Jesus is the Only One Who Deserves to Monologue

When we look at Jesus Christ's earthly ministry we see quite a bit of teaching. While some of it contained back-and-forth conversation, others of it seems to have been mostly monologue in nature. The Sermon on the Mount is a good example of this.

I've heard Christians use the Sermon on the Mount as evidence for modern monologue preaching. The thinking is that "if monologue was good enough for Jesus it must also be good enough for us." This is problematic for a couple of reasons. First, Jesus was teaching people who were interested in him but were not yet his followers (in the sense of understanding the gospel and being indwelt by the Holy Spirit). Because of their lack of understanding, Christ sometimes needed to monologue.

When the church gathers today there's no need for monologue. This is because those present are all able to teach one another and should be doing so. All are indwelt by the Holy Spirit; each can edify another through personal instruction. Monologue is not necessary and can actually stifle body growth.

Second and more important, Jesus gets to monologue because he is God. He alone has a special status within the church. He has insight we could never have. He knows the standards he expects. He teaches the beliefs we should all have. I'll say it again: Christ is Lord and God.

No one in the body of Christ is Christ (only the Head is). None of us should teach as Jesus did just because he did it. Jesus did many unique things. Who are we to teach as he did as if we have the right to monologue? It's actually fairly arrogant thinking.

The church has no need for lecturing. Rather, the entire body grows together most effectively when all take on the responsibility of teaching each other. This form of mutual edification is more than suggested in scripture; it is what we should be doing. Through body life we all gain from the knowledge and experiences of everyone else in the group. Group knowledge is far more accurate and full than individual knowledge.

Jesus alone gets to monologue. We don't, nor should we.

Reason #16 - Professional Pastors Keep the People in "Feed Me" Mode

Pastors generally preach with good intent. It is the outcome that is the problem.

Week after week, pastors speak to a silent audience for 20-45 minutes. The pastor speaks while the people sit. He makes sounds while they keep quiet. He tells them what to think and they believe it. He does the studying and they do the ingesting. He dutifully preaches his heart out and they dutifully listen as long as they can.

This is strictly one-way communication.

The problem is that this puts people in "feed me" mode and keeps them there.

While people may enjoy listening to weekly sermons, they have learned to rely on the pastor for their theological knowledge. This in turn keeps them childlike in their ability to study scripture. Many, many American Christians have an elementary knowledge and understanding of the bible. This is a sad state indeed and is one of the primary reasons why the church in the USA has so little impact upon society.

"Feed me" mode is corrupting and must stop. The immediate resignation of all professional pastors would go a long way toward causing this to happen.

Let's hope it does.


(This post is part sixteen of my series 25 Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign.)

Step It Up Man!

Summary: Why Sermons Won't Go Away

The Sunday sermon is a fixture in the life of the church. This is the case almost everywhere around the globe. No matter where you look you see someone standing on an elevated platform giving a lecture to a passive church body. While the details differ, the general pattern is the same. This despite the fact that scripture provides no evidence for this practice in the life of the early church. We dissenters must continue to hope and pray that God brings about a change to something far better.

Read this series by clicking on the links below. The final post is the most important:

Why Sermons Won't Go Away
1. Sermons Are Thought to be "Biblical"
2. Sermons Are Fun to Prepare
3. Sermons Are Fun to Preach
4. Sermons Earn the Pastor's Paycheck
5. Sermons Allow the People to Sit
A Much Better Alternative to Sermonizing

A Much Better Alternative to Sermonizing

Sermons dominate the American church landscape. Regardless of denomination, tradition, or style, the vast majority of churches employ professional pastors to deliver monologue lectures to silent audiences at least one time per week.

Is this as good as it gets? The answer is a resounding NO.

God has provided us with an alternative to modern-day preaching that is both much more edifying and more enjoyable.

First, let me provide an important definition. Preaching, as defined in scripture, is actually open air evangelism designed to call the lost to Christ. It is not what occurs when the church gathers. If you read through the book of Acts, you will find preaching always occurring within the context of the spread of the gospel.

