From Gimmick to Gimmick-

J. I. Packer said, "Certainty about the great issues of the Christian faith and conduct is lacking all along the line.

The outside observer sees us staggering on from gimmick to gimmick and stunt to stunt like so many drunks in a fog, not knowing at all where we are or which way we should be going. Preaching is hazy; heads are muddled; hearts fret; doubts drain strength; uncertainty paralyzes action....

Unlike the first Christians who in three centuries won the Roman world, and those later Christians who pioneered the Reformation, and the Puritan awakening and the Evangelical revival, and the great missionary movement of the last century, we lack certainty.

Why is this? We blame the external pressures of modern secularism, but this is like Eve blaming the serpent.

The real truth is that we have grieved the Spirit... we stand under divine judgment. For two generations our churches have suffered from a famine of hearing the words of the Lord."