AW Tozer Gems

"How desperately the church at this moment needs men of courage is too well known to need repetition. Fear broods over the church like some ancient curse. Fear for our living, fear of our jobs. fear of losing popularity, fear of each other: these are the ghosts that haunt the men who stand today in church leadership. Many of them, however, win a reputation for courage by repeating safe and daring things with comical daring. Yet self-concious courage is not the cure. To cultivate the habit of "calling a spade a spade" may merely result in our making a nuisance of ourselves and doing a lot of damage in the process. The ideal seems to be a quiet courage that is not aware of its own presence. It draws its strength each moment from the indwelling Spirit and is hardly aware of self at all. Such a courage will be patient also and well-balanced and safe from extremes. May God send a baptism of such courage upon us."


"When God's sheep are in danger, the shephard must not gaze at the stars and meditate on "inspirational" themes. He is morally obliged to grab his weapon and run to their defense. When the circumstances call for it, love can use the sword, though by her nature she would rather bind up the broken heart and minister to the wounded. It is time for the prophet and the seer to make themselves heard and felt again. For the last three decades timidity disguised as humility has crouched in her corner while the spiritual quality of evangelical Christainity has become progressively worse year by year. How long, O Lord, how long?"