Arminian Today

Since I have been working for Golden State Foods, I have had possibly 4 Sunday’s off total.  I work every Sunday.  This means that I miss “church.”  Unlike most Southerners, I don’t get to go to church on Sunday.  Typically, my ekklesia will come later in the week as I met with a few people to pray, encourage each other, and study the Word (sometimes).  I rarely attend a traditional church on Sunday mornings or evenings.  It’s just not for me.  The Church is.  The show called church is not.

What bothers me is that I met so many people who go to church on Sunday mornings but ignore God the rest of the week.  They don’t pray.  They don’t intercede for the nations.  They don’t read and study the Word of God.  They don’t share their faith.  They don’t worship Jesus.  Instead they fill their lives with themselves or their families all week long.  They watch ungodliness on television and movies (hey it only has a few curse words in it, it’s not that bad) and they live as if God doesn’t even exist during the week.  But come Sunday, they put on their nice clothes and head off to the “house of God” where they will join in with others to watch the concert and hear the lecture.

As you can see, I am frustrated with that picture.  I see it repeated all the time.  I have seen good, strong disciples of Jesus who were passionate about seeking God, passionate about seeing the lost saved, settle into this lukewarm Christianity.  In my case, they left our fellowship to go to a more traditional, seeker-sentitive church and became just like the people there.  They quit praying.  They quit sharing the gospel with the lost (after all, it is a seeker sensitive church and one they can invite their friends to and not be embarrassed).  They stopped reading their Bible.  They became a shell of the people they use to be.  They begin to view myself and others like me as “too tough” and “legalists” instead of disciples of Jesus.

I am convinced that God calls us to be disciples of Jesus always.  God doesn’t want us to follow Jesus a little bit.  He doesn’t want us to follow Jesus when its convent to do so.  He calls us to be disciples all the time.  Jesus said that we were to take up our crosses daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23-25).  Are you doing this?  Do you daily follow Jesus?  Are you dying to self daily?  Are you seeking to focus on the eternal instead of the temporal (2 Corinthians 4:14-16)?  Are you serious about seeking God or is this a game to you?  When you read Luke 14:25-35, would that describe you?  Are you placing Jesus first and foremost in your life as your God?  Or have you replaced Him with idols (1 John 5:21)?  When you read 1 John 2:15-17, are you struggling with any of those sins?

The reality is that evangelicals have criticized Catholics for holding that Catholics receive grace for attending mass.  I find that evangelicals think that God honors them because they show up to a place called “church” on Sunday despite never seeking Him all week long?  They believe that they have done their duty to God by simply paying their “tithes” and listening to a sermon.  How wrong are we?  God wants all of us.  He doesn’t want our Sundays only.  He wants all of us.  We are to give Him our everything and He is to become our everything (Romans 6:15-23).  Notice Paul’s words in Philippians 3:13 where he says that he is forgetting what is behind (which were some good things religiously speaking) and is pressing on for what lies in front of him which is Jesus Christ (v. 14).  That is my passion as well.  I don’t want dead religion.  I don’t want typical Sunday worship.  I want more.  I want much more.  I want to be like Jesus in every way.  I want to follow Him completely.  I want Him to dominate my mind, my heart, and my soul (Mark 12:29-31).  I want Him to reign over my everything.  I want to die to self and follow Him forever.

I challenge you to be a disciple of Jesus daily.  Seek Him with all that is in you.  Make Him your passion.  Talk about Him often.  Pray to Him often.  Worship Him continually.  Adore Him.  Bow before Him.  Preach His gospel to others.  Glorify Him in all that you say or do (Colossians 3:17).

Does the New Testament promote the idea of full-time elders (or pastors)?  I know of many of my friends on this blog and outside who not only hold that it does but also they are full-time pastors.  In almost all cases they applied for their pastorate like any other job complete with paperwork and interviews.  In fact, the modern pastorate often resembles a CEO of a company more than taking over a church of God.  In many cases the interviews are full of questions mainly about budgets, organization abilities, and of course, numbers.  Attendance is a big issue for institutional churches since they operate on budgets that must be met.  I know of one large church in my area that sent out their yearly budget that totaled over $7 million dollars.  Less than 3% of that was going to missions.  Most of that $7 million was salaries and their buildings.  Since numbers drive the institutional church, the potential pastor must show that they can produce large results through various ides and organization.  The masses have to be kept happy.

