Gods plan for EVANGELISM was never for one man to become so POPULAR and thereby INFLUENCE millions... but...instead... ...that the MILLIONS who serve the ONE named Jesus would reach at least ONE. If the Church would only heed the words of an old Christian song: Each one...can reach one... When EVANGELISM is thought to be the role of MEGA-CHURCH LEADERS...we reap what we sow: LEADERS of CONGREGATIONS most often begin to allow the POPULARITY they have achieved to SEDUCE them into FALSE TEACHING...as the subtle EXALTATION of SELF begins to diminish the LEADERS ability to hear the Spirit of God as He speaks TRUTH and WISDOM. WHY? The LEADERS ears have been tuned into the voices of PRAISE and ADORATION...yet those voices praise and adore a MAN instead of JESUS. (The old phrase They believe their own press. comes to mind.) The congregation has then entered into LEADER WORSHIP...and god-making has begun. In time...the MESSAGE of the ministry is born out of SELF-DECEPTION...and TRUTH begins to DIE in the midst of the now DECEIVED congregation. Sadly...the people never discern the difference between EVANGELISM and INDOCTRINATION. While the ministry verbally CLAIMS to be involved in EVANGELISM...the absence of TRUTH coming from its PULPIT places the people in the midst of a CULT-LIKE scenario...and INDOCTRINATION becomes the reality. The FINE LINE between SPREADING TRUTH and the reality of INDOCTRINATION is seldom recognized...but it is a line OFTEN crossed in many churches today. How can we truly know the difference?? KNOW the TRUTH! How can we know the truth?? By the Word of God...as it is ILLUMINATED by the HOLY SPIRIT! The answer for the Church is not found in the wisdom of MEGA-CHURCH LEADERS...as they may know how to GROW a CONGREGATION and how to GAIN a FOLLOWING... ...but only the Spirit of God can draw men to CHRIST. WITHOUT truth...men INCREASE the size of their CONGREGATIONS: WITH truth...the Holy Spirit INCREASES the size of GODS KINGDOM. It is possible to be drawn to CHURCH while never being drawn to CHRIST...and...sadly...this is the existence of many churches today. Thus...the simple goal of the Church should be to REACH those AROUND us...NOT to get those AROUND US to GATHER TOGETHER. People GATHERED TOGETHER is a CROWD: People gathered around TRUTH...which is JESUS...is the Church. MILLIONS followed Hitler... ...as Hitler was a modern-day MEGA-CHURCH LEADER. I say it again...as I have stated this often lately: The Church is not in need of more LEADERS: The Church is in DESPERATE need of SHEPHERDS! LEADERS will often USE the flock...FLEECING the sheep in every possible way. SHEPHERDS will only PROTECT the flock...even at the expense of their OWN LIVES. A SHEPHERD is not there to MOTIVATE, STIMULATE, nor PONTIFICATE. The SHEPHERD is there to PROTECT the FLOCK by PROTECTING TRUTH. How does a SHEPHERD feed the FLOCK? Does the SHEPHERD supply the FOOD...or does the SHEPHERD simply PROTECT the SHEEP as they reside in GREEN PASTURES?!? You see...LEADERS want to be the SOURCE of food for the CONGREGATION...while SHEPHERDS simply desire to PROTECT the FLOCK as they GRAZE in the FIELD of TRUTH. LEADERS claim THEY have the TRUTH...while SHEPHERDS guide the sheep TO the TRUTH. The difference? A LEADER says Get the TRUTH from ME!: A SHEPHERD says Let me GUIDE you to the GREEN PASTURE of TRUTH...so you can LEARN to FEED YOURSELF. A LEADER often BRINGS a word...while a SHEPHERD will take you TO the Word! We...the Church...must EVANGELIZE again. But...we must do it GODS way...not in MANS wisdom. We must GUIDE people into TRUTH...taking them TO the Word of God...making the WORD their source of TRUTH...forsaking the DECEPTION which makes a MAN their source of TRUTH. EVANGELISM is born out of TRUTH...and EVANGELISM without TRUTH is nothing more than INDOCTRINATION.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 15:01:24 +0000
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