You sing songs about a God who comes on the clouds with
fire. But I know you do not believe that. You read books about a man who
baptizes with fire. But I know in your mind that is just a story. You tell your
children about a Ghost who can empower people to speak in other tongues, heal
the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead. But you throw that on the shelf
next to Mother Goose. You claim to follow in the footsteps of a man who preached good news to the poor. But I’ve seen you walk past the homeless on more than one occasion.
There just seems to be no conviction in our churches
anymore. People are simply showing up because they feel obligated to. Maybe it
is because they were brought up that way and it is “what they do on Sundays.�
Maybe they do it for their wives. Maybe they do it for their sons. Maybe they
do it for their friends. Maybe they do it because it’s their job.
I believe we have men and women on the stage of the church
preaching words they do not really believe. They could read the most
inspirational scripture passages we know, but without the living,
presently-spoken Word of God voicing it, only sounds will come out. They could
preach the best articulated sermon we have heard since the apostle Paul, but
without experiencing the Holy Spirit’s movement in their own lives, they are
reading someone else’s story. And that’s not the story people want to hear.
People do not want to hear other people’s stories. People
want to hear our stories (this does
not speak into testifying and celebrating what God is doing in others’ lives).
If we are telling someone else’s story, there’s not a whole lot of experience
to back us up. If we are telling our own story, we can actually convey the
feelings we felt. We can tell them about the story from our own point of view
instead of someone else’s.
Have you ever played “6 degrees from Kevin Bacon?� I happen
to be 2 degrees from Kevin Bacon. I know someone who happened to meet him once
or twice. True story. Cool,
huh? Nope.
You see, it is not nearly as interesting when we have not
actually experienced it ourselves.
We need to be telling stories and preaching not as a
demonstration of our own wisdom and cunning, but out of an experience of the
Spirit of Power and Love. Then we can tell people of what we have personally
seen and experienced and people will understand better.
How have you experienced the Holy Spirit in your own life?
Tell someone about that.
I prayed that water would flow through dry pipes, and water
showed up. I prayed that a blind man would see, and his eyes were opened. I
prayed that a woman’s painful mouth would be healed, and she sang a song of
praise to God because she felt no more pain.
I asked that the Holy Spirit would show up, and It did. In
big ways. If you would like to hear of more ways I have experienced the Holy
Spirit and God’s manifest presence, ask me, or read some of my blogs from the World Race. I’ll tell you. And I pray you would
be encouraged not because of my story telling abilities, but because of my
testimony of The Lord.
Speak with Conviction.
Thanks for reading.