Modern preaching has morphed into the ineffective thing we see today. God's alternative to this is teaching that takes place within the confines of Christian community. As the church gathers, whenever and wherever, teaching is one of the things that takes place. Teaching is a gift that some believers possess more than others, but we are all able to teach to one extent or another.

Colossians 3:16 is an extremely important verse. Paul writes to the entire Colossian church, saying in 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Everyone in the body is to be teaching everyone else. This happens within the body of Christ as it lives life together. Some teaching is more in word while other is more in action. There is always a back-and-forth nature to it. Discussion is an important key.

Body life is exactly that. All parts of the body are necessary (see I Cor. 12). We all need each other to teach each other. The body benefits from this, encourages it, and even corrects it (if anything incorrect is taught). No one person is elevated more than any other.

Teaching is important to the life and health of the body. However, we need to take care that teaching is not thought of as better or more important than other gifts. A balanced perspective is key.

Teaching is to be a part of the multitude of one anothers that permeate body life. As we come together as brothers and sisters in Christ, teaching in all its wonderful forms is one of the things that happens. When we follow this scriptural pattern, the body grows and thrives. Following God's plans is always best for the church.

5. Sermons Allow the People to Sit

The final reason why sermons won't go away any time soon is that sermons allow the people to sit.

It is currently Sunday morning. Literally millions of American Christians are preparing to "go to church." One thing most of them will do in a few hours is sit passively through some sort of religious ceremony. Most of these folks do this because it's what they've always done. They don't even think about it. They even believe it pleases God for them to sit through the sermon. While I'm certain that most have good intentions, the outcome is basically meaningless.

Where in the New Testament do we see a passive church sitting through a ceremony? It doesn't exist.

Many Christians have very busy lives. Because of this, they are tired. They see Sunday as some sort of Sabbath. Because of this, many are more than happy to sit in a padded seat while the "man of God brings the message from God." The people in the pews aren't going to fight the current system of clergy-led ceremonies because they enjoy the time of sitting. This arrangement also foists most of the responsibility onto the pastors up front.

What we have, then, is an entire process that elevates the clergy while stunting the laity. And everyone seems happy with this (except us trouble makers on the fringes of church life).

God's plan for his church is one of vitality and action. We edify one another, evangelize the lost, and sacrificially serve everybody. At least that's God's plan. Sitting in the pews has nothing to do with any of that.

For now at least the rampant pew sitting isn't going away. In a couple of hours millions of American believers will do what they believe is their duty by sitting and listening. Many of them will be happy to do so, allowing the pastor to earn his paycheck by preaching while they sit.

A much, much better way exists for church life that has nothing to do with all this sermonizing. I'll detail that in my next post.

4. Sermons Earn the Pastor's Paycheck

Go ahead and take a poll of numerous Christians. Ask them what the most important thing is that a pastor does. If you do this, I guarantee that the runaway number one answer will be, "He preaches."

This is a fascinating phenomenon in light of the fact that the New Testament doesn't provide even one example of pastors preaching. Not even one! The sad reality is that the current situation of pastors preaching week after week is based in man's traditions, not in scripture. As they say in the South: it is what it is.

Preaching is the primary way that pastors earn their paychecks. Of course they do many other things, but the primary one is preaching. Just look at the poll results. The main "work" he does is study for hours each week and then preach the sermon(s).

This arrangement guarantees that sermons aren't going away any time soon. The people in the pews believe the pastor should preach, and the pastor needs a paycheck to live. There's a sort of co-dependant thing going on there.

Regardless, the pastor's need to pay his bills is just one more reason that we should not expect sermons to go extinct any time in the near future.

3. Sermons Are Fun to Preach

Although the idea of preaching sermons may be intimidating to many people, the reality is that it's a lot of fun. Because of this, sermons aren't going away any time soon.

I've heard over and over that preaching sermons is incredibly difficult work. I can tell you from my experience that this is hogwash. Although preaching can be tiring, it is not all that difficult. Frankly, it's mostly just plain enjoyable. After having studied for hours during the week, the pastor gets to talk to a silent, captive audience about all that he has studied. The people sit and listen (to some extent). The whole process is gratifying to the pastor and his ego.

