How do we view the Word of God? Most of us would use words such as innerant, infallible, perfect, inspired, maybe even sufficient. But is that the truth within our church life. Or does the Word of God simply become a confessional tradition? Do we simply acknowledge it but leave it there.
I am concerned that we do not place the Scriptures on a high enough level. I am even more concerned that if we do, we then do not appropriate them into our life and into our church's ministry. Sure service use the Scriptures to some extent. But could we do more? Is the Scripture the foundation to our worship music or is the drummer. I see more and more music where it is about rocking out. Now, I have nothing against rocking out. I grew up with Petra and Rez band. That was my Christian days. Before that, I can remember Ozzy and Black Sabbath. So, it is not the style I am talking about. It is the foundation that supports the style. Where is the Word of God. When we depart from the Word in our lyrics, we open ourselves up to errors. A song may sound great but it may not be strictly biblical. I think that if a song's message cannot be supported from the Word of God then it should be torn out of the church's repertoire.
This is not a post criticizing worship styles. I enjoy many styles. This is about the Word of God. Which brings us to sermonic form, structure, content, and delivery. I am appalled by the lack of Scripture in sermons today. It does not matter the name of the church or the confession they come from. As Amos 8:11 states, there is a famine in the land. Not a famine of food or of drink. But it is a famine of hearing the Word of God delivered. I write as a conservative Southern Baptist. We may have won the battle for the conservative resurgence, but is it possible that we lost the war in our approach to the Scriptures we fought for so earnestly? I hear sermons that stray from the Word of God in a dire manner. I remember a professor many years ago who used to like to say, "He chose his text and therewith departed." I think sometimes today we do not even get to the point of choosing the text. It is not that most of the sermons that I hear are wrong. It is not that they are even delivered poorly. They have good points. There is solid application. There is even enjoyable humor to keep things pleasant. However, the sermons today by and far do not exposit the text. They tell a story. They make a point. But seldom do they hold to the shape and form of the biblical text.
There is one purpose to the preacher. That is to expose the biblical text to his audience. The Holy Spirit makes it relevant and applies it into the believer's life. We as preachers must not fantasize about being David Letterman or Jay Leno. We have a higher calling. We have lost a concept of the holiness of the place of preaching. Where is the Scripture in the sermon?
A prefunctorial start to the sermon?
Loose knit statements through the sermon having little connection with one another?
A vague idea?
A statement meant to validate a stand-up routine?
The Scriptures need to be the beginning, middle, and conclusion of the sermon. They need to be the meat of the sermon - its substance. My role as a preacher is no more sophisticated than that I am herald called to proclaim the message that has already been penned. No preacher is smart enough erudite enough, or crafty enough to offer anything more than this. This is the supreme calling. As Jesus preached the kingdom of God, so shall the preacher today. And that message is careful developed only in the Word of God.
My question is where is the power?
All preachers desire to be powerful speakers. And yet few are. Why is that? It is because the power does not reside within the individual but with in the inspired Scriptures. As the Scriptures are expounded, the sermon becomes filled with power from God. The secret of the great preachers of the past was that they were men of the Word of God. They dispensed with the pride of their own thoughts and ideas and held to the sufficiency of the Word of God.
We need to all ask ourselves if we truly hold to the sufficiency of the Word of God or do we just like the idea? If we desire revival in our churches and in our nation, this is the way that it will come. A people who cling to the Word are people who cling to the Lord. People that do not cling to the Word cannot cling to the Lord. Enough with man's ideas. I crave and desire to here "Thus says the Word of God." Amen!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
New Adventures
I am pleased to have begun another segue in the adventure of faith. After serving in the Pensacola region for some time, the Lord has opened the door miraculously for me to attend the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY. This is truly a fabulous opportunity. I am so grateful that God chose to open up this door for my family. The Plan is to complete a ThM by next Spring and then work on my PhD. The Lord definitely has directed toward the idea of New Testament studies. This seems to be the area that I am best situated for and enjoy more than any other area of study. I have been to my first class session and have found it to be a thrilling and stimulating environment. There will be more blogs posting to come. I am going to try to integrate blogging into my daily spiritual discipline.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Word And The Spirit
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Jn 3:5.
The Word and the Spirit are the pressing need of today's church. We have replaced them with slight of hand tricks and gimmicks. The church ceases to be the mystical body of Christ and becomes a popularity based civic club or country club. We have robed ourselves of vitality and power. God brought forth the church from the furnaces of adversity to represent Him in Hi glory and honor.
The Church must have the Spirit in that they are people led and operating by the Holy Spirit. That is what we mean by being people of grace. People of grace are people that know God. It is essential that we have knowledge of God but our experience must transcend mere knowledge of God and embrace knowing God Himself. If the church will grow to know God they will rediscover the power that only intimacy with Christ can grant. The church must not be led by politics and power struggles. The church can only be the church as it is empowered by and brought forth by the spirit.
The Church also must be people of the Word. This is one of the things being forsaken in efforts purely to build an audience base. Amos 8:11 speaks of a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. That is the plight of the modern church. We are a Wordless Christianity. Many churches give a pop psychology talk rather than delineating that Word of God itself. Our power comes from our message and our message comes from the scriptures. The pastor should serve to expose the text and not private agenda. It is not a time of entertainment. The pulpit is not a foray into the night club. Churches that limit the presence of the Word do not achieve their full potential as servants of Christ. The unadulterated, authoritative, sufficient Word of God is the need of the hour. Even among supposed conservative churches, there seems to be a dilution of the Scriptures. It is as if we do not believe they are truly sufficient. We have to have the Word and comedy or the Word and psychology or the Word and self-help teachings. Anything that we add to the Word serves to water it down.
If we will return to the purity of the Word and Spirit we will see God move among our members and expand His kingdom. Where do we place our faith and confidence?
The Word and the Spirit are the pressing need of today's church. We have replaced them with slight of hand tricks and gimmicks. The church ceases to be the mystical body of Christ and becomes a popularity based civic club or country club. We have robed ourselves of vitality and power. God brought forth the church from the furnaces of adversity to represent Him in Hi glory and honor.
The Church must have the Spirit in that they are people led and operating by the Holy Spirit. That is what we mean by being people of grace. People of grace are people that know God. It is essential that we have knowledge of God but our experience must transcend mere knowledge of God and embrace knowing God Himself. If the church will grow to know God they will rediscover the power that only intimacy with Christ can grant. The church must not be led by politics and power struggles. The church can only be the church as it is empowered by and brought forth by the spirit.
The Church also must be people of the Word. This is one of the things being forsaken in efforts purely to build an audience base. Amos 8:11 speaks of a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. That is the plight of the modern church. We are a Wordless Christianity. Many churches give a pop psychology talk rather than delineating that Word of God itself. Our power comes from our message and our message comes from the scriptures. The pastor should serve to expose the text and not private agenda. It is not a time of entertainment. The pulpit is not a foray into the night club. Churches that limit the presence of the Word do not achieve their full potential as servants of Christ. The unadulterated, authoritative, sufficient Word of God is the need of the hour. Even among supposed conservative churches, there seems to be a dilution of the Scriptures. It is as if we do not believe they are truly sufficient. We have to have the Word and comedy or the Word and psychology or the Word and self-help teachings. Anything that we add to the Word serves to water it down.
If we will return to the purity of the Word and Spirit we will see God move among our members and expand His kingdom. Where do we place our faith and confidence?
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