Rev 4:10-11 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
A
crown is a reward given for some achievement or that which is worn to signify a person's position of importance or to announce the office of an individual.
When we have worked hard to attained some great achievement in life, the tendency to look at the mirror and applaud ourselves is only natural. We look at the effort we have put in to get there and feel good that at last, it was all worth-while. This self appreciation that envelops us, is only a natural reaction that humanity has adopted. In fact the lack of recognition of the efforts we put in, leaves us feeling sad. The point remains that men will always desire recognition for every input they made towards the success of a venture. We insist that our names be written, our achievements be heralded, and our efforts noted.
While this tendency remains human, we have all seen men who take this issue of self recognition to a whole new level. For instance, we all may have met those men, who if you introduce them without their titles are offended. They are loud about their achievements and accomplishments.Note that such men who display all that they have and all that they are are small men!
The error of this way of thinking is that some individuals in the attainment of their goals in life forget God.Nebuchadnezzar was such a man. In the book of Dan 4:30 he uttered a statement that did not acknowledge God's input in his life. Hear him: The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? This statement, expressing the pride in his heart, cost him his throne for a season.
Several personalities as recorded in the bible, also towed this line, and the result was always the same. Herod did not acknowledge God and was eaten by worms. Lucifer looked at all God had made him and sought even more than his station was, losing sight of the honor that is due to the one that made him all that he is. Whatever made them who they were, was lost because they did not know how to lay it all down at the feet of their creator. Nebuchadnezzar who lost his throne for a season only had it restored when he acknowledged the God of heaven.
In our main scriptural text above, we see a practice around the throne of God that made the 24 elders able to retain their crowns even in the very presence of the King of kings.
These elders, knew that no matter what they had become, He was the one that made them that! They acknowledged this openly and unashamedly. They took their crowns, they very symbol of their achievements, and cast it at His feet. They knew that without His help, they would not be here in the first place. They knew that even though they had become partakers of His glory, that He and only He, ought to receive all the praise and worship. They cast their crowns and for that act, they became worthy to retain their crowns.
Friends, sometimes our achievements or accomplishments blind us. We feel we got it all by our skill, intelligence, hard-work or self effort. The term self made man is common place in our time because we fail to see a need to lay it down at the feet of God. Many have failed to see how God sustained them through the process and have held on to such titles.
The thought I would like you to leave this page with is this:
Men who discard their importance before Him are counted worthy of more relevance to the kingdom. John the Baptist who sought to decrease for the increase of Jesus, was regarded as a burning and a shining light. Jesus said of him in Luk 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist..
Lay down your crown before him today. Learn to acknowledge God and praise Him for his help in your life. You can be sure to retain the crown but you must learn to cast it before Him.
That's the only way to retain your crown. Worship and Praise Him for all He has done for You!
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
Thursday, 14 January 2016
An Unqualified Aaron
Exo 32:23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
In continuation of the earlier article, my mind was drawn to the above request of the children of Israel. Make us a gods which shall go before us, was their request to Aaron. In that request I see a strong indictment on the ministry of Aaron. Let me explain.
Aaron was to be second-in-command to Moses and was meant to be the man on ground to provide direction in Moses' absence. In this regard, he excelled to provide direction(briefly). After all the people came to him to request for a god. However, I am more inclined to believe that the reason why the people came to him for this was that they felt that the main man had left him in charge. He was riding on past recognition or glory conferred on him. The people did not really trust Aaron to be able to provide them with the same level of God-enabled leadership as Moses had. If they did they would have asked him to lead them and not make gods to lead them.
Let's consider that for a minute.
Here is Aaron the high priest. He was not just some ordinary member of the priesthood but the HIGH priest. He was, based on his stature, supposed to have access to the very presence of God. The most Holy place within the tabernacle, containing the ark of God which symbolizes the very presence of God, was where his ministry was to be conducted regularly. He was the man to have fellowship in the place illuminated by the very glory of God. He bore the burden of the people upon the breast plate on his heart. He had the Urim and the Thummim by which he could inquire of the Lord. Surely, he should have been more than able to guide the people in the absence of Moses. Instead he choose to make them gods.
He made the gods ,and when he did, the people thought that what he had fashioned must have been inspired from his experiences in the Holy place. After all he had been there and should by know know what God looked like at the very least (We would be surprised if we knew the source of inspiration for a lot of what we thought men must have received from the Holy place).
However, the people despite all the qualifications of Aaron requested for gods in the place of the man, Moses. They seemed to have judged, rather correctly as we find later, that he was unable to provide them with the much needed spiritual direction. They saw in him a man who did not have the same relationship with and understanding of God to influence things in their favor should they encounter difficulties. When they came to him for direction, he made them a golden calf! The High priest of the God of Israel was the one that fashioned a golden calf, allowed the people to declare that the idol he made was the same God that brought them out of Egypt and even declared a feast for the people to dance before this idol.
As I thought on these things I wondered. What came over the high priest of God? Surely for one that had been to the Holy place he should have known something of what God looked like. Why did he continue with the deception when he heard the people attribute to his idol the glory that was due only to God? I mean, when the people declared that the idol he had just produced a few minutes ago, a god that was only a few minutes old, was the same that had brought them out of bondage and had led them all this way. That would have been a good place to bring some form of correction to the madness and redirect the people but instead he compounded things by setting in motion a feast. A continuing statute that would have occupied the people even though he knew there was no presence of divinity in the idol he had fashioned.
Are there men like Aaron in our day? Men who occupy people with activities rather than reality. Men who, when the people have lost faith in their leadership credentials, resort to fashioning gods instead of travailing before the true God? Men, who continue deception to keep up with appearances and meet the immediate need of the people. Men, who fashion gods out of gold and expect men to bow before it. Men, who will keep the people happy at all costs? who see the ministry as a customer service affair and the congregation as the king-customer. Do men who are hungry for God, see your ministry as a place they can come to be connected to God?
As you consider these questions, I would like to ask further, Are you like Aaron?or a Moses?
Aaron needed gold to provide an suitable god for the people, Moses needed God at no material cost(even an angel of God's presence will not do for Moses). Aaron would gladly declare a feast, Moses time and again would declare a fast. Aaron can settle for a fraud as long as the people are pleased, Moses would not settle for any less than God even if the people wanted it so. Aaron could function without God, Moses wanted only that which the hand of God prescribes.
May God make us men who like Martin Luther will declare before God and Men 'Here I stand I can do no other'. Men uncompromising in the face of opposition and conflict. Men who pitch their tents with God and seek only that which comes from above. May we be such men indeed!
In continuation of the earlier article, my mind was drawn to the above request of the children of Israel. Make us a gods which shall go before us, was their request to Aaron. In that request I see a strong indictment on the ministry of Aaron. Let me explain.
Aaron was to be second-in-command to Moses and was meant to be the man on ground to provide direction in Moses' absence. In this regard, he excelled to provide direction(briefly). After all the people came to him to request for a god. However, I am more inclined to believe that the reason why the people came to him for this was that they felt that the main man had left him in charge. He was riding on past recognition or glory conferred on him. The people did not really trust Aaron to be able to provide them with the same level of God-enabled leadership as Moses had. If they did they would have asked him to lead them and not make gods to lead them.
Let's consider that for a minute.
Here is Aaron the high priest. He was not just some ordinary member of the priesthood but the HIGH priest. He was, based on his stature, supposed to have access to the very presence of God. The most Holy place within the tabernacle, containing the ark of God which symbolizes the very presence of God, was where his ministry was to be conducted regularly. He was the man to have fellowship in the place illuminated by the very glory of God. He bore the burden of the people upon the breast plate on his heart. He had the Urim and the Thummim by which he could inquire of the Lord. Surely, he should have been more than able to guide the people in the absence of Moses. Instead he choose to make them gods.
He made the gods ,and when he did, the people thought that what he had fashioned must have been inspired from his experiences in the Holy place. After all he had been there and should by know know what God looked like at the very least (We would be surprised if we knew the source of inspiration for a lot of what we thought men must have received from the Holy place).
However, the people despite all the qualifications of Aaron requested for gods in the place of the man, Moses. They seemed to have judged, rather correctly as we find later, that he was unable to provide them with the much needed spiritual direction. They saw in him a man who did not have the same relationship with and understanding of God to influence things in their favor should they encounter difficulties. When they came to him for direction, he made them a golden calf! The High priest of the God of Israel was the one that fashioned a golden calf, allowed the people to declare that the idol he made was the same God that brought them out of Egypt and even declared a feast for the people to dance before this idol.
As I thought on these things I wondered. What came over the high priest of God? Surely for one that had been to the Holy place he should have known something of what God looked like. Why did he continue with the deception when he heard the people attribute to his idol the glory that was due only to God? I mean, when the people declared that the idol he had just produced a few minutes ago, a god that was only a few minutes old, was the same that had brought them out of bondage and had led them all this way. That would have been a good place to bring some form of correction to the madness and redirect the people but instead he compounded things by setting in motion a feast. A continuing statute that would have occupied the people even though he knew there was no presence of divinity in the idol he had fashioned.
Are there men like Aaron in our day? Men who occupy people with activities rather than reality. Men who, when the people have lost faith in their leadership credentials, resort to fashioning gods instead of travailing before the true God? Men, who continue deception to keep up with appearances and meet the immediate need of the people. Men, who fashion gods out of gold and expect men to bow before it. Men, who will keep the people happy at all costs? who see the ministry as a customer service affair and the congregation as the king-customer. Do men who are hungry for God, see your ministry as a place they can come to be connected to God?
As you consider these questions, I would like to ask further, Are you like Aaron?or a Moses?
Aaron needed gold to provide an suitable god for the people, Moses needed God at no material cost(even an angel of God's presence will not do for Moses). Aaron would gladly declare a feast, Moses time and again would declare a fast. Aaron can settle for a fraud as long as the people are pleased, Moses would not settle for any less than God even if the people wanted it so. Aaron could function without God, Moses wanted only that which the hand of God prescribes.
May God make us men who like Martin Luther will declare before God and Men 'Here I stand I can do no other'. Men uncompromising in the face of opposition and conflict. Men who pitch their tents with God and seek only that which comes from above. May we be such men indeed!
Who Is On the Lord's Side?
Exodus 32:26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
The Church in the wilderness had come to a time that their
patience had been exhausted. They were in the midst of the wilderness, not knowing
the ways of the God that had thus far led them. The prophet that had led them
was delayed as he sought to receive the ordinances upon which their lives will
be guided.
They turned to their high priest, who was to provide
direction in the absence of Moses the man of God, and presented him with a
request. They asked for a god that will go before them! Why a God and not a
man? It was the man, Moses that led them that was being delayed, so a man
should have been requested for and not a god. This request may seem strange to
us now but when you consider it, in the light of the experience of these people,
then you will understand why they asked for a god to replace a man.
You see these people understood that what made Moses, the
man, special was the backing he received from God. They knew that the man was
helpless, without the backing of God! They had come to understand that to make
it out of the wilderness, given the situations they had faced earlier, they
needed more than a man to guarantee their safe passage. Something or some being
must accompany them. They needed more than leadership skills to lead them,
because when the going gets tough it could only be helped by the god that went
with them.
Today, the Church, and to an extent the world around us, are
faced with the similar circumstances.
A hunger for reality
grips the heart of men, so much so, that many turn to tarot cards, horoscopes,
and the occult to offer them the required direction for their lives.
In the light of the hunger in the hearts of men, all
platforms that claim to have the ability to inter-phase with the spiritual realm
are now prime targets to be overrun by devil. The worst of this is that the church is not exempted from the
gaze of the enemy. He sends strong delusions that cause men to believe a lie, sponsors
men who are motivated by material gain and empowers some who have come upon the
scene with lying wonders (men like the magicians of Egypt who withstood Moses
by recreating some of the miracles God did through him) to the work of preaching
the gospel. Men who are supposed to stand for truth are now the very ones, who
like Aaron, are presenting the idol to replace the true God.
