Preacher, Preach the Word!

Preachers, we are not called to build empires, we are not called to be accepted! We are called to preach the Word with dunamis (power) for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. We are to preach a bloody Gospel because people must lay down their religious cloaks and run to the cross and repent of their sins in order to truly be saved. Preachers should not preach to accomodate people. Preachers should preach to please God and by doing so sometimes you will have to say things that are tough. But I would rather preach the Word and make someone mad and then they get saved in the future, then preach to accomodate and people die in their sins and go to Hell.

One of the biggest sins in the modern day church is one of toleration. Jesus most certainly did not tolerate sin. In fact he confronted the "religious" and told them they belonged to Satan. He called them white-washed tombs! Much of what we hear in the world today is the idea that everything is going to be alright. The truth is that some people who come to church are not even there to hear from God. They are there for their own motives. and the last thing we need is for the church to capitulate and look more and more like the world. The reason why the country is the way it is because there are not enough Christians with the backbones to stand up and speak against the atrocities of our nation. Preacher, it is your responsibility to call sin, sin. When so-called Churches start ordaining Homosexuals there is a problem. Churches that tolerate homosexuals have Ichabod written all over them. The Bible makes it clear where homosexuals are heading. I refuse as a preacher of the gospel to sit around and watch my country go to hell in a handbasket! So my question is, who is with me! Who is willing to take a stand and see another Great Awakening. I have a television show called Reviving Your Day! The whole purpose of that show is to Preach the Word, Preach the Cross and Preach Redemption to a lost and dying world. I ask you preacher to open your pulpits and let's take this nation back for the glory of God. Too long has the church been asleep! It is time to wake up! It is time for spiritual awakening!

Christ in the Old Testament!

Christ is the promised seed of Eden. He is the sheltering rock of Noah. He is the Ram offered in Isaac's stead. He is the Passover Lamb of Exodus. He is the perfect sacrifice of Leviticus. He is the life-giving Serpent lifted on the pole in Numbers. He is the accessible refuge of Deuteronomy. He is the gracious, compassionate Saviour of Joshua. He is the mighty man of valor of Judges. He is the kinsman Redeemer of Ruth. He is the Conqueror of Samuel. He is the vigilant administrator of Chronicles. He is the prayerful Builder of Nehemiah. He is the wise Leader of Ezra. He is the prevailing Intercessor in Esther. He is the delivering Daysman of Job. He is the patient Sufferer of Psalms. He is the upright Son of Proverbs. He is the wise man of Ecclesiastes. He is the attractive Beloved of the Song of Solomon. He is the beautiful messenger of Isaiah. He is the weeping prophet of Jeremiah. He is the glorious One of Ezekiel. He is the cut-off prince of Daniel. He is the refreshing dew of Hosea. He is the resolute Judge of Joel. He is the raiser of Amos. He is the satisfying Physician of Obadiah. He is the afflicted Substitute- of Jonah. He is the Caster-Away of sins of Micah. He is the irresistable Stronghold of Zechariah. Last, but not least, He is the amazing Refiner of Malachi.

A Glimpse Into A Preacher's Heart (Tony Workman's Story)

