The Choice [antikvár]

FOREWORD -------- With tlie publication of this, Sammy Tippit's latest book, a secret will be revealed that I once feared was known only to me. Anyone who knows Sammy, and I have known him twenty-five years, recognizes him as a consummate evangelist. He's one preacher as evangelistically minded in private as in public. It is not the big crowds that draw him; it is the individual heart. The tens of thousands at a time who listen to him at crusades on every continent each year are merely one way he reaches individuals. He was an accomplished orator even in high school in the '60s, before he became a Christian. He had an international view even then, winning speaking competitions in the United States. So what secret about Sammy is now revealed? I sensed from the day I met him and interviewed him for a magazine article in 1972—and this was confirmed when I was privileged to serve as his writer on his first several books—that he was more than a preacher, more than a Bible student. He is also an astute observer of geopolitical developments. Early in his ministry, when still in his twenties, Sammy was invited to conduct a question-and-answer session on modern youth with the large editorial team at Scripture Press Publications. Someone had the foresight to tape the entire session. I was as surprised as anyone that my new friend, young as he was, was so articulate on social and political trends as well as spiritual issues. Because Sammy primarily preaches internationally, he is less known in North America for his singular preaching gift. Anyone aware of his schedule knows he must be a good preacher. But unless they have heard him expound, based on hundreds of international journeys through the decades, they will not know of his incisive analysis. Until now.