This may sound harsh on my part. However, it is also reality. The pastor is the center of attention for as long as the sermon lasts (probably anywhere from 25-45 minutes). No one gets to ask any difficult questions. Rather, it is simply the pastor getting to say what he wants about what he wants. It's great fun.

After the sermon is over the pastor gets told repeatedly what a great job he just did. This further strokes the ego. It also encourages the pastor to preach more, and more, and more.

Please let me be clear on one related point: I believe the vast majority of pastors preach with good intentions. They are doing what they think they should. They believe that what they are doing has a sound biblical basis (it doesn't). They want the folks in the pews to benefit by growing spiritually. They even think they are working hard and sacrificing for the kingdom.

Despite these good intentions, the pastors are wrong. I'm saddened to even write this. However, I must write the truth. The preaching of sermons by the clergy to the laity does more harm than good by stifling the saints and elevating the pastor(s). It's not sacrifice on the pastor's part; rather, it is an easy paycheck.

As a bonus for pastors, preaching sermons is downright fun. In light of this, most pastors are thrilled to continue doing it week after week after week, etc.

Preaching is far too much fun for pastors to stop or even think of doing so. Because of this, sermons aren't going away.

2. Sermons Are Fun to Prepare

A second reason Why Sermons Won't Go Away is that sermons are fun to prepare.

Imagine sitting behind a desk with a cup of coffee in hand. The top of your desk holds a computer, a bible, a few commentaries, a notepad, and several pens. BibleWorks, Logos, or some other bible program shines on your computer screen. You've been given the gift of studying the bible for numerous hours every week in order to prepare one or two speeches.

Sermon prep is awesome for the pastor! He actually gets to read the bible and dig into its meaning for hour after hour every week. While most of us regular people struggle to find any time to read scripture during a busy week, the pastor gets tons of time. It's a blast!

For over two years as a professional pastor I was able to study all I wanted while I prepared sermons. It was great fun. This is not to say that it was always easy, but it was still a great experience for me. What Christian wouldn't want to get paid to study the bible?

Because putting sermons together is so much fun, the vast majority of pastors want this practice to continue. They certainly aren't going to speak out against it. Why give up such a good thing?

If, on the other hand, sermon preparation was drudgery I could see many pastors speaking out against it. However, that's simply not going to happen because studying the bible is wonderful.

Let's do the simple math here. Most Christians think modern sermons are biblical in nature and sermons are fun to prepare. This adds up to sermons not going anywhere anytime soon.

1. Sermons Are Thought to be "Biblical"

This is my first post in a short blog series entitled Why Sermons Won't Go Away. The primary reason sermons aren't going away anytime in the near future is that most Christians think they are "biblical." In other words, the majority of Christ-followers believe that we should have sermons today because we find sermons in the bible. This line of reasoning shows a complete misunderstanding of context.

Sigh.

The sermons we see in the New Testament are preached out in the marketplace by non-pastors to unbelievers. This is critical to our understanding. Sermons were evangelistic in nature. They were designed to call the lost to repent and believe. A prime example of this is Paul's sermon to the Athenians recorded in Acts 17:22-34. In that passage Paul says, "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent."

The sermons we see preached today are far from biblical in nature. They are preached not in the marketplace but in special church buildings (something foreign to the New Testament church). They are preached by pastors. They are preached to saved people (or at least those in the pews; we assume they are saved).

Simply put, most of the sermons we see today have little to nothing to do with the model we are given in scripture. However, since most people think they are "biblical," they will continue unabated. How sad this is for the church.

WARNING: this blog series will be somewhat negative and fairly depressing in nature. However, at the end I will suggest, to borrow Paul's words from the end of I Corinthians 12, "a still more excellent way."

Why Sermons Won't Go Away

Sermons are ubiquitous. Just about any time most churches get together for their big meetings some sort of sermon takes place. These extended monologues come in various shapes and sizes, but they amount to the same thing. It is almost always (>99%) one person - usually clergy - speaking from an elevated platform to a quiet audience. No participation is expected or invited.

