The Lost Art of "Conviction" Preaching
Last week I read a thread on Wordshare (an internet forum of UPCI ministers) that opened up a conversation about “conviction” preachers. For the unacquainted with Pentecost, a “conviction” preacher is one of the very few among ministers now who could preach with such power that the White Knuckle Syndrome would develop. The White Knuckle Syndrome is that experience by which those who had never been to a Pentecostal service would hold on to the back of the pew in front of them so as to remain seated and not go to the altar to pray. Several notable men (John Carroll, KS; Steve Shubert, TX; Mark Bassett, CT; Doug White, TX; and a few others) on this group continued their responses until it became like the water that was used in the old days to prime the hand pumps. All of their responses jumpstarted my thoughts about the status of preaching today. John Carroll mentioned of O. R. Fauss that his voice was that of a by-gone era and that today we only had echoes of those kinds of m