“They should not imagine that even God-given talents can bring people to Christ without the addition of God-given blessing.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 98
All the Way to the Right Tremolo Levels
“‘So you are saying that this was not you?’ The incredulity in Rollins’ voice had already gotten to tremolo levels.”
That’s Actually Pretty Clever
“No man can bear witness to Christ and to himself at the same time. No man can give the impression that he himself is clever and that Christ is mighty to save.”
James Denney, as quoted in Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 96
Maybe Two Drag Shows
“Dr. Rollins carried more envy around inside his rib cage than you could find at a drag show in San Francisco. And on this occasion, as Jake walked into Tom’s office, you didn’t need to be spiritually sensitive to notice it. You could set your iPhone out on the desk, and it would charge all by itself.”
With an Eye on the End of the Furrow
“Christians preachers are to be neither inventors of new doctrines nor editors who delete old doctrines. Rather, they are to be stewards, faithfully handing out scriptural truths to God’s household. Nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 96
The Importance of Prepositions
“They were both stellar students in a stellar theological program (if you don’t count all the unbelief and apostasy), but there were striking differences between the two men. A first-rate education had done into Dr. Tom’s head, while it had apparently gone straight to Dr. Jake’s.”
The Real Move
“The preacher with a humble mind will refuse to manipulate the biblical text in order to make it more acceptable to our day and age. Any attempt to make it more acceptable is really about making ourselves more acceptable or popular.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 95
Make That a Stick of Warm Butter
“In short, they were not prepared at all for battle. The wedge of young radicals went through the middle of the crowd like a meat cleaver going sideways through a stick of butter”
Pride as Pest
“In other preachers, however, pride is more indirect, more deceptive, and more troublesome. It is possible to seem humble while constantly longing for praise. At the very moment we are glorifying Christ, we can actually be looking for our own glory. When we are pleading with the congregation to praise God, or even leading them in praise, we can be secretly hoping that they will spare a bit of praise for us”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 94.
Quick Ignorance
“But let us just remember what Mark Twain said about how a lie can get halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on his shoes. The Internet has not changed this or made us smarter. It just moves our ignorance around the world at very high rates of speed.”