Preaching is a way of life that can be beautiful and good; however, It can also be anxious, self-focused, and destructive. Preachers and teachers of preaching need a holistic view of preaching that not only paints the way to good preaching, but also to good living. They need a comprehensive practical theology of preaching that combines the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ with the ‘how’ and 'whom’ of preaching. Practicing the Preaching Life unites Christian practices, contextual virtues, and the best of homiletical pedagogy to pave the way to a beautiful preaching life. Preaching is best learned as a formative Christian practice embedded within a web of other Christian practices that form a way of life from which great sermons emerge. Therefore, preaching requires not only a way of speaking well, but also a way of living well. This embedded nature of preaching requires the enrollment of Christian practices in the formation of the preacher and the pursuit of contextual virtues for preaching that avoid cultural relativism on the one hand and cultural imperialism on the other. These requirements lead to a new vision for the preaching classroom, the rhythms of the preaching life, and the definition of what it means to be a good preacher.

“Look What the Lord Has Done” is a collection of life experiences. Each of these stories is both true and powerful. Accounts ranging from the deliverance of a troop ship from a tsunami to various accounts of miraculous ministry provide a stirring addition to the faith of the reader. Repeatedly the mercy, protection and healing virtue of God are richly portrayed on the canvas of real lives. “Look What the Lord Has Done” establishes a powerful source of reference for every believer. When a clubbed foot is turned aright, a powerful storm is averted, and a funeral is transformed into a revival, it becomes apparent the something Divine is at work. ‘Living Again’ and ‘Out of the Ashes’ recount the miraculous healing of the author as well as his deliverance from a fiery death. The message is, “Don’t ever doubt the power and mercy of God: There is nothing too hard for Him.”

The best overall coating was achieved using the inert shroud configuration using a powder mixture containing 2% weight Edge Functionalized Graphene Oxide. Vickers microhardness increased 46% and tensile adhesion strength increased 26% over control samples. This is possible due to the mechanisms of dislocation strengthening and stress transfer previously reported in graphene oxide reinforced Aluminum composites formed by flake powder metallurgy. It was also observed that the energy released by the combustion of graphene oxide helps to uniformly melt the Nickel particles and improve the coating microstructure, allowing for more forgiving spray parameters. The methods developed and results attained in this research open opportunities for graphene oxide to be added as inexpensive reinforcements to other metallic compositions for widespread use in metal matrix composite manufacturing.