Well-Driven Nails: The Power of Finding Your Own Voice

by Byron Forrest Yawn

Publisher:

Ambassador

, 2010

Overview

At its core this book is about everything seminary and academics never taught us about preaching. Professors don't produce preachers. Preachers are hewn out of the rough granite of experience and time. The author had the privilege of sitting down with some of the most notable preachers of our day and pilfering their hard-earned wisdom and insights. Well-Driven Nails is an accounting of what Byron Yawn learned from these true "professors" of the craft. But, it is also more than a book on preaching. It's about a journey every preacher must take if he is to be a fearless proclaimer of Christ in a room full of critics. It is about finding one's own voice. In this sense it also applies to everyone who struggles to overcome the fear of man in their devotion to Christ.

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Key Features

• Includes citations to various scholars and preachers
• Focuses on clarity, simplicity, and passion as keys to great preaching
• Provides encouragement as you seek to find your individual voice and style as a pastor

Contents

Top Highlights

“Passion—defined herein—is the manifestation of sincere conviction through the transparent expression of the preacher in the preaching moment.” (Page 16)

“Clarity is the starting point for dynamic delivery, not rehearsal and structure. A Spirit-illumined understanding and clarity of the text liberates delivery by allowing it to depend upon conviction and not structure. Structure, which is essential, results from and serves clarity.” (Page 15)

“The notable expositors of our day share some common traits: efficient mental discipline and a determined capacity for reflection.” (Page 50)

“When you step into the pulpit what is it you intend to do?” (Page 43)

“Those things which really improve delivery have little to do with mechanics. They have to do with the heart, soul and mind of the preacher.” (Page 15)

Contributors

• John MacArthur
• R.C. Sproul
• John Piper
• and more!

Praise for the Print Edition

I've never understood how an expositor who has immersed himself in the biblical text could preach a dull sermon, but I realize that many do—so many, in fact, that expository preaching has acquired a bad reputation in some circles. No wonder. Dry, passionless preaching and murky, technical jargon have ruined countless expository sermons. It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, as Byron Yawn points out so powerfully in this book, good expository preaching should never be dry or merely academic. The faithful expositor's duty entails much more than sound exegesis and symmetrical outlines. The delivery of the sermon is crucial. Zeroing in, especially on qualities like clarity, simplicity, and passion, Byron hits all the right notes. Every preacher who wants to be an effective expositor should read this book and take it to heart.

—Dr. John MacArthur, president, The Master's College and Seminary

In our age of celebrity preaching, ordinary preachers can begin to think that style ultimately determines whether preaching is great or not. Byron Yawn has provided a needed and helpful corrective by showing that what makes preaching great, instead, are three qualities: clarity, depth, and passion. The preachers he interviews are among the greats of our day, to be sure. But what makes them great as preachers are these three qualities that all good preaching should have, that your and my preaching may have. Experienced preachers, as well as those just starting out, will benefit much from getting clear on what matters most in our preaching, and Well-Driven Nails will help much in pointing us all in the right direction.

—Dr. Bruce A. Ware, professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Here is a must read book for every preacher who seeks to find his own individual voice and develop his own personal style in the pulpit. Each preacher is a one of a kind instrument, uniquely gifted by God, to proclaim His glory. This book will help guide you to be that preacher.

—Dr. Steven Lawson, senior pastor, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, Mobile, AL

Product Details

• Title: Well-Driven Nails: The Power of Finding Your Own Voice
• Author: Byron F. Yawn
• Publisher: Ambassador
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 124

About Byron Forrest Yawn

After his conversion, Byron Yawn was mentored and discipled by some faithful men who endowed him with a love for the local church and a passion for the Gospel. From the very beginning of his walk, he had a burning desire to make God's Word known to His people. The goal of Byron's heart is to stay basic. In his own words, "The most relevant aspect of our message will never make sense to the world. The Cross is an offensive thing. The Cross is the only thing." Byron is Senior Pastor of Community Bible Church in Nashville, TN where he resides with his wife Robin and their three children, Lauren, Wade, and Blake. Byron is a graduate of Mississippi College and The Master's Seminary.