Power of Preaching - E.
M. Bounds, the author of
Power Through Prayer wrote
the following on the power
of the Word of God in preaching: "The
power of preaching lies in
the fact that it sows the
life- giving, imperishable
seed of God's Word. Only
the Word of God has this
life-giving energy; beautiful
thoughts, fine sentiments,
striking and true statements
of philosophy, poetry, or
genius have no life of God
in them. The preacher may
gain reputation, popularity,
influence by these, but the
power to quicken and convict
consciences, to perfect holiness,
and colonize heaven; to do
effectively what God designs
the preacher to do, will
depend on his trueness to
God's Word. The more simply
and earnestly the preacher
becomes the mouthpiece of
God, the more diligently
he feeds on the Word of God
by meditation and prayer,
and gives it out as the mother
gives out her life to her
babe, the more will his legitimate
power be enhanced." -
from E. M. Bounds by Darrel
D. King (p.109).
Limits to Hospitality - Andrew
Connaster was a preacher in
Sevier County, Tennessee, in
the first half of the nineteenth
century. "He was pastor
of Alder Branch and other churches.
In physical build he was raw-boned,
muscular and sinewy, a man
of rare physical strength and
endurance. Before his conversion,
according to the custom of
his day and neighborhood, he
drank some, and would 'treat'
his associates and receive
'treats' in return, on special
occasions. After his conversion,
even after he had become a
preacher and 'had preached
his third sermon,' I was told,
seven of his companions undertook
to get him to drink with them
and to 'treat' in the old-time
way. "To prove his hospitality
and to show that he was not
'stingy,' he yielded to their
solicitations and furnished
the 'treats.' But they were
not satisfied; they wanted
him to drink..and undertook
to force him. Thinking he had
gone far enough on the 'two-
mile' road with his persecutors,
or had taken enough of their
abuse to satisfy the law of
'non-resistance to evil,' instead
of turning the other cheek
to the smiters, with his good
fist he landed blows on the
cheeks of about seven of his
assailants, knocking them down
as fast as they approached
him. After that they 'let him
alone,' the argument of hard
knocks proving effective where
the gentle means of moral suasion
had proved a failure." -from
Scetches of Tennessee's Pioneer
Baptist Preachers by J. J.
Burnett (p.120).
Launch Out! - "But out
faith makes us abundant in
good works. May I say to you,
if you are doing all you possibly
can for Christ, endeavor to
do yet more? I believe a Christian
man is generally right when
he is doing more than he can;
and when he goes still further
beyond that point, he will
be even more nearly right.
There are scarcely any bounds
to the possibilities of our
service...We need, like the
apostles, to launch out into
the deep, or our nets will
never enclose a great multitude
of fishes. If we had but the
pluck to come out of our hiding-places,
and face the foe, we should
soon achieve immense success.
We need far more faith in the
Holy Ghost. He will bless us
if we cast ourselves entirely
upon Him." -from An All-Round
Ministry by C. H. Spurgeon
(p.22).
