Several months ago I was giving someone a tour of the South Side church building and when they walked into the auditorium they said, “Wow, this looks like a church”. I am not sure exactly what they meant by that, but I assume the pews, the stained glass windows, Bibles, hymnals, communion table, baptistery, pulpit, gave it away! But there are many in the Churches of Christ trying so hard to not look like a church. They don’t want to offend the “unchurched” (not my word, but their word). This type of thinking is called “seeker sensitive”. It is a very popular approach to the church today—popularized by the likes of Rick Warren and Bill Hybels.
Although not all churches doing some of the following things are “seeker sensitive”, these are red flags that a church is leaning that way:
* Moving or eliminating the communion table
* Promoting casual dress—including the evangelist in the pulpit (no suit and tie anymore)
* Removing the pews
* Adding lots of multimedia (movie clips, etc)
* Shortening sermons
* Using paraphrases instead of reliable translations in preaching and teaching
* Removing an invitation
* Often participate in interdenominational activities (The “seeker sensitive” often believes that we are not to judge other people’s faith)
* Expanding the song service, usually with contemporary songs on a screen
* Eliminating the eldership and promoting coaches
* Replace “saving the lost” with “reaching the unchurched”
* Evangelist becomes “the pastor”.
We saw a good example of this as we were traveling back from Delmarva Family Camp. We went by a church which had a sign outside of it that read: A church for a people who don’t like church. A church with a sign like that, seems to be a church that does what it can to be a “seeker sensitive” church. When I mentioned this to someone at South Side, they said, I wonder if there will be a heaven for people who do not like heaven.
By studying the sermons of the Old and New Testament, I wonder how many of the spokesmen for God were “seeker sensitive”? I would venture to say that even Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount would not be classified as “seeker sensitive”.
I wonder just how “seeker sensitive” the prophet Elijah was. I am sure these words were said in a way as to not offend the idol worshippers of his day:
Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened (I Kings 18:27).
“Seeker sensitive”? I think not!
I wonder if we would classify John the Immerser’s sermons as “seeker sensitive”? When he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming out to be immersed, he said to them:
You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham (Matthew 3:7-9).
“Seeker sensitive”? I think not!
How about the “seeker sensitive” sermon of the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified and Be saved from this perverse generation! (Acts 2:36, 40).
“Seeker sensitive”? I think not!
It is interesting that the Apostles were not afraid of offending the lost—and even after offending them, 3000 people were immersed into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins on that day!
I want to be part of a church that is not necessarily “seeker sensitive” but rather is promoting the plan of the New Testament! I am glad that South Side is the latter!
And besides all this, the true “Seeker” is God! He is seeking fellowship with the church! He is seeking and saving those who are lost! He is seeking faithfulness in the church! He is the one and true living God who does not wish any to perish, but for all to come to eternal life. He is the God who seeks the lost and wants them to believe and be immersed in order to be saved—and if someone disbelieves that he should respond to the Gospel, he will be condemned (Mark 16:16).
“Seeker sensitive”? I think not!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
The Love of Preaching
I love to hear good, solid, biblical preaching. You would expect to hear that from your preacher, though, I suppose. It is great to have many of you here at South Side that are as excited about good biblical preaching as I am. If you are like me, you expect to hear a good sermon when the church meets; whether on Sunday morning or evening, or at the county meeting. In fact, you may be disappointed when there isn’t a good, challenging message. Now there is nothing wrong with a few good songs, but nothing beats a good Bible-based sermon!
Along with this love to hear good preaching comes a lack of much patience for preaching that is not sound. I would much rather listen to a boring, but solid biblical preacher who stumbles on words than to listen to a polished preacher who may be able to motivate you, but couldn’t pass Bible 101.
I suppose that is why I love to go to family camps. From 9 AM—9 PM, with the exception of a few breaks, one can enjoy getting into God’s Word. I wish more from South Side could join my family as we travel to Delmarva and Hillsboro this month. I believe between the preaching, music and fellowship—you would love the camp meetings!
