Old Truths versus The Quest For 'Something New'
A Purpose Driven protestor recently left this comment here: "from the very title of your blog - 'Old Truth' - I must say it appears that you must not understand truth very well. There is no 'old' truth or 'new' truth, only THE truth. So your blog header speaks volumes to me about your (lack of) understanding of God, and in light of that, your evangelism methods". Another pastor was once so incensed by "Old Truth" that he started his own response blog to refute my beliefs; he called his blog "Original Truth". But almost as a prescription to cure those misunderstandings, here's a short audio clip from the sermon that I heard in person yesterday; it's on the need to be anchored to and reminded of the old truths.
I don't know why the name gets people so upset, the idea is pretty simple: There should be no new truths, for "truth is as old as God himself", as one well known pastor used to say. If somebody is teaching an all new doctrine, it ought to be a red flag. After all, Christianity is over 1900 years old. But as explained in this 12 minute audio clip from the sermon preached in my church yesterday, today people are often not satisfied with the old truths. They have a love of novelty, they want to hear something new that they've never heard before. People generally aren't content with the old paths, which are considered narrow, old fashioned, boring, and obsolete.
So there is constant pressure on preachers to invent new ways to get people excited, to get them out of the rut of the same old same old. What we've ended up with is a lot of church goers who are excited about something, but what is it? In most cases today, it's not the truth of God. It's some new church program, gimmick, or fleshly attraction.
Jeremiah 6:16 has this to say: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it'." Not giving into the Athenian demand for something new, pastors have always been called to preach the age-old truths of the bible. One such obedient preacher is Pastor Dale Smith of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Rockford Illinois. He was the guest speaker at my church yesterday, and pulling from his full sermon, I've put a link below to a short sampling of what he had to say on this important topic.
If you live in northern Illinois and are looking for a well grounded place to worship, I can't say enough about this excellent church. I've been there numerous times, and know of people who drive one or even two hours to attend there on a weekly basis. You'll find more info on their website.
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