| Poster | Thread | KingJimmy
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Thesis 70 - There is a great deal of preaching that amounts to a mere believing of the different theories about salvation, instead of persuading men to come to Christ and be saved.
(John 5:40, Colossians 1:28, 2 Corinthians 4:5).
Indeed. I knew one reformed individual who thought all of the gospel was the five solas + TULIP. That was the gospel to them, and when I suggested they were dead wrong, they became violently upset. Unless somebody thinks I'm simply picking on reformed preachers, the same can also be said about those who hold to an arminian view of things.
Preaching the plan and "formula" of salvation is not the same thing as preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. Explaining the mechanics of how a car drives will never get you anywhere. You must get in the car and drive in order to get where you are going.
The kingdom of heaven, and the gospel is like that.
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Jimmy H
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|  2009/10/31 23:02 | Profile | KingJimmy
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Thesis 71 - There has been a loss of the fullness and majesty of the gospel.
(1 Timothy 1:11, Jude 25, Romans 15:29).
The apostle Peter reminds us that we are called to proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. There has been a loss of this very thing, because the brilliant majesty of our King has been lost, and is not seen by the eyes of many.
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Jimmy H
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| | 2009/10/31 23:04 | Profile | KingJimmy
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Thesis 73 - Covetousness, consumerism, and coddling the worlds goods is something that does not appear wrong to evangelicals.
(Jeremiah 22:17, 1 John 2:15-16, 1 Timothy 3:3).
I live every day, and will likely do so for the next 3 or 4 years, with the result of my appetites for the things in this world. Until my debts are paid off from my reckless spending, spending that I did while in Bible college and shortly thereafter, I will not truly be able to do for the Lord the things I desire to do, because I am the slave of man until those debts are paid in full. And because I was an utter fool, I am always a paycheck away from total disaster.
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Jimmy H
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| | 2009/10/31 23:08 | Profile | KingJimmy
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Thesis 74 - Little is made of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in churches or in evangelism. Yet it was one of the major themes and glories of the apostolic church.
(1 Corinthians 15:14-15, Acts 4:10, Acts 4:33).
God raised a dead man named Jesus from the grave, and He lives forever more. If we would ever truly grasp this message, I'm utterly convinced we can never be the same people again. A dead man was brought back to life! He really woke up three days after being crucified and dying!
I could shout this from the roof tops all day, and few would ever give it a thought. Indeed, I have gone to places like UNC Charlotte and preached all day long on nothing but the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and people simply went *shrug* I've done the same in the church, and don't get much of a different result.
The greatest need we have as a church today is to experience a revival of the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I know I have spoken with brother Greg and a few others on Sermon Index on this point many many times over the years. There are few messages that so burn through my Spirit as the doctrine of the risen Lord.
"Because He lives, I can face tomorrow," is more than just a cute hymn that we should sing with a detached comprehension. It is our everything. Even in regard to revival. I was once asked, "Where is your sermon on revival?" My reply is the resurrection of Jesus Christ is my sermon on revival. It stands today as the greatest revival in all of history. Indeed, all of history centers around this revival. A dead man named Jesus was brought back to life. And the good news is, God doesn't want to stop there! Jesus said the hour is now, and is also coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and they will arise.
In an age when the church grasps for a "relevant message" to preach, I can think of nothing more relevant than preaching Jesus Christ as alive from the grave. Because He lives forever more, I can have joy forever more. Why should any Christian ever need seven steps to joy? I don't need seven steps to joy, I just need to believe that Jesus Christ is alive. That is where I get my joy. I get my joy from participating in the life He has right now, and that resurrection life is available to me right now! Why? Because He lives!!!
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Jimmy H
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| | 2009/10/31 23:18 | Profile | KingJimmy
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Thesis 80 - We need to have the gifts of the Spirit restored again to the Church. The one gift we need the most is the gift of prophecy.
(2 Timothy 4:2, 1 Corinthians 14:39, 1 Corinthians 12:31).
Amen. There is much counterfeit in this arena. Which is why we are also in need of true "men" of God, so that the counterfeits and imitators do not have any place to gain ground. If we had more Art Katz's than C. Peter Wagner's, there would be much less ground taken. But because of the immature status of many Evangelicals in regard to these things, when anybody with candy comes along and offers it to us, we are so willing to look to them as a father of the faith, when they are little different than a pimp or drug dealer.
