Aiden Wilson Tozer (1897-1963)

Aiden Wilson Tozer (1897–1963)

 Vocationally A.W. Tozer (1897–1963) served as pastor of Christian and Missionary Alliance churches in Chicago and Toronto. In 1950 he became the editor of the Alliance Witness. Tozer understood the power of words. He took pains to put his thoughts into edifying statements that would strengthen the Body of Christ and bring more glory to God. Tozer stands out because he avoided both the fundamentalism and the anti-intellectualism so common among Christians of the 20th century. Tozer's preaching was fresh. From his studies he drew heavily from Christian mystics, early church fathers, and revivalists. A.W. Tozer was particularly impressed by John Wesley's self-description of being "a man of One Book, but a student of many." Tozer preached the gospel so plainly that it has been said he was invited to speak everywhere—once. He refused to stand at the church door to shake hands with the congregation after church because in his mind that was "glad handing" people and setting himself up to be flattered and thus self-deceived. Biographer Lyle Dorsett put it this way: "Tozer concerned himself with the depth of his ministry, and left the breadth of his ministry up to the Holy Spirit."

“The church must examine herself constantly to see if she be in the faith;
she must engage in severe self-criticism with a cheerful readiness to make amends;
she must live in a state of perpetual penitence, seeking God with her whole heart;
she must constantly check her life and conduct against the Holy Scriptures
and bring her life into line with the will of God.”
- A.W. Tozer

“Modern evangelicalism has surrendered to the world, excused it, explained it,
adopted it and imitated it. More young preachers imitate men in the world
with a good deal more energy than they imitate the holy saints of God.”
— A.W. Tozer

“Scholars can interpret the past; it takes prophets to interpret the present.”
— A.W. Tozer

“It is easy to learn the doctrine of personal revival and victorious living; it is quite another thing to take our cross and plod on to the dark and bitter hill of self-renunciation.”
— A.W. Tozer

 “I want nobody fooling me with unreality. I do not want anybody coming and fawning over me if he does not mean it. I do not want anybody to lie to me in the name of etiquette or ask me for a dime to support something I do not believe in. I do not want anybody to ask me to believe in a religion that I have to take on the basis of somebody's authority. If Jesus Christ cannot change me, if my Christianity is not real; if the problem I face is not a real problem; if it does not mean heaven, hell, death and the grave; then I do not want to be wasting my time with it at all.”

— A.W. Tozer

“To be called to follow Christ is a high honor, higher indeed than any honor [people] can bestow upon each other.”
— A.W. Tozer

The blight of the Church today is spiritual starvation. People are famishing on rationalism, socialism, sensationalism, on lifeless bonds and bank notes and unwholesome pleasures. "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not?... eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness" (Isaiah 55:1,2)  Are you living on the bread of God or starving while in the Father's house there is bread to spare?
— A.W. Tozer

“Sin has obscenely scarred and defaced this world, taking away its harmony and symmetry and beauty. That is the negative picture. Thank God for the positive promise and prospect that heaven is the place of all loveliness, all harmony and beauty.”
— A.W. Tozer

“To speak to God on behalf of [people] is probably the highest service any of us can render. The next is to speak to [people] in the Name of God. Either is a privilege possible to us only through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — A.W. Tozer

 Tozer had strong convictions about the subject of worship as well as its corruption by what he referred to as "the Great God Entertainment." The excerpts in this book were carefully selected to give you a clear picture of his thoughts on both topics.
Worship: Unacceptable worship, spiritual concentration, the presence of God, the power of God, personal communion, adoration, hymns.
Entertainment: Evangelical heresy, propaganda, an outward shift, modern evangelism, religious activity, worldliness.
Also included are Tozer's sermon "The Act and Object of Worship: in its entirety as well as his controversial essay, "The Menace of the Religious Movie," written in the mid 1950s.