This is my twentieth year attending Hillsboro Family Camp in Ohio and my first one in Delmarva. And this is my first time to be asked to speak (at Delmarva). I consider it quite an honor to be on the same program as Lee Mason, Raymond Bennett, Kevin Yeager, and many others. I pray that I represent our Lord with my finest. And I also pray that I can do my best in representing South Side Church of Christ.
God has used preaching throughout human history to get His message out. Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” in II Peter 2:5. And of course Solomon considered himself a preacher as recorded throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. John the Baptist was a preacher. Even Jesus, Himself, was a preacher. One of His greatest sermons recorded is in Matthew 5-7: the Sermon on the Mount.
The Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth in I Corinthians 1:21, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe”.
Of course proclaiming the good news is every Christians’ ministry. Jesus commissioned the disciples to: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”
It was the Christians who “preached the Word” as they scattered away from Jerusalem because of persecution (Acts 8:4). Simply put, they shared the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus with everyone they had opportunity to talk with. And I am confident that they told the lost what they needed to do to be saved as they preached Jesus.
It has been wonderful to see several Christians here at South Side be excited about the Gospel! I pray that this trend will continue. You want your family, neighbors and friends to hear about the “one Lord, one faith, one immersion.”
One last thing: pray for boldness in preaching. But be prepared, because when you share the Gospel, you may be rejected. We should expect that because the early New Testament preachers were rejected. For that matter, Jesus Himself was rejected.
But there is great joy, even in heaven, when a sinner obeys the gospel. This makes any rejection worth the effort! May we continue to preach and teach the good news in all of it’s clarity!
Along with this love to hear good preaching comes a lack of much patience for preaching that is not sound. I would much rather listen to a boring, but solid biblical preacher who stumbles on words than to listen to a polished preacher who may be able to motivate you, but couldn’t pass Bible 101.
I suppose that is why I love to go to family camps. From 9 AM—9 PM, with the exception of a few breaks, one can enjoy getting into God’s Word. I wish more from South Side could join my family as we travel to Delmarva and Hillsboro this month. I believe between the preaching, music and fellowship—you would love the camp meetings!
This is my twentieth year attending Hillsboro Family Camp in Ohio and my first one in Delmarva. And this is my first time to be asked to speak (at Delmarva). I consider it quite an honor to be on the same program as Lee Mason, Raymond Bennett, Kevin Yeager, and many others. I pray that I represent our Lord with my finest. And I also pray that I can do my best in representing South Side Church of Christ.
God has used preaching throughout human history to get His message out. Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” in II Peter 2:5. And of course Solomon considered himself a preacher as recorded throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. John the Baptist was a preacher. Even Jesus, Himself, was a preacher. One of His greatest sermons recorded is in Matthew 5-7: the Sermon on the Mount.
The Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth in I Corinthians 1:21, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe”.
Of course proclaiming the good news is every Christians’ ministry. Jesus commissioned the disciples to: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”
It was the Christians who “preached the Word” as they scattered away from Jerusalem because of persecution (Acts 8:4). Simply put, they shared the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus with everyone they had opportunity to talk with. And I am confident that they told the lost what they needed to do to be saved as they preached Jesus.
It has been wonderful to see several Christians here at South Side be excited about the Gospel! I pray that this trend will continue. You want your family, neighbors and friends to hear about the “one Lord, one faith, one immersion.”
One last thing: pray for boldness in preaching. But be prepared, because when you share the Gospel, you may be rejected. We should expect that because the early New Testament preachers were rejected. For that matter, Jesus Himself was rejected.
But there is great joy, even in heaven, when a sinner obeys the gospel. This makes any rejection worth the effort! May we continue to preach and teach the good news in all of it’s clarity!
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Twenty Years and Counting!
