Truth is ancient; it's grey hairs may make it venerable;
it comes from Him who is the ancient of days. --Thomas Watson

 

15 February, 2007   comments: (0) Today's Pragmatism   Sermons of Self-Esteem, Self-Help, & 'Stories'    Quoting Douglas Webster . . . In the past . . . biblical preaching was God-centered, sin-exposing, self-convicting and life-challenging; the direct opposite of today's light, informal sermons that Christianize self-help and entertain better than they convict. There are so many illustrations in today's market-sensitive sermons that the hearer forgets the biblical truth that is being illustrated; so many personal anecdotes that the hearer knows the pastor better than she knows Christ; so many human-interest stories that listening to the sermon is easier than reading the Sunday paper; so practical that there is hardly anything to practice. No wonder nominal Christians leave church feeling upbeat. Their self-esteem is safely intact. Their minds and hearts have been sparked and soothed with sound-bite theology, Christian maxims and a few practical pointers dealing with self-esteem, kids, or work. But the question remains: has the Word of God been effectively and faithfully proclaimed, penetrating comfort zones and the veneer of self-satisfaction with the truth of Jesus Christ? NOTE: For an example of today's typical sermon illustrations, watch a few minutes of this sermon video which starts off with an extremely long story about "rodent traps". From:  Selling Jesus: What's Wrong with Marketing the Church   Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.385   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism