Catch and Release

“It’s more important to catch souls than to build the size of your church. It’s about the catching, not the keeping. ‘Seek first the kingdom of God’ (Matthew 6:33) — not yours or your church’s.” “The Christian Angler’s Guide to Fishing,” Ken Horn, Pentecostal Evangel, August 12, 2012

The Message Is What Matters

"Early on while still in Bible School I made a feeble, flimsy, fumbling attempt to preach to the lost at Victory Servicemen’s Center in Long Beach, California. I knew I had failed miserably … and it was true. But that night 30 sailor boys knelt and wept through to salvation. That night changed my life … for suddenly I realized that even when the messenger’s delivery is a total failure, the message itself remains powerful to save."

— Missionary Ralph Hiatt (on his blog, "Ralph Hiatt's Argentina," 10/29/11)

God's Wrath and the Gospel

“No doubt it is true that the subject of divine wrath has in the past been handled speculatively, irreverently, even malevolently. No doubt there have been some who have preached of wrath and damnation with tearless eyes and not pain in their hearts. No doubt the sign of small sects cheerfully consigning the whole world, apart from themselves, to hell has disgusted many. Yet if we would know God, it is vital that we face the truth concerning his wrath, however unfashionable it may be, and however strong our initial prejudices against it. Otherwise we shall not understand the gospel of salvation from wrath, nor the propitiatory achievement of the cross, nor the wonder of the redeeming love of God."

—J.I. Packer, from Knowing God

Essence of Sin and Salvation

"The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man."

John Stott, The Cross of Christ

What Do Your Neighbors Think?

"I remember one believer who planted a large sign in his front yard. It
read, 'Repent—or die in hell.' His motive was pure and his message
scriptural, but his method needed refinement. His neighbors felt his
condemnation but didn't sense his love."

Hal Donaldson

Editor's Journey: "What Do Your Neighbors Think of You?"
Today's Pentecostal Evangel, December 9, 2007
http://www.tpe.ag.org

Salvation

"If I wasn't saved ... I'd get saved right now!"

David Flower

[Submitted by Larry Lockhart who says he heard this many times while Flower was pastor at Bethel Temple—now Bethel Christian—in Dayton, Ohio.]