The house church is nothing near that.  First of all, we have no budget.  Each person can give their money to whatever they want.  We don’t want it.  We don’t need it.  Occasionally we might have a family who needs money or a church planter who needs funds but we don’t regularly need your money.  Second, we have no buildings to pay for.  We have no mortgage.  We have no bills.  We offer no work insurance.  We pay no taxes since we own nothing and receive nothing.  Third, we have no staff.  We don’t pay a pastor.  We don’t pay a youth pastor.  We don’t pay a music leader.  We have elders who led us but they are not paid.

So what do we want you to do with the money that God gives you?  We want you to do what He tells you to do with in the New Testament.  First, Jesus said to give to the poor (Matthew 6:2-4; Galatians 2:10).  Secondly, give to hurting Christians (Acts 4:34-35; 11:27-30; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2).  Third, give to supporting apostles or church planters or missionaries (1 Corinthians 9:8-14; Philippians 4:10-20).  There is no biblical mandate in the New Testament to tithe to a local church to support their paying bills, salaries, etc.  Tithing is biblical but under the theocracy known as Israel.  We are not a theocracy.  Not once in the Epistles do the writers exhort God’s people to tithe.  If failing to tithe brings one under a curse (as some teach from Malachi 3:8-10) then surely the New Testament writers would want to keep us from that curse.  Sadly, those who teach this “cursed” view of Malachi 3:8-10 fail to show it this applies to Galatians 3:13.

Yet does the New Testament teach that there should be full-time elders?  In Acts 20 we have Paul holding a pastors conference (v. 17).  Paul the Apostle teaches these elders various things but one interesting thing that he says is in verse 35.  The words here are ascribed to Jesus although the Gospels do not contain them.  Using the words of Jesus, Paul tells the elders that it is more blessed to give than to receive.  Can you imagine hearing a prosperity preacher saying that to his TV audience today?  In fact, the thrust of Acts 20:33-35 is that Paul wants these elders to work and not seek money.  He point to his own example (Acts 18:1-4) as proof that he worked hard so that he could give his money to the weak (ESV).  In essence, Paul wanted these elders not to be full-time but to work so that they could give away their money.  What a radical concept for our time!

The other places we find the issue of money and elders is 1 Corinthians 9.  1 Corinthians 9 is not really about elders however.  In fact, elders are not found at all in 1 or 2 Corinthians.  Given how important the modern pastorate is in most churches, you would think that Paul the Apostle would address the elders to correct the troubles at Corinth.  He never does.  He expects the Spirit of God to lead His Church and for the people of God to obey the Spirit who leads them.  Not once in Corinthians does Paul address any leaders.  In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul deals with missionaries receiving money for preaching the gospel.  In verses 8-14 he makes the clear point that those who preach the gospel should live off the gospel.  Yet then Paul turns around and says that he has not done this despite his right to do so.  He tells the Corinthians that he didn’t want to be a stumbling block to them (vv. 15-18).  Paul could have asked for money but he gave up his right so that he could preach the gospel without hinderance.  In Acts 18:1-4 we find that Paul worked as a tent maker while preaching the gospel in Corinth.  He willfully gave up his rights to being paid so that he could work hard, give away his money, and preach the gospel.  How many modern pastors are doing that?

The final place we find elders and money is in 1 Timothy 5:17-18.  A couple of points are in order.  First, verse 17 does not use the word “money.”  I believe many read into verse 17 way too much about “double honor” as to teach that elders should be paid double what they would earn outside of the church.  The word “honor” here does not denote money.  The word is never used in the New Testament as a substitute for the word money.  Yet I have no trouble with honoring an elder who leads with much grace and ability in teaching the Word of God.  This honor can come in various ways including giving them money.  I don’t think we should isolate this verse and make it teach only money but we can give money to elders who fit this picture of verse 17.  Yet I don’t see in this verse that it teaches that elders should receive a regular salary.  Gifts?  Yes.  Salary?  No.  There is a big difference.

Frankly, I am weary of paying an elder very often since this could lead to one elder being exalted above others and can lead to this elder becoming a typical CEO type pastor only in a house church setting.  The plurality of leaders in the house church (Titus 1:5) helps to offset one elder dominating the others.  It also helps because elders are gifted in various ways other than teaching.  A full-time elder also would have a hard time fulfilling Acts 20:35 if in fact their income comes from the house church.

