A.W. Tozer |
A.W. Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) was born into a western Pennsylvania farming family that relocated to the factory city of Akron, Ohio, in 1912. Three years later Aiden responded to a street preacher’s exhortation, “If you don’t know how to be saved . . . just call on God,” by turning over his life to the Lord. Thus began the journey of a man whose life and work would lead some to call him a twentieth-century prophet.
In 1919, five years after his conversion, and despite his lack of formal theological training, Tozer accepted an offer to pastor his first church. He embarked upon a fruitful forty-four-year career leading Christian and Missionary Alliance congregations in West Virginia, Chicago, and Toronto, Canada.
Tozer was a deeply spiritual man whose ministry was established upon a solid foundation of prayer. “As a man prays,” he said, “so is he.” Indeed, it is accurate to characterize Tozer’s preaching and writings as extensions of his prayer life. He habitually spent hours in prayer every day in his office, worshiping and communicating with God.
In 1950, A.W. Tozer took on the role of editor for Alliance Weekly, the denomination's magazine. This role gave him a national platform and his popularity grew as he wrote installments for the publication. In 1951, Tozer also began a weekly radio broadcast, which increased his influence. After serving as pastor at Southside Alliance for thirty years, A.W. Tozer answered the call to pastor Avenue Road Church in Toronto, Canada. He continued serving as editor of the magazine while pastoring that church until his death, from a heart attack, on May 12, 1963.
Throughout his career Tozer’s primary concern was the promotion of Christian living. Privately, he, his wife Ida, and their seven children followed a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle. Publicly, he constantly pointed out the dangers the church faces when “worldly” concerns distract it. “The flippant did not like Tozer,” a biographer wrote. “The serious who wanted to know what God was saying loved him.”
A. W. Tozer authored eight books, and dozens of his sermons and other writings were published posthumously. Tozer is perhaps best known for The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy, which impress upon the reader the possibility and necessity of deepening one’s relationship with God.
Tozer died on May 13, 1963, after suffering a heart attack. He was buried in Chicago, and later the family had his remains reinterred at Ellet Cemetery, Akron, Ohio. A simple marker reads: A. W. Tozer—A Man of God.
In 1919, five years after his conversion, and despite his lack of formal theological training, Tozer accepted an offer to pastor his first church. He embarked upon a fruitful forty-four-year career leading Christian and Missionary Alliance congregations in West Virginia, Chicago, and Toronto, Canada.
Tozer was a deeply spiritual man whose ministry was established upon a solid foundation of prayer. “As a man prays,” he said, “so is he.” Indeed, it is accurate to characterize Tozer’s preaching and writings as extensions of his prayer life. He habitually spent hours in prayer every day in his office, worshiping and communicating with God.
In 1950, A.W. Tozer took on the role of editor for Alliance Weekly, the denomination's magazine. This role gave him a national platform and his popularity grew as he wrote installments for the publication. In 1951, Tozer also began a weekly radio broadcast, which increased his influence. After serving as pastor at Southside Alliance for thirty years, A.W. Tozer answered the call to pastor Avenue Road Church in Toronto, Canada. He continued serving as editor of the magazine while pastoring that church until his death, from a heart attack, on May 12, 1963.
Throughout his career Tozer’s primary concern was the promotion of Christian living. Privately, he, his wife Ida, and their seven children followed a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle. Publicly, he constantly pointed out the dangers the church faces when “worldly” concerns distract it. “The flippant did not like Tozer,” a biographer wrote. “The serious who wanted to know what God was saying loved him.”
A. W. Tozer authored eight books, and dozens of his sermons and other writings were published posthumously. Tozer is perhaps best known for The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy, which impress upon the reader the possibility and necessity of deepening one’s relationship with God.
Tozer died on May 13, 1963, after suffering a heart attack. He was buried in Chicago, and later the family had his remains reinterred at Ellet Cemetery, Akron, Ohio. A simple marker reads: A. W. Tozer—A Man of God.
AW Tozer
“The Bible is not addressed to just anybody. Its message is directed to a chosen few… As the pillar of fire gave light to Israel but was cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, so our Lord’s words shine in the hearts of His people but leave the self-confident unbeliever in the obscurity of moral night.” -AW Tozer
AW Tozer
The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of his world; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of his Word. We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and . . . full knowledge of one personality by another cannot be achieved in one encounter. It is only after long and loving mental intercourse that the full possibilities of both can be explored.
