"Great preaching begins with a great relationship with God. It is impossible for a preacher to compensate for a relationship that has gone cold for the 'mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.'"- J Kent Edwards, Deep Preaching
"Do you want God or God's blessings? Do you want personal advancement or personal intimacy with God? Your honest answer to these questions will have a major impact on how you preach"
"God does not pastors or churches that are not passionately in love with Him. The prerequisite to deep preaching is a deep and passionate relationship with God for whom we speak."
"The goal of the preacher must not be to have a successful ministry. It is not wrong for people to swell and applaud your ministry, but it is dangerous when they gegin to distract you from what is most important. When some measure of fame comes knocking, it often holds the door open for pride to pay you a visit."
"If you are not enjoying a deep relationship with your heavenly Father--and you want to preach deeply--then you have to fake it."
How can we be better preachers? We should not remember our passion for God, but God's passion for us in sending His Son to die for an unfaithful people. It is not our faithfulness that drew God to us, but God's faithfulness that drew Him to us. In other words, God's character is what loved a sinful people. God wants us to be passionate about Him. He does not want cold lukewarm hearts. He wants hearts that are on fire for Him.
How do we get this fire burning in our lives? By remembering the love of God and his passion for us. He left heaven to come to earth. He left glory to come to a suffering world. He lived a perfect life. He died a criminal's death. The primary goal of a Christian is to be happy in God. When ministry takes over intimacy with the divine lover, you have lost sight of why you are doing ministry. Here is a definition of sin: You love yourself more than you love God.
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments" John 14:15
God, consume me with a holy passion for you! Please!! FOR YOUR NAME'S SAKE!!!
