“You will be required at times to set before your congregations things that they may not wish to hear — doctrines they don’t agree with, ethical demands they are unwilling to submit to” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 193).
The Heart of the Law
INTRODUCTION:A very popular mistake among Christians is that of contrasting love and the law, as though we had to pick and choose. Will we live according to love, or according to the law? But if we must love, isn’t that a law, a great commandment? And if we keep the law truly, won’t we realize …
A Different Gift of Tongues in Acts
“Skim a few chapters of the Book of Acts, and notice how often the preaching of the Word issues immediately in controversy and therefore in debate. It is truly noteworthy how often this happens” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 186).
Boldness, Not Bombast
“Lest you get the wrong idea, let me say that I am not saying you should all learn how to ‘shout up a good camp meeting’, or adopt a kind of phony, thundering pulpit style that is not you. It is actually more subtle than that. You want to be ‘natural’ in the pulpit (most …
A Crisis That Never Fades
“The message of the apostles was the God himself precipitated the historic crisis for the whole world, and for each and every person, by bringing Jesus back from the dead” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 113).
Ministers Losing True Ministry
“Your problem is that your preaching did not effectively bridge the distance between your people and Christ’s work. Instead you hurdled it and ended up on this side. You may have become (no matter how unwittingly) a pulpit proclaimer of practical ethics or a sermonic psychologist. But you are no longer — in any vital …
Life in the Historical Realities
“It is vitally important that the subjective realities of the Christian life always be kept in the closest contact with the objective realities of what God has done for us in His Son. It is the job of preachers and preaching to make that connect clear” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 102).
One Little Word Shall Fell Him
I have written before that the watershed issue for me in the political process is abortion. But that leads immediately to a host of practical questions — is this politician sincere in his pro-life views? If sincere, does he have the horsepower to get anything done about it? Is anything actually going to happen? There …
Thinks I Have Thunk
Mars Hill audio is an audio magazine that just celebrated the publication of its 100th edition, and I commend it to you. I listen to it faithfully, and the interviews with numerous authors are really informative, and it is one of my main sources for tips on valuable books to check out. So go ye, …
Staying on Message
“All the sermons in Acts have one essential point — Jesus Christ is risen from the dead” (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 97).