Hard message the American Church needs to hear...
Friday, August 31, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The True Gospel
I took this excerpt from a Mark Cahill newsletter I receive. Why do we feel we need to add something more to the truth God has already given?
Question for you: if you had twenty minutes to talk to someone on death row, what would you talk about? Do you think you would share the Prosperity Gospel with them? 'Come to Jesus and all your dreams will be met.' I was in a prison one time where a guy kept telling the inmates about his airplanes and the landing strip he got after he got saved, and I was wondering how much that would help the Lifers in that Federal Prison? They might be able to use a helicopter to get out, but a plane wasn't going to be much help! We see all of this prosperity preaching on TV, and in some of the major Christian books out there, but would it work on death row to these inmates? You can't serve both God and mammon, so which one should we really preach? As one preacher said, the Prosperity Gospel only preaches in America. What an amazing statement. You can't preach that in prison. How do you preach the Prosperity Gospel to the rich young ruler? How can you preach the Prosperity Gospel to Donald Trump when he seemingly has everything (in a worldly sense)? You can't preach that in the slums of Haiti. You can't preach that in the desert region of Africa. That might be the American Dream, but it can turn into a huge nightmare without the right heart to handle the wealth that can come your way.
The sad thing is that it will preach here in America, but it won't preach elsewhere. Maybe there is a good reason for that.
The true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ should preach anywhere you will preach it. Here is a good model to use when speaking for the Lord: If It Doesn't Preach On Death Row, It Doesn't Preach. If what you want to say about Jesus won't work on death row, it probably doesn't truly work anyway.
I read where someone said they walk up to people and say, "If I have three minutes to live and then I will be dead, what must I do to be right with God?" I like that. I have used it a couple of times. It is still stunning to me how some people talk about good works when they are witnessing. How many good works can you do in three minutes?! What would you tell someone if they asked you that question?
Quoting from a friend's newsletter, a leader of a denomination said,
It seems the American church says to those who pass through the doors, You're a good person, and the church can give you added value to the temporal life. And it will. But this is not the primary reason the church exists. The church exists to get people ready for eternity, not for tomorrow. It is not a temporal gospel; it is an eternal gospel, and at the heart of that gospel is the Cross and true repentance.
I think this leader is on to something.
John the Baptist was put into prison by Herod. What would you have said to John the Baptist if you would have had the chance? Look what happened a few verses later:
"And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison," Mark 6:27.
John never made it out of prison. It wouldn't have made much sense to preach to him the Prosperity Gospel. He was going to a big feast, but it was just his head that was going to arrive there!
Don't forget: If It Doesn't Preach On Death Row, It Doesn't Preach.
Question for you: if you had twenty minutes to talk to someone on death row, what would you talk about? Do you think you would share the Prosperity Gospel with them? 'Come to Jesus and all your dreams will be met.' I was in a prison one time where a guy kept telling the inmates about his airplanes and the landing strip he got after he got saved, and I was wondering how much that would help the Lifers in that Federal Prison? They might be able to use a helicopter to get out, but a plane wasn't going to be much help! We see all of this prosperity preaching on TV, and in some of the major Christian books out there, but would it work on death row to these inmates? You can't serve both God and mammon, so which one should we really preach? As one preacher said, the Prosperity Gospel only preaches in America. What an amazing statement. You can't preach that in prison. How do you preach the Prosperity Gospel to the rich young ruler? How can you preach the Prosperity Gospel to Donald Trump when he seemingly has everything (in a worldly sense)? You can't preach that in the slums of Haiti. You can't preach that in the desert region of Africa. That might be the American Dream, but it can turn into a huge nightmare without the right heart to handle the wealth that can come your way.
The sad thing is that it will preach here in America, but it won't preach elsewhere. Maybe there is a good reason for that.
The true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ should preach anywhere you will preach it. Here is a good model to use when speaking for the Lord: If It Doesn't Preach On Death Row, It Doesn't Preach. If what you want to say about Jesus won't work on death row, it probably doesn't truly work anyway.
I read where someone said they walk up to people and say, "If I have three minutes to live and then I will be dead, what must I do to be right with God?" I like that. I have used it a couple of times. It is still stunning to me how some people talk about good works when they are witnessing. How many good works can you do in three minutes?! What would you tell someone if they asked you that question?
Quoting from a friend's newsletter, a leader of a denomination said,
It seems the American church says to those who pass through the doors, You're a good person, and the church can give you added value to the temporal life. And it will. But this is not the primary reason the church exists. The church exists to get people ready for eternity, not for tomorrow. It is not a temporal gospel; it is an eternal gospel, and at the heart of that gospel is the Cross and true repentance.
