I wish I had your wisdom at your age, @Juk...Presently, I'm almost finished with the book listed below but he has some very good advice.
Preparing the Remnant Part 2: Joel, Acts, the Book of Revelation, and Spiritual
Warfare I have been preaching the Word of God since I was thirteen years old.
Over those forty-one years, I have both prepared and listened to myriad
sermons. During the past few decades, I have noticed a perplexing phenomenon
within the body of Christ: There are concepts (or even sound bites) that can be
heralded from pulpits that will move the crowds to great excitement and releases
of emotion that tap into some unrealized psychological need or carnal desire.
However, when we examine many of the “truths” being proclaimed across the body
of Christ, they lack any real scriptural legitimacy. In other words, conducting
some basic biblical research will quickly reveal that there is no scriptural
foundation for those beliefs. These unscriptural revelations may produce larger
crowds and offerings, but they weaken the spiritual lives of those caught within
their circles. One of two possible scenarios could have created this phenomenon:
Somewhere along the line, we have unconsciously fallen into the same occupational
trap as the Levites in the book of Malachi: We are preaching what the people
WANT to hear instead of what Heaven says they NEED to hear. · These
unbiblical concepts were created as a part of the Shinar Directive to pull the body
of Christ away from sound doctrine. In today’s current climate within the Church
world, the minister who gathers the largest crowds becomes the new prototype for
Church growth. The end result is deception spreading like a cancer! I remember a
situation years ago that exemplifies this paradigm. I attended a church with a
pastor I absolutely loved. You could see the love of God flowing from him as well
as his contagious excitement about God’s Word. He was teaching on the life of
Abraham, and I couldn’t tell which one of us was enjoying it more. This dear
brother has served as the perfect example of a teaching pastor for me to this
very day. I have to admit that, during his presentation, I mentally drew a circle
around a few statements to examine later. However, this is typical for me;
perhaps it is an occupational hazard of being a Christian educator. Whenever I
listen to a message, my mind will categorize everything I am hearing and cross-
index it with established truth I have already learned. Later, the resulting study
will either allow me to expand my understanding of the Word or bring a realization
that someone’s own humanity has crept into his interpretation and preaching.
After the service, this pastor was having a long discussion with someone else in
the congregation, and he called me in to assist him. A Berean within the fellowship
had picked up on one of the concepts that I had earmarked within my mind to
search out more fully. The pastor was hoping I could bring some clarity to the
situation and assist him. He shared that one of the men he highly respected in
ministry had taught those truths to him. The three of us opened the Word of God
to examine the Scriptures in question, step by step. As we analyzed, the pastor
began to realize that his teaching was slightly out of alignment with the Word. It
was nothing major— just obvious. When he realized his mistake, he quickly
apologized and then said, “That sure preached good though, didn’t it?” That
situation has stuck with me over the years. I knew that wonderful pastor loved
both God and His Word with a passion I had rarely seen. Yet, in his passion, he
had picked up something in his preaching that was slightly off, because it just
“preached better” that way. If this mature saint of God could fall prey to that, I
was certain I also could have done so over the years. One of the sermons that
just “preaches good” and gets the people excited, but does not line up with the
Word, is the army described in Joel chapter 2.
Lake, Micheal; Horn, Thomas (2015-02-20). The Shinar Directive: Preparing the
Way for the Son of Perdition's Return (Kindle Locations 4871-4876). Defender
Publishing. Kindle Edition.
