Warren Wiersbe and His Influence On Me

A few days ago, one of my spiritual influences died – Warren Wendel Wiersbe.

I never heard Wiersbe preach “live.” I have heard him on cassette tape (yes, I am that old) and I have seen him preach on videos that are available on YouTube. I have used his commentaries on every book of the Bible I have preached. So, I have used Be Equipped (Deuteronomy), Be Committed (Ruth), Be Satisfied (Ecclesiastes), Be Resolute (Daniel), Be Amazed (Jonah), Be Loyal (Matthew), Be Alive and Be Transformed (John), Be Wise (I Corinthians), Be Joyful (Philippians), Be Faithful (Titus and Philemon), Be Real (I John) and Be Alert (Jude). I have also preached through the Psalms, but I don’t know if he wrote a commentary on the Psalter. I never found it.

2 other books that I have read in recent years that are also worth a purchase: Key Words of the Christian Life (a simple theology of terms like adoption, glorification, imputation, intercession, justification, mediation, predestination, propitiation, reconciliation, redemption, regeneration and sanctification) and Making Sense of the Ministry (a collection of pastoral wisdom from Warren and his son).

Wiersbe was the 1^st commentator I read. As a young Christian teenager, I was so encouraged by the simplicity and clarity that characterized his books. I felt like a “big kid” because I was reading his commentaries!

It is a rarity to have men and women of God who can take theological concepts of all levels of difficulty and teach the as if they are elementary ideas. He convinced me through his books that the Bible can be taught with clearness, and in many ways, I have tried to model my preaching after his writing. That was Wiersbe to me.

Wiersbe was and will continue to be a gift to the church.

“Well done, good and faithful servant!”