-AW Tozer; The Pursuit of God
"Yes, if evangelical Christianity is to stay alive, it must have men again—the right kind of men. It must repudiate the weaklings who dare not speak out, and it must seek in prayer and much humility the coming again of men of the stuff of which prophets and martyrs are made. God will hear the cries of His people as He heard the cries of Israel in Egypt and He will send deliverance by sending deliverers. It is His way. And when the deliverers come…they will be men of God and men of courage. They will have God on their side because they are careful to stay on God’s side." --AW Tozer
AW Tozer Files
“The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base, as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason, the gravest question before the church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”
~ AW Tozer; The Knowledge of the Holy
~ AW Tozer; The Knowledge of the Holy
AW Tozer Files
The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately, and forever.
--AW Tozer; The Pursuit of God
--AW Tozer; The Pursuit of God
AW Tozer Files
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” ― A.W. Tozer
The Life of A.W. Tozer: In Pursuit of God
By: James L. Snyder
To understand the continued and far-reaching ministry of A. W. Tozer, it is important to know who he was, including his relationship with God. In The Life of A. W. Tozer, James Snyder lets us in on the life and times of a deep thinker who was not afraid to tell it like it is and never compromised his beliefs. A. W. Tozer’s spiritual legacy continues today as his writings challenge readers to a deeper relationship and worship of God in reverence and adoration. Here is Tozer’s life story, from boyhood and his conversion at the age of seventeen, to his years of pastoring and writing more than 40 books, at least two regarded as Christian classics that continue to appear on best seller lists today. Examining Tozer’s life allows the reader to learn from a prophet with much to say against the compromises he observed in contemporary Christian living and the hope he found in his incredible God.
”The Life of A. W. Tozer gives a behind the scenes look at the man and his message. We see God at work with hammer and chisel to shape Tozer s life into a vessel capable of influencing all who desire to walk with God. No single author has influenced me personally more than A. W. Tozer. I thank God for his influence on my life.” ~Gary M. Benedict, President, The Christian and Missionary Alliance
By: James L. Snyder
To understand the continued and far-reaching ministry of A. W. Tozer, it is important to know who he was, including his relationship with God. In The Life of A. W. Tozer, James Snyder lets us in on the life and times of a deep thinker who was not afraid to tell it like it is and never compromised his beliefs. A. W. Tozer’s spiritual legacy continues today as his writings challenge readers to a deeper relationship and worship of God in reverence and adoration. Here is Tozer’s life story, from boyhood and his conversion at the age of seventeen, to his years of pastoring and writing more than 40 books, at least two regarded as Christian classics that continue to appear on best seller lists today. Examining Tozer’s life allows the reader to learn from a prophet with much to say against the compromises he observed in contemporary Christian living and the hope he found in his incredible God.
”The Life of A. W. Tozer gives a behind the scenes look at the man and his message. We see God at work with hammer and chisel to shape Tozer s life into a vessel capable of influencing all who desire to walk with God. No single author has influenced me personally more than A. W. Tozer. I thank God for his influence on my life.” ~Gary M. Benedict, President, The Christian and Missionary Alliance
AW Tozer Files
Never pass anything on about anybody else that will hurt him. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). The talebearer has no place in God’s favor. If you know something that would hinder or hurt the reputation of one of God’s children, bury it forever. Find a little garden out back — a little spot somewhere — and when somebody comes around with an evil story, take it out and bury it and say, “Here lies in peace the story about my brother.” God will take care of it. “With what judgment you judge, you shall be judged.”
If you want God to be good to you, you are going to have to be good to His children. You say, “But that’s not grace.” Well, grace gets you into the kingdom of God. That is unmerited favor. But after you are seated at the Father’s table, He expects to teach you table manners. And He won’t let you eat unless you obey the etiquette of the table. And what is that? The etiquette of the table is that you don’t tell stories about the brother who is sitting at the table with you — no matter what his denomination, or nationality, or background.
– A. W. Tozer; Five Vows for Spiritual Power
If you want God to be good to you, you are going to have to be good to His children. You say, “But that’s not grace.” Well, grace gets you into the kingdom of God. That is unmerited favor. But after you are seated at the Father’s table, He expects to teach you table manners. And He won’t let you eat unless you obey the etiquette of the table. And what is that? The etiquette of the table is that you don’t tell stories about the brother who is sitting at the table with you — no matter what his denomination, or nationality, or background.
– A. W. Tozer; Five Vows for Spiritual Power
AW Tozer Files
“The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead the church to worship must provide the entertainment.” – A. W. Tozer
AW Tozer Files
"If I look at the world, I will conform to the ways of the world. If I look at the Word, I will conform to the will of God."
– AW Tozer – from A Man of God
AW Tozer Files
“One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team.”
― A.W. Tozer
AW Tozer Files
“Any faith that must be supported by the evidence of the senses is not real faith.”
― A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
AW Tozer Files
“The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions.” ― A. W. Tozer
AW Tozer Files
“We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts”
― A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine
AW Tozer Files
“Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.”
― A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine.”