Dear Church,

Your pastor feeds on information gleaned from great authors like Henry T. Blackaby (author of Experiencing God) among other books and one of his co-authors, Henry Brandt, who is a Christian psychologist. Here is a long quote from one of their latest books. It deals with the subject of "Redemptive Preaching For the Inner Life." Here goes! "Your preaching should be provocative enough so that it makes people aware of their total selves. Oh, yes, it is a good thing for a person to be aware of his or her abilities, talents, and qualities. But it is equally important that we make people aware of their failings, their weaknesses, and their faults. I say it is a positive to eliminate the negative. To do that, people need to become aware of what is negative-sin. If you want to have people searching their hearts, your message has to zero in on what is wrong in their lives. No, that process is not pleasant for the messenger. But the wonder of the gospel is that it is that simple! If I can help someone identify his or her sin, I have done him a great favor." End of quote! Wow, what do you think of that?

As a preacher, I always take the approach that my preaching should be redemptive in nature. Men like R.G. Lee and Adrian Rodgers, Jerry Vines, Moody, Spurgeon, Whitfield, Edwards and the beat goes on, taught me this fact. The hard part for me has always been to preach against sin, but it has always proven to be the motivator for people to turn to redemption. Someone said to me, about two years ago, something that really made me see how off base people can get. The person said, "I want to be told how much God loves me and how good I am in spite of what I do." Do you know that first part (God's Love) is a truth that causes all of us to rejoice in Amazing Grace? God's love is unconditional and I, for one, am very grateful for that. But Scripture states in Isaiah 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;" But, the context of the individual's comment was, "I do not want to hear preaching against sin. It's too harsh, unloving, unkind, and condemning." This is the voice of a confused poor soul. Let me say that in my own experience I was brought to the place of conviction by a godly preacher who pointed out the wrong in my actions. It came, not in a church service, but repentance did come later in the front of a boat! He preached, as I always make sure I do, in love. In fact, it was his pointed (at me I thought) preaching that caused me to bow my knees and cease my rebellion. Thank God for that man and his boldness to tell me what I needed to hear instead of a watered down, pacifying lie that I was okay just the way I was.

What's the point? As we proceed to the rapture hearts will continue to become more hardened to the truth. Hatred toward the messenger who is faithful to God's Word will abound. The love of many will wax cold. But we must stay faithful to the message. Ray Comfort is doing a great work for God in teaching the "Way of the Master." He points out in his unique way the truth of Galatians 3:24 which says, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." As we all know, the "thou shalt not" of the law has a real sting to it. But, it only hurts to help or cuts to heal like the surgeon! But it is a good sting when the fruit of redemption is brought to a soul. "Except a man be bom again", Jesus said,"he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." And in order to be saved, you must realize that you are lost. That is what preaching against sin does. It shows you your sinful condition without Christ. So, let us with love continue to proclaim the message of redemption to a lost and dying world and the wayward saint who has wandered far from home. Love you!

Bro. Nichols

P.S. Timothy 4:3-4 says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."