Vance Havner Quotes & Sayings

We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by the combustion within it of lives ignited by the Spirit of God. — Vance Havner

Some ministers preach from notes and some don't. They have argued about it for centuries. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Two Welsh preachers were on their way to a meeting. One noticed that the other carried written outlines. 'Ah,' he remonstrated, 'you cannot carry fire on paper.' 'True,' replied his companion, 'but you can use paper to start a fire!' — Vance Havner

The man who sets out to live the life worthwhile-to follow his vision and speak his heart-need not look for position, honors, prosperity. — Vance Havner

The first step towards the evangelizing of the world is the christianizing of the church. — Vance Havner

Men seek fame and high places only to learn that they were happier in obscurity — Vance Havner

One of the greatest errors in the church today is the artificial distinction we have created between accepting Christ as Savior and confessing Him as Lord. We have made two experiences of it, but the New Testament makes them one. — Vance Havner

If you are a Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven; you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world. — Vance Havner

I suspect that much of our praying to be used is selfish, and underneath it is the sneaking desire to make our mark and be recognized. — Vance Havner

If the Lord tarries, there may yet be a grass-roots awakening that will overflow all sectarian barriers. There are a host of good people ... who long for a visitation from heaven in old-time power. The kindling wood is scattered all round in all the churches. May God help us to rake off the ashes, uncover the live coals and may He blow upon us with the breath of His Spirit! — Vance Havner

One cannot help the evil thoughts that come, but it is the thoughts we cultivate that make the difference between good or evil. We don't have to open the door to the devil and say, "Make yourself at home." — Vance Havner

Humility is not thinking meanly of oneself, but rather it means not thinking of oneself at all. — Vance Havner

Some missionaries bound for Africa were laughed at by the boat captain. 'You'll only die over there,' he said. But a missionary replied, 'Captain, we died before we started.' — Vance Havner

The Word of God is either absolute or obsolete. — Vance Havner

I wouldn't cross the street to hear Ingersoll preach on the mistakes of Moses, but I'd love to hear Moses preach on the mistakes of Ingersoll! — Vance Havner

I can conceive of no greater, more romantic and interesting adventure than to undertake to live like Jesus in this complicated day. — Vance Havner

The devil is in constant conspiracy against a preacher who really prays, for it has been said that what a minister is in his prayer closet is what he is, no more, no less. — Vance Havner

There are many who say they want to be victorious Christians, but few are willing to endure the discipline necessary to make one a good solider of Jesus Christ. There is a prize to possess, but before we possess it there is a price to be paid, and few will pay it. — Vance Havner

To some Christianity is an argument. To many it is a performance. To a few, it is experience. — Vance Havner

Most church members live so far below the standard, you would have to backslide to be in fellowship with them. — Vance Havner

If the church would only be the church- if Christians would only be Christians- nothing could halt our onward march. — Vance Havner

There is a trend today that would put a new robe on the prodigal son while he is still feeding hogs. Some would put the ring on his finger while he still in the pigsty. Others would paint the pigsty and advocate bigger and better hog pens. — Vance Havner

We must live in all kinds of days, both high days and low days, in simple dependence upon Christ as the branch on the vine. This is the supreme experience — Vance Havner

It is not our business to make the message acceptable, but to make it available. We are not to see that they like it, but that they get it. — Vance Havner

The world does not hate its own. It does hate our Lord. It hates His followers. Where do you belong in this lineup? — Vance Havner

Our Lord holds the keys to the doors of Christian service. You don't have to chase 'key men' around if you know the Keeper of the keys! — Vance Havner

We are not to be isolated but insulated, moving in the midst of evil but untouched by it. — Vance Havner

Too many church services start at eleven sharp and end at twelve dull. — Vance Havner

Revival precedes evangelism. The church must first repent. This is the blind spot in our eye today. — Vance Havner

The devil's not fighting churches today, he's joining churches. — Vance Havner

Worse than blind leaders of the blind are bland leaders of the bland. — Vance Havner

When the Lord's white sheep become dirty gray, all black sheep feel more comfortable. — Vance Havner

It is one of the ironies of the ministry that the very man who works in God's name is often hardest put to find time for God. The parents of Jesus lost Him at church, and they were not the last ones to lose Him there. — Vance Havner

We can often do more by doing less. God is not particularly interested in quantity production. That is an American standard, not a Bible standard. — Vance Havner

