UNDER THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
I love the preachers in my church. I believe I can truly say that, without exception, they come to the pulpit, fresh from the prayer closet, full of the holy spirit, and under his anointing. That said, I also understand what it is to have the Lord give you something.Boom! There it is, whole and complete,and you now must be agile enough to give that message, whole and complete, as well as reference scriptures to back it up, and go at a pace that an entire congregation can follow. Oh! and, it must be delivered with passion as well. Without passion, there will be no interest.My church does all that, and more.Usually. However,tonight,the speaker was so passionate, so excited about the subject,and trying so hard to get all the scripture references in as he made his points, that I found myself fairly galloping through my bible to try to keep up with him. I can't fault him for that, after all, he had a lot to say, and a limited time to say it all. He was talking, after all, about the LAMB OF GOD! We started out in John 1:36, where John the baptist says, "behold, the LAMB OF GOD..." then we backtrack to Genesis, and then Exodus, then we're off to Job and Isaiah, and after that, I couldn't keep track, because I sort of got caught up in the whole thing and didn't write anything down. Did I get the point? Yes, I did.He juxtaposed a life led by the spirit of God, to the life led as a member of the secular world. Now, when I first heard about this book talking about the purpose driven life, or whatever it is, I thought, well,it is true that all mankind needs purpose.Now I have been told that this same theme has been written for the church, called the purpose driven church. Does this mean the author thinks the church has no purpose? What does he or she think we are doing here...looking for a purpose?Hello? Perhaps, what they are saying is, the church needs to be seeking success.More concisely,delineating your definition of success in terms of money, or numbers in your group, rather than giving your life and talents to the Lord, and allowing him to direct what you will do, and how you will use those talents. Those of us in the church are supposed to have given it all to Jesus, but I can state that I know not all have. There is a faction, now, and I don't know where it comes from, that have this fixation, "My church is bigger than your church, or busier, or, my people give more..." I don't know. Do you think God really cares about those things? When it all winds up,and you stand before him,is he going to ask you how much money you made, or how big was your church? Or is he going to say, did you feed my sheep? Did you love your neighbor as you loved yourself?
I had a conversation with a very intelligent man tonight, who as soon as he heard the topic of my blog, grew rather agitated, and had to point out the reasons He would not be interested in reading it, and sited incidents in his past that led him to dislike any "bible-thumpers". For the most part, I had to agree with him.Some pastors are not subtle in their zeal to bring new members into the fold, and others are right out of left field with their tactics. Here are two incidents, that are prime examples.
1.He was invited to visit a friend's church, and as soon as they thought they had him softened up, one of the deacons got in his face. My understanding was, it was most unpleasant.
2.He was asked, or invited to play softball on the church team. After a couple of games, the pastor approached him with the news that he really shouldn't be allowed to play, unless he belonged to their church. In both cases, I would have been out of there, immediately, if not sooner, too.
This is not the way Christ approached non-believers! With subterfuge and out and out tricks.There is no call for it.Wherever He went, Jesus taught the word to hungry hearts, healed the sick,and brought comfort to a lost and dying world.He did not force himself on those not interested,and a true Christian follows the master's example. But, two things I would like anyone with this man's attitude to know about me.
I agreed with everything he said. Once, I was lost too.I felt pretty much the same as he did. Don't come telling me I should go and join your church. If you like it, fine, but don't cram it down my throat. I have no need of it. But then, one day, I had a need. I sought God desperately, and he came to me,and that's when I started looking for a preacher I could trust!Someone who would preach, what "thus sayeth the Lord, without fear or favor!"
2. When I found God, and went to tell a friend, I was very hurt to find out she was already saved, for years, and never said a single word to me about it.I never forgot that. Hurt, because she said she loved me, but if she did not care for my soul enough to try to keep me from eternal damnation, what kind of friend is that?
So now, when I see a need, or a signal that a friend or just an acquaintance are unsaved, I very gently ask if they are saved. If they respond the way this man did, I drop it. I don' t get in their face and become obnoxious about it. What would be the point of that?When you do this, all your doing is driving people away from the one they need the most.Put them on your prayer list,and let the lord draw them to his side. Yes, I know, you love the Lord, and you are fulfilling the great commission to preach the gospel to the whole world. You have that happiness and joy down in your heart, and you want everybody to be as happy and full of love as you are. But don't shoot yourself in the foot doing it! Don't forget, Jesus was and is a gentleman. He didn't badger people, remember? They ran after him. Jesus didn't chase them down the street, beating them over the head with his cross, now did he?
Oh, by the way...everybody pray for Pat.
oui?
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