My hope in a post such as what follows is that it might find its way to pastors across America.....and after rejecting it and me that they might have recurring nagging doubts about the direction that their ministry has taken? This nation of ours is collapsing almost faster than it can be documented. One would think that there would be some tears from the pulpits....but tears don't fit in so well with the vibrant innovative church growth mentality of today.....unless the tears are for financing that giant new hi-tech sanctuary that would really bless the community. Ah but the tears will be coming in the future where that extravagant building will seem as gaudy as the Gothic cathedrals in Europe do today. There is a time to rest secure.....this isn't such a time. There is also a time to man the lifeboats.....send out maydays.....and make sure that everyone has a life preserver.....this is that time.
The following post is from December of 2016:
One of my favorite New Testament passages, since I was a child, has been that of Cornelius the Roman centurion.... a soldier in charge in about a hundred men! That was about as high as I could count. That plume of horsehair on his helmet.....the flowing cape.....the vest of armor....I was fascinated by the image.
Today I'm fascinated, not by the military rank but by the man who may have been the first gentile convert to our Savior, and also by the other biblical centurion whose servant was sick to the point of death...who had faith that wasn't even seen in Israel....and even by the centurion at the cross who said of Jesus..."Truly, this man was the Son of God."
Cornelius was a God-fearing Roman centurion! That alone is amazing. He was respected by the Jewish people. Upon visiting him Peter began to speak of the cross, the resurrection and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the centurion and his whole family were brought into the kingdom of God right then! The cross, the resurrection and the gospel were preached...and these Romans praised and magnified God. Seems like there might be a message for our pulpits here.
That God did this does not amaze us today but it did Peter who was surprised that he wound up in the house of a Gentile to begin with. When Peter returned to Jerusalem the circumcised believers were not very happy until Peter explained all the events that had transpired....and this response can be understood.
Now I wonder if at times today we in the church do not find ourselves in the same situation as Peter met with on his return to Jerusalem? George Whitefield was denied pulpits to preach the Gospel because the ministers in those pulpits were too secure in their own standing in the church. It's not an easy path to walk at times....introspection....or to step out on it in faith that God will shine a light upon our steps....but it's a path that must be walked or we risk withholding the cross and the resurrection and the gospel from the centurion and the publican and the seller of purple who was guided to the very pews that we have prayed would seat visitors.
The following post is from December of 2016:
One of my favorite New Testament passages, since I was a child, has been that of Cornelius the Roman centurion.... a soldier in charge in about a hundred men! That was about as high as I could count. That plume of horsehair on his helmet.....the flowing cape.....the vest of armor....I was fascinated by the image.
Today I'm fascinated, not by the military rank but by the man who may have been the first gentile convert to our Savior, and also by the other biblical centurion whose servant was sick to the point of death...who had faith that wasn't even seen in Israel....and even by the centurion at the cross who said of Jesus..."Truly, this man was the Son of God."
Cornelius was a God-fearing Roman centurion! That alone is amazing. He was respected by the Jewish people. Upon visiting him Peter began to speak of the cross, the resurrection and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the centurion and his whole family were brought into the kingdom of God right then! The cross, the resurrection and the gospel were preached...and these Romans praised and magnified God. Seems like there might be a message for our pulpits here.
That God did this does not amaze us today but it did Peter who was surprised that he wound up in the house of a Gentile to begin with. When Peter returned to Jerusalem the circumcised believers were not very happy until Peter explained all the events that had transpired....and this response can be understood.
Now I wonder if at times today we in the church do not find ourselves in the same situation as Peter met with on his return to Jerusalem? George Whitefield was denied pulpits to preach the Gospel because the ministers in those pulpits were too secure in their own standing in the church. It's not an easy path to walk at times....introspection....or to step out on it in faith that God will shine a light upon our steps....but it's a path that must be walked or we risk withholding the cross and the resurrection and the gospel from the centurion and the publican and the seller of purple who was guided to the very pews that we have prayed would seat visitors.
