Alyce M. McKenzie

Homiletics textbooks often discourage the use of humor in preaching, regarding it as trivializing or distracting. The result is that many preachers have failed to understand humor's positive power, demoting it to the opening joke to get a guaranteed guffaw to warm up the crowd. Humor Us , the second volume in the "Preaching and..." series, is a collaborative effort by homiletician Alyce M. McKenzie and humor scholar Owen Hanley Lynch that promotes humor, a force capable of great good, to its rightful place in the pulpit. Establishing humor as a divine gift, Humor Us opens to preachers the world of humor studies with its positive portrayal of humor's usefulness to speak truth to power, unite people in their common humanity, and strengthen them to cope and survive in tough times. Humor Us helps preachers understand how humor works and shows them, in very practical and specific ways, how preachers can put it to work in their sermons. It combines the wealth of knowledge of two highly regarded scholars-practitioners to show how humor can become a potent tool for sharing the good news in sermons. McKenzie and Lynch prove that humor, when applied thoughtfully, can foster compassion and a sense of common humanity, help challenge an unjust status quo, and invite listeners into a shared experience of the presence of God.

How can preachers ensure that their sermons continue to engage listeners in a world defined by visual media and the short, segmented delivery of information? Alyce McKenzie harnesses the element of drama and the human fascination with scenes to offer ministers a modern means of sermon development and delivery.McKenzie's core strategy is to invite listeners into scenes&#8212whether from Scripture or contemporary life&#8212and, once they are there, to point them toward the larger story of God's relationship with humankind. Creating such scenes unifies the whole process of preaching, she says, from the preacher's daily life observations to interpretation of scenes from Scripture, to sermon shaping, sequencing, and delivery. The process culminates in a specific understanding of the purpose of the sermon: to send listeners out into the scenes they'll play in their lives for the next week, equipped to act out their parts in ways that are kinder, more just, and more courageous than last week.

Wise Up invites the reader to step up to the divine customer service desk and exchange self-sufficiency, self-absorption, self-indulgence, and self-protection for the four virtues of biblical wisdom: the fear of the Lord (faith), the listening heart (compassion), the cool spirit (self-discipline), and the subversive voice (moral courage). An invaluable resource for personal devotion, small group study, and sermon series, Wise Up is a spiritual manual for navigating the twists and turns of an unpredictable life. The author mines the riches of the Bible's wisdom literature from Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the short sayings of the synoptic Jesus. The result is four guiding virtues that can keep our feet from stumbling on the journey to wisdom through the thorniest of paths. McKenzie, the author of several popular books for both clergy and laity, places her profound knowledge of biblical wisdom in conversation with the absurdities, pains, and joys of our everyday lives. She invites wisdom down from the pedestal to accompany the reader on his or her daily rounds. Reading this book, at the same time, soothes the soul and troubles the conscience. It deepens faith, fires compassion, cools destructive desires, and nudges the sleeping conscience awake. ""Dr. McKenzie has given us a powerful reading of wisdom literature. Rich in resources for reaching a twenty-first-century audience, she invites us to return our bad purchases--self-sufficiency, self-absorption, self-indulgence, and self-protection--and exchange them for faith, compassion, self-discipline, and outspoken courage. The ideas of this book will preach."" --Scott Jones, Bishop of the Texas Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church, author of The Wesleyan Way: A Faith that Matters ""Wise Up is a gold mine of compelling stories, accessible exegesis, and insights from practical theology. Alyce McKenzie shows us just what we need: a renewed awe before the Holy, a listening heart, spiritual discipline, and the courage to speak subversive truth. A wonderful resource "" --Carolyn J. Sharp, Professor of Homiletics, Yale Divinity School ""Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie has shaped a generation of preachers, equipping us faithfully to proclaim God's truth afresh weekly in pulpits across America and the world. With Wise Up she offers a work that will inspire individual faith, small group encounter with Scripture, and profound sermons."" --Michael W. Waters, award-winning author and founding pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church in Dallas, Texas ""Wise Up points the way to a much-needed divine exchange policy. It shows us that it's entirely possible to swap out the destructive items that don't enhance our lives and instead cash in for virtues that allow us to be shaped by God's wisdom. We are starved for this kind of clear, compelling wisdom that takes our current condition seriously and our possible future joyfully."" --Jessica LaGrone, Dean of Chapel, Asbury Theological Seminary ""Dr. Alyce McKenzie is one of the world's leading scholars of biblical wisdom literature. In this brilliant work, she starts with the Socratic question about how to live life well, and proceeds to unpack the 'four wisdom virtues' of the Old Testament as a response to that question. The result is a fascinating book that is both deep and enjoyable."" --Don Underwood, Senior Pastor, Christ United Methodist Church, Plano, Texas Alyce M. McKenzie is the Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. A sought after speaker and a prolific author, she is the Director of the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at SMU.