The word of God is
being fragmented to satisfy the itching ears of men and a “Cross-less” Gospel
takes the centre stage. A gospel that is full of funfair but no warfare. This
gospel makes perpetual babies of believers, never allowing for men to come to
maturity. This other gospel speaks good
news without responsibility. It speaks blessings without any commitment to the
one that blesses. It speaks inheritance
without any need for loyalty. Hence a prodigal generation is raised. A
generation that will embark on a “far” journey away from the Father, as soon as,
they collect their own portion of the inheritance.
Under these conditions, a cry rises like it did for the church
in the wilderness, ‘who is on the Lord’s side?!’ Who seeks to go against the tide and stand for the true God?
Who will pledge allegiance to God in the face of the worse trials or in the
greatest prosperity? Who will stand for God in a time such as this.
God seeks for men who will stand by the truth of His word
and proclaim it faithfully. These men knowing that their first audience is God
will speak to represent all that God has laid in their hearts no matter who
else may be offended. Men who have learnt to birth the purposes of God in
prayer and whose every waking moment is to live for God’s glory. Who take sides with the truth of the word of
God and now live by its dictates, no matter how painful it may be. God seeks
for the men who have learnt to chart the course of their lives by his Spirit
and will follow the lamb wherever he goes.
Will Heaven find such men in us?
Who is on the Lord’s side?
Friday, 11 December 2015
If The Church is HIS no matter the flaws.. He will Build it!
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The focus of my post today is on...I will build my Church.
Those words stuck to my heart and brought so much comfort as I taught about it, that I have wanted to share it with you. In fact, I have written this topic down for weeks now but just have not found the time to write down what poured into my heart from these words.
Some of us may attend churches in which we see the glaring faults or errors in their practices. Some believers have taken it upon themselves to criticize Churches on social media platforms( I do not encourage this practice as it has often given my agnostic boss enough ammunition to criticize Christianity in general). I do not think that you will find a Church, where you will never be offended or hurt or where there may not be some error or the other.
So many believers still have taken to social media to criticize Churches and ministers. Giving enough ammunition to the agnostics and atheists to criticize the church. Some others have been hurt by men in the church.
This state of affairs may have led some to become discouraged in their faith but no matter how bad the state of the church in which you attend may appear, Please note that if the church is actually founded on the revelation of who Jesus truly is, then know that he that founded the church can build it.
I have come to understand that no matter the problems that I find in the church today, that if the Church was founded on the foundation of who Jesus truly is, He will build His Church.
Friend the Church is not yours, it is His. He calls it his Church! So if you have ever set the wrong label on the Church by calling it yours, then you are very wrong. The Church does not belong to you.
Secondly,the will is not according to your will. Many have come to run the church based on all sorts of business model or even blue prints from other churches. The have bench-marked themselves with other ministries and ministers not understanding that the will or blueprint upon which the church stands is not yours but He(Jesus) has it.
Surrender the Church to the one who promised to build it. He may use you as a stone with which he will build, but always know that the master plan to build is not in your hands but in His.
The focus of my post today is on...I will build my Church.
Those words stuck to my heart and brought so much comfort as I taught about it, that I have wanted to share it with you. In fact, I have written this topic down for weeks now but just have not found the time to write down what poured into my heart from these words.
Some of us may attend churches in which we see the glaring faults or errors in their practices. Some believers have taken it upon themselves to criticize Churches on social media platforms( I do not encourage this practice as it has often given my agnostic boss enough ammunition to criticize Christianity in general). I do not think that you will find a Church, where you will never be offended or hurt or where there may not be some error or the other.
So many believers still have taken to social media to criticize Churches and ministers. Giving enough ammunition to the agnostics and atheists to criticize the church. Some others have been hurt by men in the church.
This state of affairs may have led some to become discouraged in their faith but no matter how bad the state of the church in which you attend may appear, Please note that if the church is actually founded on the revelation of who Jesus truly is, then know that he that founded the church can build it.
I have come to understand that no matter the problems that I find in the church today, that if the Church was founded on the foundation of who Jesus truly is, He will build His Church.
Friend the Church is not yours, it is His. He calls it his Church! So if you have ever set the wrong label on the Church by calling it yours, then you are very wrong. The Church does not belong to you.
