The Heart Is the Target: Preaching Practical Application from Every Text

“Well written, well researched, and comes across with real conviction. Extremely well informed on its chosen theme, and the argument is persuasively supported at all points. Murray Capill has obviously thought deeply and long about sermon application and clearly has a passion for it—one that is highly appealing to the reader. There is a sensitive awareness of the situation of the ‘average preacher.’ ... I wish I had had this text in my hands when I began preaching over fifty years ago.”

“Experienced preachers are well aware of the pitfalls that pervade the terrain of application in preaching. . . . The Heart Is the Target not only provides biblical and theological correctives to such errors and imbalances, but also offers practical guidance in preparing sermons that serve the transformative purposes of the Bible.”

“Preaching the Word of God is more than an explanation of a portion of Scripture. It necessarily includes application, for by it God still speaks to his people. Capill shows so clearly and cogently how exegesis of all the data of the text in its canonical context, coupled with eisegesis of the human heart in the light of Christian truth, dissolves the pressure to be ‘relevant’ that so often bedevils preacher' minds and cripples an authoritative ‘Thus says the Lord.’”

“This is an important book on a vital area of preaching for today. Preaching that does not land in people’s lives is a great frustration. God wants to sanctify us by the truth, so biblical preaching should result in transformation.     Not all people who are especially gifted by God are able to teach others what they do when they use their gifts. Murray Capill is a exception this general rule! He is a gifted preacher with a special gift in effective application. In this book he explains what he does, and how he does it, in a way that makes it helpful and profitable for all who preach.    I have benefited deeply from Murray’s sermons and from his teaching on application.... This book will help beginners and experienced preachers alike.”