Author Archives: Dan C.

Revival: A Divine Visitation – A.W. Tozer

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And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. –1 Cor 3:1

I believe that it might be well for us if we just stopped all of our business and got quiet and worshiped God and waited on Him. It doesn’t make me popular when I remind you that we are a carnal bunch, but it is true, nevertheless, that the body of Christians is carnal. The Lord’s people ought to be a sanctified, pure, clean people, but we are a carnal crowd. We are carnal in our attitudes, in our tastes and carnal in many things. Our young people often are not reverent in our Christian services. We have so degraded our religious tastes that our Christian service is largely exhibitionism. We desperately need a divine visitation-for our situation will never be cured by sermons! It will never be cured until the Church of Christ has suddenly been confronted with what one man called the mysterium tremendium-the fearful mystery that is God, the fearful majesty that is God. This is what the Holy Spirit does. He brings the wonderful mystery that is God to us, and presents Him to the human spirit.  The Counselor, 66-67.

“Oh Lord, deliver me from carnal attitudes, actions, and desires. Give me this morning a divine visitation to purify and cleanse me. Let me sense today the majesty and awesomeness of the ‘mysterium tremendium’ as I wait upon You. Amen.”

Why do we believers hesitate to evangelize?

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Have you ever met someone who just got a great deal on a new car (the one they REALLY wanted to buy) who didn’t tell everyone they knew about it? Not only do they tell everyone about it, they usually broadcast the news with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. What’s going on with believers who find it hard to share the gospel? Wouldn’t being spared the wrath of a just God and having received the gift of eternal life toss having bought the car of our dreams under the bus?

Mark Dever, in The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, presents 12 reasons believers hesitate in sharing the gospel, summarized below:

1. Pray.
Our weakness is evangelism is often related to an absence of prayer. When we neglect praying about evangelism we see the task as too big for us, or opportunities too scarce. Mark says if we pray for opportunities we’ll be amazed at the ways God answers.

2. Plan.
Because we don’t plan to evangelize it generally doesn’t happen. Many of us tend to think we are presently too busy, and think time will materialize later. It will not. Make time, develop a plan.

3. Accept.
We have to accept that God has given us the responsibility of sharing the gospel. It is not the calling of a few, not limited to the “gifted.” Mark says, quite dodging your responsibility and make the necessary adjustments.

4. Understand.
Part of the problem for many is a misunderstanding of what makes our evangelism effective. Success in evangelism is related to faithfulness, not fruit. Fruit is the work of God, not man.

5. Be Faithful.
Mark says, “Maybe we are too polite to be faithful to God in this area. Maybe we are more concerned about people’s response than God’s glory.” For many the desire to be polite and not offend people (or in my case, not wanting to come off like a salesman) is an excuse to remain unfaithful to the call of God.

6. Risk.
Some people are shy. We often do not know what a person’s response will be when we present the gospel. In my own recent experience, I fear losing a potential relationship by throwing out the gospel too soon, or too awkwardly. We will often have to risk (a relationship, embarrassment, etc.) in order to be faithful to God.

7. Prepare.
Give your evangelistic work some thought. What potential objection or question might your hear? You are more likely to engage if you have prepared yourself in advance.

8. Look.
Apathy, laziness and busyness can keep us from seeing the opportunities God provides. So can unbelief. Pray for opportunities and then anticipate God’s provision.

9. Love.
If we love people we will seek their good, and this of course includes sharing the gospel with them.

10. Fear.
– of God, not man. When we refuse to share the gospel with others we “are not regarding him or his will as the final and ultimate rule of our actions.”

11. Stop.
Mark says, “We should stop excusing ourselves from evangelism on the basis that God is sovereign. We should not conclude from his omnipotence that our obedience is therefore pointless.” We must affirm both God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility as it relates to conversion and evangelism.

12. Consider.
Pointing to Hebrews 12:3 Mark points us back to the gospel itself. He says that when we aren’t considering the cross of Christ we lose the heart to proclaim the good news. True gospel-centeredness will compel us to evangelize.

I have only one item to add, but not to the above list. These reasons for hesitation in sharing the gospel assume one has a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  There are many who claim to know Christ and bear His name, but have never met Him. You don’t share what you don’t have.

