Quiet Hints, Chapter 1–"Wherefore All This”

Topics: Pastors·Preaching

Notes taken from Quiet Hints to Growing Preachers by Charles E. Jefferson, Chapter 1, “Wherefore All This.”

“Ministers as a body are I think the best men living on the earth.”

“But ministers to be as good as other classes of men must be better than they. No other set of men make such assumptions or bind themselves to such high ideals.”

“Taking the clerical body as a whole it is made up of honest, capable, faithful men. But a man may be all this and still fail.”

“Many a man in the ministry fails, not because he is bad, but because he has a genius for blundering.”

“Men with ability sufficient to carry them to distinction fail to rise because of foibles and oddities which they seem unable to shake off.”

“Even slight defects in clergymen are momentous because they live always in a light as searching and intense as that which beats upon a throne.”

“Whatever is crooked or unchristian in him is certain to come out.”

“The Scripture says the saints shall judge the world. It is their special province and delight to judge those who minister to them in spiritual things.”

Visitor Comments:

January 22, 2010, 4:05 AM Patrick Sullivan says:
British / Australian . Retired Pastor. Hospital Chaplain. Creator and Webmaster of www.jesuschristonly.com	“The Scripture says the saints shall judge the world. It is their special province and delight to judge those who minister to them in spiritual things.” What a gem Ray. As a Pastor some 2o years ago I was answerable to a ‘Pulpit Committee’. One lady on the committee had the job of timing the sermon each week. A responsibility she relished, she sat in the front row armed with a stop watch. I would be told forcefully, with a stern look later, if I strayed over the sermon time of 30 min. even by just one minute. What great times Ray, I loved her dearly. A faithful servant doing her job. Blessings Pat
January 22, 2010, 8:28 AM Ray Pritchard says:
	What a story. Serving the saints is a joy and a challenge and a faith-stretching experience. You need a soft heart and the hide of a rhino to be a pastor. Ray