“It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that.”[1]
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-A.W. Tozer
-A.W. Tozer
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The person of God who endures today, long after decay, has done much for the Lord’s cause -- not the least of which being worthy of the Father’s praise, and to hear him finally say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”[2]
The person of God who endures today, long after decay, has done much for the Lord’s cause -- not the least of which being worthy of the Father’s praise, and to hear him finally say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”[2]
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Aiden Wilson Tozer stood for a radically correct, fire-of-God-anointed, counter-cultural stance as he preached and wrote and mentored. He wrote the following in the Preface to The Pursuit of God in 1948,
Aiden Wilson Tozer stood for a radically correct, fire-of-God-anointed, counter-cultural stance as he preached and wrote and mentored. He wrote the following in the Preface to The Pursuit of God in 1948,
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“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. They minister constantly to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching simply does not satisfy. I trust I speak in charity, but the lack in our pulpits is real. Milton's terrible sentence applies to our day as accurately as it did to his: ‘The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed.’”[3] (Bolding added for emphasis -- not featured in the original.)
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There is the effect here of correct teaching without the fire of God. Tozer saw the trueness of the Word limping through his age, disciples malnourished and going without in the spiritual truth of revelation life. He saw it to his great disappointment. ‘Right tempers’ must be added to ‘right opinions,’ in the paraphrasing of Wesley, and the true fire of God through “His manifest Presence.”
There is the effect here of correct teaching without the fire of God. Tozer saw the trueness of the Word limping through his age, disciples malnourished and going without in the spiritual truth of revelation life. He saw it to his great disappointment. ‘Right tempers’ must be added to ‘right opinions,’ in the paraphrasing of Wesley, and the true fire of God through “His manifest Presence.”
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Why is there nothing unusual in the minister’s life as observed by Tozer? What sets him or her apart (from the world) and makes him or her holy? Is he or she afraid of being falsely accused as a hypocrite -- as people are liable to do. Is he or she afraid of losing popularity contests? Is he or she afraid that other very real church imperatives would be lost or threatened?
Why is there nothing unusual in the minister’s life as observed by Tozer? What sets him or her apart (from the world) and makes him or her holy? Is he or she afraid of being falsely accused as a hypocrite -- as people are liable to do. Is he or she afraid of losing popularity contests? Is he or she afraid that other very real church imperatives would be lost or threatened?
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True spiritual leadership is messy, costly, sleeves-rolled-up stuff; and not just for the flock. It augments and facilitates changed lives, bringing spiritual enhancement -- more manifest Presence characterised by the Beatitudes. Other-worldly and full of love is this life that swells and does not diminish.
True spiritual leadership is messy, costly, sleeves-rolled-up stuff; and not just for the flock. It augments and facilitates changed lives, bringing spiritual enhancement -- more manifest Presence characterised by the Beatitudes. Other-worldly and full of love is this life that swells and does not diminish.
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“If my fire is not large it is yet real, and there may be those who can light their candle at its flame.”[4] Tozer would not accept a Bible-bound Christianity without the true fire of God anointing it, making it breathe. He challenges us today to ‘light our candles at their flames,’ and particularly leaders in the church to lead this charge by being radically different and ‘other worldly.’
“If my fire is not large it is yet real, and there may be those who can light their candle at its flame.”[4] Tozer would not accept a Bible-bound Christianity without the true fire of God anointing it, making it breathe. He challenges us today to ‘light our candles at their flames,’ and particularly leaders in the church to lead this charge by being radically different and ‘other worldly.’
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And the enduring challenge to us all harkens us back to the first quote. We’d be “excited [people] of time rush[ing] about confusing motion with progress” to our spiritual demise.
And the enduring challenge to us all harkens us back to the first quote. We’d be “excited [people] of time rush[ing] about confusing motion with progress” to our spiritual demise.
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Let us instead invite the Presence of the living God into our lives to live true.
Let us instead invite the Presence of the living God into our lives to live true.
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Copyright © 2008, Steven J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Copyright © 2008, Steven J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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