[220 words]
The name of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale is not the household name it once was. However, he was one of the most widely read preachers and authors of the 20th century.
The great problem is that there are so many today who would rather follow preachers like Norman Vincent Peale than listen to preachers like the apostle Paul. Paul says to “preach the word,” while Peale says to “pamper the world.” Paul says to “reprove, rebuke and exhort,” while Peale says to “approve, relax and exonerate.”
Like Adlai Stevenson one time said, “I find Paul appealing and Peale appalling.” The tragedy of our time is that more and more people would rather read the type of books that Dr. Peale wrote than read the writings of the apostle Paul.
Perhaps we should spend more time in reading the word of God. How much time do you spend in reading the Bible? We might say we don’t have time to read the Bible, and yet that is just one more of the many excuses we offer for not living God’s kind of life. We find the time to do almost everything we really want to do. If we don’t have time to spend reading God’s word, it’s because we really do not have the desire to spend time studying the Bible.
via San Augustine church of Christ
San Augustine, TX