Lastly, if a house church is large enough to support a full-time elder, they are probably too large.  It’s time to split that house church.  House churches are strong because of personal relationships with one another.  This can’t happen if the house church is too large.  I recommend that house churches be no larger than a living room.  If everyone can comfortably be in a living room to worship God, pray, sing, eat, etc. then that is perfect.  Keep in mind that elders are to be among the people of God and not over them (1 Peter 5:1-4).

Hard work is something that we are scarred of in the West.  We need not be.  How wonderful it is to work hard and then to take our money and give it away to the kingdom of God through the poor, hurting disciples, or missionaries.  We are not to hoard up our funds but to give them away (Matthew 6:19-21).  Our treasure is not this world or money but the Lord Himself.  He is our delight and our reward.

One of the most common arguments I hear from traditional (or institutional) churches is that house churches are opposed to leadership.  One blogger put it this way, “House churches want to play church instead of being the church.”  Traditional churches pride themselves on their clergy-laity division, that they have leaders in place whereas it is assumed that house churches oppose any thought of a leader telling them what to do.

Well this is partly true.  First of all we hold that Jesus is the head of His Church.  As did the New Testament.  As do all evangelical churches.  Colossians 1:18 says, “He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything” (NASB).  Ephesians 1:22 echoes the same thought.  Jesus is the head of His Church.  Not a pastor.  Not a pope.  Not a priest.  Not any flesh but only Jesus is Lord over His Church.  Therefore it is true that we in the house church movement oppose someone telling disciples what to do or think since Jesus is the Lord of His Church.  We need to heed the words of Christ as found in the Scriptures above the creeds and confessions of human beings.  We believe that leaders in the church are not to lord it over others faith but be examples of true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 5:1-5).

The ironic thing about reading the New Testament is that you find not a lot of information about leaders in the church.  Only one letter in the New Testament even addresses the leaders from the outset and that is Philippians (1:1).  All of the New Testament letters are addressed to the saints when it would be assumed by modern traditional churches that leaders would first be addressed since the professional clergy set the tone for the local church.  The clergy set the agenda, the vision, the purpose, etc. for the local church.  This is not the case with the New Testament.

Leadership is addressed in the New Testament.  Jesus spoke about leadership in Matthew 20:20-28 but He contrasts the worldly leadership that the Jews had seen with true servant leadership that He called for and demonstrated with His life and death (Mark 10:45).  Leadership is addressed in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9.  Ephesians 4:11 speaks of gifted people who God gives the Church but for a reason: to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry (vv. 12-16) and not to pay someone else to do the work of the ministry.  Leaders are mentioned in Hebrews 13:7, 17 and 1 Peter 5:1-4.  Elders are mentioned in James 5:14.  You’ll notice how important elders were to the New Testament Church.  What you will not find is the idea of one professional pastor serving over a church with a deacon board or a group of elders helping the pastor lead the church.  The word pastor appears only in our English Bibles in Ephesians 4:11 and the ESV correctly translates it “shepherds.”  Jesus is the true shepherd of the flock of God (John 10:1-16; 1 Peter 2:25; Hebrews 13:20).

So what does leadership look like in a house church then?  First of all, we have elders.  A biblical house church should have a plurality of elders (Titus 1:5) who lead the house church.  Their purpose is not to be over the people of God but among the people of God (1 Peter 5:2).  The elders are to fit the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.  The elders are not professional Christians although they could receive some money as a gift from time to time (1 Timothy 5:17-18).  No where does the New Testament call elders to abandon the “secular” for the “ministry.”  Elders are to lead by example and not as professionals who dominate the local church life (Hebrews 13:7, 17).

Secondly, leadership in the local house church is often consensus based.  In Acts 13:1-3 we see the Holy Spirit leading the church in Antioch and He does so through the people of God.  Notice that the people of God were seeking the Lord for Himself (v. 2) and it was during this time that the Spirit called Barnabas and Saul for a specific work (in this case to be apostles or sent ones; see verse 4).  The church didn’t quickly say okay but again they fasted and prayed to come to a consensus about this call.

In Acts 15 we find another example of consensus.  Here the church meets to debate the relationship between the Law of Moses and the grace of Christ.  The church comes to a consensus after much debate (Acts 15:22).

