I once heard the story of a pastor who took a cab and when the cabbie found out that he was a pastor, said smugly, "my god can make me win 4D numbers, what can your God do?" Wherein the pastor inspiredly replied, "my God can take an evil person and make him into a good person." Reluctantly, the cabbie conceded, "that's quite impressive..." Do we really believe God can do that, ie. can change an evil person into a good person, can set a person free from bondage to addiction, whether drugs, lust, pornography, violence, alcohol? Why do we treat Christianity as just another moral code, leaving man to change himself with the bible as but a guide? Where have all the miracles gone? Has the power really dried up? Have all the wondrous supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit like healing and miracles ceased? This is the theology of powerlessness PART 2...
I have come increasingly to realise that the church is trying to minister to a lost and hurting world with a watering can, sputtering and dripping in its effectiveness. Our fruit is so meagre, our efforts so unfruitful. I think it saddens God's heart when he sees us struggle like that. Defeated Christians trying to preach a defeated message to an even more defeated world. Instead of the pathetic watering can, we need to open our eyes to the His 'fire hose' of power. We need a God who is much bigger than the absent and powerless God of our theology of powerlessness. The problem with many churches is that we have come to believe that any talk of miracles, any talk of supernatural healing is of a bygone era. Some have erroneously taught that once the revelation of scripture was complete, the miracles and healings dried up. Such teachings borders on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Lets get our theology straight. Jesus himself promised that we will do greater things than he did. Reason number one for my extravagant belief - the same Holy Spirit in Jesus' day is the same Holy Spirit today. And He hasn't stopped working. Reason number two for my extravagant belief - the power of the Cross. You see, when Christ died, we died. When he rose, we rose to become a new creation. With every flesh tearing whip, with every excruciating nail, with every drop of blood shed, God took our shame, our addictions, our bondages, our cancer, our heart disease, our depression, our suicidal thoughts and KILLED it on the Cross. All our unworthiness, all our unloveliness, all our ugliness, He bore it as the wrath of the Father was poured out on him. That we might be the accepted and beloved of God. Dont you dare diminish his work, dont you dare downplay the effectiveness of what he has done. You see it has been done. We are free. To those who will only believe, who the humble in heart who will accept by simple faith, they will find the true salvation power of God. Please don't preach a Christianity that is nothing more than moral way of life. Cos that isn't Christianity. The Christianity I know is a Christianity of power, of a real and present salvation, of a God who HAS saved us from our sins and all its effects. Can your God really miraculously change an evil person to a good person? If he can't, then maybe you need another religion.