NOTE: I found the above summary at a Web site here and might need to find the book.

Evangelism – The Method

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The Message of the gospel is specific and clear – Christ died for our sins. God’s designated Means of transmitting the message is ‘preaching’, or ‘telling’ others the message – it requires words. What about the Method, or ‘process’? Guess what? There isn’t ONE! There a multitudes of ‘tools’ like the ‘Romans Road’, ‘The Four Spiritual Laws’ (Campus Crusade for Christ), ‘The Bridge’ diagram (The Navigators) and countless evangelism pamphlets and tracts. There are also different approaches from the ‘cold’ approach used in door-to-door and street evangelism, group evangelism in a corporate setting, to one-on-one relationship based evangelism. I would also offer that although there are those are called and gifted for the ‘office’ of evangelist in the church, we are all called to ‘be ready to give an account for the hope that is within us’ (2 Peter 3:15).

Although there is no single method that is to be used for sharing the good news, we can examine the growth of the church in the New Testament and find some invaluable guidance concerning ‘how’ we are to share the good news.  The following two sections of this post are excerpted from The Stewardship of God’s Truth Through Evangelism, by J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M.

Oikos Evangelism

What is oikos evangelism? Oikos is the Greek word most often translated house or household in the New Testament. But let’s be careful and not assume we know what that means. In the culture of New Testament times, oikos described not only the immediate family, but it included servants, servants’ families, friends, and even business associates. One’s oikos was one’s sphere of influence, his/her social system composed of those related to each other through common kinship ties, common tasks, and common territory. The New Testament oikos included members of the nuclear family, but extended to dependents, slaves and employees. The oikos was the basic social unit by which the church grew.

An oikos was the fundamental and natural unit of society, and consisted of one’s sphere of influence—his family, friends and associates. And equally important, the early church spread through oikos—circles of influence and association. With only a moment of reflection, we begin to realize a significant difference of thrust, tone, and tenor between much contemporary evangelism and early church outreach.

As we turn to the New Testament, Scripture focuses us on the household (family, friends, and associates) in the spread of the Gospel to mankind. The Gospels, Acts, and Epistles illustrate that the link of communication from person to person was the oikos. Here was the bridge used regularly as a natural means for spreading the message of Jesus Christ.

The following passages are illustrations of Oikos evangelism

· Mark 5:19. “Go home to your people (oikos) and report …”

· Luke 19:9. “Today salvation has come to this house (oikos).”

· John 4:53. “… and he himself believed, and his whole household (oikos).”

· Mark 2:14-15. We can’t be certain, but “his house” probably refers to Levi’s. If so, Levi invited his friends to come and meet and hear Jesus. Here is a typical household bridge—the inclusion of associates within the confines of Levi’s own home.

· John 1:40-45. The Apostle Peter came to Christ as a result of someone in his oikos. And Nathanael came to Christ because his friend Philip told him about the Savior.

Following Christ’s resurrection and ascension, it was this same pattern of the Gospel moving through the oikos which caused the early church to explode. Noted church historian Kenneth Scott Latourette has observed that, “the primary change agents in the spread of faith … were the men and women who earned their livelihood in some purely secular manner, and spoke of their faith to those whom they met in this natural fashion.”

· Acts 10:22f. Cornelius invited his relatives and close friends (his oikos) to come to his own home to hear Peter tell about the Lord.

· Acts 10:15 and 31. Here two households came to know the Savior through the influence of Lydia, a business woman, and the jailer at Philippi. When most people read about these two incidences, they normally think of just the immediate family. It was probably much more.

It seems that Oikos evangelism is the God-given and God-ordained means (method) and key for naturally sharing our supernatural message. This is the way the early church spread and it is the way the Gospel is most naturally shared today. Research and statistics back up this claim. (75-90% of new believers come to Christ because of a family member, friend, or associate having shared the ‘good news’).

