The Preaching and Pastoral Ministry of Charles Jerry Vines: A Model of Evangelistic Focus

Abstract

This dissertation examines and evaluates the preaching and pastoral ministry of Charles Jerry Vines as a model of evangelistic focus.

Chapter 1 introduces the preaching and pastoral ministry of Jerry Vines as a model of evangelistic focus. The author addresses the broad concern of the evangelistic ineffectiveness of the Southern Baptist Convention and then establishes warrant for the particular qualities of Vines' preaching and pastoral ministries in regard to their connection to his evangelistic results.

Chapter 2 provides a biography of Charles Jerry Vines. Since very little biographical information has ever been formally collected on his life and ministry, this dissertation gives considerable attention to a thorough treatment of these matters. This chapter delves into the significant details of Vines' life to establish him as a worthy model of evangelistic focus.

Chapter 3 presents the theological framework that guides his methodology of evangelism. This chapter both describes and evaluates his theological underpinnings. It focuses on his views of theological method, revelation, atonement, pneumatology, soteriology, and eschatology.

Chapter 4 offers an overview of Vines' approach to expository preaching, focusing primarily on an element of his sermon structure that he calls an "evangelistic twist." It surveys how the twist is used in his preaching from texts that span from Genesis to Revelation. It discusses principles for the twist that lead a preacher to stay within the meaning of the text along with pitfalls to avoid while formulating the twist.

Chapter 5 examines Vines' preaching and teaching through the book of Acts. The bases for this chapter are his most recent sermon series that he preached through the book of Acts along with his Sunday School Curriculum Acts Alive. It discusses Vines' hermeneutical method, his guarded prescriptive hermeneutic for Acts, whether or not his dispensational view weighs in on the book's application for personal evangelism, and a discussion of timeless truths pertinent to personal evangelism for the local church.

Chapter 6 offers concluding remarks that summarize the most pertinent findings of my research. It discusses qualities of Vines' ministry worth emulating along with other matters of consideration.