Amen Pastor Steve
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven G. Rockhill" <revrock@...>
To: <pastorsforum@...>
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 9:12 AM
Subject: Re: [PastorsForum] Rick Warren Quote


> Thomas,
>
> It is a great quote (which I am not saying that I agree with it - but
> it is a good "sound bite" or at least here a "word bite"), but I am not
> sure it is necessarily based on Scripture.
> God's Spirit works in the hearts of men (do I need to clarify -
> mankind) - and by the guidance of the Spirit - redeemed men change the
> culture around them.  Any True Revival that ever occurred happened first
> in the hearts of individuals and then spread throughout the culture -
> not the other way around.
>    It seems Warren is starting from the wrong place > He is looking
> outward on the horizon of culture rather than looking inward at the
> hearts of individuals.  If we look for God's Spirit to be moving in our
> culture then we may mistakenly attribute various movements to God's
> Spirit that are not truly the working of God's Spirit.  In other words,
> seeing the 'perfect' wave and rushing out to catch it and either it
> turns out to be a dead or you look behind you and see a wave that is
> more 'perfect' but it is too late and you missed it.
>    If we focus on preaching, teaching, ministering and serving so that
> the hearts of men are transformed by the  power of the Spirit and the
> Gospel then and only then will true revival and a 'moving' of God's
> Spirit evidence itself.
>
> That's my thoughts.
>
> Peace,
> Steve
>
> Thomas Peck wrote:
>
> > I recently recieved the following quote by Rick Warren and wonder what
> > you all think of this.  Also, any Scriptures to back up what he
contends?
> >
> > "Three key responsibilities of every pastor are to discern where (and
> > how) God's Spirit is moving in our culture and time, prepare your
> > congregation for that movement, and cooperate with it to reach people
> > Jesus died for. I call it "surfing spiritual waves" in The Purpose
> > Driven Church, and it's the reason Saddleback has grown to 23,500 on
> > weekends in 24 years."
> >
> >
> > --
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> >
> > "In essential things, unity; in non-essential things, liberty; and in
all things, charity."
> >
> >
>
> -- 
>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++
> Pastor Steven G. Rockhill
> Lisbon Reformed Presbyterian Church
> PO Box 88
> Lisbon, NY  13658
> 315-393-9041
> revrock@...
>
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>
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> To unsubscribe, send ANY message to:
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>
> "In essential things, unity; in non-essential things, liberty; and in all
things, charity."
>