Preachers and preaching

Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many) he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom.

THE HOLY SPIRIT rules out all of this sparkle and charm and pulpit presence and personal magnetism. Instead, He whispers to us: “God wants to humble you and fill you with Himself and control you so that you can become part of the eternal work that God wants to do in the earth in your day!”

MANY PERSONS PREACH AND teach. Many take part in the music. Certain ones try to administer God’s work—but if the power of God’s Spirit does not have freedom to energize all they do, these workers might just as well have stayed home.Natural gifts are not enough in God’s work. The mighty Spirit of God must have freedom to animate and quicken with His overtones of creativity and blessing

The mighty Spirit of God must have freedomIt seems like what we read in Revelation 3 with the Laodicean church. The Lord is standing at the door knocking. He is outside their church. Who is going to have the courage to get up and answer the door in this generation? How did He get shut out to begin with? Who showed him the door and made Him unwelcome? How is it that people could be content to have church apart from Christ and the moving of the Holy Spirit? I fear for this generation of leaders. The Great Shepherd is at the door, the Shepherds won't answer and the Sheep are along for the ride.

How is it that people could be content to have church apart from Christ and the moving of the Holy Spirit? I fear for this generation of leaders. The Great Shepherd is at the door, the Shepherds won't answer and the Sheep are along for the rideDon't mean to get off the subject too much, but i was just thinking about this as I passed this huge Baptist church they've been building near our house. I just look at it with sadness because I know that it will be filled because it will be the "new popular" place to go and they think they are doing the Godly thing because they are going to "a church" (and an especially nice, new big one at that). I was sad for the Lord. I just prayed "Jesus I hope you visit that place. Will anyone really be wanting the real You there? Lord, it would be great if you devestated them with your presence." But something tells me they aren't going to WANT to be devestated. :-o

Will anyone really be wanting the real You there? What a rivoting question! Oh God have mercy! Have we made Christ in the likeness of our own desires? I was in a class once and heard a woman say something to the effect, "I love the Jews- I was raised to love the Jews!" The instructor replied, "You're not in love with the Jews." "Yes, I was raised to love the Jews", she said. The instructor concluded, "You are not in love with the Jews, your in love with the IDEA of the Jews." Are we in love with our idea of Christ or with the real Christ as He is and has always been? Have we discarded the elements we would like to forget- and fallen in love with a silouette of what Christ really is?

Far more than a play with words:True overcomers – the ones overcome by the Lord, the ones devastated by the Lord.A provocation carrying piercing and penetrating power which no one will be able to dodge or ward off: “Who is going to have the courage to get up and answer the door in this generation?”L. W.

“Your in love with the IDEA of. . .”The difference between being religious and being relevant.L. W.

I have this burning in my heart that when He finally gets in He will deal first with those who have changed His house (the Church- the true Temple) into a den of thieves. He will overthrow the tables of those who are now rich and increased with goods by teaching things they ought not. When there is more emphasis on the need to pay than to pray- the house has been changed! I can't get this quote someone made yesterday out of my head, "The Lord loves you just pay your tithes." If that is true God have mercy on them. When people are seeking instruction on how they might please God and the emphasis is being placed on them giving their money to that ministry and not upon the real and weightier matters of growing closer to Christ. How close have we come to when Peter told the man "Thy money perish with thee!" It is a dreaded and fearsome thing in my mind.

Constant friction between men of a depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. 1 Tim 6:5.Constant friction – a description of our churches.Constant friction – a picture of our godliness.Constant friction reveals the lack of true revelation – deprived of true truth.This signifies the non-spiritual man. This signifies man under substantial judgment.This signifies man under intense delusion.Constant friction, constant desire for more of this world – the reality of perfectly inverted blessing. This is our modern Church.CRITERIA OF SPIRITUAL MEASURE The inquiry is being forced upon us as to whether there has been too wide a gap between the means and the end: whether there has not been a confusing of means with the end. Things, activities, institutions, programmes, etc., may have been the conscious or unconscious standard by which spiritual measure has l been judged: the ”things seen” being the sole or predominant factors.The fact remains that with the Lord spiritual measure, the measure of Christ as positively expressed in the life and experience of His own, is the only and ultimate concern. It is not even just that we have received Christ, or are getting others to receive Him; but it is Christ, in fulness, which is God’s immediate interest and all-governing goal. No matter what the activities and zeal may be, if spiritual increase is not the definite and immediate outcome, then the Lord’s heart is not satisfied. – TAS

I have this burning in my heart that when He finally gets in He will deal first with those who have changed His house (the Church- the true Temple) into a den of thieves."For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God..." 1 Peter 4:17Robert, you also commented:I can't get this quote someone made yesterday out of my head, "The Lord loves you just pay your tithes." God says:"I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs: for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.BUT LET JUDGMENT RUN DOWN AS WATERS, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A MIGHTY STREAM"Amos 5:21-24.

The Lord is standing at the door knocking. He is outside their church. Who is going to have the courage to get up and answer the door in this generation? How did He get shut out to begin with? Who showed him the door and made Him unwelcome?It's the Bride, His Bride, that forced Him out. "Both I and my father's house have sinned" Nehemiah 1:6."We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled..." Daniel 9:5.I want to post an article in another thread. It's called "Seeking or Sleeping. Give it a read, if you'd like.

What iwpray said is very true about another kind of preacher. IT COULD BE YOU AND I WITH THAT JOB, if we are ready to take that responsibility. One thing is for certain, you will be persecuted for it. That is a promise from Christ. Let's seek for such a responsibility starting today!!!!!Aaron

THE HOLY SPIRIT rules out all of this sparkle and charm and pulpit presence and personal magnetism. Instead, He whispers to us: “God wants to humble you and fill you with Himself and control you so that you can become part of the eternal work that God wants to do in the earth in your day!”

I feel sorry for the church that decides to call a man to the pulpit because “his personality simply sparkles!”

I HAVE DONE EVERYTHING I can to keep “performers” out of my pulpit. We do not think we are called to recognize “performers.” We are confident that our Lord never meant for the Christian church to provide a kind of religious stage where performers proudly take their bows, seeking human recognition for themselves. We do not believe that is God’s way to an eternal work. He has never indicated that proclamation of the gospel is to become dependent upon human performances.

Hi lars,Can you tell the difference between someone who is performing, from someone who may seem to be performing?Quite honestly the first time I saw Keith Daniel in the sermon on the mount I thought this guy is really weird. When he was quoting from Matthew and speaking in a funny voice and tapping the bible, I really had to guard myself from not dismissing him as a cuckoo. Once I started to listen to him though the 'noise' of his personal style seemed to fade, because what he was preaching was solid stuff. The way he was presenting it was my stumbling block.The lady who started the four square church, I think it was Amy Semple MacPherson :-? From what I have heard she had full on performances in her church, had plays etc and the people loved it. Whether the growth was brought about by God adding to the number or by her own personality is something I do not know. Maybe some others can comment on the fruit of her work.Do you think that God would validate someone who is performing e.g. seeking personal fame? Zeke

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

NO MAN SHOULD STAND BEFORE an audience who has not first stood before God. Many hours of communion should precede one hour in the pulpit. The prayer chamber should be more familiar than the public platform. Prayer should be continuous, preaching but intermittent.