1 Corinthians 11:2-16 is another example.  Here Paul is addressing an issue among the Corinthians about head coverings.  His point throughout these verses is that the church needs to come to consensus over this issue as he states in verse 16.

What this looks like on a practical level is that house churches often move slowly.  Unlike the traditional churches who vote on issues all the time and are building buildings and doing this or that, house churches are slow to act and instead seek God for His wisdom, to study Scripture, and to come to a consensus over issues.  Some issues are quickly solved while others must be handled with much prayer and wisdom from the Lord.  Keep this in mind, however, that Jesus is the Lord of His Church and He is faithful to His Church.  We need only to wait on Him and obey all that He has taught us (Matthew 28:20).  No matter the issue, Jesus should be the main focus and His glory is to our aim.

Lastly, the priesthood of the believers is vital to the local house church.  Each person can study the Scriptures and can speak for God (1 Peter 4:10-11).  All of us are called by God to glorify His name and to proclaim Him.  All of us can hear from God in His Word (John 8:47).  All of us have the Spirit of God living within us (Romans 8:9) and all of us can be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14) and He is able to speak through us.  We should be open to all disciples of Jesus sharing from the Scriptures or giving a teaching since we are all priests unto the Lord (1 Peter 2:4-11) and all of us can give input into the kingdom of Christ (1 Corinthians 14:26).  Elders are not to be the only ones teaching the Bible.  Elders certainly are to keep the house church sound doctrinally (Titus 1:9; 2:1) but elders are not to dominate the house church meetings.

Leadership in the house church is important and should not be rejected.  God raises up elders to glorify His name through their passion and examples.  Elders are not to dominate the people of God nor are elders to be professional Christians but they are to serve as servant leaders of God’s saints.  We need godly leadership in the local church but what we don’t need is more of the CEO-type leadership that we find in the traditional churches.  Only Jesus is truly head of His Church.  Let us exalt Him for His leaders while He Himself is our true leader.

We continue looking at what Arminius had to say about the Roman Catholic Church and her false teachings:

IX. First. The name of the Adulterer and The Pimp of the Church is his.

(1.) He is the Adulterer of the church, both by the public and mutual profession of each other; because he calls the [Roman Catholic] church his and she neither disowns the arrogance of this title nor is afraid of the odium [attached to such assumption,] and he is the adulterer in reality. For he practices spiritual adultery with the church, and she in return with him. He commands the apocryphal writings to be accounted divine and canonical; the ancient Latin version of the Scriptures, [commonly called] the vulgate, to be every where received as the true original, and under no pretense whatever to be rejected; his own interpretations of the Scriptures to be embraced with the most undoubting faith; and unwritten traditions to be honoured with an affection and reverence equal to that evinced for the written word of God. He enacts and rescinds laws that pertain to faith and morals, and binds them as fetters on consciences. He promises and offers plenary indulgences, and the remission of all sins, through the plenitude of his power. “He exalteth himself above all that is worshipped,” and offers himself as some god to be adored with religious worship. In all these acts the church, deceived by his artifices, complies with his wishes. He is, therefore, the Adulterer of the church.

(2.) But he is also the Pimp or Pander of the church, because he acts towards her as the author, persuader, impelling exciter and procurer of various spiritual adulteries committed, or to be hereafter committed, with different husbands, with angels, Mary and other deceased saints, with images of God, of Christ, of the Holy Ghost, of the cross, of angels, of Mary, and of saints; with the bread in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; and with other inanimate objects.

X. To him likewise belongs the name of The False Prophet, whom the Scripture calls “the tail,” in opposition to “the head;” (Isa. ix, 15;) and this, whether it be received in a general acceptation, or in a particular sense and restricted to a certain and determinate person.

(1.) In its general meaning, whether it signifies him who teaches falsehood without arrogating to himself the name of a prophet, or him who falsely boasts of being a prophet, the latter of which seems to be the proper signification of the word. (2 Pet. ii, 1; Acts xiii, 6.) For, first, he partly introduced into the church many false dogmas; and partly those which were introduced when such a great mystery of iniquity was finished, he defends, maintains and propagates. Of this kind, the dogmas concerning the insufficiency of the scriptures without traditions, to prove and confirm ever necessary truth, and to confute all errors; that it is of the last necessity unto salvation for every human creature to be under subjection to the Roman pontiff; that the bread in the Lord’s supper is transubstantiated, or changed in substance, into the body of Christ; that in the mass Christ is daily offered by the priest as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and of the dead; that man is justified before God, partly by faith, and partly by works; that there is a purgatory, into which the souls of those enter who are not yet sufficiently purified, and that they are released from it by prayers, intercessions, watchings, alms-deeds, indulgences, &c. In the Second sense, this epithet is due to him, because he says that he is a prophet, who, on account of the perpetual assistance of the Holy Spirit, which is attached to that chair, cannot possibly err in things which pertain to faith and morals.

