Dear Pastor
The following letter was printed in the monthly Heartcry
Journal that Keri and I subscribe to. For subscription
information, you can visit them on the web at:
http://resources.lifeaction.org
Editor's Note: Heartcry Journal received the following letter
within the past month. The passion and insight seemed worth
sharing with our readers. We pass it on in the spirit it
was given — with a broken heart and a desperation
for God.
Dear Pastors,
The other day I heard a pastor (not my pastor) preach a lifeless,
passionless, pointless sermon with no power and no fire.
I am not referring to animated "aerobic exercise
class" preaching. (Vance Havner, a great man of God,
preached with power and passion and fire, yet he was not
animated but monotone and motionless in his preaching style.)
The message I heard the other day was a waste of my time,
and that provokes me to say the following to preachers:
We are thirsty and we are hungry. We are hurting and we
need help. We need the fire of God and we need the power
of God. And preacher, we need you. You have a special calling
on your life, and God has chosen you to be His voice.
But what we don't need are more "cute," alliterated
sermons, as helpful as alliteration can be in communicating
a message. What we don't need are more sermons that have
three points, six sub-points, and a cute, closing story or
poem, as helpful as that may be in communicating a message.
What we don't need are more funny, silly jokes in sermons.
What we don't need is for you to keep referring to yourself
when you preach. And what we don't need is to hear more sermons
from the Internet or from some book that was purchased at
the latest Christian bookstore sale.
What we need is for our preachers to have the fire of God.
What we need is for our preachers to have the power of God.
What we need is for our preachers to have a passion for the
messages that are proclaimed. What we need is for our preachers
to feed us from the written Word of God and then point us
to the living Word of God. What we need is for our preachers
to be consumed by fire from heaven so that we ourselves may
join you in being consumed by God. What we need is for our
preachers to be consumed by their passion for the Word of
God.
Please help us, preachers. We know that we have a personal
responsibility for our own walk with God. But we need
help. We are weak, we are frail, we are forgetful. We need
to hear from heaven. We don't need to hear about fishing
trips or cruises in sermons. We don’t need more covered
dish suppers at the church. We don't need to hear about the
local football team in messages that are preached. We don't
need to hear of accomplishments and awards and degrees. What
we want to hear is that you have been approved by God to
proclaim His Word to us.
We are perishing in the pews, and we perish because there
is little or no vision of God in some of our pulpits. We
are tired of hearing Proverbs 29:18 misinterpreted and applied
to long-range planning. We, the people, are perishing because
there is no vision of God.
Rise up! Stand up! And don't settle for mediocrity! Don't
settle for less! Get all that you can from God, give it to
us, and then go back and get some more. Pursue God with passion.
Don't go into the pulpit until you have a message from Him
to proclaim to us. Don't preach until you know that you are
right with God. Don't go into the pulpit until you know you
are anointed by God and have the fire of God.
Sincerely, Kenny
PS: It has been said that where there is smoke, there is
fire. Sadly, though, smoke can also be an indication that
the fire has gone out.
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