This message is not just about the state of today's church, but rather the need for brokenness in our lives over sin. This is just one part. If it touches your heart, watch the rest of it on you tube. Dr. Voddie Baucham is a favorite preacher/author of ours.
9 comments:
I haven't heard this man preach before, in fact, I don't believe I've heard of him at all. BUT ~ what he is saying here is so NEEDFUL in this day of consumerism and man-centered worship...refreshing! Oh how grieved our loving Heavenly Father must be when we think we are praising Him and yet we are FAR from it! Thanks so much for taking the time to share it with us Jackie!
Have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Camille
You are so right Camille. It is hard to see so much of what is called "church" today that looks more like man's need to be entertained. When did Jesus stop being enough?
Wow! I've never seen this man before. All I can say is Wow and that man is speaking Truth! Loved every second of it. Great reminders. This was a huge revalation in my own life a few years ago. This was the problem we had with our last church and one of the reasons we dissolved it. I know we did the right thing! Church needs to be about God, not about us. One of the prayers I try to remember to pray before going to church on Sunday is, "Lord let us bless YOU this morning". Thanks for sharing!
I haven't seen the whole thing yet, but I'm very familiar with Voddie. I wish we could all have a group discussion about this issue. Briefly, the church we attended split last summer when the pastor quit to start a family-integrated church (which Voddie has.) We went there for a few months and have now left it for reasons I can't go into here. It seems like every church that preaches the Bible either is extremely legalistic, or exalts man through contemporary music that we feel is neither worshipful (at least for us) nor God-exalting. We want the hymns, but we don't want the "religion" that usually goes with a traditional church. It is so frustrating for us as we look for a fellowship for our family. The best worship experience we've had recently is right here at home with our family inductive Bible study, and singing hymns around the piano.
Lois,
I am so sorry you have had a difficult church experience. We could definitely have a talk about that as we too have had some disturbing church experiences, those mainly while my husband was a civilian pastor. Yes, there is such a danger in legalism. We are currently attending a type of family-integrated church...although they don't "market" themselves as such. The pastor did not know of this new movement, but just felt these ideas were clearly in scripture and founded his church upon them. That has been a refreshing experience. It is a Reformed Presbyterian church, but we have not felt a freedom to join because we do not feel there is a scriptural mandate for infant baptism, so we cannot "officially" be part of the fellowship. So, I totally understand differences in doctrine and how it is hard sometimes to find fellowships where we feel totally comfortable. That is the only issue we have with this church, so although we do not feel a freedom to join, we are glad we have found a fellowship that is like minded in many other areas. The pastor is faithful to preach the Word and when decisions need to be made, they are made in light of what the Bible says on the issue. Too bad we are not closer...would love to sit down over a cup of coffee or tea and chat about it all!
Blessings,
Jackie
The bible says do not forsake meeting together. I've given up a long time ago on finding the perfect church that has what I think to be the perfect doctrine. I've been in some really difficult church circumstances, but if you go into a church with the idea of "God, teach me through these imperfect people and let me serve despite my own imperfections" you're going to come away from that experience blessed (despite the pain that can be involved). For me, those lessons have been: how to get a long with VERY difficult people, how to LOVINGLY stand up for the Truth and still remain in the fellowship despite others who may disagree with you, etc... Yes, there are times when God has clearly told us that we needed to go somewhere else, but we wait until we are absolutely sure that is what He wants and even then, we've try to never leave on bad terms. We are currently attending a church were the teaching is strong and the worship has the right focus, but they just aren't friendly to newcomers. At first I was really put off by that, but I felt the Lord saying, so "What are you going to do about it?" I feel the Lord wants me to go out of my way to may newcomers feel welcome. Yeah, I have job! Sorry, just had to chime in again. Hope I'm not coming off as too pushy. This is a great topic!
Jackie,
As long as there are not glaring doctrinal issues, I can totally agree. Though your church may not be extremely friends, the great thing about that is that you seem such a friendly, outgoing person, you may work change in others by being an example. There will always be things we disagree on with others because we are imperfect people who are prone to sin. The issue of leaving a church comes in when we cannot stand by them doctrinally, or in cases where God has clearly told us it is time for us to worship elsewhere.
Jackie
I agree 100%!
Cheesemakin' Jackie,
I had to laugh because you are so perceptive. My husband always tells people when we walk into a new church, "We're looking for the perfect church." Fortunately, most people laugh and say that would be the other church down the street. If we ever found the perfect church, we would never join, or it wouldn't be that way anymore. We are attending a church now that preaches the Word, the pastor has a good heart, but the music is rock. We were tolerating that fine until the "worship leader" (now where is THAT in scripture?) basically said from the front that if someone is offended by rock music, they really don't understand worship. He implied that worship is an attitude of the heart, and yet the music needs to be what HE likes. We're still going there. He isn't willing to give up his music if it offends a brother (I Cor 8). My husband confronted him on it, so we know. We are just trying to find the balance between license and legalism (which would be GRACE).
Thanks for letting me vent. I love you ladies. Thanks Jackie for your forum here and for sharing your heart. It is a great ministry.
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