T. F. Tenney - What I've Learned

Tom Fred Tenney

Besides admiring Tom Fred Tenney (T. F. Tenney) as a Christian, leader, writer, teacher, and a great preacher of the Gospel, I, along with many others, appreciate the way he uses quips and well-turned phrases to convey a truth. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered the following gem on the Internet.  

In 2011 the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is a great Oneness Pentecostal/Apostolic organization, held a conference entitled: "Let's Talk," and T. F. Tenney was one of the main speakers.

If you click on the following link you can here Bro. Tenney speak on the topic: "What I've Learned" -- http://aljc.org/media/Tenney_Learned.mp3.

Since I like collecting interesting quotes and words of wisdom, this presentation is a treasure trove for me, and the following quotes are things he said during that message. While some of these nuggets might not be original with him, keep in mind that we're interested in the way he uses these phrases to present some expert advice about ministry, relationship, marriage, and the church:

• "Success is a spiritual enterprise, and it's built on commitment." -T. F. Tenney
• "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." -T.F. Tenney
• "Any church is in trouble if it exists more for the insiders than the outsiders." -T. F. Tenney
• "You know how Jesus prepared for a storm? He took a pillow." -T. F. Tenney
• "You need to know where you want to go." -T. F. Tenney
• "The most important ability is responsibility." -T. F. Tenney
• "You don't ever recover from dropping a baton when it exchanges hands." -T. F. Tenney
• "You'll never know you're loyal until you're given an opportunity to be disloyal." -T. F. Tenney
• "The first trouble in the New Testament Church is there came a murmuring about how the widows were taken care of...and that's usually how it starts, a little disloyalty with murmuring." -T. F. Tenney
• "To be productive I've got to be responsible, and the blessing of trusting Jesus is to fail every time I don't." -T. F. Tenney
• "Not all of the old is out-of-date, and not all of the new is acceptable" (Matt. 13:52). -T. F. Tenney
• "You can't traffic in unfelt truth." -T. F. Tenney
• "I'd rather meet a fence at the top of a cliff than an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff" -T. F. Tenney
• "I cannot use my comfort zone for discernment of the spirit." -T. F. Tenney
• "There's no place where prayer can be eliminated. Carnality follows hard on the heels of prayerlessness." -T. F. Tenney
• "The tyranny of the urgent crowds out the important." -T. F. Tenney (paraphrase)
• "Two words you always remember: 1. Priorities 2. Discipline." -T. F. Tenney
• "Your talent will take you up, but it's character that keeps you up." -T. F. Tenney
• "There's no place where prayer is unimportant." -T. F. Tenney
• "People feel sorry for insecurity, but they won't follow it. You need to know who you are....God made you as you are to use you as He planned." -T. F. Tenney
• "Yesterday's peacock can be tomorrow's feather duster." -T. F. Tenney
• "Truth never changes - Truth is narrow." -T. F. Tenney
• "Gossip is halitosis of the brain. Gossip can turn an earful into a mouthful." -T. F. Tenney
• "Submission is a mandate of God." -T. F. Tenney
• "If I had to sum up the whole Bible in one word it would be SUBMISSION." -T. F. Tenney
• "Fire doesn't fall on empty altars." -T. F. Tenney
• "Flattery is a narcotic, and I've known of preachers that OD'd on it." -T. F. Tenney
• "A backbiter is just a backstabber that temporarily misplaced their knife." -T. F. Tenney
• "Men are headliners, women want details." -T. F. Tenney
• "You may come in wanting 4th of July in the bedroom, but it's been Labor Day for her." -T. F. Tenney
• "Man will never understand woman because God made woman while man was asleep." -T. F. Tenney
• "Embrace this Christ, and love Him, and serve Him." -T. F. Tenney
• "Our Savior is fair." -T. F. Tenney

If you want to check out the other topics and speakers from the ALJC Let's Talk Conferences visit: http://aljc.org/media/.

 

A Prophet Is Known By His Service

Vessels from the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit
in the Cincinnati Museum Center-Union Terminal
on February 18, 2013

In 2 Kings 3:11-12 you’ll notice that, as a young prophet, Elisha had no great miracles, stories, or prophecies preceding him. However, he had a reputation of service to Elijah:

"But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him" (2 Kings 3:11-12).

Prophets, and other ministers, are not exempt from service to the divinely appointed authority in their life, and that reputation of service will precede them as they enter into the next level of prophetic ministry.


Elisha had the respect of a servant who knew the difficulties of service, but who also knew how to recognize the prophet in Elisha. It was this servant who opened the door for Elisha to begin his public prophetic ministry.

In our day, too many so-called "prophets" have failed to submit themselves, discipline their natures, or serve their elders. They often begin, but rarely finish their instruction in service, and so they pervert their purpose.

God’s prophet is never exempt from a life of service.

 

-Stephen Kuntzman (8-4-2011)