subllibrm said:
Maybe preachers ought to quit worrying about statistics and just pastor the folks God put in their care.
I agree wholeheartedly that the continual harping about us being "just like the world" is counterproductive. It is the equivalent of saying that it's a "lost cause". It also conditions us to write off failed marriages as a "normal" part of the battle and that we should just expect to have casualties in war. NO! Teach your people to fight for it. Challenge them! Pray for them! Never, ever give up!
Yeah, I know where of I speak. We prayer fought our son-in-law back from the brink. I refused to buy into the lie that my daughter and grandchildren should just accept their place on the statistical chart. For months while he wallowed in the pig sty of sin, I prayed (along with a close group of guy friends) that God would bring him to the end of himself. That he would look down and see the rot and filth he was standing in. that he would find no pleasure, peace or rest in the choice he was living out. I prayed that God would make him miserable. One day he called my daughter and asked if he could make an appointment to call her the next day. He didn't have time right then and he needed to be able to say everything that needed to be said. The next day when she answered the phone and the initial greeting were out of the way, he said "I want to come home, I am miserable". Glory, glory glory to God for answered prayer!!
And as we prepared for his return (he was living out of state) I found myself praying that I would respond to his return as the prodigal's father did rather than in the manner of his brother. 2 years next month! Active in our church! Learning how to grow old together! Faulty, flawed trophies of God's grace that He continues to polish!
I disagree and wholeheartedly agree with you!
I totally agree that the power of prayer is, for the most part, a valuable, powerful weapon in the Christian's arsenal that is overlooked and under used. I'm thankful for the results you and your family experienced.
I disagree that pointing out that today's church is often just like the world is counterproductive.
I hear that sentiment used often here, usually when talking about homosexuality....pointing out the rampant hetero immorality in the church.
If the church is going to impact the world for Christ's Kingdom, we have to start with prayer....for the power to be different from the culture. That is a concept often repeated in Scripture and seldom practiced by the church as a whole.