It is my contention that sermons do much more harm than good to the church. Sermons act to separate the clergy from the laity. Sermons stifle the priesthood of all believers. Sermons play a big part in turning church gatherings into formal ceremonies. Sermons give the message that sitting and listening pleases God. Sermons turn Christianity into an exercise in rhetoric. Sermons elevate the speakers to "special status" within the church. Sermons bore most people. This list goes on...

Despite all these problems, the sermon has had remarkable staying power. At least since the Reformation the sermon has dominated church meetings around the globe. It doesn't appear to be going away any time soon. Some excellent sermon preachers have even gained rockstar status within evangelical Christianity (see John Piper, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, N.T. Wright, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, etc.).

Why won't sermons go away? I've thought about this a lot recently. My background is full of sermons. I listened (sort of) to them during all my growing up years. I attended seminary, where I was trained to preach sermons. As a professional pastor, I preached hundreds of sermons. All this sermonizing has given me a full perspective on what keeps sermons going year, after year, after year...

Five reasons stand out why sermons aren't going away. That's what I'll be discussing in my next five posts.

Let's All Be the Proclaimers We've Been Called to Be

The word "preacher" has taken on all sorts of traditional baggage that was never intended. A "preacher" in scripture was someone who shares the good news with unbelievers. Today it usually refers to someone speaking to the church from behind a pulpit. For this reason, I much prefer the word "proclaimer." This word is free from the distortions of tradition.

I'm happy to see that the translators of the ESV decided to use "proclaim" instead of "preach" in one of the key Great Commission passages. In Mark 16:15, Jesus says, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." Mark 16:15 is not directed to only some specific subset of special Christians. Rather, it applies to all of us. Therefore, let's be the proclaimers God calls us to be.

Below is a favorite song of mine by a group called The Proclaimers. They are not a Christian group and this is not a Christian song. Despite that, I really like the music.

You Write the Caption

What's going on here? What's he saying? Please write the caption in the comments.

For previous writing of captions, click here.

Missions in Ephesians

When it comes to glorious truths about Christ and his church, no book surpasses Ephesians. I'm guessing that we all love reading this epistle. In the midst of this wonderful letter, does Paul say anything significant about missions?

He certainly does. In 3:8-10 we read the following:

"To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places."

Although Paul says several significant things in this passage, I'd like to focus on two.

First, and most important, Paul understands that his duty and privilege is to preach/proclaim "the unsearchable riches of Christ." The core content of the apostle's heralding was always the person and work of Jesus Christ. Paul esteems Christ's riches to be beyond value and inexhaustible. As Paul goes from place to place, he stays on point in his preaching; it always centers on Jesus.

Second, Paul refers to "the plan of the mystery." What is he talking about? Paul is referring to God's eternal purpose of bringing together Jew and Gentile to be his special people (the church). God does this to put on display for all to see the magnificence of Christ. Basically, the plan is one of renewal and sharing. God is reversing the effects of the fall by creating a new, holy people to enjoy God and give him glory.

As we read the above passage, we should also take notice of the biblical definition of preaching. It refers to announcing with conviction the gospel to the lost.

It is interesting to read an epistle like Ephesians and then read through the book of Acts. Throughout Acts, we see Paul again and again do what we see above. He preaches Christ over and over in all sorts of different locations. Although he doesn't say exactly the same thing every time, Jesus remains the focal point.

Paul was all about Jesus. May we be the same.

(To read any or all posts in this series, please click here.)

A Verse That Surprised Me

I was reading in Romans recently when I came to 1:15. Paul writes to the Roman church, "So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome."

When Paul normally talks about preaching, he is referring to proclaiming the gospel to the lost. This is what we see in his practice as well. In light of what verse 14 says, we sense that verse 15 refers at least in part to his preaching to the pagans in Rome.

However, in 1:15 the apostle clearly writes that he is eager to preach the gospel "to you also who are in Rome." Since he is communicating with the church, he must also be talking about preaching to his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. When Paul uses the word "you" in his letters, he is almost always talking about the church he is writing to.

