"Purpose Driven Church".

Good day to you again and thank you for visiting my blog...Just came across this posting elsewhere...what caught my attention was this: yesterday i just read a news report that the author of this "purpose-driven church' book is a pastor of a mega-church in US, about 20000 members and book sales about 25million copies worldwide...the interesting point surfaced by this posting is whether this 20000 member church(and by extension, many such similar churches, in US and all over the world)is weak in its foundation, observing that amusement/entertainment is at the core of its activites...OR that this jeff has difficulty relating to the current times that must have changed since C H Spurgeon days and the days of the Bible... alot of what we do and find in our modern world is not in the bible; surely we cannot lock ourselves up in the past...surely there must be a balance in applying what we find in the Bible and relating it to our times...how to achieve this balance is the key...the apostle Paul exhorted us to understand our times...to make the most use of opportunities...and he himself would be all things to all men in order to save some...the apostle Paul was surely on fire for the LORD and HIS Gospel...C H Spurgeon was seeking to set people on fire...you might want to consider where you stand...how hot are you?...jesus said to the Church in Laodicea in Revelation 3..i know you, you are neither hot nor cold...i will spit you out...i pray that you will hear jesus knocking at the door of your heart today...respond to HIM and be fired up!! Be edify.
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Folks,
Sent from a fellow believer.
What Spurgeon spoke reminds me of the seeker 'church' service proposed & encouraged in the book "Purpose Driven Church". I have read that book years back when I was younger, much less mature & less knowledgeable of the Word. Ever since I have understood how completely un-Biblical those ideas expressed in that book really is.
Continue to seek the truth in Christ & the Word. Nothing less, nothing more.
Jeffrey

----- Original Message -----
From: "The Berean Call"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 10:52 PM
Subject: TBC Today : Quotable Quotes


TBC: Although C.H. Spurgeon spoke and wrote in the 19th Century, his words
are on target for today.

Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?
by C.H. Spurgeon

An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence,
that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past
few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked
like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a
cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to
provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From
speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her
testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she
tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of
reaching the masses.

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere
spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a
Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature." That is clear enough. So it would have
been if he had added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the
gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur
to him . . . .

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life
of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the
world? "Ye are the salt," not the sugar candy -- something the world will
spit out, not swallow . . . . I do not hear [Jesus] say, "Run after these
people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service
tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have
a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it.
Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners,
sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the
Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel of amusement . . . .

Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works
havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God
because the Church met them half-way, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden
who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to
whom the dramatic entertainment had been God's link in the chain of their
conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement
produces no converts. The need of the hour for today's ministry is believing
scholarship joined with earnest spiritual ity, the one springing from the
other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood
and felt, that it sets men on fire.



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