Secondly,the will is not according to your will. Many have come to run the church based on all sorts of business model or even blue prints from other churches. The have bench-marked themselves with other ministries and ministers not understanding that the will or blueprint upon which the church stands is not yours but He(Jesus) has it.
Surrender the Church to the one who promised to build it. He may use you as a stone with which he will build, but always know that the master plan to build is not in your hands but in His.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Depending on God Part 2- The Wisdom of Esther
Continued from previous post.
Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Esther was a woman who was in a place of influence to effect the deliverance of the Jews just like Moses. She was married to the most powerful man in the then known world. Esther could have gone in to see the king depending on her feminine appeal, as it had worked wonders before. Remember, she was so beautiful, that she won the king's heart from the several women, from all over the world, who competed to catch the king's attention. So surely her beauty would have been able to secure favor for her from the king. If this was not enough to change the kings mind, She was his wife and the king had gone through a lot of trouble to find someone suitable enough to replace his first wife. Would he want to go through all that again? Surely not! So why would he not favor Esther?
Esther ,however, did not put her confidence in any of these! Instead she called for a fast for Jews, Her and her maidens. She put aside any confidence in the resources available to her and asked for prayer mobilization for the task at hand. This is not a portrait of one who is confident in her own ability. She knew that despite all her abilities and endowments, she needed the help of God.
In the case of Moses, spoken about earlier, we never saw a place where Moses sort the help of God at first to carry out the task. He was confident he could do it until he met with failure and fled. He later succeeded, when he came back a much changed man having dropped(submitted) his rod(authority) to God.
How does all this relate to you?
Can you sing? So much so, that you no longer see the need to pray and seek God's help before you minister? Maybe you are good at public speaking or you have one ability or the other that you can exercise very well. If this ability has rubbed you of your dependence on God then, it will be your greatest handicap! Being an excellent preacher without being an excellent prayerful individual, will produce a ministry that lacks eternal impact but may be pleasant in time.
The verdict of Jesus in John 15:5b...for without me ye can do nothings still rings true.
You can achieve much in human terms but Jesus considers these achievements nothing. This is the reason why many men come to the end of their lives with so many regrets after achieving so much.
Except you submit your endowments to God in prayer it can not serve any purpose to Him! God will not use what you have until you lay it down(surrender it).
I end with the words of Watchman Nee in his book the Spiritual Man:
''God wants everyone to come to Him in a spirit of utter dependency, completely submissive to His Holy Spirit and humbly waiting upon Him''- Watchman Nee, Spiritual Man, Vol. 1 page 113.
Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Esther was a woman who was in a place of influence to effect the deliverance of the Jews just like Moses. She was married to the most powerful man in the then known world. Esther could have gone in to see the king depending on her feminine appeal, as it had worked wonders before. Remember, she was so beautiful, that she won the king's heart from the several women, from all over the world, who competed to catch the king's attention. So surely her beauty would have been able to secure favor for her from the king. If this was not enough to change the kings mind, She was his wife and the king had gone through a lot of trouble to find someone suitable enough to replace his first wife. Would he want to go through all that again? Surely not! So why would he not favor Esther?
Esther ,however, did not put her confidence in any of these! Instead she called for a fast for Jews, Her and her maidens. She put aside any confidence in the resources available to her and asked for prayer mobilization for the task at hand. This is not a portrait of one who is confident in her own ability. She knew that despite all her abilities and endowments, she needed the help of God.
In the case of Moses, spoken about earlier, we never saw a place where Moses sort the help of God at first to carry out the task. He was confident he could do it until he met with failure and fled. He later succeeded, when he came back a much changed man having dropped(submitted) his rod(authority) to God.
How does all this relate to you?
Can you sing? So much so, that you no longer see the need to pray and seek God's help before you minister? Maybe you are good at public speaking or you have one ability or the other that you can exercise very well. If this ability has rubbed you of your dependence on God then, it will be your greatest handicap! Being an excellent preacher without being an excellent prayerful individual, will produce a ministry that lacks eternal impact but may be pleasant in time.
The verdict of Jesus in John 15:5b...for without me ye can do nothings still rings true.
You can achieve much in human terms but Jesus considers these achievements nothing. This is the reason why many men come to the end of their lives with so many regrets after achieving so much.