I think this leader is on to something.
John the Baptist was put into prison by Herod. What would you have said to John the Baptist if you would have had the chance? Look what happened a few verses later:
"And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison," Mark 6:27.
John never made it out of prison. It wouldn't have made much sense to preach to him the Prosperity Gospel. He was going to a big feast, but it was just his head that was going to arrive there!
Don't forget: If It Doesn't Preach On Death Row, It Doesn't Preach.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Michael to GFA
Well the day finally arrived for Michael to head off to GFA and I think everyone did very well. I can speak for myself anyway. I'm sure Dreama will blog on this same subject and I'll let her speak for herself.
Michael has been waiting for this day since the day he felt God calling him to go to GFA. I remember that day myself, it was a Saturday in February. Dreama and I were in Jefferson having much needed R&R and Michael was home alone, for the first time I believe. Dreama and I were riding around looking at old houses and Michael called me with so much excitement in his voice it almost brought tears to my eyes, if you can believe that. He had gone out with Robert to the bus station in Dallas that Friday night then they met up with some other friends and headed to GFA for an all night prayer meeting GFA holds once a month. Michael told me he had never felt the presence of the Holy Spirit like he did that night/morning. People praying for one another, someone sharing a Pslam or a song. He told me over the phone that day that was the place he needed to be. I had no clue what GFA was and after we, or I should say after he, talked I told him we would check into it when I got home.
Sometimes younger people get caught up in the moment as do some adults and the fire fizzles after a bit and things return to the way they were. GFA was different for Michael, he was still in high school unsure of what he needed to do but GFA kept surfacing. We and all his band directors knew he could get a music scholarship to just about any univeristy he wanted to attend but he told me he was unsure how he could glorify God in it. He applied to Criswell and GFA at the same time. I think much to his dismay he was accepted to both. I have never asked him, but I think he thought if he was not accepted to Criswell that would be the sign for him to go to GFA. Either way my only advice to Michael was to seek God and he would show him where he needed to be. GFA was it, he called Criswell and they were more than happy to delay his entry without reapplying for two years so he could attend GFA.
One decision while home alone on a Friday night in a small town as an 18 year old has and will continue to change Michael's life forever. He could have made one phone call to any number of friends and been some place else other than passing out tracts in downtown Dallas which in turn would mean he would have missed GFA, yet he chose to honor God and I believe God is honoring his obedience. To that I say thank you Lord for all you have done so far in him.
I realize he is only in Carrollton less than 2 hours from home but when it comes to your kids unless thay are within arms reach they just as well be around the world some place. God is about to start a work in Michael I think few of us will ever be able to experience and one that I'm truly envious of.
May God bless you and keep you son as you begin your journey in serving our King....
Michael has been waiting for this day since the day he felt God calling him to go to GFA. I remember that day myself, it was a Saturday in February. Dreama and I were in Jefferson having much needed R&R and Michael was home alone, for the first time I believe. Dreama and I were riding around looking at old houses and Michael called me with so much excitement in his voice it almost brought tears to my eyes, if you can believe that. He had gone out with Robert to the bus station in Dallas that Friday night then they met up with some other friends and headed to GFA for an all night prayer meeting GFA holds once a month. Michael told me he had never felt the presence of the Holy Spirit like he did that night/morning. People praying for one another, someone sharing a Pslam or a song. He told me over the phone that day that was the place he needed to be. I had no clue what GFA was and after we, or I should say after he, talked I told him we would check into it when I got home.
Sometimes younger people get caught up in the moment as do some adults and the fire fizzles after a bit and things return to the way they were. GFA was different for Michael, he was still in high school unsure of what he needed to do but GFA kept surfacing. We and all his band directors knew he could get a music scholarship to just about any univeristy he wanted to attend but he told me he was unsure how he could glorify God in it. He applied to Criswell and GFA at the same time. I think much to his dismay he was accepted to both. I have never asked him, but I think he thought if he was not accepted to Criswell that would be the sign for him to go to GFA. Either way my only advice to Michael was to seek God and he would show him where he needed to be. GFA was it, he called Criswell and they were more than happy to delay his entry without reapplying for two years so he could attend GFA.
One decision while home alone on a Friday night in a small town as an 18 year old has and will continue to change Michael's life forever. He could have made one phone call to any number of friends and been some place else other than passing out tracts in downtown Dallas which in turn would mean he would have missed GFA, yet he chose to honor God and I believe God is honoring his obedience. To that I say thank you Lord for all you have done so far in him.
I realize he is only in Carrollton less than 2 hours from home but when it comes to your kids unless thay are within arms reach they just as well be around the world some place. God is about to start a work in Michael I think few of us will ever be able to experience and one that I'm truly envious of.
