Street Preaching

 I want to address an issue that may not be popular, especially here. The issue is street preaching. Most of the outreaching that we do as a church involves street preaching. Not witnessing and talking to real people. But preaching to cars with closed windows as they drive down a busy street. While street preaching may serve some purpose, it is not an effective way to win souls. IMHO.

Pastor Mitchell was not a big street preaching advocate. He was a proponent of personal evangelism and witnessing. The big outreach was the concert on Saturday night. But the next biggest outreach on Saturday was door to door witnessing. Taking a handful of flyers and knocking on doors in a neighborhood. Taking time to talk to people and to pray for people.

I would like to suggest that one of our assistant pastors would take some young guys out on a Saturday just to witness and to testify to people in the neighborhood. We know how to street preach. Do we know how to witness for Jesus?

So there it is. A challenge. To try going from yelling at cars to testifying of the gospel to people in need. Not just the homeless bums, but to follow Jesus and to bring the simple gospel to the poor of this community. 

Street preaching has it's place, but it only works if there are real people listening in person.

A Christian Nation? Really?

Why are we surprised or even shocked when sinners act like sinners? When the world acts like the enemy of God that it is? There is a reason why we are exhorted not to be worldly in attitude or behavior. There is a reason why we are called to live sin free. Our aim is to please God by following Jesus.

We are so determined to make our country into something that it was not intended to be,  and never will be. God is building a church, not a nation. Moses led a nation, Christ builds His church from individuals from every nation and kindred and tongue and people.

We are not nation builders. Our job is not to make any nation on Earth a Christian nation. We are to pray for political leaders but we are not called to be political leaders. We are too busy working for Jesus to spend our time in nation building.

The church is God's focus during the church age. His kingdom is not of this world. The weapons of our warfare are spiritual, not carnal. The sword of the spirit is not a steel blade but the word of God.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world....For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1John 2:15-16

Let the words of Nehemiah be our guide.

"...I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?" Neh. 6:3

The Best Is Yet To Come

The big question still remains. What do we do when the rush of real revival is gone? What do we do when the glory has faded from our faces? Do we give up in despair? Do we spend our days reminiscing about the past? Do we leave and start over again? Do we fret that God has forsaken us?

Let's think about marriage. The honeymoon phase is very short in marriage. Soon you settle down to a lifetime together. Is it over because the thrill is gone? Do we look for another to make it all fresh and new again?

When a baby is born it is an exciting time. But once the baby sleeps through the night and begins to eat solid food do we give up and quit being a parent? At what point do we stop being parents?

Of course, the answer to all of these questions is no. And the truth of the matter is that the best years are still to come. The first years of marriage are good, but the later years of marriage are better. Children are a blessing and more so as the years roll on. Why then do we think that church is any different?

Think about God and creation. God worked hard for 6 days and created the natural world. He took a day of rest on day 7. Was He done with the world then? Or did He continue to work throughout human history?

David had an exciting beginning to his life. But in time he had to settle in to the routine of being a king. David was an old king when he died, not a strong warrior.

In a local church there is a growing need for ministry and service. We continue to focus on evangelism. We still pray for the sick. We support church planting. We help young people get married. We still have revivals and conferences and outreaches. We have picnics and home Bible studies. We have weddings and we have funerals. We dedicate babies and we honor graduates. The list goes on and on. The bigger your church is the more work that needs to be done.

Here is a word of encouragement for you who are weary in well doing. God always saves the best till the end.

"Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." Eccl. 7:8

"Do not say, why were the former days better than these? For you do not inquire wisely concerning this." Eccl. 7:10

One more thought. Prayer sparks revival, not outreach. Read your Bible.

Book of Acts Timeline

 An interesting study is to look at a time line of the book of Acts. It tells the highlights of what happened in Acts and puts them into proper perspective. What I found interesting is how much of what happened then happened in the first couple of years after Christ rose from the dead. Real revival always starts with an explosion of activity and results. There is no other time in the book of acts where so much happened in such a short time.

Acts chapters 1-5 all happen in year one after the resurrection of Christ. The ascension, Pentecost, Ananias and Sapphira, and thousands saved. This was a work of the Holy Spirit, not a result of big outreaches. New converts make the best evangelists.

Saul got saved in year 4. Peter preached to Cornelius in year 7. And the apostle Paul sailed for Rome in year 32.

It is not until chapter 6, and the persecution brought on by Saul, that the saints spread outside of their home town of Jerusalem preaching as they fled. That was in year 2.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the This is That event, happened in year 1 and never happened again.

After Christ ascension into heaven, the apostles busied themselves with taking care of the masses of new converts. It was not until Paul began his missionary journey in year 18 that any smidgen of activity emerged again.

Real revival is exciting at the beginning but it turns into a lot of work later on. The whole book of Acts covers 32 years. The exciting part happened in the first 2 years. Think about what I'm saying.

A lot goes on in a thriving church for sure. There is a lot of work to be done. God is still active. But the pedal to the metal, all hands on deck time is very short.

Ministry Thoughts

 It's sad when your pastor is gone. When he is in such high demand as to be gone from us. Pastor Mitchell used to go to great lengths, and some additional cost, to be home on Sunday morning. It was rare for him not to be preaching in Prescott on Sunday morning.

Pastor Mitchell did not hide out in his office until service started. He was always out among his people being friendly and cordial. Pastor Mitchell was a pastor, who did the work of evangelism by doing salvation/healing crusades. He was not a celebrity.

Having been in the Prescott church, it is hard for me not to compare where I am to where I was. Pastor Mitchell was such a fine preacher of practical righteousness that it is hard not to compare every sermon to his.

"For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you have not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." 1Cor. 4:15

I am grateful for the ministry in my life.

Truth Thoughts

 Theologians go to great lengths to explain the deeper meaning in the Bible. And yet, a Pentecostal believer raised under pastor Mitchell has a clearer understanding than the wisest non-Pentecostal scholar.

God made His word simple enough so that anyone can understand it. And yet there are veins of truth that a wise man can mine for years and never get it all.

The danger in dissecting the Bible is not cutting it apart. It is the danger that you put it back together again and you miss the point that God was making.

The Spirit of Truth guides anyone who needs it into all truth.

It's greater works, not deeper understanding, that Jesus promised to those who believe.

When you criticize speaking in tongues and Divine healing don't be surprised if you are wrong in your understanding of the rest of the Bible.

Miss truth by a fraction of an inch and you have missed it by a million miles.

"Study to show yourself approved unto God, and workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness" 2Tim. 2:15-16

It seems that the danger of error is moral, not theological.

Divinity Thoughts

I see some problems that arise by the doctrine of the Divinity of Christ in his earthy time. 

First, it robs Christ of his humanity. Jesus was born by a woman just like you and I. He grew as a boy and he lived as a man. When he went to the cross he did it as a man. Not as God.

Second, it robs the church of it's power. If Jesus did what he did because he was God, we can not do the same things because we are not God. But if Jesus did what he did as a man used by God, we can do what he did. The greater works. We too can be used by God.

The doctrine of the Divinity of Christ on earth focuses on the wrong thing. Yes, Christ is exalted and he sits at the right hand of God today. But he was fully man on earth. He had to be human to pay for man's sins.

Claiming Christ as God means that we rely on human creativity and charisma to do anything for God today. Jesus said that he had to leave so that it would not all depend on us.

The same people who make Jesus divine also dismiss speaking in tongues and divine healing.

Just saying.