Should We Preach with Authority

I found this article and although I normally don't post someone elses writing on my blog, this was very good and conveys my thoughts well. Enjoy the article written by Shane Idleman. I hope several of you will comment.

A few years back, I listened in astonishment as postmodern leaders talked about replacing “preaching” with “having a conversation.” At first, I thought that maybe they were confusing individual conversations with how we should speak to the masses, but I was wrong. They felt that we should stop “preaching” from the pulpit, and start being more passive and less confrontational. Never mind the fact that Jesus said, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Luke 4:43). But according to many postmoderns, it’s time to replace... preaching with conversing.

Don’t get me wrong... I’m not questioning cosmetic issues such as styles of worship, ambiance, lighting, and mood. I’m challenging the dangerous practice of removing foundational principles — Spirit- empowered preaching is foundational.

I’m also not suggesting that we never converse with people; quite the contrary... We must be slow to speak and quick to listen, but when we are called to preach, a whole new dynamic takes place…the Spirit of God speaks, convicts, draws, heals, breaks, restores,wounds, and rebuilds. In the book, Spirit Empowered Preaching,the author said, “It must be understood that the preacher does not share, he declares… Preaching is not a little talk. It is not a fireside chat. To substitute sharing and discussion for preaching is to risk the integrity of the gospel itself.”

“What does this have to do with me; I’m not a pastor, or a preacher,” you might ask. It has a great deal to do with any Christian regard-less of his or her calling. Let me explain. There is a very troubling trend in the evangelical church, as a whole. Foundational doctrines such as the cross, sin, judgment, and repentance were declared openly in the early hours of church history, as well as in American history—when revivals and awakenings spread across our landscape.

Today, these foundational truths are often neglected, watered-down,or avoided altogether in the hope of “not offending,” “securing an audience,” or being “user-friendly.” Judgment is never mentioned;repentance is never sought; and sin is often excused. This leaves people confused and deceived because they believe in a cross-less Christianity that bears no resemblance to Jesus’ sobering call to repentance. Even though you may not be a Christian leader, we all are called to share God’s Word with others—especially the difficult truths. Then we are also able to offer hope.

“To convince the world of the truth of Christianity, it must first be convinced of sin. It is only sin that renders Christ intelligible”(-Andrew Murray; 1794-1866). In other words, the crucifixion only makes sense in light of the consequences of sin. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (I Timothy 1:15), yet, we’re not suppose to mention sin, repentance, or judgment?

Again, the good news about Christ can only be appreciated with the bad news as the backdrop. There are times when the saints must be fed, and there are times when the sinners must be warned (-C.H. Spurgeon). Preaching, witnessing, teaching, and so on must be done with God-given authority to truly be effective. When we fail to proclaim God’s Word faithfully, we run the risk of “encouraging sin” and “perverting the words of the living God.”(cf. Jeremiah 23).

False Teaching

There is no doubt that the Bible is explicit in its warnings regarding false teaching and false prophets rising during the last day. These warnings were placed in the Word for our benefit. They were given as "warnings" and it would be in our best interest to heed these warnings. We need to be so very careful in what we are listening to and allowing into our spirit. Many deceptive teachings have been espoused throughout church history. So, false teaching is nothing new. The Bible tells us that there is nothing new under the sun.

Some of those teachings include inclusion theology which says that everyone goes to heaven and that repentance is not necessary, the teaching that we are all "little gods", the teaching that there was no virgin birth, the teaching that God was not fully human and many more. I found an interesting discussion by Pastor Crawford Loritts in a lecture he gave titled, "Truth Matters". In this discussion he gave seven pieces of advice on false teaching that I thought was great. I have posted them below:

1. Be careful of people you don't know who want to go immediately into intimate communication with you.
2. Be careful of people who want you to disclose more about yourself than they are willing to disclose about themselves.
3. Be careful of those who use experiences, special insight and new kinds of information to control you.
4. Be careful of those who promote a teaching or an emphasis not widely accepted by the church or mature believers.
5. Be careful of those who try to isolate you from family and friends through their contacts with you and their new circle of associates.
6. Don't give control of your mind and thought to anyone but the Lord - Loyalty should never be considered to be blind obedience.
7. Never stop seeking true, honest fellowship with healthy and mature Christians who do not practice any of the above.

What I found to be interesting is how the enemy uses "interpersonal" relationships to lure us away from truth. Certainly this should be no surprise since relationships are so important in the body of Christ and that Jesus Himself wants to have a relationship with each of us. I hope you found this to be as interesting as I did. God Bless!!

By His Stripes We Are Healed

Isaiah 53:5 gives us the wonderful promise of divine healing. Of course, the first person that may enter your mind when you think about healing is Oral Roberts. Bro. Roberts spent his life being used of God to heal the sick. The great healing crusades he conducted throughout our country brought the healing message of Jesus Christ to hundreds of thousands of people. For just a few moments I would like to focus on the local church and divine healing.