(2.) But it also belongs to him in the restricted meaning of the word; because the Roman pontiff is “the false prophet who works miracles before the beast, (Rev. xix, 20,) “out of whose mouth comes out three unclean spirits like frogs,” (xvi, 13,) and who is not improperly understood to be “the tail of the great red dragon, that drew the third part of the stars of heaven.” (xii, 4.)

XI. He is also deservedly called The Destroyer And Subverter Of The Church. For since the superstructure of the church “is built by the faith of the doctrine of the apostles and prophets, which rests on Jesus Christ himself, the chief Corner-stone,” since it likewise increases more and more through the obedience of faith in the right worship of the Deity and in the pursuit after holiness; and since it is built up in the Lord, being fitly framed together into one body through the bond of peace and concord; (Ephes. ii, 20, 21; iv, 3; 2 Pet. ii, 5, 6;) the Roman pontiff demonstrates himself to be, in a four-fold manner, the subverter of this edifice: First, by perverting the faith. This he effects,

(1.) By adding the books of the apocrypha and unwritten traditions to the prophetical and apostolical scriptures.

(2.) By joining himself, as another foundation, with Christ who is the only foundation.

(3.) By mixing numerous false dogmas with those which are true.

(4.) By taking away some things that are true, or corrupting them by false interpretations. Secondly, by adulterating the integrity of divine worship. This he does,

(1.) By an addition to the persons who alone, according to God and his command, are to be objects of worship.

(2.) By the introduction of a method which is expressly forbidden by God.

(3.) By introducing vain, ridiculous and old wives’ superstitions.

(4.) By the institution of various peculiar societies of devotees, separate fraternities, and newly fabricated religious orders of Francis, Dominic, &c. Thirdly, by vitiating the purity or soundness of holiness and morals. This he accomplishes chiefly by the following acts:

(1.) By inventing easy methods of obtaining remission of sins and plenary indulgences.

(2.) By declaring certain precepts in the name of councils.

(3.) By absolving many persons from the obligation of their duties.

(4.) By binding men to [the performance of] those things, which no one whatever is capable of understanding or accomplishing.

(5.) By bringing into the Christian world the worst examples of all wickedness. Fourthly, by breaking the bond of concord and unity. This he effects chiefly by these acts and artifices,

(1.) When he arrogates to himself a power over others, which by no right belongs to him.

(2.) When he obtrudes many false dogmas to be believed as true, and unnecessary things as absolutely necessary.

(3.) By excommunications and senseless fulminations, by which he madly rages against those who have not deserved such treatment, and who are not subject to his diocese.

(4.) When he excites dissensions between princes, republics and magistrates and their subjects; or when he foments, increases and perpetuates such dissensions, after they have been raised in other quarters.

I have known both praying churches and have seen prayer movements.  A praying church looks like Times Square Church in New York City where 24 hours a day, there are people there praying.  However, the church’s main focus at TSC is not to pray.  They engage in many, many other ministries such as preaching, teaching, evangelism, practical courses such as GED education, reading education, job training, etc. and homeless ministries, drug addiction ministries, and so many others.  TSC is one of the most active churches you’ll find but they pray.  They emphasize prayer in all that they do.  Prayer is the basis for their work.  They don’t pray for God to bless their work.  They pray for God to guide them to do His work (Ephesians 2:10).  Their leaders are praying people and they demonstrate it through teaching on prayer but also praying themselves.

A prayer movement, however, might be people who are a part of churches that may or may not pray yet they pray.  They sense the Spirit’s calling the Church to prayer (2 Chronicles 7:14) and they sense that we are living in dark times where we need a move of God.  We need another Pentecost in the sense that we need the Holy Spirit to move us out in power to see the lost saved by God’s grace in Christ Jesus.  These people are praying people in sometimes dead churches.  I know of a church in my city that is fairly large but offers no prayer.  They pray but they have no strong commitment to prayer like Times Square Church does.  They are not basting all they say and do in prayer.  They have no place in their church building for prayer warriors to meet and cry out to God.  They offer no strong emphasis on prayer in their preaching or in their ministries.  Like good Christians, they pray but they don’t really seek God.  Now it could be true though that perhaps there are intercessors in that church.  That church might not be a praying church but there might be praying disciples in that church.  Only God knows at this point.