Taking it easy is often the prelude to backsliding. Comfort precedes collapse. — Vance Havner

One hour in heaven, and we shall be ashamed that we ever grumbled. — Vance Havner

If the fire of hell is not literal, it is worse than actual fire, and if the gates of the Celestial City are not actual gold, they are far finer. — Vance Havner

One man with a genuine experience with God is worth more than a library full of arguments. — Vance Havner

The only way to meet the modern demon-stration of the powers of darkness is by a demonstration of the power of God. — Vance Havner

It is debatable which is causing us more harm - hot-headed ignorance or cold-hearted intellectualism. — Vance Havner

People get so used to the dark that they think it is growing brighter. — Vance Havner

The gospel is for lifeboats, not showboats, and a man must make up his mind which boat he is going to operate. — Vance Havner

It is one thing to say Jesus is all you want; until He is all you have and you discover He is all you ever needed. — Vance Havner

Any man who takes Jesus Christ seriously becomes the target of the devil. Most church members do not give Satan enough trouble to arouse his opposition — Vance Havner

I know that some are always studying the meaning of the fourth toe of the right foot of some beast in prophecy and have never used either foot to go and bring men to Christ. I do not know who the 666 is in Revelation but I know the world is sick, sick, sick and the best way to speed the Lord's return is to win more souls for Him. — Vance Havner

It's hard to be optimistic when you have a misty optic. — Vance Havner

When the Lord's sheep are a dirty grey, all black sheep are more
comfortable. — Vance Havner

Where are the marks of the cross in your life? Are there any points of identification with your Lord? Alas, too many Christians wear medals but carry no scars. — Vance Havner

God judges what we tolerate as well as what we practice. Too often we put up with things we ought to put out. — Vance Havner

It is a matter of whether one wants to get rich or be rich. We can be rich in Christ Jesus or perhaps get rich in Egypt, but we cannot do both. — Vance Havner

The same church members who yell like Comanche Indians at a ball game on Saturday sit like wooden Indians in church on Sunday. — Vance Havner

Many people are in a rut and a rut is nothing but a grave - with both ends kicked out. — Vance Havner

If you would try out a preacher, send him to preach to farmers: if he cannot make the grade there, let him reconsider his call - or maybe he needs to be converted. — Vance Havner

Not everyone who has made peace with God has realized the peace of God. — Vance Havner

The preacher who is concerned with gaining a reputation, rising in his profession, is always in bondage. The itch for bigness is a dangerous thing. It has made a castaway of many a man whom God once richly blessed. A man should desire to be neither larger nor smaller than pleases God. Better than that, he should not bother at all about how large or how small but rather how faithful he shall be. — Vance Havner

Our Lord sent His disciples out as sheep among wolves; now the wolves are being invited into the sheepfold. — Vance Havner

Too many are not willing to give the Gospel a fair trial. They are too ignorant to speak wisely but not wise enough to speak ignorantly. A man is not a sinner because he is a skeptic; he is a skeptic because he is a sinner. — Vance Havner

God is on the lookout today for a man who will be quiet enough to get a message from Him, brave enough to preach it, and honest enough to live it. — Vance Havner

Faith has no value of its own, it has value only as it connects us with Him. It is a trick of Satan to get us occupied with examining our faith instead of resting in the Faithful One. — Vance Havner

God isn't a talent scout looking for someone who is "good enough" or "strong enough." He is looking for someone with a heart set on Him, and He will do the rest. — Vance Havner

There never has been a culture since this world began in which a New Testament Christian could feel at home. — Vance Havner

The early Christians condemned false doctrine in a way that sounds almost unchristian today. — Vance Havner

We are so prone to expect to become good Christians by some sudden experience that lifts us all at once to higher ground without the gradual climb. We forget that we are to "grow in grace" and that normal growth is not a matter of fits and starts. — Vance Havner

We are fighting the greatest battle of all time with the most untrained army on earth. If strict discipline is necessary in art and athletics, how can we expect to be advanced Christians and stay in kindergarten? — Vance Havner

Too many Christians are stuffing themselves with gospel blessings while millions have never had a taste. — Vance Havner

The devil will let a preacher prepare a sermon if it will keep him from preparing himself. — Vance Havner

He who waits on God loses no time. — Vance Havner

What gives the Word of God authority is simply the fact that it is the word of God! — Vance Havner