This surprised me because in the NT we almost always see preaching aimed at the lost. Here we see Paul intending to preach to the saved. Why would he desire to do this? What's his plan and purpose?

My guess is that he simply wants to ensure that they fully understand the gospel and share with them what God has been doing in other places. Paul undoubtedly, based on other things he writes, desires to encourage and be encouraged by them as well.

Still though, he talks of preaching to the saved. This seems outside the norm for him. Any ideas on the significance of this?

Preaching for Fellowship and Joy

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life - the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us - that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." I John 1:1-4

I love to read about John's motivation for sharing the gospel with others. In the introduction to I John, we read that John proclaimed the gospel in order to have fellowship in Christ with others. John recognizes that a certain, special type of fellowship exists between Christian brothers and sisters that is unique in this world. The apostle has a desire to share this fellowship with others.

This fellowship brings joy. John writes this proclamation about Christ in order to complete his joy. This is joy that comes from being in relationship with Jesus Christ and one another. This intimate relationship comes only through the gospel.

I wonder what our motivation is when we preach (proclaim, herald, announce) Christ. Do we do it out of some sort of guilt or compulsion?

We can learn much from John in this short paragraph.  John heralds the good news that Christ came in the flesh. John is an eye witness. John's motivation is sweet communion with the readers of this epistle. This precious fellowship that brings great joy can only come through oneness in Christ.

Let's preach Christ so, like John, we may have Christ's fellowship with each other. The result is great joy.

Expositional Listeners?

A few years ago Thabiti Anyabwile wrote a book entitled What is a Healthy Church Member?  It is a sort of continuation of Mark Dever's thoughts in Nine Marks of the Healthy Church.  As I begin, let me say that I respect Anyabwile a great deal, enjoy listening to him speak, and appreciate his stand for the gospel.

In this post I'd like to take issue with one of Anyabwile's main points in What is a Healthy Church Member?

According to Anyabwile, "The first and most important mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching."  Anyabwile goes on to say that in response to this a healthy church member should be what he refers to as an "Expositional Listener."  He defines expositional listening as, "Listening for the meaning of a passage of scripture and accepting that meaning as the main idea to be grasped for our personal and corporate lives as Christians."

Preaching for Edification

II Timothy 3:16 - 4:2, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."

Ephesians 4:29, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

The above familiar verses are interesting when we view them together.

In the II Timothy passage, Paul instructs Timothy about the inspiration and usefulness of the scriptures. The apostle continues by charging Timothy to preach (or proclaim) the word. We can see from these verses several specific uses for the preaching of the word: teaching, reproof, correction, training, rebuke, and exhortation.

We know that some type of false teaching was occurring in the church at Ephesus. This most likely led to unbiblical beliefs and practices. Timothy, whose specific role in the church at Ephesus is unclear, is commanded by Paul to preach the truth of the scriptures to the church. This is significant because it shows us preaching taking place within the context of the church. The goal of Timothy's proclaiming was the promotion of truth and correction of this false teaching.

As we read this passage we must be careful about what we know and don't know. We know that Timothy was to preach to the church. We do not know that he was a pastor or that he preached sermons to the church body as a whole (I mention these here because I've heard them many times before).

Paul obviously hoped that Timothy would preach the truth in Ephesus and that the people would embrace this by following the truth and changing whatever needed to be changed in terms of both what they believed and how they lived.

Keeping all that in mind, we turn to Ephesians 4:29. We see that all our speech is to be for the building up. Especially in the context of the church, our words are to be filled with grace in order to help others mature in Christ. This was essentially what Paul was telling Timothy to do. Paul desired that Timothy's preaching would counteract the false teaching in Ephesus and build up the church in Christ Jesus.

How does all this apply to us today? As we speak to others within the church, our goal should always (in one way or another) be their edification. Our hope should also be that we will be edified.

One way we can edify others is by preaching the word to them. We need to "think outside the pulpit" in discussing this form of preaching. Simply put, we can powerfully edify others by preaching to them. This can take the forms of teaching, reproof, correction, training, rebuking, and exhorting. All these build others up in the faith.