I believe that what the Lord wants is both a praying church and a prayer movement.  The Church can’t just sit around and pray all the time.  We have people to evangelize, needs to meet, and we live in a real world that requires that we have jobs, families, etc.  But this should not keep us from prayer.  Jesus taught us to pray always (Luke 18:1).  Jesus’ own disciples came to Him to ask Him how to pray (Luke 11:1).  Should not we?  Prayer is vital to a move of God.  I have never read of a revival that did not begin or sustain itself without prayer.  Even Pentecost came as the disciples were praying in the upper room (Acts 1:14).  When Saul was converted by Jesus in Acts 9 what was the first thing that he did after begin struck blind by the Lord?  He prayed (Acts 9:11).

Prayer was vital to the New Testament letters.  Paul said that the Spirit helps us pray (Romans 8:26-27) and then he told the Romans to be constant in prayer (Romans 12:12).  He told the Ephesians to pray at all times in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18) and he told the Philippians to clothe all things with prayer (Philippians 4:6).  He told the Colossians to be devoted to prayer (Colossians 4:2).  He told the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  He urged Timothy to pray (1 Timothy 2:1-7) for the salvation of all.  The writer of Hebrews pointed to the fact that Jesus was our faithful high priest so we can now approach God the Father in confidence (Hebrews 4:14-16).  James points out the power of prayer in James 5:15-18 using the example of Elijah who sought God.  Peter warned against hindrances to prayer (1 Peter 3:7, 12) so that we could avoid them to pray.  1 Peter 4:7 reminds us to be self-controlled and sober-minded for the purpose of praying.  1 John 5:14-15 tells us the wonderful promise that echoes the words of Jesus from John 14:12-14, that if we ask anything according to God’s will, He hears us and will answer us when we call to Him.  Jude 20 mentions praying in the Holy Spirit.  Revelation was given to John the Beloved while he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10) which I take to be in prayer and worship of Jesus.  Revelation 5:8 mentions the prayers of the saints that rise before the throne of God.  These prayers of the saints are again found in Revelation 8:3-4.

The point is that we are to be a praying church and a prayer movement.  Prayer should flow from our lips like honey from the honeycomb.  We should pray at all times.  We should pray for all things.  We can intercede for whatever and wherever but we need only to pray in the name of Jesus for the Father to hear our cries.  Prayer is not a ritual that is boring and lifeless.  Prayer flows from loving Jesus and truly knowing Him.  When Jesus taught on prayer in Matthew 6:5-13, He taught from relationship and not religious rituals.  Jesus even said in Matthew 6:7 that we are not to be like the Gentiles who sought God with many words but without knowing Him as their Father (Matthew 6:8).  In fact, Matthew 6:9-13 is not a prayer to be prayed but is an outline for how to pray.  Notice Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:9, “Pray then like this….”  not “Pray these words…”.

So the great need is for both a praying church and a prayer movement.  I believe the Lord is raising up a praying movement.  He is storing the hearts of men and women to pray and seek His face.  They are looking around at the modern Church and the world around us and they see that we need Jesus.  We need His salvation to come to the nations.  We need righteousness in our nation.  We need repentance in our churches.  We need a mighty move of God.  We don’t need more special meetings and conferences.  We need a praying church to rise up.  I pray that the Lord will help you and I to be a people of prayer.  I would rather teach a person to pray than anything else.  More than being a great Arminian theologian, I want to be a man of God who prays.  I want to be known by my wife and children as a man of prayer. I want to see God’s Church seeking His face and not His hand.  I want to see the people of God rising up and taking hold of the promises of God and praying.

For those hungry to pray for revival, I recommend the book Revival God’s Way by Leonard Ravenhill.

When I was a boy my father collected all things Jimmy Swaggart.  He had albums by Swaggart and tapes by Swaggart and we even would drive to hear Swaggart preach if he came near our city.  And then came the fall of Swaggart.  After that, my father threw away all his Swaggart stuff.  He didn’t give up on God but something changed in my dad when Swaggart fell.