The Spiritual Principles at Work in Evangelism

As the Bible uses analogies to teach spiritual truth, so it also uses analogies to portray the process of reaching men for the Lord. These include pictures taken from the harvest—the seed, the sower, the soil, and reaping the harvest. The soil is the human heart, the seed is the Word of God, the sower is the believer with the seed of the Word, and the reaping is when a person comes to Christ by faith. Based on this analogy, there are four things involved in the process:

Preparing the Soil

The soil of the human heart must be prepared. This is done through:

(1) Walking by the Spirit (Acts 1:8; 4:31; Eph. 5:18)

(2) Praying for four things: (a) for laborers for the harvest (Luke 10:2); (b) for open doors or opportunities (another analogy) for the Word (Col. 4:3); (c) for courage to share the Gospel at the right time (Eph. 6:18; 4:29); and (d) for clarity: the ability to make the Gospel clear (Col. 4:4)

Living to Demonstrate the Power of Christ

Simply put, the problem is this: You can’t give away what you don’t have. If we as Christians lead lives of frustration, neurosis, moral lapse or failure, strife and division, we cannot expect to be too effective at convincing others of the truth of the Christian faith. (Cf. Col. 4:5-6; 1 Pet. 3:15-17.)

Sowing and Watering the Seed

We have the responsibility to share the message, to communicate the truth of Scripture in accord with specific needs knowing and believing that the Word is alive and powerful and will do the work God has sent it to do (Isa. 55:8-11). While a good testimony is essential and is often used by God to give an open door for the Gospel, no one can be saved without hearing the Gospel message. (Cf. Mk. 4:1-20, 26-29; John 4:35-42.)

Reaping the Harvest

The harvest is people receiving Christ by personal faith. Evangelism is a process that brings a person to a decision to trust in Jesus Christ, but evangelism is not just a decision. In our work with people, we become a part of the process of preparing, sowing, watering, or reaping, but we can’t hurry the process. We must learn to care about people just as did the Lord. Then, when the right time comes, as led by the Spirit, begin to tell them about the person and work of the Savior. We must remember that, in the final analysis, God uses the Word and the transformed life, but it is the Spirit of God alone who can break through the barriers of the blindness and hardness of the human heart to bring a person to faith in Christ. (Cf. John 4:35-42.)

I don’t think there is much I can add to that except ask you to read through the above post again and highlight all of the references to the work of God in salvation, whether it is the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. When you have done that, with a ‘here I am send me’ heart, seek God concerning His specific plan for you in sharing His Good News.

“Salvation is of the Lord.”—Jonah 2:9.

Evangelism: The Means

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While there are many ways of spreading the gospel in the larger context of everything that might take place leading up to sharing the specific message that Christ died for our sins, Scripture provides us with God’s designated means for transmitting the message from one person to another:

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?“ – Romans 10:13-15

In a few brief sentences, the Apostle Paul describes the ‘process’ by which anyone is saved! He tells us that the message must be ‘preached’.  Somebody has to ‘tell’ somebody something.

We are all quite familiar with the axiom “Actions speak louder than words.” Some of us are also familiar with a famous quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” While there is certainly practical truth in both the axiom and the quote, how can you convey the specific message that “Christ died for our sins.” without words?

What does it mean ‘to preach’ the Gospel?  I submit to you that although a kind word spoken, a loving deed done, a physical need met (or any other non-verbal communication) can, and many times does, pave the way for sharing the specific message, all of them are ‘done’ every day, by every sort of person, and often for the vilest of motives, and none of them can save a single soul!

What is the example of New Testament Scripture?

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,” – Matthew 3:1

“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, Mark 1:14

“From that time Jesus began to preach,. . .” Matthew 4:17a

“They (the disciples) went out and preached that men should repent.” – Mark 6:12

“The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” Mark 13:10

“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.” – Acts 2:14

The Apostle Paul again:

“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;” – 1 Corinthians 1:23

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, – 1 Corinthians 15:1

“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake.” – 2 Corinthians 4:5

“Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!.” – 1 Corinthians 9:16

Strip away all the non-verbal activity involved before specifying what must ‘believed’ in order to be saved, and all that is involved in the making of disciples after someone has believed, and we have the message that Christ died for our sins and the need for it’s proclamation by word of mouth.

Furthermore, not only did God designate preaching as the means through which He would save men, it pleased Him to do so!