The old saying is that “time flies when you are having fun”. It seems like yesterday that I began as an evangelist. It was twenty years ago this month (June 5, 1988) that the elders at the Central Christian Church in Tampa, FL, ordained me as an evangelist of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had already been working as a youth evangelist. But as I graduated from Florida Christian College (May 1988), my desire was to preach. It was May 7, 1988, that the eldership at Lawshe Church of Christ in Seaman, OH, woke me up from my afternoon nap to interview me to become their evangelist. They liked me well enough that they flew me up so that I could preach two trial sermons on June 12, 1988. They were either desperate, or they really liked my preaching, as they wanted me to begin the following week! After packing up all my things in a large truck, I moved north and began full time at Lawshe on Father’s Day, June 19, 1988!
Being an evangelist involves a lot of things. Here are some specific things that Paul wrote to a couple of young evangelists in the first century.
Duties of an evangelist:
o Public Ministry of the Word
o (I Timothy 4:13)
o Herald the Message of Salvation
o (I Timothy 2:7)
o Remind the Saints of Basic Christian Virtues
o (Titus 3:1,2; I Timothy 4:16; 6:17-19)
o Rebuke Unchristian Attitudes and Actions
o (Titus 1:13; 2:15; II Timothy 4:3)
o Warn Divisive People
o (Titus 3:10,11)
o Preach the Word
o (II Timothy 4:1,2)
o Teach
o (I Timothy 4:11)
o Passing onto others what he has been taught
o (II Timothy 2:2)
o Set things in order
o (Titus 1:5)
o Train and install Godly men into leadership positions
o (I Timothy 3:1-12; Titus 1:5-9; I Timothy 5:22)
o Rebuke those who sin and deal with them
o (Titus 3:10; I Timothy 5:20)
o See that Widows are properly cared for
o (I Timothy 5:3-16)
o Responsible for proper conduct within the Assembly
o (I Timothy 2 - Paul instructs Timothy on the proper conduct of men in prayer, women, etc.)
o Guarding against False Teaching
o (I Timothy 4:1-6; Titus 1:10-14)
o Servant
o (II Timothy 2:24)
o Student
o (II Timothy 2:15) The word “diligent” (NASB) or "Study” (KJV) means to “become a master-craftsman.”
WOW! That is a lot of things! Thankfully here at South Side, I have a great group of elders who encourage and support me completely and assist me in doing the work of an evangelist! The congregation has also been wonderful in loving and taking care of my family. Thank you for your patience and encouragement. I consider it an honor and a privilege to be the evangelist at South Side Church of Christ.
Being an evangelist involves a lot of things. Here are some specific things that Paul wrote to a couple of young evangelists in the first century.
Duties of an evangelist:
o Public Ministry of the Word
o (I Timothy 4:13)
o Herald the Message of Salvation
o (I Timothy 2:7)
o Remind the Saints of Basic Christian Virtues
o (Titus 3:1,2; I Timothy 4:16; 6:17-19)
o Rebuke Unchristian Attitudes and Actions
o (Titus 1:13; 2:15; II Timothy 4:3)
o Warn Divisive People
o (Titus 3:10,11)
o Preach the Word
o (II Timothy 4:1,2)
o Teach
o (I Timothy 4:11)
o Passing onto others what he has been taught
o (II Timothy 2:2)
o Set things in order
o (Titus 1:5)
o Train and install Godly men into leadership positions
o (I Timothy 3:1-12; Titus 1:5-9; I Timothy 5:22)
o Rebuke those who sin and deal with them
o (Titus 3:10; I Timothy 5:20)
o See that Widows are properly cared for
o (I Timothy 5:3-16)
o Responsible for proper conduct within the Assembly
o (I Timothy 2 - Paul instructs Timothy on the proper conduct of men in prayer, women, etc.)
o Guarding against False Teaching
o (I Timothy 4:1-6; Titus 1:10-14)
o Servant
o (II Timothy 2:24)
o Student
o (II Timothy 2:15) The word “diligent” (NASB) or "Study” (KJV) means to “become a master-craftsman.”
WOW! That is a lot of things! Thankfully here at South Side, I have a great group of elders who encourage and support me completely and assist me in doing the work of an evangelist! The congregation has also been wonderful in loving and taking care of my family. Thank you for your patience and encouragement. I consider it an honor and a privilege to be the evangelist at South Side Church of Christ.
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