Back in the mid 90's I preached a series of sermons from 1 Corinthians 13. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 Paul discusses spiritual gifts. In between those two chapters, Paul writes about what he calls “the most excellent way,” turning our attention to the subject of love, the manifestation and evidence of God’s grace at work in our lives.
Those words found in 1 Corinthians 12.31 are the title for my book: “The Most Excellent Way.” I’ve since discovered that there are at least two other books that have this same title, but I don’t think that will prove to be a problem.
For this book to become a reality required that the tapes of some fifty sermons be transcribed — that is, for someone to listen to these tapes and then put down on paper what was being said.
Then several years ago, Danielle Wilkie took all of that material and reduced it to fourteen chapters. Sermons are often repetitive, as you remind the congregation of things that were said previously and then press on to the subject for that morning. That means that Danielle took on a sizeable task. It was truly a labor of love, and I will always be grateful for her efforts.
Since then I have rewritten all of these chapters several times.
Ann Walker and others have helped to edit the book, looking for typos and grammatical errors. Linda went through the book “one last time,” and discovered eight or nine more things that needed to be changed.
I also gave the book to several close friends so that they could comment upon the exegesis and theological conclusions.
1 Corinthians 13 was the focus of the teaching that JR, Philip and I did at African Bible College in Kampala, Uganda. During those days with my sons, RE Tom Lowe, and Dr. Palmer Robertson (the headmaster of the college), I gained further insights into this text that I then included in my writings.
But while I appreciate the help and input of many, I want it clearly understood that whatever mistakes remain — and I’m confident there are still many — those mistakes are mine.
I’m grateful to the Session, and to you the members of CPC for allowing me time and opportunity to work on this prolonged project. It is amazing how difficult and time consuming it can be. But many have encouraged me, several have assured me of their prayers, and I’ve had the help of more people than I can remember. And now, finally, by God’s grace, and I pray to His glory, the work is done.
If you’re interested in obtaining a copy, it is available at the church for a suggested donation of $15. It is also available on Amazon.com. If you go to this website, type my name in the search engine, and you will find this book for sale. At Amazon.com the price is $16 plus shipping.
Please understand that whatever “profit” may come from the sale of this book belongs to the church. None of this money will come to me. I’m hoping we sell enough copies to pay for the printing. But if we could sell about 500,000 copies, we might be able to pay off the church’s mortgage!
Pastor Caines