“It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe“ -1 Corinthians 1:21

Have people been saved without hearing the ‘spoken’ proclamation? Of course they have, but as the exception, not the rule. I am not saying that every believer is supposed to be a ‘called by God’ pastor, teacher, or evangelist. I am saying that ‘preaching’ is God’s designated means of getting the message on the streets. In other words, if I can open my lips and speak, I can tell somebody something about my Jesus! And ‘woe is me’ if I don’t!

Evangelism: The Message – Part II

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CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS

If we are to faithfully deliver the message that Christ died for our sins (1 Cor 15:3), we must be able to explain exactly what that short statement means. We must be able to 1) properly define ‘our sin’ and 2) explain what Christ’s death means with respect to ‘our sin’.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins…” – 1 Cor 15:3

SIN is the issue and the SIN is OURS!

If you were to conduct a man-on-the-street interview outside of just about any church in America on any given Sunday and asked the question: “How did the sin of Adam effect the human race?”, you would probably hear, as the overwhelming answer: “Sin separates us from God.” If the answer is further defined, you might hear sin described as a great gulf or cloud between us and God. You would also hear sin defined as ‘wrong actions’ on our part. But while it is eminently true that sin separates us from God, and we ‘do’ sin, Scripture tells us that the sin problem is more than just an ‘impersonal’ gulf/cloud/wall of separation or wrong action. Listen carefully to ‘the rest of the story’.

Because of the sin of Adam, the following is true about all of us unless, and until, we are found in Christ by the gracious work of God in our salvation,through the shed blood of His Son:

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” – Romans 5:10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. – Ephesians 2:1-3

Not only were we God’s enemies, dead in trespasses and sin, and by nature objects of His wrath; we were headed for Hell:

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:18

Is there anyone who, prior to their believing in Christ, isn’t in a ‘not believing’ state of existence?  If that isn’t enough about the state of anyone apart from Christ, we have this:

“As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” – Romans 3:10-12

“How did the sin of Adam effect the human race?” Sin turned us into God’s enemies, dead in trespasses and sin, by nature objects of His wrath, headed for Hell, and completely unwilling to seek Him on our own! That’s quite a different picture of sin than the one painted by postmodern evangelicalism.

What then does Christ’s death mean with respect to OUR SIN?

Hear the words of Jesus to His disciples just before they departed the room where ate their last meal together:

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” – John 14:30-31

What did God do for sinners? He sent His own Sin to die! Christ’s death for our sin was God’s plan. And the Son went obediently to the Cross to show the world how much He loved His Father.

“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” – Romans 3:22b-25

“What, then, does the phrase “a propitiation. . .by his blood” express? It expresses, in the context of Paul’s argument, precisely this thought: that by his sacrificial death for our sins Christ pacified the wrath of God.” . . . “The doctrine of the propitiation is precisely this: That God so loved the objects of his wrath so much that He gave His own Son to the end that He by His blood should make provision for the removal of His wrath.” J.I. Packer – Knowing God

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” – Romans 5:9

Not only did Christ die for our sin, He died IN OUR PLACE. Christ’s death for our sins means that when we deserved the full weight of God’s just wrath against sin, ‘our sin’, He drank the cup of His own Father’s wrath in our stead! There is no greater expression of love in all of human history!

We mortals probably cannot even comprehend the gospel message in it’s entirety. Whatever message we communicate, with whatever words we use, the truth that Christ died for our sins MUST be part of our message. The more we can explain about what that really means, Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf, the better messengers we will be.

Evangelism: The Message

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“To evangelize is to declare on the authority of God what he has done to save sinners, to warn men of their lost condition, to direct them to repent, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” (John Cheesman, The Grace of God in the Gospel [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1972], 119)

The Authority

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made . . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. . .” – John 1:1-3, 14

I know of no clearer declaration of the Deity of Christ in all of Scripture than these verses. What did God do to save sinners? God sent His Son to die that we might live! There was no other way to satisfy the just requirements of God’s own Law. There is no other way of salvation! There is no greater authority than the Word made flesh!

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. “ – Jesus

The Declaration

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. – 1 Cor 15:1-5 (Emphasis mine)

The message we are to declare is quite simple. There are two central points, two things ‘of first importance’: “Christ died for our sins” and “he was raised on the third day”. Both of these facts were “in accordance with the Scriptures” – they fulfilled Old Testament prophesy. Both events, the death and resurrection, were validated. Christ’s dead body was laid in a tomb and he was seen by many – His closest disciples in these passages, with over 500 mentioned elsewhere in Scripture.

