Resisting Change
Generations exist for a purpose. Somehow, we get stuck in previous generations--at least, in the way that things were done in them. It's like pressing the rewind button over and over again--but expecting to hear a different song. That's us! We wonder why things don't get better or change, even when we continue to do the same thing--maybe we give it a new name, but it boils down to the same program.
I wonder what might have happened if Elisha received Elijah's mantle and did exactly what Elijah did even though he asked for a double portion? Suppose Gideon decided he would leave the groves of Baal intact to avoid angering his father and his community. Better yet, what if Jesus decided the right hand of God was where He wanted to stay, and didn't think saving the world was worth His time--or His blood. Ridiculous, maybe; but consider our actions and perhaps you might see the folly in them, as well.
God has not stopped calling men and women to work for such a time as this--but the times change. The problem is we have a hard time changing. The men and women of God (of yesteryear) had methods that worked for yesteryear. Those methods are not for today. Too many of us are still trying to be or preach like men and women whose time has come and gone. God has a calling on your life for this day. He isn't calling you to be like anyone else. He chooses us for our uniqueness. He doesn't call us because we can preach just like Bishop G.T. Haywood, Bishop Norman L. Wagner, Bishop Morris Golder or Bishop Ross Paddock or any of the other great preachers that have gone home to be with the Lord. He chose you, for you. He didn't even choose you for your talent, your attractiveness or your charisma--God chose you, for His potential in you.
It's time for young ministers to look to God and not men for their calling. It isn't in the look, the briefcase, the sound of your voice or your family name--it's all about a surrendered heart. It's about a heart for God's people. God's people won't survive on your ability to mimic the previous generation. The Church--and the world need men and women of God to be transparent, willing to share not only their victories, but their defeats and failures--and how God delivered them out of them. That's what gives hope. The world needs solutions. The world is hungry for the Word; not what sounds good or tickles the ear. We can't continue to offer a facade of God; because they quickly find out that it is empty and hollow--and in the storms of life, the foundation will crumble (built only upon sand).
God has allowed some sin of great preachers to be exposed, because of rebellion. Rebellion is a terrible thing--rebellion in the pulpit, is a horrific thing. If repentance begins at the house of God, should not the pulpit be first, and the example? The sins of pride and rebellion are destroying church leadership, and congregations are faulty too, for placing them on such pedestals that they are afraid to confess. (Don't be afraid of men's faces--we all must fear God, rather than men, who can kill only the body).
It is time for change. God is doing a new thing. His message will never change--but we must, and our methods must. It is time for the old way to give way to the new. What worked 50 years ago, will not reach this generation. Will be be so set in our ways, that we will sacrifice a generation to hold onto traditions of men?
Change must come.
I wonder what might have happened if Elisha received Elijah's mantle and did exactly what Elijah did even though he asked for a double portion? Suppose Gideon decided he would leave the groves of Baal intact to avoid angering his father and his community. Better yet, what if Jesus decided the right hand of God was where He wanted to stay, and didn't think saving the world was worth His time--or His blood. Ridiculous, maybe; but consider our actions and perhaps you might see the folly in them, as well.
God has not stopped calling men and women to work for such a time as this--but the times change. The problem is we have a hard time changing. The men and women of God (of yesteryear) had methods that worked for yesteryear. Those methods are not for today. Too many of us are still trying to be or preach like men and women whose time has come and gone. God has a calling on your life for this day. He isn't calling you to be like anyone else. He chooses us for our uniqueness. He doesn't call us because we can preach just like Bishop G.T. Haywood, Bishop Norman L. Wagner, Bishop Morris Golder or Bishop Ross Paddock or any of the other great preachers that have gone home to be with the Lord. He chose you, for you. He didn't even choose you for your talent, your attractiveness or your charisma--God chose you, for His potential in you.
It's time for young ministers to look to God and not men for their calling. It isn't in the look, the briefcase, the sound of your voice or your family name--it's all about a surrendered heart. It's about a heart for God's people. God's people won't survive on your ability to mimic the previous generation. The Church--and the world need men and women of God to be transparent, willing to share not only their victories, but their defeats and failures--and how God delivered them out of them. That's what gives hope. The world needs solutions. The world is hungry for the Word; not what sounds good or tickles the ear. We can't continue to offer a facade of God; because they quickly find out that it is empty and hollow--and in the storms of life, the foundation will crumble (built only upon sand).
God has allowed some sin of great preachers to be exposed, because of rebellion. Rebellion is a terrible thing--rebellion in the pulpit, is a horrific thing. If repentance begins at the house of God, should not the pulpit be first, and the example? The sins of pride and rebellion are destroying church leadership, and congregations are faulty too, for placing them on such pedestals that they are afraid to confess. (Don't be afraid of men's faces--we all must fear God, rather than men, who can kill only the body).
It is time for change. God is doing a new thing. His message will never change--but we must, and our methods must. It is time for the old way to give way to the new. What worked 50 years ago, will not reach this generation. Will be be so set in our ways, that we will sacrifice a generation to hold onto traditions of men?
Change must come.
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