When I preach I want to help create a faith that the gospel is the answer to all human questions and the solution to all human problems. When I preach I must remember that preaching is a difficult task because I am called of God to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. To afflict the comfortable is to bring them face to face with the fact of God's judgment. But I dare not leave them in the depths of guilt and remorse. I must go on to comfort the afflicted by bringing them the assurance of God's grace.
Judgment is there but grace also.
This day calls for strong preaching. Unless pastors are willing to meet these minimum demands, then preaching will remain mediocre and decline will continue to mark the contemporary church. God has set before us the open door of 1999. A meaningful evaluation of the past and the future will result in a dynamic perspective. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.