Evangelist Bomb droppers

I was in a church once as a visiting missionary, and they had an evanglist there as well who was preaching a week of meetings. The evangelist seemed to be getting a little disturbed by the lack of people coming forward to pray for "revival", so he singled me out and said "YOUNG MAN, YOU WILL NEVER MAKE IT IN THE MINISTRY UNLESS YOU BECOME A PRAYER WARRIOR!!!"

How does he know what my prayer life is like? He just wanted me up front balling my eyes out so he could feel like "the Holy Spirit is working here tonight". Then he could report how even a visiting missionary "got his heart right with the Lord".

Many people seem to think we can make God send a revival, and my how unbiblical that is.

 

Any verse that confirms the above statement is wrong?

(sorry for going off-topic)

 

I have heard of evangelists coming in and talking with the pastor and finding out what the local pastor perceives as problems in the church. Then the evangelist will spend the entire week harping on the problems the pastor doesn't have the guts to get up and talk about.

This used to happen a lot in many denominations; and probably still does.

You can recognize it when the evangelist starts right off on an issue the church is dealing with and harps on it the entire sermon.

Most good evangelists I know stay away from this and stick to discipleship and soul-winning sermons.

 

Thank you for your reply ifbReformer.

But, what the wife has to do in this case? What about the crisis/chaos that can be produced if he disobeys an alcoholic husband?

How to handle this?

 

that applys to parents-son relationship?

If the parents of a teen does not allow him to go to church (let's say he is 17 years old). He must go to church disobeying his parents?

 

In the minds of many church members and pastors, the presence and preaching of an evangelist in their church for a specified period of days translates into revival.

Like you, I know of scores of churches who have one or two evangelists come in each year for revival, and yet, they remain as dead as a corpse. The evangelist cannot bring revival, so don't blame him.

For years I have told my people that if revival could not happen under the preaching of a godly pastor, it probably could not happen under the preaching of a visiting evangelist. During the nine years at my present church, we have not had a "revival meeting." We have had revivals...revivals that did not include the presence of an evangelist.

So, IMHO, the traditional "revival meeting" that features a romping, stomping, sweating, foaming-at-the-mouth evangelist is a relic of the past.

Regarding "bomb droppers," here are a couple of recent stories you might find interesting.

At a recent Bible conference, I heard two sermons from a well-known SBC evangelist. This guy stays booked two years in advance. He is a good communicator and seems to be a godly, older man. During his discourses, he repeatedly dogged contemporary music and praise-type choruses. He also spoke of the ungodliness of not having Sunday night worship in a church. In fact, he stated that churches that cease to have Sunday night worship will eventually die. When he made these statements, there were shouts of acclamation from the audience of 8,000 +. I couldn't help but think about the hundreds of pastors in attendance who, just like me, do not have Sunday night services and who do use contemporary music, and whose churches are growing. I would never invite this particular evangelist to fill my pulpit.

Another example: Last week I found some old audio tapes in a cabinet. Having not listened to them in years, I took them with me on a trip and listened to them in my car. The evangelist was preaching at a church where my son had served on staff a few years ago...a fairly large church....800 in attendance each week. As I listened to the tapes, I marveled at the shallowness of the evangelist's messages...a mile wide and an inch deep. He read a verse of Scripture at the beginning and never referred to it. He brow-beat the people during the invitation, milking them for every ounce of response he could get. The icing on the cake was this....On the closing night of this great "revival," he asked people to go to various microphones in the worship center and openly confess their sins and ask the church's forgiveness. He said, "I'll just start this thing out. I don't mind telling you that my sin is gluttony. I can't stop eating. I battle it constantly." This guy is obese. When I heard him saying this, I thought, "Will the pastor ask him to leave and not come back until he has this sin under control?" Of course not! If he had said, "I have a problem with adultery. I can't keep my eyes and hands off women," would the pastor have asked him to leave? You bet.

Go figure.

Sorry for the long post and somewhat fragmented thoughts, but the topic rung a bell. It may be time for us pastor to start "dropping some bombs" on the bomb droppers.

 

Much of what is called revival today came from the mind of Charles Finney. Many IFB evangelists have incoporated Finney's methods, though they may reject his theology.

I started a thread on Finneyism a while back on this board and it did not generate much interest. But it is amazing to to see the similarities between Finney and and todays evangelists.

 

Evangelism: proclaiming the "good news".

Every born again person can do that.

Dare to go beyond your "officio".

No rank in heaven--just Jesus and saints.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

If the parents tell him to steal, should he?

 

my question was not about stealing.....It's about NOT going to church.

 

Evangelist's dropping bombs?

I have heard of this. Haven't witnessed it, but I wll give my 2 cents anyway.

If a visitng Evangelist "drops" an unscriptural bomb, then the pastor needs to do some "damage control" and never have him (the evangelist) back into his pulpit.

If the pastor tells the evangelist what to preach, then the pastor is wrong. The evangelist should be preaching what God tells him to preach.

A pastor who plans on having an evangelist in for a "revival" ought to have had an extensive season of prayer for the upcoming meeting and his people ought to have been busy with added efforts for getting folks in to hear the evangelist.

No man nor body can produce "revival", that is the realm of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, why is an "evangelist" shearing another man's sheep? Perhaps it is because that pastor won't do it himself? If such is the case then perhaps that pastor is nothing more than an hireling anyway.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

1Co 14
29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. 30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

 

I personally feel that I am an evangelist and believe that such a person exists today. I have been in ministry nearly twenty years. some of you made comments about evangelists being "motivational speakers". Most of todays "evangelists" simply preach revivals. They might win souls and I am not going to stand in judgment of their ministry, but personally I have NEVER preached a revival. I have preached 2 days straight, but never a revival and do not accept the many offers that I get to do such things. i am too busy trying to win souls in Louisiana and feel this is the Lord's calling. I plant deaf churches and ministries. Doesnt matter what label you want to tag on me, I just know that 19 years ago I felt called into evangelism and I have followed HIS lead and He has not led me into revival preaching on a regular basis. Dont know if that means I am not an "evangelist".
I know personally of a few others that I would say are the same calling as I am, but sadly, I know many many others who are revival preaching when I can see them either as pastors or lay persons.
Bob made a comment about what an evangelist is to be doing. I challenge you to read your bibles and you will not come up with the same definition of "evangelist" that most of us have applied to that word. Even the "deacons" in the Bible were doing different from what most deacons do today.

tim

 

Compare that to:

Luke 14:26,27, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

 

Well it just seems to me that the success of evangelizing isn't in how many you convince of Christ but in the fact that you obeyed the commadnment to tell the world the good news. The allowing of yourself to be used by God in the first place. None of us really know if one person or another is serious. You might be surprized how many are only fooling them selves. So why count let's just do our part and let God take care of the rest.
May Christ Shine His Light On Us all;
Mike