What's all this hoopla about that is going on in the church?

Interestingly enough, I hardly remember a word of most sermons I hear. Last Sunday, however, Bonnie and I were fortunate to attend Northplace Church in Sachse, Texas and listen to a masterpiece by Pastor Bryan Jarrett. He and Chuck Swindoll in my books are the best. Naturally, being Pentecostal I tilt towards Bryan; although, both in my opinion are two of God’s great gifts to the church.

Now, I don’t want to pick on anyone, but hey, isn’t it nice to hear someone break the bread of life and feed you from God’s holy word?

God forgive us for allowing our pastors, yes, our pastors—not all, but far too many—to lapse into the entertainment and feel good mode which they add to what little charisma they have and pass it off as preaching. Preaching is all about the good news that Jesus died, rose from the dead, and is coming back to receive a spotless bride. Now, I know that sounds old fashioned, but pray tell me can you envision one of the Apostles of Christ every preaching a feel good sermon based on the latest book that they have just read?

The problem with this craze—that is, these charisma driven motivational sermons that lay out the current me generation “how-to-become-successful” fad in 10 Easy Steps is that they work! Yeah, you read that right. They work. They succeed in making people even more of a bunch of narcissists than they were previously. Nothing like appealing to ones self-centeredness to draw a crowd.

I can just hear someone say, “All right, now that you have got that off your chest, Jim, what’s the point?”

The point is simple. Church services in many of our churches have morphed into little more than a pep rally crowd pumped up by a team of cheerleaders (aka, worship leaders) jumping around to the drum beat of a marching band. May God forgive us.

And the results?

Well, the results are that this crazy stuff is contagious. It spreads. Oceans know no distance. Mission fields are created everywhere it spreads, too. Because, I am convinced, that just a whole lot of these otherwise fine people eventually lose out on God. I say this because there is absolutely no substitute for His Spirit to fill the void in our life and shallow sermons and whipped up emotions will not satisfy a thirsty soul. Only God can do that.

Friends, we need to pray for a real revival. That’s for sure. 

En agape Christou,