"A Starving People"

  I do a lot of thinking. Sometimes I'm not certain about what I am thinking about, but I think and reflect about a lot things. Maybe today is one of those days when I am thinking too much. You see, we seem to have set a pattern in the church of our Lord in our preaching/teaching that we continue to rehash the same old stuff with the same old mind-set with the same old material. I'm not saying that we aren't to use Scriptures about things but there is this settling state many times where we hear the same things over and over that have been taught...well, from childhood. There doesn't seem to be a lot that challenges us to reflect on our faith and deepen our commitment to the Lord. A while back visiting with a family, they told me they knew exactly what sermon would be preached on this particular day because they had heard the same for years. How sad! Points are made as to why we do what we do, believe why we believe over and over and there is little true development of faith. I'm not trying to bash anyone or not trying to sound pompous. I realize to some I will but that's not my heart intent. The church is in dire need of hearing Scriptures that confront us with God and ask us to look at our faith in light of Him. We need to move away from the same old rhetoric we call defending the faith, from the same old sources we always get it from and spend some time with God and His word to help the church move forward in faith!

  It carries to all avenues of our preaching, worship and prayers. How can someone say 'amen' to a calculated prayer of rehearsal? How can some walk away with a conviction of the unseen (Heb. 11:1) when all we do is repeat the same stuff? What are we preparing for others as preachers/teachers when all we do is pull out old sermon outlines that have been preached over and over? If we aren't growing personally, you sure can't help others grow toward the Lord!

  When the assembly is led in prayer we should see to it that the assembly hears from the heart. When we preach/teach we need to make certain the assembly sees God clearly and reach for a nugget of faith. That means the preacher/teacher needs to recognize the limitations and needs of those to whom he is speaking as Jesus did in John 16:12. We need to pay a price to help the church hear so they can believe something from the Lord! One thing that I have noticed over the years is the church is in a spiritual drought and starving for something from God than this shallow, over-repeated, lack of study lessons like we are teaching some subject at a public school. Maybe we are helping people pay attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons because we are starving the church and harming their faith? That's enough thinking for today!!