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Christian
Education Pre-K-12
Richmond Academy
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One Narrow Road part 2
The ending of part #1 focused on the fact that the seeker-sensitive church
places more emphasis on the seekers than upon the Lord Jesus Christ. To place
emphasis on the pains and the natural needs of people is a set-up for the
letdown that comes when a person is not willing to lose his life to find it. In
other words, we must not promote a feel good God.
John 12:31-32 (KJV) “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince
of this world be cast out. (32) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all [men] unto me.”
The goal is that every life should exalt God and His Kingdom. There is judgment
to be found and felt for those who deliberately oppose Christ, and there is
disappointment to be gained if the focus remains upon self-felt needs.
Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV) “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20)
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I
am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.”
There is no language in that scripture that suggests modifying the church to
draw people in. In fact, there is a point blank command of how we are to go and
find the people that are to be given the opportunity to enter the Kingdom of
God. Not only does the seeker-sensitive method dilute the sold out to Christ
emphasis, but it also excuses people from “GOING” and doing evangelism the way
it was commanded to be done. Primarily the church was always a gathering of
believers, “The Body of Christ,” the local assembly of the elect, but never was
it thought of as a modern day half-way house for nonreligious people.
1 Corinthians 3:6-11 (KJV) “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the
increase. (7) So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that
watereth; but God that giveth the increase. (8) Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his
own labour. (9) For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry,
[ye are] God's building. (10) According to the grace of God which is given unto
me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth
thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. (11) For other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
One of the greatest deceptions of today is that someone can come to God in any
other way than what He says. The scriptures say that God must draw by tugging
upon our heart and that our responsibility is to plant and water the Word of God
in others. We must not attempt to modify the instructions just to please people.
People in general have an inert desire for the “new thing” and the “bigger and
better.” It is that desire that often causes them to swerve off their designated
paths. The truth is that if a person starts off trying to enter into the Kingdom
of God on the wrong road, he will probably end up on the wrong road as well.
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is
old, he will not depart from it.”
The natural streets of stone, earth, and quarry we use every day are
innumerable, but there is only one spiritual path that we must follow. Though we
are not able to see it in the natural, the road we must travel is much like the
path that God opened for His people through the Red Sea, made by God without
variations. There truly is destruction on either side, but salvation and safety
are found by those who will stay on the strait and narrow. So gravitate to a
church where you cannot hide. Get involved in a church where you are held
accountable and are taught, discipled, and seek to gain an in-depth relationship
with God along with an ever growing understanding of the Word of God. Those are
the things that will enable you to stay upon the straight road, as well as equip
you to guide others.
-Kurt Thurston
October Newsletter 2007 |
Inner Limits | Pastor's
Journal October 2007
One Narrow Road part 2
| Reasoning
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Biblical
Counseling for Leaders
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