Deborah Davies

As freelance advertising copywriters, Tina Rabb and Deborah Davies were selling supersonic subwoofers and touting Tijuana getaways on everything from billboards to fast food tray lines when it hit them: They were using their expertise to persuade people to buy things they may not really need -- so why not use that knowledge to help churches get the most mileage from their billboards? Why not promote something people truly need in their daily lives -- the love of God? There are probably more than a million church signs and marquees in the United States, each offering an unparalleled chance to promote the kingdom of Christ. Yet passersby are often greeted with muddled and ungrammatical messages. The Proverbial Marquee is the cure for what ails many church marquees today. It's a complete collection of proven proverbs and original wisdom, all especially suited to signage. And it couldn't be more practical: - Maxims are categorized for easy reference - Each message is formatted line by line for easy drive-by reading - Line lengths are calculated to fall well within the average church sign's width - Best of all, a convenient letter count is provided So while this book may have started out as atonement for their advertising sins, Rabb and Davies discovered that The Proverbial Marquee became a labor of love that was too gratifying (not to mention too much fun) to count as penance. But isn't that how a wise Father often works? A proverbial plethora of inspiration What a great idea: a portable book of drive-by encouragement. I found it impossible to put down once I started reading. A great gift and super resource. Enjoy Becky Freeman National speaker and author of several best-selling books (Worms in My Tea, Real Magnolias, Chocolate Chili Pepper Love) In this very interesting collection of messages, Rabb and Davies have given us a wide selection of thought-provoking, humorous, and catchy sayings. They offer churches of all types many options for communicating brief but significant messages to the world. Scott Jones McCreless Chair of Evangelism Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University Tina Rabb and Deborah Davies are freelance advertising copywriters from Greenville, Texas. They have worked for national advertising agencies and for such clients as Southwest Airlines, Cellular One, GTE, and the American Heart Association. In addition to their copywriting, they have been published in several Texas newspapers, including the Houston Post and the Dallas Morning News. Rabb and Davies have been the recipient of numerous awards from advertising associations, the Southwestern Journalism Congress, and the National Press Women's Association, among others. They are both journalism graduates of East Texas State University.

The title of John Killinger's newest book, Preaching To A Church In Crisis, is meant to underline the uniqueness of the present situation in mainline Protestantism, and perhaps the urgency of it, but not to sensationalize it. He makes the point that inasmuch as the mainline churches for so many years established the social and political norms in our country, as well as the spiritual norms, any crisis in their existence becomes a major crisis in modern Christendom, and, by extension, in American life as a whole. In the opening chapters of the book Killinger creates a general understanding of the malaise now affecting our churches. He then extrapolates from that understanding a sense of the moods and feelings affecting the people in America's congregations. Answering the question of what influence the disintegration of the mainline church has on the psyche of the persons attending these congregations, he places the preacher in a better position for thinking about preaching and what its hallmarks must be in order to speak truly and effectively for the gospel in our time. I don't think I'm tipping my hand to say that preachers have not faced such challenges, or lived in such a tumultuous era, since the days of the Reformation itself when a similar series of shocks and stresses occurred in the history and culture of the world. Then, a revolution of far-reaching and deeply felt consequences produced radical changes in the life of the church and in the way many preachers came to understand their calling and their craft.... The fundamentalist and traditionalist voices attempting to reinforce the dogmas and emphases of an earlier age, sincere and faithful as they may be, do no service to the church or the world at this point in what is transpiring. (from author introduction) Though anguish fills these pages at times, the profound and hope-filled review of the themes and factors Killinger feels necessary to turn the tide will inspire and motivate the modern preacher. This is one of the most forceful and insightful books on preaching and the modern day church to appear in years. John Killinger, one of the best known preachers and teachers of preachers in America, has pastored churches In Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, and California. He has taught preaching, worship, and literature at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, The University of Chicago, and the School of Theology at Claremont. His book The Fundamentals Of Preaching is widely used as a textbook in preaching.