QUOTE - “Piercing Sweetness”
Posted Thursday, August 4th, 2005 at 7:30 am
“There is today no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives….there are today many millions of people who hold “right opinions,” probably more than ever before in the history of the Church. Yet I wonder if there was ever a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb.”
A.W.Tozer, author, pastor
The Pursuit of God, 1949
The Pursuit of God, 1949
August 5th, 2005 at 3:19 pm
This quote is so true. Not so long ago somebody came up to me and asked me “How do I know for sure that God exist”. He asked “How did I know deep, deep down that he is all the things the bible says He is?” “How did I know?” he asked me. I looked at him very sad and concerned and told him “Because I feel Him”. “Because I hear him”. He looked at me, as if the idea of feeling and hearing God was just introduced to him. This person is a long time member of a church and a layman for the church. His head was there with God but his heart was not. Churches are changing, moving to a more casual style worship service. Sermons are become more and more reason based sermon. They have become very practical, sensible, and safe. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I think the massage should be practical but what happen to just declaring the majesty, mystery and beauty of God in an unreasonable way. We worry a lot about people understanding God but I don’t think we spend enough time worry about whether they can feel Him.
I didn’t accept the Lord because of anything a learned, but because of what I felt at that moment. I remember all my wisdom and knowledge faded away and all that was left was a mess-up, broken guy in the arms of his savior. I remember in the beginning my first pastor was old school and he made sure to lay hands on every person that would come up to the alter because he believed that every parson was going to be healed and he wanted to be a part of that blessing. I know times have changed and some churches are so large that it would be near impossible to lay hands on every person but I sure miss the good old day.