Quote:

---

To great sections of the Church the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the `program.' This word has been borrowed from the stage and applied with sad wisdom to the type of public service which now passes for worship among us.

Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience, they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.

...Others before me have gone much farther into these holy mysteries than I have done, but if my fire is not large it is yet real, and there may be those who can light their candle at its flame.

---

The questions:

Tozer talks about a hunger and thirst for God in his introduction as if it’s not a common thing, even among those who profess Christianity. What do you think we’re doing, or hungering and thirsting for, or chasing after, if it’s not God himself?
Within each human heart is a place that is empty and misses God. I believe it was there within Adam in Eden, but at the Fall was removed. Mankind is always searching, seeking, desiring that Divine Touch... the only Thing that can fill that spot would be true relationship with Jesus the Christ. When lost mankind seeks to fill that spot, they sometimes run after "new" religions, old religions, something "ethereal" or "spiritual"... The only problem is that ethereal that they find is not always God's Spirit and His Person, but counterfeit things, demons, or mere "windmills of their minds"... always turning, always searching, but in essence looking for Love in all the wrong places.

Have you ever felt yourself “starving while actually seated at the Father’s table”? When or why or how does that happen? What did you or could you do about it?
Yes, at times of "desert crossings"... usually out of times that I have not taken the time to seek His face in His word or in prayer. It can also come right before a time of deep and great growth... if I persevere and walk thru the desert to Him... so often He's not the one who placed me there, I am. To peresevere in this situation is to continue in prayer, even if just giving Him my "list of injustices"... but so often that leads me to realization that I think too small and that His ways ARE indeed higher than mine. I need to continue in Bible reading - seeing what He Himself says. The Word is alive and touches me where I am, even if the actual situation isn't listed chapter & verse. The things that are "common to man" are definitely in there and I must seek and delve and search for Him with my whole heart... for when we seek we find. He is just a whisper and a heartbeat away, if we choose to reach out to Him.

I will share my study of this book with you every Monday... If you are interested in the book, but don't have it or don't have the funds to get it, here's a site that has it online:  In Pursuit of God 

Feel free to join me in studying this wonderful book! Leave comments and we can all learn together. Next Monday, we'll be talking about Chapter One.