Ok, I recognize I can be kind of a downer. But my aim isn't to depress people and leave them there. (see 2 Corinthians 7: 8-12) The thing is, only the broken can receive salvation, or revival; (Isaiah 57:15) a brokenness which, by the way, I know I cannot produce--only the Holy Spirit can. Yet the Spirit of God always uses the Word of God to do the work of God through a man of God. Hence, I am forced to emphasize the not-so-feel-goody part of the Word, since the majority of modern "evangelical" preaching tends to leave out.. oh, I don't know... the entire Old Testament and at least HALF of the Gospel of the New Testament!
Sorry. I'm ok. But seriously, Jesus drove out the money changers from the temple, saying they had turned the House of Prayer into a den of thieves. If He were to come into most of our casual, irreverent, mechanical "worship" services, would He not likely drive many a leader from the pulpit, saying they had turned the assembly of the saints into a den of pride, greed, lethargy, carnality, and self-seeking? Not only are these traits found in too many a church leader, but half-biblical (a.k.a. UNbiblical) teaching and preaching have cultivated this worldliness in the church members as well.
Jesus called men hypocrites, vipers, and whitewashed tombs to their faces. I trust you'll excuse my zeal if my emphasis on the neglected aspects of Scripture are not to your taste. Trust me, they're not to mine, either. It would be much more flesh-pleasing if church was really supposed to be all about us. But then, we would miss Jesus in the process.... oh wait... many already have.
(Side note: I do put Scripture references in here for a reason. I strongly encourage you to keep a Bible handy-- my ramblings are worthless. The Word of God stands forever.)
Saturday, November 26, 2005
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3 comments - Add a comment:
Hi from cincinnati. I'm a fellow/brother in Christ, and I'll be watching your blog. you're putting out some strong stuff.
I'll try to comment directly, later.
Shalom b'Yshuah Meshiachteynu
(Peace in Jesus our messiah)
Lew
Lew again. Sadly, I don't have the time to really comment, but I resonate with the heart you have here...
I feel it's sad that you feel the need to apologize for speaking words that are simply Biblical...
what sort of generation is this?
To Lew:
I have no intentions of apologizing, merely clarifying. The "I trust you'll excuse me" statement was meant tongue-in-cheek. I only want people to understand that I my frustrated rants are not mean-spirited, but are in fact speaking the truth in love. Many church-goers are completely unaware of the intensely pointed words Jesus often used (as did Peter, Paul, James...) to those who ought to know better. Thank you again for the encouragement. I will try not to over-explain myself. (Those who know me know I do this a lot.)
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