I have lived in Warner Robins my whole life and there has been some good memories. It is here where I have forged memories with my Mother and my Father who mean the world to me. I graduated from High School at CFCA and those were some great times. I went to College and originally was going to be a History teacher and a football coach. However, God called me to the ministry, and I left Valdosta State to pursue ministry because I most definitely heard from Almighty God concerning the call to preach the Word. Opportunities started to come my way thanks to Brother Tim Millwood and the Association setting up to opportunity for me to preach at Shady Grove Baptist Church. From the moment I stood behind that pulpit I knew that indeed God had called me. The feeling that a minister gets standing behind the pulpit cannot be explained. I then after much prayer decided to move to Rossville, Georgia which is about fifteen minutes away from Chattanooga. I went to seminary, and learned so much about how to operate a ministry. I learned that pastoral ministry is so much more than just preaching. Preaching is important and I love to preach with all my heart. In fact, preaching the Word of God is my passion. I could preach every day, every week and never grow weary. While I was in Chattanooga I met some wonderful people at Dry Valley Baptist Church and they took me in and treated me like family. They allowed me to use my gifts and they allowed me to preach quite frequently. Well, I left Rossville and moved back to Warner Robins. Since I have been back to town I have gotten some preaching opportunities but not as much as I would have liked. I left the opportunity to make a good salary teaching because I heard a Word from God. Since I have been back in town (and that has been a little over a year), I have to admit things have not been easy. In fact, for a long time I was depressed and often questioned why I was not getting many opportunities. Well about four to five months ago things seemed to change. A man noticed me on facebook and gave me a call and asked me to be on his television show. I could not believe it. So I went and through that I met a young man named Jeremiah Knipe who works at a television station in Columbus. I got to be on the show God's Word Today and God used that to really open up doors in the Columbus, Georgia area. I now have a TV show called Reviving Your Day and I pray that it really has an impact. I have preached at Providence Church in Columbus which I loved, and have also preached here in town at a church called Mount Sinai Fellowship. I want you to know and I want people to know that I love Jesus and that He is everything to me. I also know that the Devil attacks God's servants. The Devil is attacking me, and sometimes it is hard in ministry because you have to live from day to day and do not know sometimes how you are going to financially make it. It is funny how most of my ministry opportunities are so far away. I praise God for the opportunities. I just wish that I could preach more in the country, and be able to financially support my needs. I do not ask for much. I am not money motivated. Please pray for me, and pray that God would lay it on some pastor's heart in this community where I live and give me more opportunities to minister and to preach. I believe that the Word of God is inerrant. I believe that the Word is authoritative and sufficient. I believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven! I just want others to see my passion, I just want opportunities to preach the Word. I have a fire shut up in these bones! Please be in prayer!

Theological Foundations Lived Out!

The Bible Lived Out!

The Bible transcends all cultures and all times. It is apparent that the Bible should be the framework upon which society itself should look to when it comes to making laws. We do live in a world that is at this time for the most part pluralistic. In others word, all roads have truth and all roads ultimately lead to eternal life. Because the Bible is true and it never affirms any falsehood, it is our clear God-given responsibility to make a stand for Jesus Christ in a world where there is no absolute truth and in a world that believes that ethics does not a absolute standard. When one does not believe that God's Word is completely trustworthy, than one can not be an effective educator. It is our responsibility to take a stand against the problems in our society, because the Bible tells us to earnestly contend for the faith. So I do believe theology dictates context. What someone believes dictates how they are going to act. If this statement really took place in America there would be absolute reformation in our country. The question then becomes, why are we not doing something about it? If we want our country to change and turn back to God than we as educators need to start applying our knowledge. In other words, do not just be hearers of the Word, but be doers of the Word. We can have all the theological foundations in place but if we do not live them out then everything we know is meaningless.

Diversity Lived Out!

I was at one time a minister of a church in Columbus known as the The House of God (THOG). It was a great experience in my life. I learned so much under Dr.Jamie Sanks and it greatly impacted my ministry! THOG'S goal is to be a House of Prayer for all nations. Their desire is to be a multi-racial/multi-ethnic church where everyone matters, everyone is welcome, and everyone belongs. It is true that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in all of America. THOG will attempt to break down the barrier of racism which is still a problem in our country and in the world. The fact is when people get saved, they now belong to the Kingdom of God, and so everyone regardless of color should be treated as such. Their church wants to be a melting pot or a blending of all cultures. They are not going to contend or fight over preferences. God did not see skin color so why should we. We are the body of Christ and we must be unified and we must not let individualism get in the way because in the Kingdom of God there is but one ruler and He is Jesus Christ. I believe that every church in America should pay attention to what THOG is doing, because they truly have a heart for God!

Evangelism Lived Out!

A humble spirit is an essential character quality and prerequisite for soul evangelism! Without humility, all people will see is an individual that cannot relate to them because the individual thinks they have all the answers. Being able to identify with people's need is very important. Being humble means that in order for true soul evangelism to take place than the church must understand that no one is perfect. Everyone has struggles and has things that are plaguing their life. Humility is a must for soul- evangelism. Realizing that we all need constant grace in our lives is so important. None of us have completely arrived and if we have we should be in Heaven. If we would just be honest with non-believers and tell them that we have problems as well we would reach people more than to act as if we are better and we do not have any problems at all. We must be honest to people if we want to reach them for Jesus. That is what we must do in order to reach a lost and dying world for Jesus Christ!

Education Gone Wrong!

