Preachers, We Must Strive for Balance

Since the beginning of Christianity, there have been entire denominations and belief systems that have been built upon one verse of Scripture, or a small, select group of Scriptures.  Churches known for handling snakes have drawn this practice from Mark 16:17-18.  Another example would be churches that hold strict adherence to the Sabbath Day, usually on Saturdays.  They will focus much on the Old Testament teachings of the Sabbath without taking into full consideration the New Testaments teaching on the ceremonial law being abolished.  From an Apostolic perspective, we too must be very careful not to build our entire doctrinal structure on anything than the totality of the Scriptures.  Solomon said that wisdom is the principle thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding.

As a movement, we have put great emphasis upon Acts 2:38.  Do I believe it?  Absolutely.  It is my unwavering belief, drawn from Scripture, that a person cannot be saved and part of the body of Christ without Jesus name baptism and the infilling of the Holy Ghost.  However, Acts 2:38 is not the only verse in the Bible that deals with salvation.  I personally believe we do a great injustice to the Scriptures when we convey to people through preaching and teaching a repeated sermonizing of Acts 2:38 without dealing with the multitudes of Scripture that also deal with our sanctification.  We do our saints injustice when we do not thoroughly work through the Bible with Expository Preaching, exposing the rich intent and meaning of the Scriptures.   Just as the human body can only find health through a balanced diet, so must the church be fed a rich, balanced diet of the Word of God.  If we are spending a disproportionate amount of time on a handful of verses, we will end up with a church full of people who may be saved, but are not discipled.  It is an absolute truth that “you get what you preach”.   We want more than for people just to be saved, we want them to be Christ like in their daily lives.  We want more than deliverance, we want discipleship.  The question that every minister must ask himself if he is guilty of this is why?  One of the most obvious answers is that single- subject- preaching is much easier than covering all the bases.  As ministers we get into the rut of reading the same passages in our devotion.  We read the same types of books from the same authors.  We listen to the same preachers from the same conferences every year.  Because what we preach and teach is a product of what we feed on, we end up being one-dimensional in our pulpit ministry.  Preachers, stretch yourself.  Delve into subjects of ministry that you are unfamiliar with.  No one wants to be known as a “jack of all trades and master of none preacher”, but this is no excuse not to further develop ourselves in areas where we lack.  We will all have our areas where we naturally shine and excel, but be balanced enough to feed the saints a healthy mix of what they need to sustain them in their walk with God.

I have found that much of what I ingest through my study naturally comes out in my sermons, planned or not.  It works its way into our notes and into our words when we preach.  Therefore, I as a minister must feed on only the highest quality material available.  I am currently using Professor Grant Horners Bible Reading Plan for my personal devotion.  It forces me to read from all areas of the Bible on a systematic basis.  When it comes to books, I am consistently searching for books that will stretch me in my faith and in my thinking.  I ask other preachers in conversation who they are reading and what books they recommend.  I have also tried not to fall into the trap of listening to the same 4 or 5 preachers whose CD’s always are on the best sellers list.  I have found through searching online that there are men whose names may not be easily recognized but whose sermons have had a deep impact.  I highly recommend Faithbuilder.us and Apostoliclive.com as resources for preaching.

I have a preacher friend of mine who told me he eats a different colored vegetable every day, because the color indicates what kind of nutrition is inside to help fight off disease.  He is very intentional in making sure he has a balanced diet.  What’s interesting is that I have noticed in his preaching he applies the same principles.  He is one of the most balanced preachers I know when it comes to delivering the Word of God.  He understands an overarching principle of life:  Health comes from Balance.

 

Preachers, we must strive for balance.  The people who look towards Ministry for leadership do so because they understand that it is the plan of God.  Let’s not let them down.  Let’s invest in ourselves through prayer and study so that when we step into the pulpit, the anointing of God can multiply what we have internalized, and people’s lives can be enriched through the balanced, preached Word of God.

Principles of Apostolic Revial: Introduction

Recently I preached on a Sunday Evening in my home church on the subject “Principles of Apostolic Revival Part 1.”  I will endeavor in the next few weeks to write some of what I have been preaching.  Let me make the disclaimer that I am in no wise the expert on the subject of revival.  I often say that when I began in the ministry I had all of the answers, and now 16 years later, I have all of the questions.  I am in the ditches and trenches week in and week out slugging my way through, trying to make a difference in a lost and dying world.  These articles are simply based on book of Acts methods, and also my observations over the years.  Hope you are blessed…

Principles of Apostolic Revival Part 1:

If the Apostolic church were asked to sum up our doctrinal beliefs in one statement, we most likely would point to Acts 2:38 as the summation of the new birth message of salvation.  Of course it is not the only verse in the Bible dealing with salvation, and we must be careful not to make the same mistake others have made by basing their entire salvation experience on one verse of Scripture.  It is vital that we declare the “whole counsel of God.” The mercy and grace of God and the majesty of Calvary, along with justification by faith all play roles in our redemption.  Many years ago someone wrote to Bro. J.T. Pugh a letter from the mission field.  In this letter they made this statement… “Upon a life I did not live, and upon a death that I did not die, I rest my whole eternity.”  This may very well be my favorite quotation of all time.  The fact that I am banking my eternal salvation upon the life that Jesus lived and the death that he died, and not my own righteousness, is a powerful revelation.

All of this being said, somewhere we must mature as Christians beyond the point of just being happy to have missed Hell.  We must have loftier goals in our walk with God than to just “make the rapture.” If we are going to be the church God intended us to be, there MUST be a drive inside of the core of the church, but especially the ministry, to have Biblical Apostolic revival.  Revival that is more than a set of church services, more than emotions produced by the right songs, but something that produces lasting change in the lives of men and women.  Revival that causes sinners to cry out for forgiveness also causes lukewarm saints to fan the dying embers in their soul.  I have zero interest in just “holding the fort” til Jesus comes.  There are two prophecies concerning the end time church.  One says that there will be a great falling away and typifies the last day church as Laodecia, the lukewarm, half-hearted, spiritually blind people of God.  But there is a second prophecy that says in the last day God will pour out His spirit upon all flesh.  While some are walking out the back door, God is sending hungry people our way.  We are  experiencing it in the greatest measure that I have witnessed in my lifetime in our local church.  God is going to have a CHURCH, with me or without me.  We get to choose, we get to decide… which group we will be a part of.  If I felt that I must simply “hold on” until the rapture, I would resign my ministry, sell my books, and ride a pew to Heaven.  Thank God that’s not the case… we can and will have Apostolic Revival from now until Jesus comes.  Yes there will be seasons of revival and seasons of drought, but overall we can have a climate of Holy Ghost Revival.  In the coming weeks I will be focusing on the Biblical Principles that will when practiced promote revival and help disciple saints into Christian maturity.

Acts 2:38 Preaching

A tremendous message on Acts 2:38 by Anthony Mangun.