This is the Message we are to declare – the message that is the “power of God unto salvation” that Paul was not ashamed of. No matter what else we say, no matter what else we ‘do’ without words, no matter what ‘words’ we wrap around these two truths, they must be at the core of our message or we have failed. Any other message, any other message, that omits these truths, is NOT the gospel.

The M&M&M’s of Evangelism

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We’ve been discussing evangelism here at the The Battle Cry – on another post where it was not exactly on point for that post. Therefore, due to the significance of the topic, I felt it wise to devote some space specifically to the topic. After all, it’s why we who profess Christ are still on planet Earth instead of having been translated (ala Star Trek?) to the presence of the Lord immediately after the moment we truly believed the Gospel and received God’s totally unmerited and most merciful gift of salvation by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).

There is far too much to discuss in a single post, so I’ve decided to divide the discussion into three general areas represented by, and easily remembered by…you guessed it – three ‘M’s.  I’m not a great fan of inventing cute little memory aids, but these are already common concepts and it didn’t require any excessive use of valuable brain cells to to discover. It wouldn’t surprise me if you haven’t already realized what they represent. In case you haven’t figured them out yet (and I’m sure some of you have), we’ll use the topics of the Message, the Means, and the Method of evangelism. Further, we will discuss them in the order presented for very specific reasons:

The Message is the highest priority topic of the three. If we are to share the gospel we have to get the message right or we might as well stay home. If we have it wrong, we will do tremendous damage to the Kingdom of our Savior, not to mention trample on the honor and glory due His Name.

The Means of delivering the Message refers to the ‘mechanism’ by which the right message is transmitted to those who need to hear it, believe it, and receive the free gift of salvation for themselves, to the glory of God and to their eternal benefit.

It is important to note that both the message and the means of proper evangelism are articulated quite clearly in Scripture. We need only to have understood and believed the message and be available to transmit the message using the God appointed means.

The Method (how we deliver the message) is not as clearly defined in Scripture, however the New Testament is filled with evangelistic encounters from which we can learn and receive valuable guidance. In addition to biblical examples of Jesus, His disciples and those who followed them as the early church grew, we have the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us as we carry the only Message that contains the power to save to the lost and dying all around us.

Why do I think it’s important to approach the discussion in this fashion? Well, to a large extent across the landscape of postmodern Protestant evangelicalism, the Message has been lost in the deadly swamp of secular humanism, relegating the appointed Means to the dust bin of irrelevancy and the discussions about Methods a whole lot of wasted effort unless our gums are in need of exercise.

With that said, on to the Message!

Rom 1:16  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” – The Apostle Paul

Is the Church in Bondage?

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This is an excerpt from a longer article called The Pelagian Captivity of the Church published in Modern Reformation magazine. The article is doctrinal in that it discusses salvation, justification, the righteousness of God, the glory of God, and the human will, from the early days of Church history until the present, all in a 4-5 page document, depending on your favorite text font. If doctrine puts you off, you probably won’t want to read the entire article, nor will you be interested in it if you are spiritual growth comfort zone is akin to the ‘wading pool’ down at the park. However, if you like to treading in deeper waters and love to be challenged in your faith, it’s a must read and worthy of serious discussion. Just click the above link to the Modern Reformation magazine or click here.

The Pelagian Captivity of the Church  – R. C. Sproul

God’s Sovereignty in Salvation

This is the issue: Is it a part of God’s gift of salvation, or is it in our own contribution to salvation? Is our salvation wholly of God or does it ultimately depend on something that we do for ourselves? Those who say the latter, that it ultimately depends on something we do for ourselves, thereby deny humanity’s utter helplessness in sin and affirm that a form of semi-Pelagianism is true after all. It is no wonder then that later Reformed theology condemned Arminianism as being, in principle, both a return to Rome because, in effect, it turned faith into a meritorious work, and a betrayal of the Reformation because it denied the sovereignty of God in saving sinners, which was the deepest religious and theological principle of the reformers’ thought. Arminianism was indeed, in Reformed eyes, a renunciation of New Testament Christianity in favor of New Testament Judaism. For to rely on oneself for faith is no different in principle than to rely on oneself for works, and the one is as un-Christian and anti-Christian as the other. In the light of what Luther says to Erasmus there is no doubt that he would have endorsed this judgment.

