QUOTE FROM A.W. TOZER

I've been reading BORN AFTER MIDNIGHT by A.W. Tozer, who just happens to be one of my most favorite preachers of all time. The basis of the book is that the longer you tarry with God, pushing through with prayer all the darkness that is within and without, there will be a lever of spiritual renewal that casual Christians will never experience.

I found this to be true when we would hold watch-night services at the church. We would gather with our Bible's and notebooks, have worship music playing, and basically sit up all night. There was no agenda, no program, nothing planned other than to simply be with God....read scripture, pray, and then write down any thoughts that we felt may have come from Him. I wish not to sound like I'm some kind of spiritual giant.....not even close. There were many times during our watch nights that my mind would wander and it was all I could do to pull it back into prayer. What I found interesting though was the fact that once we crossed midnight, the praying became more focused, the worship music seemed to go deeper within than it had...and the Bible verses we were reading seemed to stand up off the page as if God were saying, "Pay attention, I'm trying to show you something".

I found a quote by Tozer from the book I mentioned, and I would like to share it this morning.
"Unquestionable there is not another institution in the world that talks as much and does as little as the church. Any factory that required as much raw material for so small a finished product would go bankrupt in six months."
Could we say, "Ouch!"
Tozer never minced words about the condition of the church.
What I see, and something God has strongly disciplined me about, was the idea of taking culture ( or what speaks to the hearts of those who do not really know God) and using it to break down walls of the hearts of men and women. To do so is to simply construct a new type of vehicle from which the Gospel can be shared. The vehicle may change, but the message never does. The problem comes when the vehicle becomes more important than the message. When we have a false pride because we are "doing" church in a new way. This pride can truly hide a feeling of superiority over others who may still be stuck in the model they use to hold church.

So much time is spent in refining and dressing up the vehicle that the power of the message is lost. We think that maybe our light shows, our stage presence, our level of talent that we bring to worship, as well as the delivery of our message will simply mesmerize those who come to hear and "experience" God. Truth be known, the message is empty and has not nutritional value to a starving soul in need of redemption.

Here again, please hear me...
I'm not being critical of the any style of worship or model of church, except to those who have neglected the word in order to create an atmosphere where sinners are comforted.
I think maybe Jesus did not die on the cross so that sinners could be lured into a false sense of comfort, but rather they be led to Godly sorrow which produces repentance. This leads to confession and forgiveness. In other words........."SALVATION". Salvation is the first step to becoming a disciple, but that is whole other part that I will share later.

Have a great Saturday, and don't forget....
ReCovery Church On Broad is meeting tonight at 7 p.m.
Come on out and join us!

God on you.....
Mbb