Personally, I think that current state of Christian Education in our nation today is very poor. It is true that an individual's Christian education should start at the home. Unfortunately, in this day and age most kids come from broken homes and they are not taught the fundamentals of the Christian faith. When the father is not present in the home there is something wrong. When parents do not make there children go to Sunday School there is something wrong. Christian Education begins at the home and unless America has a revival in their homes then Christian Education will suffer. It is much harder for churches to reach young people when they come from broken homes and when they hear in school that they are a product of primordial ooze that evolved over millions of years into what they are today. We as Christian Educators need to get back to the basics and teach young people and new converts how to walk and talk like a Christian. That was the whole purpose of Horace Bushnell. We need some more Horace Bushnell's today. We need some people who will challenge the way things are done in society and make an impact for the Kingdom of God. We need some godly parents who will set examples for their children and then we will see revival unlike ever before in our homes and in Christian Education.

When I compare the present state of Christian education to how it was practiced in previous eras (even the form of religious education in the Old Testament), there are some elements or traits that we have lost that must be rediscovered. First of all, as I have stated before, we have lost the importance of the family. The family is essential for Christian education. Without the family, Christian education cannot be effective because education starts at the home. Furthermore, we have lost or greatly under-valued the authority of the Bible. It is true that the Bible is the most sold book in history yet it is the least read. Simply put, we need some educators who will teach the Word of God line by line, precept upon precept in order to impact the next generation, and those who are considered Biblically illiterate.

One of the main problems we have in our educational framework is existentialism! Although there are many things that existentialist's and Christian's have in common, there are some things that Christians and existentialists would disagree on. First, existentialists question the authority of Scripture. The Word of God says that all Scripture is inspired and is profitable for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. In other words, Scripture has all the authority. Scripture is not only authoritative, but it is sufficient. Secondly existentialist' attack a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. John 14:6 says I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh to the Father except by me. These two things alone makes existentialist' wrong. However, what could be good for Christian educators is to understand the importance of critical thinking which was advocated by existentialist'. So there are some things that are good about existentialism. But it's ideas on the authority of Scripture and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is heretical. The most logical thing to do for Education in our country is to use the principles that coincide with Scripture and to shun those ideas that are contrary to Scripture.

A Jam from Tony Workman

The Resurrection and Deity of Jesus

Introduction

The Resurrection is what makes Christianity different than all the other religions in the world. Without the Resurrection, Christianity would have nothing to stand on because Jesus Christ would have been just a mere mortal man. But can Christianity be validated? Did Jesus Christ really resurrect from the dead and authenticate His claim to be God? There are at least three reasons why Jesus rose from the dead and they are the following: 1.) The fact that so many people testify of seeing Jesus after His resurrection, 2.) The fact that the apostles were willing to die for what they believed in. and 3.) Paul’s conversion from being a murderer of Christians to preaching the resurrection of Jesus. These are the three reasons that will be discussed in detail in this paper.

Post Resurrection Appearances

The fact that Jesus appeared to so many people after the Resurrection authenticates Jesus’ claim to be God in the flesh. Jesus appeared to over 500 people after His resurrection. The fact that Jesus appeared to over 500 people at one time is more than enough evidence to suggest that Jesus did in fact resurrect from the dead.

J.N.D. Anderson writes of the testimony of the appearances:
“The most dramatic way of dismissing the evidence would be to say that these stories were just mere fabrications, that they were pure lies. But, so far as I know, not a single critic today would take such an attitude. In fact, it would really be an impossible position. Think of the number of witnesses, over 500. Think of the character of the witnesses, men and women who gave the world the highest ethical teaching it has ever known, and who even on the testimony of their enemies lived it out in their lives. Think of the psychological absurdity of picturing a little band of defeated cowards cowering in an upper room one day and a few days later transformed into a company that no persecution could silence- and then attempting to attribute the dramatic change to nothing more convincing than a miserable fabrication they were trying to foist upon the world. That simply wouldn’t make sense.”

So we see that that the character of the witnesses who saw Jesus after His resurrection was exemplary. In fact, these people were transformed by what they saw. Josh Mcdowell in his book Evidence for Christianity gives a list of all the people that Jesus appeared to and they are the following: Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, to women returning from the tomb, to Peter later in the day, to the Emmaus disciples, to the apostles without Thomas, to the apostles with Thomas present, to the seven by the Lake of Tiberias, to a multitude of 500-plus believers on a Galilean mountain, to James, to the eleven, at the Ascension, to Paul, to Stephen, to Paul in the temple, and to John on Patmos. The fact that Jesus appeared to so many people is evidence for the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead
Persecution and Death of Apostles

The second reason why Jesus rose from the dead is the fact that the apostles were willing die for what they believed in. Norman Geisler and Frank Turek state that:
“the New Testament writers suffered persecution and death when they could have saved themselves by recanting. If they would have made up the Resurrection story they certainly would have said so when they were about to be crucified (Peter), stoned (James), or beheaded (Paul). But no one recanted- eleven out of the twelve were martyred for their faith (the only survivor was John, who was exiled to the Greek island of Patmos). Why would they die for a known lie?”

Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, had this to say about the apostles:
“Twelve powerless men, peasants really, were facing not just embarrassment or political disgrace, but beatings, stonings, execution. Every single one of the disciples insisted, to their dying deaths, that they had physically seen Jesus bodily raised from the dead. Don’t you think that one of those apostles would have cracked before being beheaded or stoned? That one of them would have made a deal with the authorities? None did.”

The apostles would not have subjected themselves to all the persecution and ultimately execution if the resurrection did not happen. The fact that they would not recant and went to their death suggests that they had a life-changing experience. Jesus really did rise from the dead and the people who saw him literally shook the foundations of the world for the cause of Christ.
Some critics suggest that the apostles stole the body of Christ and that Jesus really did not rise from the dead. Again, why would the disciples not come clean to the authorities and admit that they stole the body before they died. The body was not stolen. Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead. Others state that Jesus did not actually die. They state that he swooned. Now this argument can be taken apart because of the brutality of Jesus’ death. Crucifixion was a brutal way for someone to die. It is a known fact that Jesus’ friends and his enemies thought he was dead. Geisler states that “the Romans, who were brutal executioners, whipped and beat Jesus brutally to the point of collapse. They then drove heavy, wrought iron nails through his wrists and feet, and plunged a spear through His side. They didn’t break his legs to speed death because they knew he was already dead.” When Jesus was laid into that tomb there was no doubt that he was dead. So knowing that fact and knowing that the disciples were willing to stake their lives on the fact that Jesus died, was buried and that he rose again is pretty solid evidence to suggest that Jesus literally rose from the dead.

Paul’s Conversion

The third reason why Jesus rose from the dead is Paul’s conversion from being a murderer of Christians to being the greatest missionary who ever lived. Paul, who at one time was known as Saul of Tarsus, was present in the stoning of Stephen. He was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians when a bright light knocked him off his horse and blinded him. Paul heard a voice and questioned the voice asking the voice who it was, and the response was, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.

According to Ed Hindson and Ergun Caner,
“ recent scholars agree, for a variety of reasons, that Paul is the most reliable witness to Jesus’ resurrection appearances. Once an adamant adversary of Christianity, Paul explains that he jettisoned his unbelief after he saw the risen Jesus. Given his conversion from the ranks of Jewish scholarship to one of Christianity’s greatest scholars, Paul is certainly viewed as an excellent witness to the resurrection appearances.”

Paul was taught by the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel, and was on track to possibly become a member of the Sanhedrin. His scholarship was brilliant and many suggest that he had a P.H.D in his time. The fact that he was so opposed to Christianity only to suddenly become a Christian suggests that he indeed had something miraculous happen to him. He did have an encounter with Jesus Christ and that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and that He is indeed Deity.

Conclusion

To summarize what has already been stated Douglas Groothius declares:
“The New Testament reverberates and glistens with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. The Gospels record Jesus’ teaching that he must be betrayed, killed, and rise again. Then they all testify that his tomb was empty and that he appeared to his disciples as he said. The Book of Acts records the preaching of the resurrected Christ as its central fact. The various New Testament letters and the book of Revelation would melt into nothingness without a resurrected Jesus. The resurrection is attested to by four separate Gospels, the history of the early church, by the letters of Paul, Peter, John, James, Jude, and the Letter to the Hebrews. There is a diversity of credible witnesses. Since the New Testament volumes show considerable fitness in terms of historical reliability… this is a good initial reason to accept the resurrection as an objective reality.”

C.S. Lewis writes this regarding Jesus:
“I am here trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a mad man or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

I choose to believe He is God. He is my Lord and my Savior and I will preach that He rose from the dead till the day I leave this body. Even if there was no evidence to suggest that He rose from the dead I would still believe because I have faith. Faith is believing God when you can not see the tangible reality. I was not there when Jesus rose from the dead, but I have the Word of God that tells me that there were godly men who lived with him and saw him after he rose from the dead. That is enough evidence for me.