The Church Awakening

Another plug for "The Grace Awakening" ... two thumbs up.

 

Some people are biased, really.
In the Bible college I went to and graduated from, our professor told us that John McArthur did not hold to the efficacy of Christ's blood.
So we were told to not pay attention to him
But me being a fallen creature and all, well, at night at the mission church, I often tuned my radio to listen to him, heart pounding and all, and heard him preach a sermon on the eternal security of the believer that made me take whatever that professor said to us with a bucketful of salt, from there on.
all I wanted was my diploma, an organized church, and FREEDOM from dictates.
This was before I became a Primitive, of course.

 

Sounds like you went to the same college I went to.

 

:laughh, did you go to one like that? :laugh::laugh:

 

Long before I ever heard of John Piper, I was preaching a week of services at a Southern Baptist church in the Minneapolis area as part of my undergraduate theology program, and the pastor of the church talked about how there weren't many Baptists in the area... except for "a Baptist church where the pastor is the wrong type of Baptist."

I asked what he meant by that, and he didn't say much except that the pastor had "messed up theology." I asked if it was a little hole-in-the-wall congregation (like some of the near cultic "Baptist" churches I have known over the years), and he said, "No, it's a large church, so it makes it difficult for Southern Baptists to compete."

I didn't press him about it because I had just met the man and assumed he knew about "messed up theology." About two days later, I was preaching about the holiness of God and God's pending judgement on humankind's sinful rebellion against the Creator, and the pastor turned red-faced, smashed his fist into the pew in front of him and shouted, "NO!"

It startled me, and I paused to mentally review what I had said, hoping that I hadn't accidentally misstated my point and preached heresy. I decided say, "let me clarify that" and restated my point with a bit more exposition. The pastor continued to glare at me, shaking his head, and I realized that the pastor was probably the one with "messed up theology."

It was a difficult week from that point onward. He clearly did not want me preaching and I wasn't going to back down from the series of messages God had laid on my heart several weeks before.

I don't know what purpose God had in mind for us that week, but we saw a number of people make outward commitments of renewal.

We were never invited back.