Christmas is based on an exchange of gifts, the gift of God to man - His unspeakable gift of His Son, and the gift of man to God - when we present our bodies a living sacrifice. — Vance Havner

The church is so subnormal that if it ever got back to the New Testament normal it would seem to people to be abnormal. — Vance Havner

There is no devil in the first two chapters of the Bible and no devil in the last two chapters. Thank God for a book that disposes of the devil! — Vance Havner

We need to be preaching a dynamic Gospel and living firecracker lives. — Vance Havner

The thermometer of a church is its prayer meeting. — Vance Havner

What our Lord said about cross-bearing and obedience is not in fine type. It is in bold print on the face of the contract. — Vance Havner

Progress is a farce because man's head and hand have created wonders that stun the imagination, but his heart does not keep step and his morals undo all that his mind has wrought. — Vance Havner

Nothing is needed so much as a holy indignation against sin. It is true that there is not enough love for God, and one sign of it is that there is not enough hatred for sin. — Vance Havner

Another thing I liked about my Dad at church: he did his sleeping at home. He never used the church as an adult nursery. — Vance Havner

There is great need today for the New Testament prophet who speaks to edification, exhortation, and comfort, a strengthening, stirring and soothing ministry. — Vance Havner

Abraham did not know where he was going immediately, but he knew where he was going ultimately. He did not know the Whither but he knew the Whom. He believed God, and, being sure of his destiny, he did not worry about his destination. — Vance Havner

People used to blush when they were ashamed. Now they are ashamed if they blush. Modesty has disappeared and a brazen generation with no fear of God before its eyes mocks at sin. We are so fond of being called tolerant and broadminded that we wink at sin when we ought to weep. — Vance Havner

A revival is the church falling in love with Jesus Christ all over again. — Vance Havner

If you stand on the Word, you do not stand with the world. — Vance Havner

Some preachers ought to put more fire into their sermons or more sermons into the fire. — Vance Havner

Before we can strengthen believers or win the lost, we must be converted from the self-life to the Christ-life ... "Not I, but Christ." — Vance Havner

Doing leads more surely to talking than talking to doing. — Vance Havner

The last word of our Lord to the church was not the Great Commission. The last thing He said to the church was 'Repent.' He said that to five out of seven. — Vance Havner

Too many are willing to sit at God's table, but not work in his field. — Vance Havner

I would say to today's young minister, 'Be not afraid to give much time to solitary walks and meditation'. — Vance Havner

Satan is not fighting churches; he is joining them. He does more harm by sowing tares than by pulling up wheat. He accomplishes more by imitation than by outright opposition. — Vance Havner

We need to take down our "Do not disturb" signs ... snap out of our stupor and come out of our coma and awake from our apathy. — Vance Havner

Civilization today reminds me of an ape with a blowtorch playing in a room full of dynamite. It looks like the monkeys are about to operate the zoo, and the inmates are taking over the asylum. — Vance Havner

God has a place and purpose for you, somewhere for you to be and something for you to do. You never will be happy elsewhere, nor can you please God anywhere but there. — Vance Havner

A mortician can make a dead man look better than he ever did when he was alive. So churches like Sardis may appear very much alive when they are dead in the sight of the Lord. God knows the difference. — Vance Havner

I preach on specific sins because people are not convicted by sermons on sin in general. It was when our Lord said to the Samaritan woman, 'Go call thy husband ... ' (John 4:16), that she really faced up to her sinfulness. — Vance Havner

A preacher who is too big for a little crowd would be too little for a big crowd. — Vance Havner

An old minister explained the smudges on his sermon outlines by saying they were caused by sweat and tears. And without those two marks, a sermon is not a sermon. — Vance Havner

We have always needed old people to keep things from going too fast and young people to keep them from going too slow. Youth has fire and age has light and we need both. — Vance Havner

Salt seasons, purifies, preserves. But somebody ought to remind us that salt also irritates. Real living Christianity rubs this world the wrong way. — Vance Havner

God knows His own. It is well that He does, for sometimes it would be difficult for us to determine who are His! — Vance Havner

We are the salt of the earth, mind you, not the sugar. Our ministry is to truly cleanse and not just to change the taste. — Vance Havner

Christ is most concerned with the direction in which you habitually are going and not with a spasmodic eruption either good or bad. — Vance Havner