A couple of days ago I was searching church websites trying to help a couple find a church in their area... and to be honest I was quite impressed. It's pretty awesome that Apostolic churches have this opportunity to present themselves in such an appealing and enticing way. I found the sites very informative and quite easy to navigate. I am not that tech savy so I was even more impressed with how user friendy these sites were. Most all were very informative and welcoming.
Each site was very clear on a variety of topics such as, what their churches had to offer, service times and mostly the differnt forms of ministry offered in their assembly. These sites gave me a list of all of the various types of services and opportunities that were available in each church. In all honesty, as I previously said, I was quite impressed.
However, one site in-particular really caught my attention. I thought it was pretty awesome to note that the first ministry listed was free home bible studies. This was followed up with prison ministry etc etc... I don't think I have ever seen these services/ministries offered on any other church website.
Which brings me to my point. On each website the one topic that was talked about the least was prayer. One website showed music practice scheduled for 45 minutes then prayer for the last 15 minutes before church started. As minimal as this was at least they did indicate that prayer was before the service. On most of the web sites there were absolutely no mention of prayer at all and on almost all of the sites prayer isn't presented as a ministry at all.
I do not want to sound like a wet blanket but if we are ever going to see the power of the Holy Ghost demonstrated in our churches and our lives we must first become people of prayer. The New Testament church in the book of Acts converted ten percent of the known world and they didn't even have the use of the internet. We have to wonder... how did they do it?
Well, I'll tell you how. They prayed, and they demonstrated, and they did it in that order. In one situation Jesus told them, "this kind cometh out only by prayer and fasting". The point he was making was that if we are going to help people be delievered and set free from sin then WE MUST PRAY. PERIOD.... If we are going to lead people to Jesus and watch them recieve the Holy Ghost then WE MUST PRAY..... There is not any such thing as revival or harvest without prayer. I'm not talking about some little bedtime prayers. I'm talking about, effectual fervent praying.
I don't care how user friendly a church becomes or how easy it is for people to belong to our "community", if they come to our churches and they don't hear us praying then we are doing something wrong. The praise and worship of most services lasts longer than the alter service. (IF we even have an alter call at all.) It takes us less time to pray for the sick than it takes us to recieve an offering.
You get the point, don't you....???? Maybe?? NO??
Well, You Have Got To Be Kidding Me!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Our ''Church Community''
Just something to ponder.
Jesus was rejected by the religious community once before and it seems to me that we may be about to do it again.
I hear and read a lot about 'our church community' and for the most part that may be an innocent term however if we become more concerned about people joining our community it will become more important than Jesus.
I know, you want proof of that assumption. Well the passover feast was held in honor of the passover Lamb but by the time the Gospels were written the people had forgotten the Lamb and focused on the feast. The sad part is if you look into the Gospels you find the Lamb is left outside the feast because nobody invited Him in. In fact instead of inviting Him into the feast they led Him up a hill.
This past Sunday, November 1st, I had the honor of ministering in a church in the mid-west. I simply preached about Jesus and challenged the church to shake themselves from slumber and quit trying to seduce people to come to church and just tell the about Jesus.
There were some very intense moments and really for the most part it was not what you might consider a typical Sunday morning message. However toward the end there were first time guest that made their way to the altar and poured their hearts out to the Lord. One lady was very adamant that this was exactly what she had been looking for. No it was not one of those sermons about joining our community and finding a place to belong. It was about telling those present that only truth in this whole world of ours is Jesus and anything else just wont do.
The point is I think it would be wise to stop trying to sell our church community and just get back to revealing Jesus and helping people find their way into His family.
Our community,
You have got to be kidding me!
Jesus was rejected by the religious community once before and it seems to me that we may be about to do it again.
I hear and read a lot about 'our church community' and for the most part that may be an innocent term however if we become more concerned about people joining our community it will become more important than Jesus.
I know, you want proof of that assumption. Well the passover feast was held in honor of the passover Lamb but by the time the Gospels were written the people had forgotten the Lamb and focused on the feast. The sad part is if you look into the Gospels you find the Lamb is left outside the feast because nobody invited Him in. In fact instead of inviting Him into the feast they led Him up a hill.
This past Sunday, November 1st, I had the honor of ministering in a church in the mid-west. I simply preached about Jesus and challenged the church to shake themselves from slumber and quit trying to seduce people to come to church and just tell the about Jesus.
There were some very intense moments and really for the most part it was not what you might consider a typical Sunday morning message. However toward the end there were first time guest that made their way to the altar and poured their hearts out to the Lord. One lady was very adamant that this was exactly what she had been looking for. No it was not one of those sermons about joining our community and finding a place to belong. It was about telling those present that only truth in this whole world of ours is Jesus and anything else just wont do.
The point is I think it would be wise to stop trying to sell our church community and just get back to revealing Jesus and helping people find their way into His family.
Our community,
You have got to be kidding me!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Who Do You Quote?
A few weeks ago I posted a question on a rather popular website that got absolutely no response. I simply asked, "Why do we quote everyone else more than we quote Jesus?" I then proceeded to answer my own question. The answer is simple, because we really don't know what Jesus said.
Let me make myself very clear, I have no problem with people reading or quoting from these other books. The thing that bothers me the most is simply the fact that I see more preachers quoting what 'people' wrote instead of what GOD wrote. You can find postings of all these great quotes on all these different web sites but hardly any of them are quoting Jesus. They can quote chapter and page from these books but you almost never see them quote scripture. Why is that?
