A Moment With Your Minister…
Today as I begin this column, my thoughts keep going back to Wednesday evening and the things that Brian Horner had the courage to say during the devotional he presented. My prayer is that God will bless everyone of us with strength, and that instead of merely complaining we will look for ways to make things better. God wants each and every one of us to be steadfast; “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58). He wants us to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” (Heb. 10:24). He wants us seek the lost and to diligently try to restore to faithful-ness those who have fallen. The reality before us is this: the success or failure of the church at Bethel is in our hands. So, instead of saying, “Somebody ought to do something,” I must recognize that I am “somebody” and then look for“something” to do. Amen? Amen! With loving concern, Carl
P.S. Perhaps the following Guest Editorial will serve to encourage all of us.
How Do I Preach???
The majority of people are acquainted with the preaching from the pulpit, but they never think of the preaching done from the pews. It is a fact that neither will accom-plish very much by itself. The average church member never thinks of himself as a preacher and yet he preaches a sermon by his life that is often the only kind of preaching from the church and its members that some people ever hear.
The preaching from the pew should re-inforce preaching that is done from the pulpit. The one should complement the other. Too often this is not the case; in fact, the preaching from the pews often cancels the force of the preaching done in the pulpit.
The pulpit preaching condemns dancing as sinful because of its lasciviousness, its results and its worldliness. Few people of the world hear the sermon, but those that do have the lesson ruined by pictures of the church members who attend dances appearing in the newspapers.
Divorce for any and every cause and remarriage is condemned from the pulpit. In the world this is laughed at because it sees a member of the church divorce his wife and marry another without scriptural reason.
A sermon from the pulpit condemning immodesty in dress is soon forgotten by those who see members of the church appearing in public only in shorts and skimpy tops, or skin tight jeans or stretch slacks.
When the world compares the difference in preaching from the pews and preaching from the pulpit, according to this kind of observation, it is prone to condemn all concerned by saying, and rightly so, "HYPOCRISY!" Will men glorify God when they see what you do? Will God be pleased when He sees what you do? How do YOU preach?
--Foster L. Ramsey
Today as I begin this column, my thoughts keep going back to Wednesday evening and the things that Brian Horner had the courage to say during the devotional he presented. My prayer is that God will bless everyone of us with strength, and that instead of merely complaining we will look for ways to make things better. God wants each and every one of us to be steadfast; “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58). He wants us to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” (Heb. 10:24). He wants us seek the lost and to diligently try to restore to faithful-ness those who have fallen. The reality before us is this: the success or failure of the church at Bethel is in our hands. So, instead of saying, “Somebody ought to do something,” I must recognize that I am “somebody” and then look for“something” to do. Amen? Amen! With loving concern, Carl
P.S. Perhaps the following Guest Editorial will serve to encourage all of us.
How Do I Preach???
The majority of people are acquainted with the preaching from the pulpit, but they never think of the preaching done from the pews. It is a fact that neither will accom-plish very much by itself. The average church member never thinks of himself as a preacher and yet he preaches a sermon by his life that is often the only kind of preaching from the church and its members that some people ever hear.
The preaching from the pew should re-inforce preaching that is done from the pulpit. The one should complement the other. Too often this is not the case; in fact, the preaching from the pews often cancels the force of the preaching done in the pulpit.
The pulpit preaching condemns dancing as sinful because of its lasciviousness, its results and its worldliness. Few people of the world hear the sermon, but those that do have the lesson ruined by pictures of the church members who attend dances appearing in the newspapers.
Divorce for any and every cause and remarriage is condemned from the pulpit. In the world this is laughed at because it sees a member of the church divorce his wife and marry another without scriptural reason.
A sermon from the pulpit condemning immodesty in dress is soon forgotten by those who see members of the church appearing in public only in shorts and skimpy tops, or skin tight jeans or stretch slacks.
When the world compares the difference in preaching from the pews and preaching from the pulpit, according to this kind of observation, it is prone to condemn all concerned by saying, and rightly so, "HYPOCRISY!" Will men glorify God when they see what you do? Will God be pleased when He sees what you do? How do YOU preach?
--Foster L. Ramsey
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