A Battle with the Superficial

A recent conversation with an evangelist friend of mine has left me greatly grieved at the state of the American church.  So harrowing was his account that last evening I was troubled to an extent that it gave me a bit of insomnia.  He opened up his soul to me as he told me of the superficial spirituality that marks many of our churches these days.  This superficiality is marked with a “hurry up and let’s get this over with” mentality.  Worship is rushed and has little depth because of the desire to hurry and get to the next thing.  There is pressure to hurry and get to the restaurants, the game on television, the shopping excursion or some other endeavor that seeks to satiate the entertainment factor in our soul.

I was appalled when he told me that several of the churches he went to, pastors had informed him before he ever started to preach that they did not care for any sermons on hell, judgment, or any kind of conviction.  One pastor gave the recommendation that he ought to read three or four Scriptures and tell four or five stories and then conclude the sermon.  Another place he went to, he found out that the pastor was opposed to altar services that brought people to the “mourner’s bench” and was marked by tears and confession of sin.  He was told that the people needed to be given a “joyful” and “exciting” worship experience so that they could go home “happy.”  Music has also become a bit of a beast in that he noted that at multiple places, the music would get people whipped into a superficial, psychological frenzy.  The music would go on for a lengthy period of time and the preaching of the Word would be limited to a fifteen to twenty minute time slot. 

Paula Thompson - 1939-2013 - The Tape Lady

It is with great regret that I found out yesterday that Paula Thompson, the "tape lady," has passed on to her great reward.  She was very kind to me and would hand-pick some of Brother Harrell's sermons and send them on to me.  Over the years, I have given her phone number out to multiple pastors and ministers who wanted to subscribe to the sermons that Brother Harrell preached in Bridge City, Texas.

There is no way of knowing how many thousands of cassette tapes passed through her hands and later when the transition to CD's came how many of those passed through her hands.  She had a very unique knack for being able to remember the sermons that Brother Harrell preached and then recommending certain ones for what she felt like would be a help and encouragement to those who were inquiring.

Anyone who has heard Brother Harrell preach, is aware of his pulpit gifts but I do believe that he would have to say that Sister Paula was very instrumental in his preaching getting out of Bridge City to the rest of the world.  We are indebted to this faithful saint of the Lord for her years of service!!!

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 1 Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling

This book was the best book that I read in 2012!  Perhaps you have noticed that the books that stand out the most to me are the ones that probe the soul and stretch the mind.  I would venture to be as certain as I can to believe that the best books are those that cause you to lean back and seriously contemplate the message the author is working to get across to you.  Books that you cannot just zip through without any confrontation of the conscience or personal commitment are the books that will do our souls the best in the end.  This is one of those books!    

Author:  Paul David Tripp  

Title:  Dangerous Calling—Confrontingthe Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry

Publisher:  Crossway, 2012.

Time flies by with an amazing swiftness and I think back to a time when I had just graduated from nursing school.  A young twenty-two year old probably should not have been working night shift in a busy surgical intensive care unit that routinely was filled with trauma-victims, neurosurgical calamities, occasional gunshot wounds, and so forth.  But I did have a very good support staff around me of some veteran RNs who were very helpful in adding knowledge and skill to what I was lacking. 

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 2 Ken Raggio, Long Winding Road

This book comes in at the Number 2 spot of the books that I read in 2012.  I have known Ken Raggio for close to 20 years now.  My first interaction with him was when we were both on the working staff at the Alabama Crusader Camp many summers ago.  We would sit up long after all the kids had been secured for the night and talk about the Bible, preaching, and various other aspects of the ministry.  Some aspects of this book, I already knew because of our past conversations. 

I would also add that his wife, Dixie, who passed away in 2003 after a prolonged battle with cancer, was one of the noblest Christians that I have ever met.  I don’t know of any lady whose Bible was as well-used as hers was.  When I would go preach in Birmingham, the Saturday nights would often be spent at their kitchen table with Bibles open and discussion would be long into the night.  It was there that I was exposed to her Thompson Chain Reference that had multiple notes in the margins and so forth.    

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 3 David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

This book was one that I read because of several favorable book reviews that were generated from several blogs that I read.  Although I actually read it a couple of years after its initial release (2010) and it is a book that stretches you out of your comfort zone.    

Author:  David Platt

Title:  Radical:  Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

Publisher:  Harper One, 2011.

One of the reasons that this book resonated with me was because of another book that I ran across several years ago by Randy Alcorn (SafelyHome).  It was then that I first became acquainted with the house church movement that have become prevalent in countries where there is very limited if any freedom of religion.  They go to great measures often in fear of punishment and incarceration to get to church.  When they get there it is a very subdued and quiet environment because of the fear of discovery. 

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 4 Eugene Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir

I now come to the fourth best book that I read this past year, 2012.  I read more books this past year than I have ever read because of a reading contest I got into with my boys, Justin and Nathan (who aren’t boys anymore!).  By March, Nate had been left in the dust and Justin was reading text books at school.  This is the reason that I probably read books with a vengeance this year.  Some of them were mindless and nothing more than an outlet to escape but others of them were soul-impacting.  The book by Eugene Peterson fell into that category. 

Most people are familiar with Eugene Peterson because of his paraphrase of the Bible called The Message.  It is a very good devotional supplement to regular Bible reading because he has a way of using common language to come at Scripture from a little different angle. 

I must again put this disclaimer out about not just this book but all books:  Read with a discerning mind and heart and take the good and toss out the bad.  Brother Griffin used to tell us in our classes at TBC that he could learn something from every book he read and every preacher that he heard preach.  He could learn some things to do and some things not to do.  I believe that ! 

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 5 William Greenhill, Stop Loving the World

Moving along to the fifth best book that I read in 2012 is one that is short (73 pgs.) but packs an incredible wallop.  I am certain that the title probably stimulates a strong response that is either positive or negative.  It also is curious to note that this is a single sermon that Greenhill preached to his church.  Speaking of long sermons, this is one.  I doubt Joel Osteen will be preaching anything remotely related to this theme in 2013.  However, we who serve as pastors owe it to ourselves and to those who hear us to preach this kind of content.  I am reminded of what Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Tim. 4:16) and it is sharpened by the Amplified Version:

Look well to yourself (to your own personality), and to [your] teaching; persevere in these things—hold to them; for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 

Author:  William Greenhill

Title:  Stop Loving theWorld

Publisher:  Reformation Heritage Books, 2011.