Wednesday, 9th July 2008
Just last week. I was having lunch with a couple of fellow PLMC members who happen to be cell leaders and frequent visitors to New Creation Church (sorry, but I cannot reveal their names for obvious reasons).
Anyway, one of them asked me if I have heard a sermon entitled "The Shocking Youth Message" by a preacher by the name of Paul Washer.
Well, I just did on YouTube, but what was shocking to me was not so much the content of the message, but that a person who looks as mild and young as Paul could be so fiery a preacher.
Well, listening to his sermon did not cause my faith to rise. On the contrary, it had the opposite effect of causing despair, even though he mentioned God and Lord throughout. Since Rom 10:17 says that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the rhema word of Christ", one has reason to wonder...
Do count also the number of times he mentions the finished work of Jesus on the cross :-)
Such a sermon would fit right in with the bestselling titles that would have been found at Mt Sinai Bookstore.
What is sad is that there are actually people who appreciate such fiery condemning messages! Did not Paul (I refer to the apostle and not this fiery preacher) say in 2 Tim 1:7 that God has not given us a spirit of fear? Did he also not say in Rom 8:15 that we have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but a spirit of sonship that causes us to cry out Abba Father?
Maybe Rev Washer should re-tell the parable of the Prodigal Son, in which the father, instead of killing the fatten calf, throws his useless and good-for-nothing excuse for a son into the fiery pit of hell, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth :-)
Seriously though, I am not angry with law-based preachers like Paul Washer. Rather, I feel a sense of compassion for them because the way they preach reflect the way they perceive our Lord God. Preachers who preach brimstone and fire picture God as one who is demanding and never satisfied with them. On the other hand, preachers who preach God's love and goodness picture God as a loving Heavenly Father, which is what He truly is to the New Covenant believer. Amen?
2 comments:
I agree that it saddens me more than anything when someone as young as this preacher is so steeped in Legalism teachings.I wonder if he finds joy in the LORD at all.
I am glad I have finally come to see grace... amazing grace. It took me some time and a change internally. Lets pray the same for this young man - that he might come to see the real Jesus.
i was just thinking, when does the preaching start?
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