May God bless you and keep you son as you begin your journey in serving our King....
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Helping the Butterfly
A man once noticed that a butterfly was struggling to get out of a cocoon, so he took a razor blade and slit the side of it to help the poor creature. It struggled, then fell out onto the ground, and after a little movement, died.
The man hadn't helped the butterfly; he had killed it. The very process of struggling in the cocoon should have pumped blood into the wings of the butterfly, giving it beauty, life, and character.
In the same way, all the trials and struggles which come our way are not to do us harm, but to do us good. They are bringing beauty and color to our character, which will be revealed the moment we break free from the cocoon of this life.
So, don't wait to be free from trials before you reach out to those who are still in the shadow of death. There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time.
courtesy of Way of the Master
www.wayofthemaster.com
The man hadn't helped the butterfly; he had killed it. The very process of struggling in the cocoon should have pumped blood into the wings of the butterfly, giving it beauty, life, and character.
In the same way, all the trials and struggles which come our way are not to do us harm, but to do us good. They are bringing beauty and color to our character, which will be revealed the moment we break free from the cocoon of this life.
So, don't wait to be free from trials before you reach out to those who are still in the shadow of death. There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time.
courtesy of Way of the Master
www.wayofthemaster.com
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Jeremiah 31:1-34
TODAY IN THE WORD
Read: Jeremiah 31:1-34
“There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men’s hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands.”
Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” would shock many contemporary audiences. We’ve grown accustomed to preaching that emphasizes themes of God’s love, not His just punishment of sin.
Like Jonathan Edwards, Jeremiah’s preaching ministry also emphasized the violent judgment of God. He suffered terribly for his “gloom-and-doom” preaching, almost losing his life.
How strange the words from Jeremiah 31 must have sounded, then, to the listening crowd. Among vociferous warnings of God’s impending judgment, suddenly Jeremiah’s tone changed. Instead of wrath, he spoke of love. He predicted a future time when God’s blessings, physical and spiritual, will be restored to His people. It seemed incomprehensible among the warnings that Judah would soon be overthrown and taken into captivity.
Jeremiah foretold the coming of a New Covenant, unlike the Old. Formerly, God had led His people by the hand, but His people were unruly children, always tugging and twisting to break free. They had a pattern of disobedience and rebellion. Through the New Covenant, God would bring a people back to Himself who would be faithful. They would not depend on spiritual handholding for their obedience, having instead an internal locus of love and devotion to God. The Word of God would be imprinted on their hearts and their minds.
The New Covenant assures God’s people of His forgiveness and His invitation to return to Him. It declares God’s deliberate act of “remember[ing] their sins no more” (v. 34).
God initiates the New Covenant because of who He is: eternally faithful (v. 3), a loving Father (v. 9), a gracious God (v. 14), and a Promise Keeper (v. 37).
Posted with permission from Moody Bible Institute, Today in the Word.
Read: Jeremiah 31:1-34
“There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men’s hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands.”
Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” would shock many contemporary audiences. We’ve grown accustomed to preaching that emphasizes themes of God’s love, not His just punishment of sin.
Like Jonathan Edwards, Jeremiah’s preaching ministry also emphasized the violent judgment of God. He suffered terribly for his “gloom-and-doom” preaching, almost losing his life.
How strange the words from Jeremiah 31 must have sounded, then, to the listening crowd. Among vociferous warnings of God’s impending judgment, suddenly Jeremiah’s tone changed. Instead of wrath, he spoke of love. He predicted a future time when God’s blessings, physical and spiritual, will be restored to His people. It seemed incomprehensible among the warnings that Judah would soon be overthrown and taken into captivity.
Jeremiah foretold the coming of a New Covenant, unlike the Old. Formerly, God had led His people by the hand, but His people were unruly children, always tugging and twisting to break free. They had a pattern of disobedience and rebellion. Through the New Covenant, God would bring a people back to Himself who would be faithful. They would not depend on spiritual handholding for their obedience, having instead an internal locus of love and devotion to God. The Word of God would be imprinted on their hearts and their minds.
The New Covenant assures God’s people of His forgiveness and His invitation to return to Him. It declares God’s deliberate act of “remember[ing] their sins no more” (v. 34).
God initiates the New Covenant because of who He is: eternally faithful (v. 3), a loving Father (v. 9), a gracious God (v. 14), and a Promise Keeper (v. 37).
Posted with permission from Moody Bible Institute, Today in the Word.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Miracle of the New Birth
I want to throw my two cents in concerning "Shane". I spoke last night at Oak Street, briefly mentioning that anytime someone commits their life to Christ it is a miracle. We too often look past that fact I believe.
