Perceptions Concerning the Power of God
Brother Greg Perkins is the pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Republic, WA. We are privileged to host him in our church this week for what we are calling revival meetings. This pastor is as genuine as any one I have known. I asked him for revival type preaching and he came prepared to bring just that. Last night was the first service.
The preacher’s theme was the potential power of God in us — especially through the church. Basing his message from Matthew 28:19, “All power” Bro. Perkins asked repeatedly whether we think we are experiencing the full potential of God’s power. We of course answered, “No.”
Here is the potential trouble I see: while each of us in the service last night wants to see God’s power in our church and in our lives, each of us, including the preacher and including this preacher, has a different opinion of what that power would look like. Each of us perceives God’s blessing and fullness of His power in different ways.
• Some of us have been in churches where a thousand or more assembled together weekly.
We see that as the power of God
• Some of us see God’s power as baptisms every Sunday, or professions of faith.
Some of us would view the power of God as some perhaps intangible dynamic happening in church
-Or getting a raise at work
-Or getting our way in our marriage
-Or having an enemy vanquished in some way What if God’s power displayed didn’t mean any of that?
• What if it meant the power to die without denying Christ?
• What if it meant the power to stay in a situation that hurt every moment?
• What if the power of God meant something spiritual, internal and completely invisible to the fleshly eye?
Perhaps the greatest battle we fight with the flesh is the battle to let God speak through His Word without inserting in it the meaning we choose for it.
Marvin McKenzie
In the fields
To my readers:
Find more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie at http://bit.ly/PuyallupBaptistChurch
(photo from pixabay.com)
Originally published at http://baptisttheologyinamericanculture.blogspot.com on April 26, 2011.
What if it meant living a life free from sin?
1 John 1:8 (KJV)
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Why not just say no? Why use a Bible verse to to create the impression that believers are obligated to sin when this verse isn't saying that at all?
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