Most churches in the current world find moments of inspiration as they get inspirational sermons, powerful worship, and meaningful events but find it difficult to translate that inspiration into long-term spiritual development and action. On Sundays, congregations are inspired, and come Monday, they go back to their old ways. There is vision cast, but not adhered to. Individuals become motivated, yet they do not become mobilized. David W. Stokes, in his radical and extremely topical book, The Problem Isn’t a Lack of Passion, says so. It is a want of strategic preaching that leads congregations out of feeling into performing, into inspiration, and into execution.
This revolutionary manual targets the Associational Mission Strategists (AMSs), denominational leaders, and transitional pastors and presents them with a concise Spirit-inspired framework on preaching that transcends inspiration to mobilization. Stokes challenges the reader to reconsider preaching as a single piece of communication, but as strategic leadership that holds congregations together, creates a vision, and puts spiritual fire back on the waning or transitioning stage.
Stokes is a product of the years of leading the ministry, and in From the Pulpit to a Movement, he answers one of the most burning questions of the contemporary church: How can pastors lead revival when the pulpit seems disconnected from the real changes? His response is both realistic and futuristic. He uses clear biblical models, actionable strategies, and prayer-oriented reflection to teach pastors how to preach transformation and not routine.
It is the idea of strategic preaching that makes the book unique. Stokes says that pastoral preaching is concerned with individual encouragement, whereas strategic preaching is concerned with inspiring people to take action. It touches the hearts, settles vision, and prepares the platform of renewal in whole networks of churches. Every chapter is a transition of the reader through this change, in that, having a congregation and being a shepherd, then to being a leader of a movement through the pulpit.
Giving examples of Scripture, Moses organizing Israel, Nehemiah restoring Jerusalem, Paul church planting, Stokes demonstrates that all the leaders in the Bible who led to a revival did so by purposefully communicating by means of the Spirit. He says, preaching becomes strategy, not only will it transform hearts, but it will also transform direction. It generates a beat of revival, and words are catalysts of Kingdom expansion.
It is the practical design that makes From the Pulpit to a Movement particularly effective. It has sermon planning templates, annual preaching calendars, case studies, and reflection tools that are specific to pastors during times of change. Is it the revitalization of a congregation that a leader is leading it through, or is it a step to a church replant, or maybe it is a transitional role? Then this book is a roadmap of preaching that brings about tangible, spiritual outcomes.
Another issue that is most misinterpreted in the contemporary ministry, which is also addressed by Stokes, concerns technology. He opens an audacious but level-headed part, presenting the pastors with the ethical application of artificial intelligence (AI) in sermon writing and ministry planning. Instead of raising a red flag over digital innovation, he explains to the readers how they can make use of these tools in a responsible manner to bring about more clarity and creativity, and reach without affecting the biblical depth and authenticity. This contemporary advantage makes the book very applicable to the 21st-century ministry where technology and theology tend to overlap.
Next to its strategic ramifications, From the Pulpit to a Movement bristles with spiritual motivation. Stokes is reminding the reader that the revival does not start with the programs; it starts with the renewed conviction of the preacher. He says, With thy voice, which to the Spirit yields, Still shakes dry bones. That verse, which already rings so deeply with the readers, incorporates the spirit of the book: the call to restore faith in the power of Spirit-filled preaching.
To the pastors who have lost the courage in their voice, or the preachers who have left the pulpit platform and gone into administration, Stokes gives a kindly, but firm admonition you never cease to be a preacher, you only begin preaching with a broader scope. In that perspective, even those leaders who no longer have one congregation in their service can regain their role as vision-casters, pastors of movements, and agents of renewal.