Erwin McManus.. ??? author ? pastor of mosaic church

[Brighten04]

after all isnt preaching aform of it

So is singing.

 

[visionary]

Got lots of platitudes..https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/24712.Erwin_Raphael_McManus

 

[tango]

Some Christians have the spiritual gift of exhortation, and they are very good motivational speakers.

Sure, but that's not the same as an essentially secular message wrapped up as if it were a Scriptural message.

 

[Brighten04]

Sure, but that's not the same as an essentially secular message wrapped up as if it were a Scriptural message.

Maybe I am missing your point.

 

[Alithis]

Sure, but that's not the same as an essentially secular message wrapped up as if it were a Scriptural message.

Maybe I am missing your point.

i think i just say through one of those this morning ..it is amazing what lengths people wil go to to justify doing of things .. any "things" as long as it comforts the exclusion of actually sharing "the Gospel"

 

[Brighten04]

i think i just say through one of those this morning ..it is amazing what lengths people wil go to to justify doing of things .. any "things" as long as it comforts the exclusion of actually sharing "the Gospel"

 

[Alithis]

ouh what i mean, is i sat through a sermon where we were encouraged to "do good things " or that is to say , encouraged to live a good life .. presented as, "a possible best "way to share the gospel ..-that is , as opposed to actually sharing the Gospel .. you know? "preaching it " .
throughout the sermon the scriptures were not opened and when they finally were it was to take a couple of lines ..Not really even a complete verse let alone text OR context and make a rather ambiguous point .

a message that discourages the actually preaching of the gospel by heavy inference that example of life is better . is , in my book , a "secular message wrapped up and presented as if it were a scriptural message -but it is NOT {i know its probably not the type of example tango is referring to -but it is relevant to me being that it is a fresh example }
there is nothing the devil would like more then for us all to be good people doing a good life as long as we SHUT-UP about the Lord JEsus .

to further strengthen this non scriptural presentation the speaker used the well worn quote attributed to francis of assisi , where he is purported to have said

" Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words"....
firstly i will add .. i say NON scriptural presentation because the GOSPEL of the lord JEsus is firstly and foremost a VERBAL message ..it is commanded that it "BE PREACHED "
secondly - its slowly becoming more commonly known that francis of assisi never said any such thing ..its what i call ( for fun ) a denominational myth it is a misrepresentation of what he did say .. which was to strongly advise that all his adherent preachers ... LIVE out ,what they preach .. and not preach it ONLY - in no way whatsoever did he EVER suggest even remotely that a person live a good life as a means of preaching the gospel -
it is even absurd to suggest it when you look at this man who preached the Gospel sometimes in 5 or 6 villages a day standing on doorstep or hay bales or old boxes and proclaiming aloud the gospel from his mouth .

the one reason ( i know this from my own life) that people speak to encourage not actually speaking the gospel is because it is tiresome ,it carries the shame of the cross ,it is difficult ,sometimes tedious and thankless in the present and doing so is opposed to the carnal comforts of the flesh .

this is why i said ..-" it is amazing what lengths people wil go to to justify doing of things .. any "things" as long as it comforts the exclusion of actually sharing "the Gospel""
we should never comfort the absence of the preached gospel .. we should be goaded by it , lament it and repent of it

 

[tango]

Maybe I am missing your point.

If someone is going through a hard time in life a secular motivational message might focus on their inner strength, endless repetition of silly mantras ("I can do this, I can do this", "I can, I will", "I am strong"), visualising the outcome they want, and the like.

A Biblical message might look at the example of Job, or Paul's "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Php 4:13), maybe "My strength is sufficient for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2Co 12:9) and so on.

The key difference is that one focusses on me, me, me and how I can face the difficulties ahead, how I can overcome, how I can pull through etc, while the other focusses on God's grace and how God will help us through.