“Maria Barancho had been a fixture at Choctaw Valley for some years now, but she was an odd-out sort of fixture. She was a black-haired, brown-eyed Italian in the midst of a bunch of pale Celts who, for some reason, liked to think of themselves as Anglo-Saxons. This is like a German confusing himself with a Frenchman, but the history is admittedly complicated.”
An Acquired Taste
“He was a sturdy young man—a fellow that people usually considered good looking, eventually and somewhat reluctantly, after they had gotten over their first shock. Trevor was an acquired taste.”
And What God Has Conjoined . . .
“Once we allow him his freedom, both in the preparation and delivery of our sermons, the light and the fire, the truth and the passion will be reunited.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 84
And Some Theologies are More Flammable Than Others
“Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire.”
Martin Lloyd-Jones, as quoted in Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 84.
The Best Kind of Ruckus
“The day was a beautiful one, and the birds in the surrounding foliage, unaware of the human drama that was gathering down below them on the asphalt, just continued on with their melodious ruckus.”
Sermons Fresh From the Forge
“What is needed today is Paul’s combination of reason and emotion, of teaching and pleading. J.W. Alexander begs for ‘theological preaching.’ What interests people, he says, is ‘argument made red-hot.’”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 83
Real Hearty
“The development officer for Choctaw Valley was usually all grins and spectacles, always ready with a hearty handshake.”
Flags Out Front, p. 8
Not Just Passing Time
“To handle issues of eternal life and death as if we were discussing the weather is inexcusable. How can we deliver a solemn message in a casual manner, or refer to the eternal destinies of men and women as if we were discussing where they will spend their summer holidays? Christians who care are earnest.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, pp. 80-81
Just Creepy
“One ACLU attorney named Greenbaum was particularly flummoxed, and spoke quite sharply to his colleagues about it. ‘Urination I understand, and defecation I understand. Setting the damn thing on fire is clearly protected speech. That’s why we come to work in the morning. That’s why we’re here. That’s what freedom means. But subordinated honor? That is just creepy.’”
Flags Out Front, p. 8
Preaching While Hot
“Earnestness goes one step beyond sincerity. To be sincere is to mean what we say and to do what we say; to be earnest is also to feel what we say. Earnestness is the deep feeling essential to preaching.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 80