Men of Conviction

Here’s a quote from Steve Lawson regarding men of conviction that I found challenging and encouraging:

Strong men always proclaim a strong message. They do not read the polls and check the surveys before they give their opinions. In fact, they do not even have opinions–they have convictions. They bleed convictions. They are strong men anchored in the strong Word of God, and, as such, they bring a message with gravitas and punch. When they stand to speak, they actually have something to say–and they say it, whether anyone listens or not. When they sit to write, they do not skirt the issues–they tackle them. When they address the times in which they live, they do not tickle ears–they box them. They do not have one message for one group and a different message for a different group. Whenever they go and whomever they address, they have only one message–God’s message. That is what makes them strong men. They speak God’s Word, or they do not speak at all.

Source: Steven Lawson, Foundations of Grace, Vol. 1, p.103

To Preach Well

To preach well:

“is to make truth intelligible, forcible, triumphant; it is to clear away from the Bible false glosses, and present it in its native purity, and clothe it with the attributes of a living instructor; it is to give to the written doctrine, the tenderness and pathos, the authority and force, with which it was first clothed by the inspired writers.”

Please pray for your pastor. Pray that he will preach this way every time he opens God’s Word. Pray that he will always exalt Jesus as the risen Lord and Savior and never compromise the truth of God’s Word.

In Christ

Pastor Mike Walters

P.S. I found this quote from in Richard Baxter’s Christian Directory. Richard Baxter was an British Puritan Pastor in the 1600’s. This quote is from Bishop Wilson who was introducing one of Baxter’s works.