And yet this view is the overwhelming majority report today in professing evangelical circles. And as long as semi-Pelagianism-which is simply a thinly veiled version of real Pelagianism at its core-as long as it prevails in the Church, I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I know, however, what will not happen: there will not be a new Reformation. Until we humble ourselves and understand that no man is an island and that no man has an island of righteousness, that we are utterly dependent upon the unmixed grace of God for our salvation, we will not begin to rest upon grace and rejoice in the greatness of God’s sovereignty, and we will not be rid of the pagan influence of humanism that exalts and puts man at the center of religion. Until that happens there will not be a new Reformation, because at the heart of Reformation teaching is the central place of the worship and gratitude given to God and God alone. Soli Deo gloria, to God alone, the glory.

Test Revival with Doctrine – John Piper

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This is a very relevant comment by John Piper from Desiring God Ministries concerning recent events that impact the entire body of Christ:

Lee Grady, the editor of Charisma, one of the main charismatic magazines, has written a lament and critique of the Lakeland “revival” which is now in a tailspin over the leader’s announced separation from his wife. Grady’s summons to pray for the church and our nation is right, and among his commendable questions and observations are these:

“Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up.”

  • “Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up.”
  • “True revival will be accompanied by brokenness, humility, reverence and repentance—not the arrogance, showmanship and empty hype that often was on display in Lakeland.”
  • “A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley’s news hit the fan. He said to me: “I’m now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment.” Ouch. Hopefully we’ll learn our lesson this time and apply the necessary caution when an imposter shows up.”

Charismatics will not be the only ones who follow the Antichrist when he rises. So will the mass of those who today in thousands of evangelical churches belittle the truth of biblical doctrine as God’s agent to set us free (John 8:32).

Discernment is not created in God’s people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds. When that happens, then the brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance will have the strong fiber of the full counsel of God in them. They will be profoundly Christian and not merely religious and emotional and psychological.

The common denominator of those who follow the Antichrist will not be “charismatic.” It will be, as Paul says, “they refused to love the truth.”

“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

Our test for every Lakeland that comes along should first be doctrinal and expositional. Is this awakening carried along by a “love for the truth” and a passion to hear the whole counsel of God proclaimed?

Perhaps God is doing some housecleaning?

The Mote and the Beam

Posted by Dan C. on

Following are short excerpts from “The Calvary Road” by Roy Hession that speak wisely to much of today’s postmodern evangelical environment in which anything that might be critical is termed as ‘judgmental’, or ‘non-encouraging’ and thus, unwelcome or forbidden conversation.

“That friend of ours has got something in his eye! …how painful it is until it is removed! It is surely our part as a friend to do all we can do to remove it. We should be grateful to him, if he did the same service for us.

In the the light of that, it seems clear that the real point of the well-known passage in Matthew 7:3-5 about the beam and the mote is not the forbidding of our trying to remove the fault in the other person, but rather that reverse. It is the injunction that at all costs we should try to do this service for one another. True, its first emphasis seems to be a condemnation of censoriousness, but when the censoriousness is removed, the passage ends by the saying, “Then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

But what did Jesus mean by the beam in our own eye? I suggest that the beam in our eye is simply our unloving reaction to the other man’s mote.”

It’s not about the validity of ‘mote removing’, it’s the ‘why’ of our wanting to be the ‘remover’. If that attitude is other than a loving desire to remove hindrances to our brother or sister’s spiritual growth, or righteousness zealousness for the Father’s house’, it just might very well be questionable.

There is also risk involved in this manner of expressing of love for your brother or sister, even with utmost love! That friend just might take offense, play the ‘judge not’ card, resulting in a lost friendship (hopefully only temporarily)!

Then you must ask yourself, which is most important, the spiritual growth of your friend and the honor due His name, or your friendship. Therefore, HANDLE WITH PRAYER!