Comments on: A Fork in the Charismatic Road

By: ChuckBalsamo.com - Inspiring World Changers

ChuckBalsamo.com - Inspiring World Changers — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:44:01 +0000

[...] A Fork in the Charismatic Road (08.13.09) [...]

By: Des

Des — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:11:44 +0000

Very well said and written. thanks

By: chuck

chuck — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:28:41 +0000

Charlie… thanks for the comments, nice to meet you. As you know… we can’t cover every angle of a certain subject on a 300-500 word daily blog. Great thoughts… I agree that we should do all those things you mentioned… and we should do them without adding on our religious charismatic “preachy” “churchy”… out of touch methods. Whereas the Bible is an ANCHOR that never changes… each generation needs to LOOK ON THEIR FIELDS and present Gods truth in an indigenous kind of way. It’s the whole “new wine” being poured through “new wineskins” thing.

You know, when the missionary movement was launched in the early 1900′s, American missionaries quickly discovered the importance of LEARNING the language and customs of each county… so they could help new believers set up INDIGENOUS churches. In other words, they didn’t take the American way of doing church to the tribes and force them into our model.

I believe the American church as she stands this day should consider following the indigenous church method. We should look over the people and customs of our land and present the power of Gods Spirit in a way that these generations can understand us. Instead, so many of us want to FORCE the emerging generations into our religious mold. I see this especially in the charismatic sectors of the church. In the name of “operating in the Holy Spirit” we keep on doing what makes us FEEL like we’re having a movement even though we’re no longer effective.

As I mentioned in this blog… I also believe in carrying out all the aspects of the great commission you mentioned. I also believe that God is really trying to do a NEW THING… and we have to be willing to let go of yesterdays way of doing things… in order to taste what’s next! Our standard remains the same… our Bibles unaltered… while our religion is RESHAPED.

By: charlie

charlie — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:54:39 +0000

In response to yesterday’s blog, 08/13. The only example we have as a church of a balanced ministry is Jesus. He preached the Gospel, confronted evil, pointed out sin, saved the lost, healed the sick, made the lame to walk, opened blind eyes, made the deaf to hear, cast out demons and raised the dead. All being done with much love, in His glory. To aspire to anything less is not balanced and may even be deception.

Charlie

By: chuck

chuck — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:30:59 +0000

Great thoughts Michelle… wow, thanks for commenting!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:06:54 +0000

Really like the post, Pastor Chuck. It reminds me of a sermon I heard years ago, in which the pastor stated that most of us are trees with fruit that is becoming over-ripe, and falling right at the foot of the tree and rotting. In other words, we’re getting so full of the Holy Spirit, and we’re not sharing it with anyone, so all of our fruit is being wasted, essentially, within our own personal space. If we are blessed with an encounter with the Most High God, and we don’t share the results of that encounter with those around us, then that is the worst sort of selfishness that can be. Just like you said, we have to DO the will of the Father, we have to SHARE the Love of Jesus, because that’s what we are called to do.

Pastor Chuck? RUN!!! I’ll pray for you as you exercise, if you’ll pray for me as I prepare for my lighthouse run. Blessings to you!

By: Nuala

Nuala — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:52:28 +0000

Puritain lad thank you for your input. I do believe that what you are sharing to be true.

It amazes me the in the conversations I have with christians that are so complacent about certain issues: abortion, gay marriage, adultery, stealing, ….but what vexes me most is that they say they love God, but I don’t truly believe in my heart of hearts that they fear Him. I know in my own relationship I had a hard time with what it meant to truly fear God. Our world has changed the perception of what fear is and what it means to fear God. It is hard for me to explain…..but there is a line that you just don’t cross and won’t cross because of it. Does that make sense?

We are not to live in a bubble as you put it. We are to be about our father’s business and that certainly doesn’t mean hiding away and just waiting until He comes again.

By: chuck

chuck — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:16:54 +0000

Nice phrase Pastor Richard… I think its kind of like eating… if we do not burn up the calories we consume, we gain weight. If we want to be slim and fit, we must burn up MORE calories than we are consuming. I’ve been gaining weight since the beginning of the year… eating WAY more than I’m using. My wife keeps encouraging me to start running again… and I’m procrastinating. As a Christian… we must beware of sitting around eating up the glory at our glory cafe’s… and we have to give away what we’re taking in… or we will end up with a spiritual condition that matches our physical condition.

Maybe this is what Jesus was talking about when he said, “I eat of a meat you know not of… my meat is to DO the will of my father.” He said this of course in reference to evangelizing the woman at the well. For Jesus, he was NOURISHED by what he was doing for others… he had a GIGANTIC SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTER as he ministered Good News to a very lost gal.

By: Vickie

Vickie — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:04:10 +0000

Very well said Pastor Chuck

By: Pastor Richard Holmes

Pastor Richard Holmes — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:14:55 +0000

I agree. I came across a powerful statement awhile back, “If we are only hearing, and never seeing we lose credibility.”