Wise Up invites the reader to step up to the divine customer service desk and exchange self-sufficiency, self-absorption, self-indulgence, and self-protection for the four virtues of biblical wisdom: the fear of the Lord (faith), the listening heart (compassion), the cool spirit (self-discipline), and the subversive voice (moral courage). An invaluable resource for personal devotion, small group study, and sermon series, Wise Up is a spiritual manual for navigating the twists and turns of an unpredictable life. The author mines the riches of the Bible's wisdom literature from Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the short sayings of the synoptic Jesus. The result is four guiding virtues that can keep our feet from stumbling on the journey to wisdom through the thorniest of paths. McKenzie, the author of several popular books for both clergy and laity, places her profound knowledge of biblical wisdom in conversation with the absurdities, pains, and joys of our everyday lives. She invites wisdom down from the pedestal to accompany the reader on his or her daily rounds. Reading this book, at the same time, soothes the soul and troubles the conscience. It deepens faith, fires compassion, cools destructive desires, and nudges the sleeping conscience awake. ""Dr. McKenzie has given us a powerful reading of wisdom literature. Rich in resources for reaching a twenty-first-century audience, she invites us to return our bad purchases--self-sufficiency, self-absorption, self-indulgence, and self-protection--and exchange them for faith, compassion, self-discipline, and outspoken courage. The ideas of this book will preach."" --Scott Jones, Bishop of the Texas Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church, author of The Wesleyan Way: A Faith that Matters ""Wise Up is a gold mine of compelling stories, accessible exegesis, and insights from practical theology. Alyce McKenzie shows us just what we need: a renewed awe before the Holy, a listening heart, spiritual discipline, and the courage to speak subversive truth. A wonderful resource "" --Carolyn J. Sharp, Professor of Homiletics, Yale Divinity School ""Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie has shaped a generation of preachers, equipping us faithfully to proclaim God's truth afresh weekly in pulpits across America and the world. With Wise Up she offers a work that will inspire individual faith, small group encounter with Scripture, and profound sermons."" --Michael W. Waters, award-winning author and founding pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church in Dallas, Texas ""Wise Up points the way to a much-needed divine exchange policy. It shows us that it's entirely possible to swap out the destructive items that don't enhance our lives and instead cash in for virtues that allow us to be shaped by God's wisdom. We are starved for this kind of clear, compelling wisdom that takes our current condition seriously and our possible future joyfully."" --Jessica LaGrone, Dean of Chapel, Asbury Theological Seminary ""Dr. Alyce McKenzie is one of the world's leading scholars of biblical wisdom literature. In this brilliant work, she starts with the Socratic question about how to live life well, and proceeds to unpack the 'four wisdom virtues' of the Old Testament as a response to that question. The result is a fascinating book that is both deep and enjoyable."" --Don Underwood, Senior Pastor, Christ United Methodist Church, Plano, Texas Alyce M. McKenzie is the Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. A sought after speaker and a prolific author, she is the Director of the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at SMU.

In this humorous guide, John C. Holbert and Alyce M. McKenzie provide helpful and practical advice for avoiding the common mistakes that many preachers make in their sermons. Useful for preachers, students, and teachers alike, What Not to Say addresses how to use language about God, how to use stories in preaching, and what not to say (and what to say) in the beginning, middle, and end of sermons. A companion video with preaching illustrations is available online at wjkbooks.com.

In this lively and accessible book, Alyce McKenzie explores how fiction writers approach the task of writing novels: how they develop their ideas, where they find their inspiration, and how they turn the spark of a creative notion into words on paper that will captivate the masses. McKenzie's study shows how preachers can use the same techniques to enhance their own creativity and to turn their ideas into powerful, well crafted sermons. Novel Preaching offers a wealth of advice from successful fiction writers, including Isabelle Allende, Frederick Buechner, Julia Cameron, Annie Dillard, Natalie Goldberg, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, and Melanie Rae Thorn, and also includes a number of sample sermons from McKenzie herself.

This book in the popular For Today series introduces the reader to the main parables of Jesus in an engaging and accessible way. Professor, author, and preacher Alyce McKenzie makes the familiar parables come alive with new meaning, using the best of biblical scholarship to provide an easy entrance to this major form of Jesus' teachings. With questions for discussion at the end of each chapter, this book is ideal for personal and group study.The For Today series was designed to provide reliable and accessible resources for the study and real life application of important biblical texts, theological documents, and Christian practices. The emphasis of the series is not only on the realization and appreciation of what these subjects have meant in the past, but also on their value in the present--"for today." Thought-provoking questions are included at the end of each chapter, making the books ideal for personal study and group use.

In this Gospel, Matthew tells the story of Jesus, who is the presence of God and has come to call the faithful to a new level of righteousness. He challenges his disciples to live each day as participants in God's kingdom--be poor in spirit and pure in heart, turn the other cheek and love one's enemies. Through his teachings and healings, Jesus breaks the bonds of evil and sin and frees each one for a life rich in celebration and service. By his resurrection, Jesus continues to be present, even until the end of the age.Interpretation Bible Studies (IBS) offers solid biblical content in a creative study format. Forged in the tradition of the celebrated Interpretation commentary series, IBS makes the same depth of biblical insight available in a dynamic, flexible, and user-friendly resource. Designed for adults and older youth, IBS can be used in small groups, in church school classes, in large group presentations, or in personal study.

Proverbs abound in contemporary culture and in biblical texts. But surprisingly, the use of proverbial wisdom is conspicuously absent in the contemporary pulpit. Alyce McKenzie offers preachers an effective way to reclaim proverbs in preaching, highlights their usefulness in contemporary situations, and demonstrates their ability to confirm (or subvert) the status quo.