Posted on 04/17/2011 10:53:51 AM PDT by LouAvul
I grew up at a time where Truth and Scholarship in the pulpit were premium. What happened?
I moved to an area in the Bible Belt. One large church I visited, the preacher (PhD) literally did nothing but show powerpoint images he downloaded from the net. His theme was "Family." On one slide he just commented, "Wow. Just wow." He wasn't looking at the screen. The screen was blank. That was typical for his sermons.
Another congregation we visited, the preacher used powerpoint and just threw a dozen or more scriptures up without any exegesis. He just threw a bunch of verses that related to whatever general theme he announced for the lesson.
Another congregation, the preacher is smart and experienced. That's how I know he's just recycling the same tired lessons and tired themes over and over.
Two Sundays ago we drove a little further to visit someplace we'd never been. The preacher vaguely referenced a Bible passage but never quoted or read from a text. The sermon was just little personal anecdotes about his life.
More and more, my wife and I are just worshipping at home. We sings songs, study the BIBLE , take communion and pray. Until we're ready to start a congregation, it looks like that's what we'll be doing.
I don't know when things changed, but I don't like it.
If your looking for entertainment, go to the movies.
So you're not looking for a smart, experienced preacher? I don't understand. Every book in the Bible was written over 1800 years ago. The themes and lessons don't change, only the presentation.
I grew up IFB but stopped going to church after moving to the Bible Belts and found there is no way they can keep their pants up without pulling it a little tighter in the light of day and for their constant “I’m better than you” type of Christianity.
Yawn...
Got better things to do than hang out with people who make and pass judgment on the rest of sinners.
Now I just worship in private and willingly discuss Christ’s gift whenever someone asks.
While I share some of your experiences, my wife and found a church/pastor that preaches the gospel, and relates it to our lives. And we’re in the “Bible belt” so my advice is to keep looking, you’ll find a church home.
My friend, let me introduce you to John Piper at www.desiringgod.org
He is one of the best today. You can download his sermons anytime. He is currently preaching through the Gospel of John. He is exhaustively expositional.
You might also check out Mark Driscoll, John MacArthur, Alister Begg, Mark Dever, Cj Mahaney and many others. Biblical preaching is hard to find in the post-modern pulpit but there are some good ones out there.
My friend, let me introduce you to John Piper at www.desiringgod.org
He is one of the best today. You can download his sermons anytime. He is currently preaching through the Gospel of John. He is exhaustively expositional.
You might also check out Mark Driscoll, John MacArthur, Alister Begg, Mark Dever, Cj Mahaney and many others. Biblical preaching is hard to find in the post-modern pulpit but there are some good ones out there.
What you’re doing is basically the way first century house churches worked.
Clearly. I expect that, when a man is paid to research, prepare and present lessons from the Bible, that he actually research, prepare and present lessons from the Bible. If he's just throwing something out there that he threw together, he's not doing his job.
I think you missed the point Ray - Lou ISN”T looking for entertainment - he’s looking for a real preacher. I agree with him - most seem to be telling folks how they should be happy, accept their lives, not try to be better. It is total entertainment value in many churches.
I’m looking for edification. Entertainment is what we’ve got: a sesame street oriented church culture that seeks to entertain, not enlighten.
Just because visiting a particular church did nothing for you on a particular Sunday may mean your particular needs are different from those of the congregation. You also can't rule out bad timing; you happened to visit on a day when the pastor had been dealing with a emergency and was unable to properly prepare.
When my wife and I moved down to Louisiana from Ohio, we spent six months trying to find one and we were living in a small community. When we moved from Louisiana to Rhode Island, we had to go through the same process all over again but this time took longer since we were in an area with many more churches to select from.
Be patient and you'll find one.
I am sorry about the experiences you are having. I hope you find a way to connect with like minded believers somehow.
The operative word there is “basically”.
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” by way of the “simple church” “organic church” or “house church”. Google it - it’s not weird - it’s biblical. Then get yourself a copy of Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola - it might just change the way you r think about the institutionalized church. I believe in the Acts church - house to house.
My wife and I belong to a small fellowship in Lafayette, Tennessee but live in Myrtle Beach, SC. We worship primarily in our home and outreach in the community as an extension of our home church, which still gets our financial support. We also believe that most mainstream churches are out of touch with the basic precepts of the gospel message and generally stay away from them.
Lou, I suggest you try to find a church where they use a lectionary and preach thru the entire bible. The lectionary is an important discipline that makes sure that the minister does not just recycle his favourite sermons on “the family” etc.
The trick is to find a church that uses a lectionary and is also biblically faithful.
(the mainline churches use a lectionary that skips scripture they don’t like eg Romans 1:26-27)
The churches I attend use a lectionary based on the book of Common Prayer.
Small groups of dedicated followers of Christ are the way to go imho.
we do similar to you.
one of the absolute best blessings we’ve encountered/benefited from are Old Testament Bible Study recordings...taught by Dennis Prager...verse by verse.
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