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Jimmy H
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| | 2009/10/31 23:24 | Profile | KingJimmy
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Charlotte, NC
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Thesis 82 - The evangelical church at large has forgotten how to pray.
(1 John 3:22, Acts 6:4, 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
God help me!!!
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Jimmy H
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| | 2009/10/31 23:24 | Profile |
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"They?".... I would like to add "we" need to change."
Well thingsabove :) I have never considered myself to be an Evangelical.
"Thesis 6 The evangelical church as a whole has lost the concept of their being engrafted into the promises given to Israel."
You can see that brother Greg uses the word "their."
I understand what you are trying to say but the use of personal pro-nouns is not always appropriate. In this particular case, as in Luther's 95 thesis, it was the Catholic church that needed to change. It was their leadership that the challenge was made too. The leaders of the Evangelical church need to see that they way that they "do business," is not Biblical, starting with how they even meet on a Sunday morning. Is it too late for them? Will they protect their postions of proffesional clergy and so on? Probably. Will they guard the status quo? Historically that is what dead movements tend to do.
Now for the "we." I agree , every Christian in the west needs to look at his or her walk with Christ in light of what brother Greg has written and see how we stack up. I am sure we will all fall way short of many of Greg's thesis. The question will be , can it be fixed within the etablishment that now exists, or will it take another reformation that makes a break, a clean break, a better break than the last one?........Frank
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| | 2009/10/31 23:25 | | KingJimmy
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Joined: 2003/5/8
Posts: 4419
Charlotte, NC
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Thesis 86 - Sinners are not saved to sin but rather saved to holiness and good works.
(Romans 6:13, Ephesians 2:10, 2 Peter 3:14).
Amen, absolutely. We didn't get save to sin less and less. We got saved to bear fruit for God. We aren't supposed to sin at all, and indeed, Paul reminds us in Romans 8 we are no longer debtors to the flesh to fulfill its corrupt desires and longings. Instead of living as sinners, Paul says we need to live as those who have been raised from the dead, even as Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. Again, this gets back to our desperate need of a revival of the doctrine of the resurrection, and it's practical application for our lives.
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Jimmy H
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| | 2009/10/31 23:27 | Profile | KingJimmy
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Thesis 90 - Little or no emphasis is put in evangelical churches on the plan of God to make us like Jesus Christ, conforming us to His image.
(1 Peter 1:14-16, 1 John 2:6, 1 Peter 4:1).
Indeed, Romans 8 teaches that we were PREDESTINED to be conformed to the image of God's son. Say what you might about predestination, but, Romans 8 clearly teaches our purpose for being is to make us more and more like Jesus. Indeed, Ephesians 4 makes it clear that God created the church and gave it ministries so that it might bring itself to a corporate maturity, to the fullness of the stature of Christ.
Might I be so bold as to say I believe God will do this very thing? He wants to bring about a corporate maturity, so that we might bear the witness we need to bear. But because we have lost this insight, we talk about some lukewarm Laodecian church being raptured. I'm sorry, but, Paul's theology of the church and God's eternal purposes for it lay no foundation whatsoever for a pre-tribulational rapture. I know many well meaning saints here believe this doctrine, but might I kindly suggest you learn about what the eternal purposes of God are for the church before you propose an imminent any-moment rapture theory?
Indeed, when I survey the corporate immaturity we possess as a church, I can be dogmatically certain that the Lord Jesus Christ is not catching us up anytime soon. Indeed, it makes me realize what a labor we have before us. Corporate maturity. Can you imagine such a thing? Many can't. But that is what Paul's vision for the church was. A church what was without spot or wrinkle, a church that had grown up and become what God needs it to become. Until that happens, the end cannot come. Indeed, the end will not come until it does.
But I get excited, as I survey with the little insight I do have, the mighty work God is doing in our very own generation to bring this eternal purpose of God for the church to pass. I'm believing it for my own life time. And if not within my own life time, within but a few generations of me.
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Jimmy H
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| | 2009/10/31 23:37 | Profile | KingJimmy
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Posts: 4419
Charlotte, NC
| | Re: | | Well, I have said a lot tonight, that I originally had no intention whatsoever on saying. But, I really meditated on these 95 thesis earlier today, and they really spoke to me. Please do not be offended if I said a lot. I have no intention of burying Greg's original post. I have only sought to offer edifying comments for the benefit of others, as the Lord spoke through Greg to me on certain points. May we truly grasp these things. I feel so stirred.
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Jimmy H
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| | 2009/10/31 23:41 | Profile |
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