read, write, pray, preach

  Read, Write, Pray and Preach                        
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  (1Timothy 4:13)
 
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.  (Habakkuk 2:2)
 
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  (2Chronicles 7:14)
 
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  (2Timothy 4:2)
 
ABOUT 1953, JEWISH EVANGELIST, HYMAN APPLEMAN came to Highland Park Baptist Church and Tennessee Temple Schools in Chattanooga for a week of meetings in January. I was there and was privileged to hear him preach. About mid-week after a service, the Lord met with me in an unmistakable way that I later learned was being filled with the Holy Spirit. I had gone up on the flat roof of the Temple Building to pray and the Lord met with me there. For me, that was a landmark meeting with the Lord, 2nd only to my conversion in October 1943.

DR. APPLEMAN MADE A MONUMENTAL STATEMENT during the meeting as he addressed the “preacher boys” that made up part of the audience. Concerning the preparation for preaching a message, a preacher should do these things: 1. Read yourself full.  2. Write yourself clear.  3. Pray yourself keen.  4. Preach yourself empty. I had just begun preaching and was 18 years old. I knew I had just heard it thunder! Quickly, I wrote it down in my Bible.

THAT WASN'T ORDINARY ADVICE. That was monumental, worthy of engraving on a public monument. I have recalled that advice many times. Like the roof of a house, it covers everything. Read yourself full; Write yourself clear; Pray yourself keen; Preach yourself empty. If you’re going to do any public preaching or teaching, that’s the way to do it. It won’t make you a great preacher or teacher, but it will make you the best preacher/teacher you can possibly be and that’s all that matters.

THIS LETTER GOES TO PEOPLE OF MANY ENDEAVORS, including preachers, missionaries and Sunday school teachers. I hope that quote will be a blessing to you.
 
 AS I SAID AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS LETTER, at Tennessee Temple, January always began with a “Winter Revival” to help the new students get saved if they had missed the call of the Gospel of Christ. I never knew for sure, but I always assumed that plan was patterned after the practice of Charles Finney in New York (1792-1875) who had a school and began his 2nd semester with evangelistic preaching. Dr. Lee Roberson had great respect for Charles Finney.
 
THE LINK FOLLOWING WILL ACCESS FINNEY'S OWN ACCOUNT of his conversion and subsequent experience in learning to walk with the Lord. (Published by Google Books.  https://www.gospeltruth.net/1868Memoirs/mem02.htm
 
 Let’s not try to pattern our life or our Christian experience after Charles Finney but rather to be taught how God has in the past dealt with some of His children. This should enrich our thinking and raise our level of expectancy of what God may do today, if and when revival may come.

HIS UNIQUE EXPERIENCE OF CONVERSION AND HIS SERVICE FOR CHRIST were God’s plan for him. But God has a plan for you that’s just as authentic as that of Finney. Our job is to get into the circle of God’s will for us. You may want to read two or three pages a day until you finish his testimony.

FINNEY IS NOT CONSIDERED TO BE WILDFIRE but a true servant of the Lord. I found his testimony to be very helpful and challenging. I read it again just now. If the power of God should fall on us, as we often pray, please remember this: we won’t be in charge to manage it. God will be in charge and He will do as He pleases. I have a big book entitled: Historical Collections of Accounts of Revival by John Gilles and one thing is clear: when the power of God falls, we don’t get to be in charge.
 
 Read Through the Bible in a Year     
MAY 13, 2019 – MONDAY  
A.M.  2 Kings 6-8  P.M. John 4:31-54
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.) 

Good Verse to Memorize:
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  (2Timothy 4:2)

Song for Today:
My Hope Is Built (2:31) (Samonte-Mennonite Choir -A Cappello)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bWjb_6MzwY
                                               
            
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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