The cross has always been a scandal and sometimes a source of ridicule. At the same time, it is the central symbol of Christianity. Author William Powell Tuck believes that the cross has never been more relevant than it is today. It may be difficult to preach the cross, but it is the duty of Christians to do so. "As long as the church lifts up a hollow, aluminum foil cross instead of a heavy wooden cross, we will always be guilty of heresy in the message we present to the world," he says. In the pages of this book you will start by looking the cross as the central symbol of the gospel, a symbol that you cannot forget if you want to preach and live an authentic gospel. From there you will look at how the cross illuminates our understanding of God, and then to the way it guides the way we will teach and serve. The cross is truly a difficult subject to preach, both because we stand amazed at what it represents and because of what it calls for each of us to do. But however difficult it is, we must not avoid it. Only if we become the church under the cross will we be the genuine body of Christ.
William Powell Tuck, FAPC is a native of Virginia and has served as a pastor in Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina. He has also been a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky and has taught adjunctively at several colleges and at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. He is the author of eighteen books, including The Lord’s Prayer Today, Getting Past the Pain, Love as a Way of Living, Facing Life’s Ups and Downs and The Compelling Faces of Jesus. He received the Parish Pastor of the Year award from the Academy of Parish Clergy in 1997. He is married to Emily Campbell and is the father of two children and has four grandchildren, and resides in Midlothian, Virginia.