| Editor: David E Marlett Th.D. | |
| April 10, 2002 | Vol III #5 |
By Pastor Mike Slattery
I WAS PREACHING AT OUR CHURCH AND THERE WAS A CHARISMANIAC THERE.. I ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF "PENTECOSTALS" AND THEIR CLAIM THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO SPEAK IN TONGUES AND LAY HANDS ON THE SICK AND THEY SHALL RECOVER..
BEFORE THE SERVICE I HAD PLACED A CLEAR GLASS CUP FULL OF BLEACH ON THE BENCH IN FRONT OF THE PULPIT.. NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE GLASS BEING THERE SINCE I USUALLY HAVE A GLASS OF WATER THERE FOR WHEN I GET DRY MOUTHED WHILE SCREAMING AT THEM..(GRIN).. WHEN I ASKED MY WIFE TO GET ME A GLASS OF WATER DURING THE SERVICE A FEW FOLKS LOOKED AT ME STRANGE FOR NOT JUST DRINKING WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS WATER ON THE PULPIT,,,
"HEY PREACHER WHY DONT YOU DRINK THE ONE ON THE BENCH?"
"OH, THAT ONE ISNT FOR ME," I SAID. THAT ONE IS FOR THE CHARISMANIAC THAT THINKS THAT THE SIGN GIFTS ARE FOR THEM.
IT'S BLEACH...
WOMAN, IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED TO PREACH......
DRINK THE BLEACH!
IF YOU THINK TONGUES IS FOR YOU TODAY AND THAT THE LITTLE VOICES IN YOUR HEAD ARE GOD'S WORDS...
DRINK THE BLEACH
IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE HEALING TOUCH......
DRINK THE BLEACH
YOU KNOW THE AMAZING THING..?
NO ONE CAME FORWARD
NO ONE SAID A WORD!
AND NO ONE HAS BROUGHT UP THE ISSUE SINCE,
FAKES ARE EASY TO FLUSH OUT FOLKS
I WONDER IF JOYCE MEYERS WOULD DRINK THE BLEACH?
IN CHRIST, PASTOR MIKE
No INC......................Just Blood Grace and Glory!
90 percent of pastors work more than forty-six hours a week.
80 percent believe pastoral ministry has affected their families negatively.
33 percent say that being in the ministry is an outright hazard to their family.
75 percent report a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.
50 percent feel unable to meet the needs of the job.
90 percent feel they were inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands.
70 percent say they have a lower self-image than when they started in the ministry
40 percent report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.
33 percent confess having been involved in some inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church.
70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend.
These statistics are heartbreaking. They show how difficult the struggle is for many pastors and how much they need your assistance.
My father-in-law, Dr. John R. Waters used to say, 'Brother Dennis, we have a perfect Bible, a perfect Savior, and a perfect salvation, but you and I are not perfect." We see that in the fact of what different Christians disagree about all the time.
Christian schools vs. public schools, speaking in tongues, Christian-sponsored boycotts, sex education, Rush Limbaugh, the ecumenical movement, playing the saxophone in church, Halloween, interracial marriage, Christians in politics, Sunday night services, true Christians in liberal churches, The Lord's supper, Christian counseling, faith-promise giving, women wearing makeup, women cutting their hair too short, clapping in church, traditional vs. contemporary worship, Hollywood movies, drinking wine, watching TV, eating out on Sunday, playing cards, women wearing pants, the King James Version, picketing abortion clinics, men wearing beards, using credit cards, divorced men serving as ushers, home schooling, mixed swimming, smoking, rock music, Christian rock music, women working outside the home, birth control, guitars in a church service, working in a restaurant where they sell beer, working as cashier where they sell cigarettes, pocket knives, guns, the rebel flag, divorced deacons, divorced preachers, and The Baptist Bible Trumpet articles are just a few things we can name.
My father-in-law taught a great truth above: We are all imperfect in some ways and areas of our lives. He taught me that we as imperfect people can get caught up in the issues and forget to feed the flock of God, visit the flock of God, and do the work of a true shepherd. Some times we're so busy fighting and making a point that we forget the main point - to preach the word and live a life that pleases God. By these, folks will know where you stand on any one of the above issues. Dr. Waters used to say at Faith Baptist Church, "Will Mr. & Mrs. Perfect please stand up!" Some will probably read this article standing rather than sitting down! Thanks, Dr. Waters, your life and teaching helped me.
The Moslem "claim" to Jerusalem is based on what is written in the Koran, which although Jerusalem is not mentioned even once, nevertheless talks (in Sura 17:1) of the "Furthest Mosque": "Glory be unto Allah who did take his servant for a journey at night from the Sacred Mosque to the Furthest Mosque." But is there any foundation to the Moslem argument that this "Furthest Mosque" (Al-Masujidi al-Aqtza) refers to what is today called the Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem? The answer is, none whatsoever.
In the days of Mohammed, who died in 632 of the Common Era, Jerusalem was a Christian city within the Byzantine Empire. Jerusalem was captured by Khalif Omar only in 638, six years after Mohammed's death. Throughout all this time there were only churches in Jerusalem, and a church stood on the Temple Mount, called the Church of Saint Mary of Justinian, built in the Byzantine architectural style.
The Aksa Mosque was built 20 years after the Dome of the Rock, which was built in 691-692 by Khalif Abd El Malik. The name "Omar Mosque" is therefore false. In or around 711, or about 80 years after Mohammed died, Malik's son, Abd El-Wahd - who ruled from 705-715 - reconstructed the Christian- Byzantine Church of St. Mary and converted it into a mosque. He left the structure as it was, a typical Byzantine "basilica" structure with a row of pillars on either side of the rectangular "ship" in the center. All he added was an onion-like dome on top of the building to make it look like a mosque. He then named it El-Aksa, so it would sound like the one mentioned in the Koran.
Therefore it is crystal clear that Mohammed could never have had this mosque in mind when he compiled the Koran, since it did not exist for another three generations after his death. Rather, as many scholars long ago established, it is logical that Mohammed intended the mosque in Mecca as the "Sacred Mosque," and the mosque in Medina as the "Furthest Mosque." So much for the Moslem claim based on the Aksa Mosque.
With this understood, it is no wonder that Mohammed issued a strict prohibition against facing Jerusalem in prayer, a practice that had been tolerated only for some months in order to lure Jews to convert to Islam. When that effort failed, Mohammed put an abrupt stop to it on February 12, 624. Jerusalem simply never held any sanctity for the Moslems themselves, but only for the Jews in their domain.
The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is in Glory occupied with us should lead us into a holy life which glorifies Him. That loving eye is never withdrawn from us. If we were to remember this constantly, what a power this would be in our lives! How many things would remain undone, how many words unspoken, and how many other things done, if we were constantly conscious of that eye which is upon us individually. He represents us before God, and we are to represent Him before men. A Christian is called to manifest Christ, to be His representative. And such a life, which is unto His Praise and Glory, is made possible through His blessed intercessory work and His presence in heaven. A true Christian life depends much on this heart occupation with the Person and work of Christ. As His presence up yonder and His service for us is a reality to our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, we shall walk worthy of the Lord, and His blessed work for us will constantly be felt in our lives here on earth. What a joy it is then, as we reckon only with Him, who knows us, to serve Him, to depend on Him. And how we should shun anything which grieves Him.
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