During one of my visits with the Prophet T. W. Barnes, who mentored me for about 13 yrs, he told me that one day he was thinking about a certain subject in scripture. He decided to go to his book shelf and read up on the matter. Just as he reached for the book he was wanting to read, the Holy Ghost spoke. God asked him, "Tom what are you about to read." Bro. Barnes responded that he had a certain topic of scripture on his mind and was wanting to read this particular book to gain some insight. Then the Lord spoke back and asked, "Tom, did I write that book?" Of course Bro. Barnes responded, "No sir, you did not." After a moment the Lord spoke again and said, "If you want to know what I meant then study the book I wrote and I will explain it to you."
Its easy to know what a man is passionate about, just listen to him talk. If he talks about the latest and most ''cutting edge'' book he has read lately and the one before that, etc. etc. then that's what he is passionate about. It truly concerns me when this seems to be their focus and you never hear them talking passionately about the Word of God or some new revelation they have recently received out of the Word of God.
I wonder if the reason they read everything else is because they simply believe it more. It seems to me that a man of God would want to spend more of his time reading and studying the Word of God rather than all these other authors and their views.
Over the past few years I have heard several young men of God say that they want to see the miracles that our elders saw. I've got news for you - they spent time with Jesus. They kept their faces in His word.
I have said several times lately, while preaching, that the stories of the miracles and signs and wonders that we often recall are, more often than not, from our elders generation, not our own. You have to ask the question. Why?
Yes, I know that there are miracles that happen today but the stories we mostly recall are those that happened in our elders day. We must again ask ourselves, why? What did they all have in common? Why did so many miracles happen back then? The answer is simple - They had a relationship with God. How do I know that? Because that is what they talked about! All things God! He was what they believed in and what they were passionate about and we knew it because God was all they could talk about.
We must realize that the more time we spend reading and studying the Word of God the more we will begin to know God's voice. The better we know His voice the easier it is to follow Him. Let's get passionate about God! Read what He wrote. Learn His voice. Seek His face. Know His ways.
We will never see a move of God any other way than to get close to Him and to lift Him up. John 12:32
I challenge you to put all of those other books down for a while. Pick up the Word of God and read it, ingest it, BELIEVE it and DO it.
JSS
Let me make myself very clear, I have no problem with people reading or quoting from these other books. The thing that bothers me the most is simply the fact that I see more preachers quoting what 'people' wrote instead of what GOD wrote. You can find postings of all these great quotes on all these different web sites but hardly any of them are quoting Jesus. They can quote chapter and page from these books but you almost never see them quote scripture. Why is that?
During one of my visits with the Prophet T. W. Barnes, who mentored me for about 13 yrs, he told me that one day he was thinking about a certain subject in scripture. He decided to go to his book shelf and read up on the matter. Just as he reached for the book he was wanting to read, the Holy Ghost spoke. God asked him, "Tom what are you about to read." Bro. Barnes responded that he had a certain topic of scripture on his mind and was wanting to read this particular book to gain some insight. Then the Lord spoke back and asked, "Tom, did I write that book?" Of course Bro. Barnes responded, "No sir, you did not." After a moment the Lord spoke again and said, "If you want to know what I meant then study the book I wrote and I will explain it to you."
Its easy to know what a man is passionate about, just listen to him talk. If he talks about the latest and most ''cutting edge'' book he has read lately and the one before that, etc. etc. then that's what he is passionate about. It truly concerns me when this seems to be their focus and you never hear them talking passionately about the Word of God or some new revelation they have recently received out of the Word of God.
I wonder if the reason they read everything else is because they simply believe it more. It seems to me that a man of God would want to spend more of his time reading and studying the Word of God rather than all these other authors and their views.
Over the past few years I have heard several young men of God say that they want to see the miracles that our elders saw. I've got news for you - they spent time with Jesus. They kept their faces in His word.
I have said several times lately, while preaching, that the stories of the miracles and signs and wonders that we often recall are, more often than not, from our elders generation, not our own. You have to ask the question. Why?
Yes, I know that there are miracles that happen today but the stories we mostly recall are those that happened in our elders day. We must again ask ourselves, why? What did they all have in common? Why did so many miracles happen back then? The answer is simple - They had a relationship with God. How do I know that? Because that is what they talked about! All things God! He was what they believed in and what they were passionate about and we knew it because God was all they could talk about.
We must realize that the more time we spend reading and studying the Word of God the more we will begin to know God's voice. The better we know His voice the easier it is to follow Him. Let's get passionate about God! Read what He wrote. Learn His voice. Seek His face. Know His ways.
We will never see a move of God any other way than to get close to Him and to lift Him up. John 12:32
I challenge you to put all of those other books down for a while. Pick up the Word of God and read it, ingest it, BELIEVE it and DO it.
JSS
Friday, October 16, 2009
Lets talk
I have been thinking about doing this for awhile and I might add praying about it. I am not doing this with a bad attitude but quite frankly I think its about time that I stop saying '' someone ought to say something'' and just say something.
In no way do I think I am an expert on anything and I am not trying to be, its just that I see some things that I feel I want to address. Feel free to comment but remember that this is not a site for debate it is simply me saying what I feel and what the Word of God says about the different topics.
One more thing. if you ask me right now what topics I will be talking about the answer is, I don't know. We will get to them as they come to me. I can tell you that the topics will most likely be a wide range with the vast majority of them being Kingdom focused. I think it is safe to say also that they will all have a moral and Biblical focus.
Hope you enjoy
In no way do I think I am an expert on anything and I am not trying to be, its just that I see some things that I feel I want to address. Feel free to comment but remember that this is not a site for debate it is simply me saying what I feel and what the Word of God says about the different topics.
One more thing. if you ask me right now what topics I will be talking about the answer is, I don't know. We will get to them as they come to me. I can tell you that the topics will most likely be a wide range with the vast majority of them being Kingdom focused. I think it is safe to say also that they will all have a moral and Biblical focus.
Hope you enjoy
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