I believe that God desires that we all preach to one another on a regular basis. The foundation and content of this proclaiming should be the word. I think we've all experienced the power of the spoken word from other Christians. We all have the joyful responsibility of preaching this word to one another in order to bring about mutual edification.

In light of all this, as Christ-followers we are all preachers. Let's all preach the truth to one another.

Sermon Memory

I recently read this question somewhere, "How many sermons do you remember from your childhood?"

The answer for me is zero. In fact, I don't think I remember any sermons from the first twenty years of my life. Now that I am nearing forty, I can say that the actual number of sermons I remember from my entire life probably numbers fewer than twenty.

In addition, I'll sheepishly admit that I don't remember most of the sermons I have preached over the past few years.

Why is this? Why is it difficult to remember sermons? The reason is that God did not make our brains primarily for one-way communication. I'm not suggesting that we can't learn this way, but rather that the much better way to learn is through dialog/conversation. I think we would all agree that we retain much more information through engaging, back-and-forth conversation.

How then does this go along with the gift of teaching mentioned in scripture? As a church comes together, there may be a few people gifted in teaching who do most of it (although I hope not all of it). When the teaching takes place, there is no reason for it to be in the monologue/lecture format. Since everyone learns better in multiple-direction conversation, the teachers should ask questions and expect answers. Others ought to be free to add their comments. It should be interactive.

Interestingly, this is the type of communication that does happen in Sunday School classes and small groups. So why do we do this in smaller gatherings, but when it comes to large church meetings, the communication (at least for the sermon) ends up being in one direction? Part of the issue is pragmatics, such as how 500 people can all be involved in a group conversation. That, in turn, says something about the importance of keeping churches relatively small in size (but that is another issue).

Something else interesting about the years past: while I don't remember sermons, I do remember adults who took time to care about me. Some of these adults didn't even spend a great deal of time with me, but I remember when they did. For whatever reason, this really sticks with me.

As I grew up, I'm certain that I spent far more time listening to sermons than I did speaking to adults outside my family who took interest in me. Despite this, it is the adult interaction that made the much larger impact.

What does all this say? I'm not sure. Here are a few things we should ponder:

-Sermons, if they are going to happen, should at least have an interactive component.

-Teaching is much more effective if the conversation is multi-directional.

-As adults, we can have a hugely positive impact on young people.

-As we think about importance of activity, spending time with younger people is equally (if not more) important than listening to sermons.

"Text-Driven Preaching"

Much that passes for preaching today is at best humanistic drivel and at worst nonsense. The reason for this is that the bible is often essentially ignored while the "preaching" takes place.

If we want God's truths to permeate preaching, then we need the preaching to be driven by the biblical text. Text-Driven Preaching is a book that deals directly with this issue. The book contains eleven chapters that are separated into three main sections. These sections deal with the preacher, the preparation, and the preaching.

I bought this book for the second section (I've read enough books on the other two topics). The reason for this is that I have not found books that deal well with sermon preparation from the biblical text. This section would be beneficial for anyone to read because the principles from it apply to all sorts of biblical teaching, not preaching alone.

In particular, I wanted to read Dave Black's chapter entitled, "Exegesis and the Text-Driven Sermon." Simply put, this chapter was worth the price of the book. Black focuses on issues of historical analysis, literary analysis, textual analysis, lexical analysis, syntatical analysis, structural analysis, rhetorical analysis, tradition analysis, theological analysis, and homiletical analysis. That may sound a bit dull in this blog post, but it isn't. Rather, it's fascinating.

Black continues by walking through the above steps while focusing on Hebrews 12:1-2, finishing with a sermon title, theme, and outline.

I'll admit that I only read a few chapters of the book. They all dealt with sermon preparation.

If you are interested in how to begin with a biblical text and move to a teaching/preaching outline, then Black's chapter will be a big help to you. If you don't want to spend the money just to read one or a couple of chapters, then at least try to find it in your local library.

Order it here.