“As we will see a little later, apostolic boldness is something people are not likely to understand until they actually hear it, and then they are not exactly sure that it is what they wanted after all!” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 40).
So Preach as Though There Were Men Standing in the Back Waiting to Arrest You
“The hallmark of the apostolic method of preaching was boldness. Again and again as we read Luke’s account we are arrested by the power and boldness that characterized the way in which the gospel was proclaimed by those early preachers . . . This characteristic boldness is all the more striking when we compare it …
Preaching and Timbre
“God plays a number of different instruments, and the individual personality and background of the preacher is as much a part of powerful preaching as is the divine influence” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 31).
Following the Template
“Let us remember that as in theology and ethics, so in preaching, we participate in apostolic authority and power by following apostolic precept and example as they set forth in the pages of Scripture” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 31).
A Large Part of Acts
“The sermons of the apostles, of which there are so many fine examples in Acts (they make up one-fifth of the book), are not therefore, incidental additions to the account, chosen arbitrarily for the purposes of narrative ‘color’. These sermons are cited to emphasize the central role preaching played in the witness of the apostles …
Now That’s Odd
“It is rather remarkable to realize that neither the preaching of Jesus himself, nor the sermons of the apostolic preachers in the Book of Acts have been extensively considered or analyzed as models for developing methods and practices for preachers in our day” (Roger Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 15).
The Old Corn of the Land
“Trials drive us to the realities of religion. You may feed on chaff until you have real work to do, or real grief to bear; but then you want the old corn of the land, and you must have it, or else you will faint and fail” (Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, pp. 384-385).
Not Even by the Blackjack Dealer of Current Scholarship
The Lord “has not come into His house to be trifled with, and to have His words shuffled like a pack of cards” (Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, p. 378).
Because Dead Children Can’t Breathe Fresh Air
“Some excellent brethren seem to think more of the life than of the truth; for when I warn them that the enemy has poisoned the children’s bread, they answer, ‘Dear brother, we are sorry to hear it; and, to counteract the evil, we will open the window, and give the children fresh air.’ Yes, open …
Ride Us Like a Nightmare
“Some seem to think that we poor souls, who are the Puritanic school, are ‘cabin’d, cribb’d, confined’ by harsh dogmas, from which we would gladly escape. They imagine that we have to check every rising aspiration of our nobler selves, so as to preserve the tyranny of a certain iron system. John Calvin is supposed …