Except you submit your endowments to God in prayer it can not serve any purpose to Him! God will not use what you have until you lay it down(surrender it).
I end with the words of Watchman Nee in his book the Spiritual Man:
''God wants everyone to come to Him in a spirit of utter dependency, completely submissive to His Holy Spirit and humbly waiting upon Him''- Watchman Nee, Spiritual Man, Vol. 1 page 113.
Depending on God PART 1- Considering The Ability of Man
Heb 2:16 Clearly, it is not angels that Jesus helps. He helps the people who are from Abraham.
Our greatest handicap in life lies not in what we know we are deficient in ourselves to achieve without the help of God, but in the things we feel we are capable of doing without the help or input of God. I guess that statement may shock some of us but let me say this to you again. Your strengthens in life, may actual be your weakness before God.
Now, before you give up on me as a hopeless case, I urge you to please read on to understand what I mean.
Act 7:22-25 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
In telling the story of Moses, Stephen highlighted a significant fact for us to see. Moses was gifted with a lot of gifts. He was a Prince, mighty in words and deed. Leadership came easily to him. He could command a following with his words. He was well equipped.
Also Moses had an inclination that he was to be used of God to be a deliverer to Israel even when he was a Prince in Egypt. He then was ready to act on this inclination and felt that given his position, influence and status the people would understand that God had placed him in a position to effect their deliverance. He went about trying to do what he had always known was his purpose for being so close to the throne, without seeking the help of God. I mean who needs help when you have the position and the influence? He must have thought. He failed in his first attempt with all he had going for him.
Friends, it is better for a man to fail in an endeavor that he embarked upon which is devoid of God's input, than for such a man to actually succeed. For instance, you will agree with me that it was better for Jonah to have his journey to Tarshish aborted, than for him to make it safe and sound there. If he had made it to Tarshish, a place where God did not direct him to, what would have become of his life? At best he would have been one of the merchants of the city and his life will not serve the purpose of the King he once served.
Unlike Jonah, a few people manage to succeed in a path that God is not asked to make an input in. Men do sometimes embark on and achieve "great" things without the help of God (in time or in the here and now these things are great but in eternity they hold no value). Examples of one of such men is Cain. He left the presence of God and built a city-Gen. 4:16-17(Is that not impressive?). The greatest prayer one can pray is may I not succeed in doing what is outside of Gods plan for my life.
Given what I said about Moses, You may then be left wondering, Is using my position to advance the cause of God's people wrong? or is being capable of doing something is wrong? or if using your natural abilities, endowments or gifting is such a bad thing.
These questions are valid questions and I can only answer them by presenting to you the wisdom of Esther.
Please go to the concluding part of this article titled- Depending on God Part 2- The Wisdom of Esther.
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
When The Church Seeks to Be Entertained By The World
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
A recent trend that seems to be gaining ground in the Church today, is the invitation of comedians or entertainers to the pulpit of many churches. Musicians who are well known for performing secular songs, have found their way on the platform of churches singing songs that they have added a few christian phrases to. Barbecue Nights, football watching in Church and 'Holy Ghost' Party are all modern trends in the Church. Most will claim that all of these strategies are being employed, to catch the attention of a youthful generation.
Looking at this trend, one may be tempted to offer various reasons why this is being done, but if we are truly honest, this trend points to a far greater sickness that has eaten deep in the heart of the church of our day. Lets look at some of the hidden issues that this trend highlights.
The Bible says in Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Here the bible speaks of fullness of joy and pleasures that are found in His presence. So for the church to seek to bring entertainment into its walls we can, based on this scripture, interpret this to mean the lack of His presence that brings joy and has pleasures. The church no longer is content with being in the presence of God or lacks the presence of God and so seeks additional external pleasures.
Secondly, when the comedian has been given the pulpit to 'minister' or entertain from, when the Pastor takes over, what makes his words or presentation different from that of the comedian? In a church were all sorts of jokers can be accommodated on the pulpit, what will happen with regards to the eternal destinies of men? Men like Jonathan Edwards saw the pulpit as a place to discharge a sacred duty, leaned over and preached his message that called to repentance, and several were drawn to Christ.
