Quotes . Volume 02 | Issue 10

Preachers, Pastors

“No man can at one and the same time prove that he is clever and that Christ is wonderful.” – James Denney

“I believe in preaching to the converted; for I have generally found that the converted do not understand their own religion.” – C.K. Chesterton

“I believe in being dogmatic. When I go to the pharmacist to have a prescription filled, I want him to be dogmatic about the proportion of the ingredients. I do not want a doctor who says, ‘Your ailment could be this or it might be that. We’ll try these pills, and if they don’t kill you, we’ll try something else.’ When I ride a train, I don’t want the engineer to say, ‘I’m tired of this old timetable. It is too dogmatic. We are going to throw it away and follow no set schedule.’ I want to hear a dogmatic preacher who preaches from a dogmatic Bible.” – Vance Havner

“People expect the clergy to have the grace of a swan, the friendliness of a sparrow, the strength of an eagle, and the night hours of an owl – and some people expect such a bird to live on the food of a canary.” – Edward Jeffrey

“The preacher who jests and jokes with his people all week will soon find that he cannot stand in his pulpit on Sunday with power to reprove, rebuke and exhort. He may be the life of the party but it will be the death of the prophet.” – Vance Havner

“Preaching is soul communication. Every minister should make a pulpit a miniature Calvary where he dies a little for his people…sometime a battle between leather lungs and wooden ears. It is a sad sight to see a congregation, like a storm tossed schooner, blow out of the sanctuary in a mad rush to beat the Methodists to the cafeteria. Then one little person comes to the minister and drones, ‘…enjoyed your little talk.'” – Jess Moody

“Our Lord holds the keys to the doors of Christian service. You don’t have to chase ‘key men’ around if you know the Keeper of the keys!” – Vance Havner

“I would say to preachers: beware of the disarming effect of too much familiarity with and too many favors from your congregation. Many a prophet is silenced by the kindnesses of his people. Popularity has killed more prophets than persecution.” – Vance Havner

“Today we have sermonettes, by preacherettes, for Christianettes.” – Charles F. Taylor

“A preacher should have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. His problem is how to toughen his hide without hardening his heart.” – Vance Havner

“Pastor – the community sponge who soaks in problems. He soaks until he croaks. Not the simpleton Hollywood has depicted him to be – probably the most aware person in the community. He lives with the Bible, great books, and human heartbreak. Some of the greatest evidences of courage I have witnessed have been manifested by these men who march to the sound of a different drummer. I wish I were more like most of them. I have seen many of them crucified because of their courage to rebuke institutionalized evil. If Hollywood wants some real drama, I can personally tell them some great stories about Gospel gumption.” – Jess Moody

“Some ministers preach from notes and some don’t. They have argued about it for centuries. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Two Welsh preachers were on their way to a meeting. One noticed that the other carried written outlines. ‘Ah,’ he remonstrated, ‘you cannot carry fire on paper.’ ‘True,’ replied his companion, ‘but you can use paper to start a fire!'” – Vance Havner

“The one thing no church can stand is a pastor who really wants to be something else. The men who really want out ought to be helped out, for the Christian ministry is no place for a man who wants to be something else. It is a place for men who can give counsel, not the place for men who need counsel. – Duke McCall

“Some people accuse us of too much emotionalism. I say we have too little. That is why we are losing church people to other interests. We need not only to capture their minds; we’ve got to touch their hearts. We’ve got to make people feel their faith.” – Billy Graham

“A minister was rushed to the hospital and an inexperienced nurse was assigned to him. She put a barometer in his mouth instead of a thermometer and it read, ‘Dry and windy.'” – A. Ross Williams

“If people are not sharing their faith in your church, if they’re not having a quiet time, if they’re not living godly lives, then you need to change your style of preaching. You are obviously not seeing lives changed through the Word of God. So what is the problem? The problem isn’t the Word. The problem is your preaching style.” – Bruce Wilkinson