I thank God for men like Oral Roberts, Benny Hinn and others like them. However, many healing's occur at the local church level that only those in attendance on that day have the privilege of witnessing. This in no way makes these healing any less significant or miraculous. They are, after all, "power encounters" with the God that heals. Though they do not get the media hype and the recognition of the masses, they are none-the-less just as real and significant as those seen in the mass crusades.

I said all of this because in our Wednesday Evening Bible study last night, a lady that had been suffering with back problems for most of her life received healing. It was the most beautiful thing that I witnessed in a long while. She was playing the piano and the body began to intercede on her behalf. When we were through with the music, she came off the platform and got to the second row in the sanctuary and said, "Dear God, I am raising my feet. I haven't been able to raise my feet for over five years!" She then proceeded to give God praise for the next 15 minutes or so. During this time, many people were being touched by the power of the Spirit that was so sweet and strong in that place.

Although there were only a handful of people there to witness this miracle, it was a moment in which Isaiah 53 came to life right before our eyes. Moments like these in the local church do several things - faith rises, excitement rises, God's promises become tangible, and the church rejoices together. I think if we were to ask those who have been healed by God where their healing occurred, I think the majority would say, "My local church".

This post is not intended to be a slam against healing crusades, but rather it is to celebrate the miraculous work that occurs at the local church. We celebrate with the masses at healing crusades, but lets us never forget the healing that occurs within our local churches. "By His stripes we are healed" - notice there is no location mentioned!

Gossip - A Cancer in the Church

In 1 Timothy 5:13 it says, "And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not." Gossip eats away at the very fabric of a church. It will if left untreated, destroy not only the church as a whole but individuals within a church. Scripture is very clear about the destructive nature of gossip. It tears down and never builds up. This is why gossip is normally done in dark for if it was truth it would be in the light. The enemy has used the weapon of gossip for years within the church and has been extremely successful in tearing up churches with this weapon.

My concern is that people tend to stereotype a church by the ways some of its people conducts themselves. For instance, how many times have we heard people say, "That church is just full of a bunch of gossipers?" Or worse than than that, "I have been the victim of gossip before and the hurt is still there". What about the pastoral family whose children have become bitter against God and the church because they heard church members barbecue the pastor week after week? It breaks my heart to see people who have been wounded by a Christian who can not overcome gossip.

Don't you think it is time that we learn to live Christ-like lives? Don't you think it's time that we learn to control that unruly member - the tongue? Don't we have enough wounded people walking around due to this terrible epidemic in the church? We need men and women of God who will stand up against this cancer invading the body of Christ. It is time that we say, "I will not allow gossip to ruin one more life and it will not allow it to be a cancer in my church". When someone begins to gossip, we need to be the spiritually mature and tell them in love that we will not be apart of gossip. If the body of Christ does not stand against this cancer in the church, one day we will see the church destroyed because people could not stop the gossip.

Let us come against this evil within the body of Christ and pray that God will close the mouths of those who wag their tongues for the purpose of tearing down. We have a choice before us, will our words build people up or will they tear down our brothers and sisters? The good news of Jesus Christ is all about love. How can we possible love someone as Christ loves them if we are constantly tearing them down? The answer is we can't. There is no way that we can truly love someone and at the same time speak words of destruction to them or about them. Let's eradicate gossip for our lives! Pray and ask God to give us the strength and ability to overcome this cancer that is raging through the Christian church today.

Cancer devours the body. That which once was healthy becomes sick, weak and tired. Gossip causes the body of Christ to be destroyed. It causes the witness of Christ within that body to become sick, weak and tired. Let's allow the Holy Spirit to infuse us in such away that Gossip is eradicated from our lives. God Bless!

The Blessing of God

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Paul speaking to the church at Ephesus, remind the Ephesian believers that God through Christ has blessed them with every spiritual blessing. In other words, in Christ we have all spiritual blessing that we need.

After our service today, I began to think on the idea of blessing. God so richly blessed us today in our service that I was reminded of the passage in Ephesians. God has provided for our physical healing through stripes on His back, financial need is provided due to His riches in glory and finally through His blood salvation has been provided.

I can't remember a time that I felt so blessed as I did today. We prayed for a four year old child who has been diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. After the service, he came to me and said, "Pastor I am strong because God has healed me". What a blessing to have this child speak for the blessing of God upon his life. He is standing on faith for his healing even at the young age of four. I could not help but think of the innocence of this little boy's confession. I think that we as adults can learn allot from a statement such as this.

Finally, I was reminded this week of my passion for pastoring God's people. I have always held to the position that when ministry begins to be a job and not a calling, then I need to look for something else to do. Satan wants us to throw in the towel and will cause us to focus on our trial rather than on Christ. A young man in our church reminded me of this when he said, "You know, it bothers me when ministry is no longer fun and fulfilling". He said that was the road he was headed down. God wants to remind the both of us, "Don't get weary in well doing..."

What a perfect reminder in Ephesians as Paul reminds us that all Spiritual blessings have been already provided - we simply need to appropriate them.