather difficult to write biographical sketch of a person that you could not verbally speak with. I was trying to keep the whole project a secret. We succeeded. So I had to gather materials from interviews, his family, etc. as I wrote that particular chapter. Which I think everyone will enjoy.
After the first chapter, the reader is then set on a journey through four parts of the book. Part number one is The Mandate of Preaching; part number two is The Meaning of Preaching; part number three is The Motivation of Preaching; and then part number four is The Method of Preaching. Each particular part includes three chapters the finest preachers, pastors and theologians alive today. Men like John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Sinclair Ferguson, Derek Thomas, Albert Mohler, Joel Beeke, Ian Campbell, Michael Haykin and a great many others who have given their voice really to call men back to the biblical mandate of preaching the word.
Zaspel:
How did this book come about?
Benge:
I wanted to honor Dr. Lawson’s contribution, Fred, to a faithful pulpit ministry for the past 30 years, as well as his investment into the lives of countless preachers both young and old. It is amazing as I have stood in conferences over the past several months, and over the past couple of years and stood and heard men come up to me and just explain to me the contribution through his writing, through conferences, through his pulpit ministry, that Steve Lawson has made on their lives. And so I wanted to honor that in some way. I began outlining what I wanted the chapters to be about, who I wanted to contribute to each chapter. Each author is a personal friend of Dr. Lawson’s and I knew he would greatly appreciate that. Then I approached Joel about joining me on this project and what we have is, in my opinion, one of the best books on the subject of preaching that has been published in many years.
Zaspel:
It is excellent.
When did you present this book to Steve?
Benge:
It was two or two and half weeks ago at the Ligonier Ministries’ West Coast conference in Seattle, Washington. Ligonier was so kind, because of Steve’s relationship with them, to allow us to present the book to him. Dr. Beeke presented the book at the end of the message he gave at the conference. Steve sat in amazement as a video of a book trailer was played over the main system. R.C. Sproul and Dr. Albert Mohler gave a great word about Steve and the book. Steve told us later that he thought it was a joke; he thought it was satire that was playing, but he was greatly surprised, greatly humbled and quite overwhelmed. So that was a great joy to be able to surprise him in that way.
Zaspel:
We’re talking to Dustin Benge about their new book, Pulpit Aflame: Essays in Honor of Steve Lawson, a superb collection of essays about preaching – surely a Christian distinctive if ever there was one. We encourage you to buy a copy for yourself and for your pastor!
Dustin, thanks for talking to us today.
Benge:
Thank you so much, Fred; it’s been a joy to be with you.
Editor’s Note: Here’s the video Dustin mentioned in the interview.