Let the alarm clock ring! It is time to wake up! Far too long the church in America has been sleep walking from Sunday to Sunday. Like Rip Van Winkle, we have slept through huge cultural and social seismic events! Why does the church continue to have little or no impact upon our culture? Why are so many Christians AWOL? Does all that matter is "how many people came" and "how much money did they give"? As the years go by, fewer and fewer of us experience a fresh work of the Holy Spirit in the church, regardless of the Denomination, and church grows weaker. Romans 13:11-14 states it is time to wake up! Will somebody put some caffeine in the preaching? Will someone be the alarm clock to wake slumbering saints? I am reminded of the little girl who was told to be quiet in church. she asked 'why', and the response from her friend was 'that is were all the adults sleep'! How true! Sleep singing, Sleep listening, Sleep giving, Sleep, Sleep, Sleep.......! While we are sleeping, the Enemy sow his seed! I believe it would be enough to shake us up if we just once deviated from the standard Order of Service in the Baptist church!! That might cause a stirring! Almost everything we do is predictable and is likened to the swaying of a rocking chair! We start 11 o'clock sharp and end 12 o'clock dull! We need a new generation of young preachers on fire for the Lord. Like Paul Revere, they need to mount the pulpit and cry out to us at the sleeping time the Lord Jesus is coming again! Folks will never wake up until the pulpit is set on fire! Fire gets our attention! Fire is unpredictable as it is driven by the wind! Oh, that the Spirit would blow the fire across the hearts of our preachers. We need bold, broken hearted, preachers who preach with conviction the "the Faith once delivered to the saints". It will cost! I heard a young pastor for the Midwest last year share how much pressure he was under by the deacons of his church for preaching the Word. He was a combat veteran and former police officer. He stated never had he experienced such pressure and stress like that of being a pastor! They threatened him! He has a young family and a precious wife. The deacons threatened to have him fired because he was preaching that families should commit themselves to Jesus Christ as their first priority! The pastor told the church that ballgames, camping, fishing, hunting, shopping, or anything else should not be first priority. Jesus is first priority and that means being faithful to support the church in it's calling to the Great Commission. He told them to be faithful!! That was the reason he was under pressure from the church!!! God help us! It is TIME TO WAKE UP! Preachers preach the Word with fire! You represent the Lord that Heaven adores and Hell fears! IF you will preach, the fire will fall and the gates of Hell will shake! WAKE UP CHURCH!
|
Doug MillerEvangelist Archives
May 2021
Categories |