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There was a time when ministers spoke forthrightly and named things. We don't name anything anymore. Finney had a sermon on How to Preach so as to Convert Nobody. He said 'Preach on sin but never mention any of the sins of your congregation - that will do it.'

Vance Havner

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Vance Havner
Age: 77 †
Born: 1886
Born: February 16
Died: 1963
Died: May 2
Clergyman
Literary Critic
Literary Historian
Plainfield
New Jersey
Time
Anymore
Sermons
Sin
Mention
Nobody
Preach
Name
Spokes
Finney
Names
Named
Forthrightly
Anything
Spoke
Sermon
Things
Ministers
Congregation
Never
Sins
Convert

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Another thing I liked about my Dad at church: he did his sleeping at home. He never used the church as an adult nursery.
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When I pastored a country church, a farmer didn't like the sermons I preached on hell. He said, Preach about the meek and lowly Jesus. I said, That's where I got my information about hell.
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The middle of the road is a poor place to walk. It is a poor place to drive. It is a poor place to live.
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Faith has no value of its own, it has value only as it connects us with Him. It is a trick of Satan to get us occupied with examining our faith instead of resting in the Faithful One.
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If you can't pray as you want to, pray as you can. God knows what you mean.
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You can't preach it like it is if you don't believe it like it was.
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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.
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Too many Christians are stuffing themselves with gospel blessings while millions have never had a taste.
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The early Christians condemned false doctrine in a way that sounds almost unchristian today.
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An old minister explained the smudges on his sermon outlines by saying they were caused by sweat and tears. And without those two marks, a sermon is not a sermon.
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The last word of our Lord to the church was not the Great Commission. The last thing He said to the church was 'Repent.' He said that to five out of seven.
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Adam tried to hide behind the trees in the garden. There is only one tree that can hide us from Him and that is the tree of the cross.
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When God's people are removed from this earth, you might as well try to dam up Niagara Falls with toothpicks as to stem the flood of lawlessness that will engulf mankind. Thank God for the restraining Spirit today!
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Not everyone who has made peace with God has realized the peace of God.
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We need a dedicated minority who, like the apostles of old, are willing to be called the scum of the earth and a spectacle to the world for the scandal of the cross.
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A revival is the church falling in love with Jesus Christ all over again.
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Christ is most concerned with the direction in which you habitually are going and not with a spasmodic eruption either good or bad.
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No nation can last long when it stops praying and takes up playing.
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If you see a Bible that is falling apart, it probably belongs to someone who isn't!
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What our Lord said about cross-bearing and obedience is not in fine type. It is in bold print on the face of the contract.
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