The sad condition of baptists

This is what is wrong with the church.

2Ti 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
2Ti 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.


People have lost sight of what scriptural preaching is much like in the quote.

 

Well preaching is what we need to go along with some good theological training.

The problem with the OP is that it pleads for revival but then tells God how He is to bring revival. Not just the OP but we all do it. We don't want an educated preacher, we don't want an uneducated preacher, we want more teaching, more preaching, this, that, ad infinitum. This is one of the reasons revivalism really turns me off whether it's ML Jones or Bob Jones promoting it.

I like what the brother said about revival 52 weeks a years. I believe this is what the bible teaches as the normal Christian life. Yes, there are periods of spiritual weakness, but outside of those periods, the Christian seeks the Lord's face in prayer and bible study, and incorporates into every aspect of daily living, making life itself the revival experience, not some emotionaly charged altar call.

 

What do we mean when we say that we want revival. What do you think Biblical revival is, & where does Scripture define it? I think there is a confusion between revival, evangelism & spiritual growth. In fact, when I hear someone say that they have witnessed revival, it sounds more like an emotional outpouring. We don't need yet another emotionally driven preaching service, we need to reform how we conduct church. Equipping the saints should replace preaching as the center. Preaching should be conducted where the lost are, not amongst the regenerate. I challenge all to look up every Biblical reference to the preaching of the gospel in the Word. It is a public action, not a private meeting. We also need to reevaluate our definition of "preaching the Word" in light of Scriptural examples.

 

"Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. How shall they hear without a preacher?"--is a plain Bible teaching.

We are reaping what we sowed: social gospel, repeat after me salvation, and ecumenism. There is still a remnant out there who have not comprised with the world.

Peace,

Bro. James

 

I suggest that you can find a large number of that remnant right here on the Baptist Board. Among them, you, Bro. James

 

Indeed....the Baptist Board Carpet Outlet :laugh:

 

These things may be true in YOUR circle of Free Will churches but the denomination you are in is drying up and dying on the vine.

I do not think Free Will is the place to look for earth shattering, history making revival, with all due respect.

 

I agree with this.

But I also think I understand where Michael is coming from.

He is probably referring to ignorant, shallow, emotion based preaching.

Good preaching IS good teaching.

If a preacher is not educating those he is preaching to then he is not preaching- he is ranting.

 

Well, you got me. I have racked my brain and I can't come up with a snappy comeback to top you.

I will observe that some Baptists are (a) pile and some are shag(gy).

 

Having been in the commercial flooring business for several years, I can appreciate the levity. I am not sure the subject at hand is laughable in any venue.

Peace,

Bro. James

 

Great post! I do the same (to keep from rambling on and on like so many I hear).

It's the Word of God that changes lives, not weather or not the pastor uses a manuscript.

 

If a preacher is not educating those he is preaching to then he is not preaching- he is ranting.

I agree. Canned sermons are a waste of time.

I write out (type out) my sermons...does that mean they are automatically dead? Can God not speak to me during preparation or does He only speak to me while I am behind the pulpit? Why does the location of where a preacher is coming from determine if revival does or does not come? Just wondering...

I have sat under preachers where the sermon just flowed and sat under those with their notes written on notebook paper. It makes no difference to me. As for a revival, that comes from the Lord needless to say and then only when the church has put Him first in their lives.

 

SaturnNeptune....

What do you mean, "go back there..."??

Those type of "churches" are still around, unfortunetly. :tear:

AiC

 

I don't either as long as the message is from the Lord.
But as I look at my library filled with messages from Spurgeon, Moody, Wesley, and many others, I wonder that if they didn't write their sermons out, where did all these books come from? Tape recorders are not that old.

 

Indeed. We should quickly remember that God used Jonathan Edwards mightily, and his sermons were not only manuscripted, but read with little eye contact.

 

Perhaps long before tape recorders the messages from Spurgeon, Moody, Wesley, and many others relied upon stenographers who had learned short hand.

But the point here is that it really makes no difference if a pastor publishes his message and all his notes in the local paper, if the hearers are responsive because of deaf ears and cold hearts, what's the point?

 

TomVols... (bolding mine)

Wow! Thats a neat trick. :laugh: :thumbs:

 

Indeed they did.

Also:

John Albert Broadus, A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons:

 

Hear, Hear !! :1_grouphug::thumbs: True revival. Not necessarily revival meetings, although I much enjoy them too.

 

The meetings churches have that are referred to as "revival" are not in and of them selves wrong and can be quite edifying. But there is not doubt they are mislabeled. Revival could certainly be the result of such meetings but often they are about emotionalism rather than a true biblical revival.

Revival for the individual that wants it can be obtained by a choice. It is not something that just falls on us. Revival in the community needs to be a result of prayer and waiting on God to come in His time.