(Finding a need to fill these days is not difficult. People can identify plenty of their emotional, physical, and social needs. Whether the gospel we preach can meet all those needs, real and perceived, is another matter.

Does accepting the gospel solve your financial pressures, rekindle romance, or prevent your children from straying? Can preachers legitimately promise that the gospel will make life work better?

LEADERSHIP editors Marshall Shelley and David Goetz asked four respected preachers what here-and-now promises we can make that God will keep:

-Charles Blake is pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, California, where he has served since 1969. He is also a bishop in his denomination, presiding over 250 Southern California churches. In 1993, "Ebony" magazine listed him among America's greatest black preachers.

-David Jeremiah is pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church and president of Christian Heritage College in El Cajon, California. Before coming to Shadow ...