And no doubt Swaggart needed to fall.  From the accounts I have read of him, he had become consumed with pride (Proverbs 16:18; 1 Peter 5:5).  He refused to listen to anyone.  The late David Wilkerson told the story of even flying down to Baton Rouge to see Swaggart and told him to give it all up (this was before he fell).  Wilkerson said that this warning came from the Lord.  Swaggart looked at Wilkerson and said, “Do you realize how much we are giving to missions this year?  If I left this, this ministry would collapse.”  Swaggart had come to a place where he loved ministry more than God and he viewed his place in the kingdom as so vital to the plan of God that he couldn’t and wouldn’t forsake the ministry.  In just a few weeks after this, his sins caught up with him and he was exposed for all the world to see.

Looking back at the falls of Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker, I believe this was helpful.  For a season the Church in the West became focused on the Lord and not on people.  For a season, ethics and doctrine were important above pragmatism.  While I do believe that God has forgiven Swaggart and Bakker, they will never be in the same place they were before they fell and nor should they have been in the first place.

The fact is that God is all about Himself.  He does all things for His glory and He said that He would not share His glory with anyone (Isaiah 42:8).  His whole purpose is to exalt His name and to make His name great.  He does not exalt flesh.  He exalts only His own glory for His own glory is perfect.  Our glory is full of pride and sin and flesh.  Our passion should be that of the Lord’s and that is to exalt Him and make Him great (Philippians 1:20-21).  The gospel is not about you and I.  The  gospel is about God (Romans 1:16-17; 3:22-29).  The message of the Church is not “Hey, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” but rather, “God is holy and just and He will judge all by His own righteousness.  Repent then and turn to Him and be saved by His grace.”  All that God does from His creating the world to the sending of His Son to die on the cross to Jesus’ resurrection to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the end of time is to glorify Himself.  He alone is the only one who is worthy to be worshiped and adored (Revelation 4:11).

Yet I see superstar Christianity on the rise again and I fear it.  I see superstar mega-pastors all over the place from the local bookstores to television to podcasts.  Their emphasis seems to shout, “Hey, look at me.  I am great.  I am an evangelical superstar.”  They have built mega-churches around their own personalities.  I do believe that some of them started out so pure in that they wanted to do great things for Jesus but somewhere along the way, the flesh took over and now they are finding their satisfaction not in Christ and His glory but in their own glory.  They enjoy the crowds who adore them.  They enjoy the attention they receive just by walking into the room.  They love that they are making millions of dollars simply by being themselves.  They have fallen trap, I am afraid, to Satan and his lies (see Luke 4:6).

And this superstar Christianity is doing so much harm.  For one, it creates more and more pragmatic churches who want to copy what the other churches are doing who are growing.  They care little about faithfulness in doctrine, making true disciples of Jesus who deny themselves, and care little about repentance or prayer.  Secondly, it continues to push the clergy-laity system that promotes one person above all others instead of all using their gifts to glorify Christ (1 Corinthians 14:26).  Third, it damages the gospel because people don’t see Jesus or even hear of Him really but instead they are bound by idol worship of pastors and superstars.  Fourth, it creates many false converts as they are not falling in love with Jesus but with the superstar pastor who is not showing them Jesus nor teaching them in truth about Him or His salvation.

How we need the Lord to help us.  When God saves Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9, He sent him away for three years according to Galatians 1:18.  The great Apostle was to be trained by Jesus in the desert.  Ironically, by the time we get to 2 Timothy 4:11, Paul is alone except for Luke.  This great Apostle of our Lord who would be so used by God is now alone.  This “superstar” of Christianity was abandoned. And that is how crowds are.  They love you one minute and are willing to crucify you the next.  Paul, however, found his comfort in Jesus and not the crowds.  He wanted only to glorify Christ even to the end (2 Timothy 4:6-8) and Christ was with him (2 Timothy 4:17) as He promised He would do for His saints (Psalm 23:1).

Just remember this, God doesn’t need superstars.  He does all things for His own glory and He said that He would not share His glory with another.  God will not share His glory with a superstar Christian.  He does all things for the glory of His own name and fame.  In the end, He will exalt His name and all other kingdoms will be crushed (Daniel 2:44-45; Hebrews 12:25-29) including these mega-pastors and their kingdoms.  In the end, only Jesus will remain (Philippians 2:9-11).