The next question I would like to ask, for those who believe that these programs are meant to draw the unsaved to church, is this, did Christ not say that if he is lifted up He will draw all men to Himself? Why seek to draw men using the same PR strategies used by big corporations? The exalted Christ can draw men! There is no need for these activities that excite the flesh as a bait to bring men to church.
Lastly, for the church that seeks worldly entertainment to spice up their worship, the words of John in 1Jn 2:15 are most appropriate Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. You can not serve two masters, either you love the one and hate the other. If our hearts are been taken over by our desire for worldly entertainment, it then means that we have loved the world at the expense of our devotion and love for God the Father.
The Kingdom of God is not set up to meet your carnal desires and pleasures(meat and drink) but it feeds the life of God within us. Some may warn the Church of our day not to be too heavenly minded and earthly useless(I have never known this to be the case, for anyone who is heavenly minded can never be useless in the agenda of God on the earth). I think the Church needs rather to be warned against being too earthly minded that they are useless to the agenda of heaven. This is more the case than the former. Check most of what is preached and you will see this trend.
True success in life and ministry can not be fully defined on earth because the most successful men on earth may not be termed successful on the day of Gods judgement. Some said 'we cast out devils in your name' but the Master said 'I never knew you'.
Let your heart be on fire, your passion and devotion be to the eternal King. Let His Kingdom come and his dominion be established in our heart.
A recent trend that seems to be gaining ground in the Church today, is the invitation of comedians or entertainers to the pulpit of many churches. Musicians who are well known for performing secular songs, have found their way on the platform of churches singing songs that they have added a few christian phrases to. Barbecue Nights, football watching in Church and 'Holy Ghost' Party are all modern trends in the Church. Most will claim that all of these strategies are being employed, to catch the attention of a youthful generation.
Looking at this trend, one may be tempted to offer various reasons why this is being done, but if we are truly honest, this trend points to a far greater sickness that has eaten deep in the heart of the church of our day. Lets look at some of the hidden issues that this trend highlights.
The Bible says in Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Here the bible speaks of fullness of joy and pleasures that are found in His presence. So for the church to seek to bring entertainment into its walls we can, based on this scripture, interpret this to mean the lack of His presence that brings joy and has pleasures. The church no longer is content with being in the presence of God or lacks the presence of God and so seeks additional external pleasures.
Secondly, when the comedian has been given the pulpit to 'minister' or entertain from, when the Pastor takes over, what makes his words or presentation different from that of the comedian? In a church were all sorts of jokers can be accommodated on the pulpit, what will happen with regards to the eternal destinies of men? Men like Jonathan Edwards saw the pulpit as a place to discharge a sacred duty, leaned over and preached his message that called to repentance, and several were drawn to Christ.
The next question I would like to ask, for those who believe that these programs are meant to draw the unsaved to church, is this, did Christ not say that if he is lifted up He will draw all men to Himself? Why seek to draw men using the same PR strategies used by big corporations? The exalted Christ can draw men! There is no need for these activities that excite the flesh as a bait to bring men to church.
Lastly, for the church that seeks worldly entertainment to spice up their worship, the words of John in 1Jn 2:15 are most appropriate Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. You can not serve two masters, either you love the one and hate the other. If our hearts are been taken over by our desire for worldly entertainment, it then means that we have loved the world at the expense of our devotion and love for God the Father.
The Kingdom of God is not set up to meet your carnal desires and pleasures(meat and drink) but it feeds the life of God within us. Some may warn the Church of our day not to be too heavenly minded and earthly useless(I have never known this to be the case, for anyone who is heavenly minded can never be useless in the agenda of God on the earth). I think the Church needs rather to be warned against being too earthly minded that they are useless to the agenda of heaven. This is more the case than the former. Check most of what is preached and you will see this trend.
True success in life and ministry can not be fully defined on earth because the most successful men on earth may not be termed successful on the day of Gods judgement. Some said 'we cast out devils in your name' but the Master said 'I never knew you'.
Let your heart be on fire, your passion and devotion be to the eternal King. Let His Kingdom come and his dominion be established in our heart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)