Here's Paul Washer speaking about decisional "evangelism" and what really constitutes true regeneration at the Deeper Conference hosted by Way of the Master.
It's about an hour long, but trust me, it's well worth it.
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13 comments:
Wow!
Thanks Luke for another video of Paul Washer. He truly get's it. If only there were more preachers like him in this country, there truly would be a revival.
The Way of the Master has their act together also. A couple of years back at my cousin, Ruth Moser's encouragement, I attended a "Transformed" event put on by Way of the Master here in Dallas. I finally got it, as to why she had pushed me to attend. They preach really close to the way we were raised in the AC church; Faith, Repentance and conversion.
If you ever get a chance to attend a Way of the Master event, go for it, it will be worth it!
Thanks for the encouragement Timothy. I've seen a DVD of Kirk Cameron preaching "The Way of the Master", and yeah, I agree. They're very Biblical.
andrea and i watched it last night. this guy knows what he's talking about and delivers it that way. awesome stuff.
I finally got around to listening to this. This is good, good news, Luke. Thanks for posting it.
(Old Farmer's Wife, actually)
I, too, think Paul Washer is right on target...very inspiring.
But is it just me, or do our own ministers sometimes feel like they have to tiptoe around the "ask Jesus into your heart" issue? Seems like we don't always welcome that type of plain speech in our own church anymore.
Old Farmer's Wife: My answer would be "yes and no". :-)
First off, I think you're right in the aspect that the exact thing Washer's talking about is seeping into our church, and ministers are having difficulty dealing with it.
However, with that said...Washer clearly understands that salvation is absolutely not of works...that we are DEAD in our sins and dead men can do nothing to improve their state. Justification happens in an instant and the proof that it happened is that sanctification begins. It seems our church sometimes has a hard time with those concepts also. We tend to equate sanctification to how well you follow our churches traditions.
It would seem that a lot of the reason the "ask Jesus into my heart" philosophy has gained so much traction in our church is due to backlash from confusing obedience-to-tradition with sanctification. And I'm not implying that they are two 100% separate things, but I don't believe they are as intertwined as we sometimes make them out to be.
We sometimes confuse "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and temperance" with "head covering, skirt, hair up, no side burns, etc..."
Usually it's not a conscience thing, but we, as a church culture, have convinced our selves that how well someone looks AC is a proper indicator of the fruits of the spirit. So we often don't get to know a convert well enough to know if they have the Spirit. We just rely on the external things to make our judgements.
I'd love to hear your responses to these thoughts. I know I'm going out on a limb posting these thoughts on my blog, but this is honestly how I perceive it. Do you think I'm all wet?
i'd say your absolutely right. AND everyone knows it. some like it that way, some don't care, and some know the bible well enough where they either leave or try and change it. i truly believe this all stems from a shallow and undefined understanding on the doctrines of grace. we didn't find God, He found us. we didn't save ourselves with a decision to follow Him, He gave us new hearts and regenerated us SO we follow Him. we didn't chose Him, He chose us. this is why we have no room to boast. this is why He says you love because I first loved you. it's about Him, not us.
as soon as we realize that traditions are nothing more than man-made religion, then we can start growing as a church again. this is never gonna happen without true understanding of justification. we use the same verses to back up tradition/rituals as the mormons and catholics and every other off-based group that has set up strange un-biblical traditions for it's members to follow. do a quick study on how tradition is treated in the new testament- how much is positive and how much is negative? 75% negative. and where it is positive, it is simply paul referring to the traditions of loving others/etc that he had written about in his epistles.
We make the bible say what we want to hear, make it back up what we want to teach when we should simply take what it says and believe and obey it.
Good stuff!!!!
It's great to hear the truth without tip toeing around! I like his sense of humor (well, some of the things he said got a chuckle out of me) as well. Keep things like this coming!!
Maybe we should start putting out signs for the election " The problem is not liberal politicians, it's evangelical preachers"!
OFW - back again
You guys intimidate me just a little:) -- but the point I was driving at was NOT traditions -- in fact you may have helped me illustrate it.
Seems to me that anytime a minister dares to voice any appreciation for the ways of our faith, eyes start rolling, whispers start up...and I'm not exaggerating, I've observed it more than once. A comment such as "aren't we thankful that we still adhere to true repentance, conversion, etc.," (exactly what Paul Washer is talking about) is immediately attributed to "worshiping the church". A reference (in a prayer) to our practice of preaching by inspiration only is followed up by "as if you can't be inspired to write a sermon" whispered rather loudly before we even get up off our knees.
Why is it not considered possible to love and appreciate what we have and also have a degree of spiritual maturity? Seems to me
that tolerance is a one-way street.
This has been my own personal soap box for a long time, so thanks for the opportunity to broadcast it!
(I'm off to run the combine)
OFW:
I'm really glad you took the opportunity to voice your opinion. As I was writing my opinion and reading the others' opinion's I was hoping that you wouldn't be too intimidated to write your thoughts.
I'll leave the "inspired sermons" topic for another day. *smile*
Regarding "showing appreciation for what we have" vs. "over-emphasis on our culture/traditions": The examples you've written definitely demonstrate your point. And I agree with you that those attitudes are not edifying, and they should have no place in a fellowship of believers.
Now, in the heart of getting to the root of the issue, I believe there is a cause for people reacting in such a way to seemingly innocent statements of church appreciation. I perceive that cause to be the fact that some (maybe many) in our church have lifted our culture and traditions up to the point where we use adherence to them as the main (maybe only) gauge of a persons heart.
Now, on the flip side of that coin, I think the reason so many are focusing so heavily on lifting up our church culture and tradition is because they see people in our church who, as they let go of our culture, never replace it with a passion for holiness, which leads them down very ungodly, unwholesome paths.
My antidote for both of those people are more Paul Washer sermons. :-)
I absolutely do NOT covet the difficult positions our ministers can find themselves in. But I know what the Word says about Ministers who don't preach the Bible in its Entire truth. May God convict hearts to turn as He wills.
To the traever – right on.
To Luke – I totally agree that attitudes demonstrated by the “church whisperers” are not edifying and those individuals should re-examine their intentions and motives….myself included.
To the OFW – The issue I think is when ‘what we have’ is viewed as requirements for living a sanctified life. I agree with Luke that determining a believer’s spirituality from their level of compliance with local church tradition often supersedes our inability to truly know the heart of a new believer. Is it safe to assume that just because we play the part, we are one of God’s elect? I don’t know of anyone who would say yes to that. I know several “friends” who fall in that category.
While I don’t condone the idea of church bashing, I believe that challenging why something is done is healthy. What it not healthy is segregating ‘our faith’ from The Faith. When I reference our faith, I’m referring to the faith that is a result of God’s irresistible grace, not our church denomination. Maturity lies in the realization that there is opportunity for growth as a body and then developing an action plan to pursue that opportunity. Why must I maintain contentment when so much opportunity for growth abounds?
My question is this. Must we be content with ‘what we have’ or is growth an option? There is no doubt in my mind that with knowledge comes the responsibility of utilization. Don’t forget, apathy leads to atrophy……
looks like i know who my next two votes for ministers in washington are for...
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