In the book Sketches of Our Mountain Pioneers, Preston Gray spoke highly of the preaching of A. I. Myhr (1855-1933). He also recalled a criticism Myhr made of another unnamed preacher.
“Myhr’s visits to all our churches were great occasions. The people soon learned to expect something. He was a thinker, and positively despised sluggish thinking. Of a certain minister, he said to me, one day, ‘He is a capital fellow, but when he preaches, all the points are filed off.’ He told me that he liked sermons and thoughts that had ‘stickers’ in them.” (Sketches of Our Mountain Pioneers, p. 203)
The gospel, when it is preached in its simplicity and purity, is going to have “stickers” that will “prick” people to the heart and spur them to obey the Lord. Notice what happened on the day of Pentecost following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus:
“‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified.’ Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:36-37).