The Bible says that the angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner comes to the Lord. The Bible also states that no man can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him. That word draw in the Greek literally means to drag. I know in my own conversion experience I came out of the world kicking and screaming because I loved my sin.
"Shane", a boy who had, to my knowledge, not truly considered what Christ has to offer was seeking some sort of truth in life. He was brought to Oak Street by a friend of his who was referred by a local church. God surrounded him with Godly examples of men and women who would give up their time to talk and explain and answer and do whatever else was necessary to show him the love of Christ. From no knowlwedge to saving knowledge, I think that is what makes the Shane story so exciting.
The miracle of the New Birth, isn't it awesome that God would allow us to play a part in all of this? To know that you are working along side God and the Holy Spirit to accomplish this one thing. What can you say other than, WOW!!!
The Bible says that the angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner comes to the Lord. The Bible also states that no man can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him. That word draw in the Greek literally means to drag. I know in my own conversion experience I came out of the world kicking and screaming because I loved my sin.
"Shane", a boy who had, to my knowledge, not truly considered what Christ has to offer was seeking some sort of truth in life. He was brought to Oak Street by a friend of his who was referred by a local church. God surrounded him with Godly examples of men and women who would give up their time to talk and explain and answer and do whatever else was necessary to show him the love of Christ. From no knowlwedge to saving knowledge, I think that is what makes the Shane story so exciting.
The miracle of the New Birth, isn't it awesome that God would allow us to play a part in all of this? To know that you are working along side God and the Holy Spirit to accomplish this one thing. What can you say other than, WOW!!!
Weird..
Something happened at Oak Street Sunday night when I finished preaching that I have never experienced before. I still wonder what took place if anything. To be honest I was more than a little uneasy with the situation.
I preached on John 11 even though it was a last minute decision. I struggled all week and had several different ideas but nothing that felt as if it were from God. I woke up this morning thinking I would have been better off standing before everyone and telling them I had not heard from God so I wasn't going to say anything. I don't take preaching and or teaching the Word of God lightly, the last thing I want to do is mislead someone or try to teach something beyond my knowledge, which I have done in the past with disastrous results. I want to be as accurate as possible when I speak.
Last night was one of those nights when it just seemed I had nothing to say and was trying to be totally reliant upon God to give me the words and scripture He wanted to use. When I finished speaking and then prayed there was a strange silence and no one moved, no chairs scooting, no yawns or other loud noises, simply silence, not a single person moved......very strange, like I said I was uneasy, so to break the silence I say, "Do you want me to keep going?" what a goof.....It got people moving though.....LOL.....
I say amen to the closing prayer and look up and there are 60 eyes staring back at me I thought, WOW, they finally know how dumb and un-informed I really am. They must be trying to figure out what in the world they have just witnessed, kinda like a bad car wreck you just can't peel your eyes away from it....LOL.... Usually people are beating down the doors to get out, maybe everyone was too tired from all the activity over the weekend and I disturbed their sleep and they were coming out of their nap haze.
Well, I look at it like this. If God spoke to even a single person and somehow God was glorified by me standing up there, then I thank God for using me. Just don't stare, it's not nice.
I preached on John 11 even though it was a last minute decision. I struggled all week and had several different ideas but nothing that felt as if it were from God. I woke up this morning thinking I would have been better off standing before everyone and telling them I had not heard from God so I wasn't going to say anything. I don't take preaching and or teaching the Word of God lightly, the last thing I want to do is mislead someone or try to teach something beyond my knowledge, which I have done in the past with disastrous results. I want to be as accurate as possible when I speak.
Last night was one of those nights when it just seemed I had nothing to say and was trying to be totally reliant upon God to give me the words and scripture He wanted to use. When I finished speaking and then prayed there was a strange silence and no one moved, no chairs scooting, no yawns or other loud noises, simply silence, not a single person moved......very strange, like I said I was uneasy, so to break the silence I say, "Do you want me to keep going?" what a goof.....It got people moving though.....LOL.....
I say amen to the closing prayer and look up and there are 60 eyes staring back at me I thought, WOW, they finally know how dumb and un-informed I really am. They must be trying to figure out what in the world they have just witnessed, kinda like a bad car wreck you just can't peel your eyes away from it....LOL.... Usually people are beating down the doors to get out, maybe everyone was too tired from all the activity over the weekend and I disturbed their sleep and they were coming out of their nap haze.
Well, I look at it like this. If God spoke to even a single person and somehow God was glorified by me standing up there, then I thank God for using me. Just don't stare, it's not nice.
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