I think I have always knowen that the Lord has a purpose for me. I think I might have even knowen this before I was born again. I believe I was always and still am scared of the purpose. "What if I stumble? What if I fall? What if I lose my step and make a fool of us all? Will the love continue, when my walk becomes a crawl?"*
When I first got saved I got to the part of the Word where Solomon asked for wisdom. Of course this is after Proverbs, and I thought, YES! This is my prayer! This is it! I think the Lord honored that request. I also think Satan stomped all over it and I let him for a long time. Satan did this with one sentence I have heard repeatedly. "You have to have more than a head knowledge". I know better than to let this judgmental statement get the better of me now.
I believe I have been called to preach. I started actually voicing that belief almost two years ago. It scares me to death. I have preached four times. Once on Heaven and the other three times I preached what I believe I am called to preach which is, "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4).
I have repeatedly heard from people, even my wife, that preaching sin is not what people want to here. I should preach an encouraging message. My pastor has even fell into this trap. This is why I have preached once on Heaven.
I'm not sure I'm called to be a pastor, the fear of failure looms large, but I have no doubt I am called to preach. I think my call is that of Ezekiel. "Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD" (Ezekiel 37:4). I think I am to be an evangelist which I have often heard is a dying thing. I believe I am to be an evangelist to the church.
"God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are" (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).
I believe these verses are me. I was and may still be the foolish thing. I was certainly base.
I have heard that the message of repentance is not being preached anymore. I hear a lot of people talking about that fact. I see a lot of pews that are empty and I see alot of pews full of empty people. I believe the end is near. I believe Jesus is coming soon. I believe the message, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2) is the right Word for the right time and as scary as it may be and as much as I'm afraid I could be wrong and/or fail I think I am the man called.
I'm just waiting on the Lord to, I guess, have other men see it too.
*lyrics by DC Talk
10 comments:
Michael, I wish I knew you better to be able to comment on the call on your life. However, I can say this with confidence: If you believe God is leading you in a certain direction, then pursue that direction in peace. I personally believe that God honors faith of that nature, and if it is not the right direction, He will gently guide you to the right path. But if you believe He's calling you, then stay faithful to that, and it will come to pass.
I appreciate your comments over on my blog, and hope to interact more with you as time goes on. I've been a bit slow getting caught up on yours over here, but look forward to reading more!
steve :)
Michael,
Its when we are weak that he is strong, if you wern't fearful about preaching and were naturally great at it you would rely on your own strengths and not the Lord.
If you feel you are called to preach, then preach.
If your message is not a popular one but you are certain it is from the Lord and it has been prayerfully considered, then don't change your message.
Notice though that the "Repent for the Kingdom of God is near" message is not one focused on sin, but on the proximity of the Lord. As long as He is the focus your message will always be the right one. Repentance is simply the correct responce to the Kingdom, "repentance" is not the message, "Jesus is near and is here" is the message.
From what I have read here and what has been spoken to me by God through your writing here I am confident that the Lord will use you effectively as a preacher.
MDM
As to the "Head Knowledge vs Heart Knowledge" It is tru that no ammount of intelectual understanding will lead to salvation without being Born again. But simply being Born again is no excuse to ignore growing our minds in the Things of God.
"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
- Hebrews 5:12-14
MDM
It is time to move onto solid food!
I agree Michael, repentance is not preached anymore and Jesus preached it. If we are to imitate Him we should preach it.
Repentance is turning from sin. Jesus came to give us life abundantly and if we don't turn from sin, we will never experience that abundant life.
I am not saying we will be sin free, but we should struggle well.
In this day and age, I feel people need a reminder, the world is going to say, if it feels good do it, so we should be saying as the word says, abstain from all appearances of evil. He said, Be Holy.
Repentance is the first step to being born again, we have a change of heart, a change of mind and a change of will. The old man is dead, the new man lives.
Great post Michael, seems to me you are preaching!! Remember the truth may not always be popular, but the truth is always right.
The ones who don't want to hear the truth are like the ones who didn't like the truth Christ spoke either.
I remember President Bush said when questioned about his popularity dropping..., "sometimes a man has to stand alone to do what is right."
So let God lead you, since of course the message He gave the disciples surely wasn't always popular.
You are in my prayers that God will lead you into His truth and use you for His purposes for such a time as this.
just stopped back in to see if there is anything new!
Michael, whatever God calls us to do, He equips us to do and opens the door for us to do it. I pray that you continue to seek God's will and go through the doors that He opens.
God bless.
Not sure that you can seperate the pulpit from caring for the flock. You might be interested in my religious seduction post.
Why not just preach Jesus?
He is the one that grants repentance.
Hi.
I found your Web Site by Google
And I wish you the best you can get,
the peace of God through Jesus Christ.
Welcome to visit my Site.
Allan Svensson, Sweden
www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/INDEX.HTM
Why does the revival tarry? It is because God's
people tarry to obey the powerful command of
the Lord in Rev. 18:4. This is the most powerful
revival message of the Lord to his people in our time.
As in the days of Lot, it is now. Lot was not interested
to leave Sodom. God sent two angels to rescue him,
and they must persuade him to leave Sodom. When
he yet lingered, one of the angels said to him:
"Flee for your life sake ..."
Just like as Lot, God's people are not interested to
leave the great Babylon, but finally they must flee
for their life from there.
www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/PAGE88.HTM
Why are the Christians divided in many churches and
denominations? It is because the truth of the Assembly
of God has never been preached in the churches. The
members of churches and denominations are not
permitted to know the truth of the Assembly of God.
If the truth of Assembly of God would be well known
among the people, then all God's people would leave
the churches, according to Rev. 18:4.
I left the great Babylon 44 years ago.
God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge
because their preachers have rejected knowledge.
Hosea 4:6-11. Instead to preaching the truth of the
Assembly of God, they have preached lies about the
Assembly of God. The Pentecostalists have abused
the expression "Assembly of God" and used it as a
name of their church.
Evil spirits in the churches
www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/SPIRITS.HTM
A catastrophic course
www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/COURSE.HTM
Why did the Pentecostal Revival take an end?
www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/CRISIS.HTM
What does hinder the Antichrist to appear?
What is the Restrainer?
www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/MESSAGE.HTM#Antichrist
The truth shall make us free
www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/FREE.HTM
Many bible words prove that Jesus is God
www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/BIBLEW.HTM
Post a Comment