People have wanted to respond to God for a long time –
but many churches have not provided them the opportunity, Richard Blackaby told
Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference participants last week.
Instead, too many pastors and church staff members are so
busy pushing their own agenda, they push aside Gods, warned Blackaby,
president of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta.
People have wanted to respond to God for a long time –
but many churches have not provided them the opportunity, Richard Blackaby told
Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference participants last week.
Instead, too many pastors and church staff members are so
busy pushing their own agenda, they push aside Gods, warned Blackaby,
president of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta.
The root problem is that Christians need to become “reoriented”
to God, he said.
Referring to Luke 9, Blackaby noted that every time Jesus announced
His agenda, the people around Him discouraged Him and explained their own agendas
instead.
Blackaby said while Jesus ministry was drawing people
to God, His disciples ministry was sending them away. While Jesus claimed
to be the son of God, the disciples were saying He was someone else. While Jesus
plan was to go to Jerusalem and the cross, the people wanted Him to stay away
from both.
On the mount of transfiguration, the disciples wanted to stay,
Blackaby noted. “Peter wanted to have some kind of resort ministry by building
camp shelters and staying.”
However, Jesus wanted to come down and go to Jerusalem, Blackaby
reminded persons. And when Peter began to explain his agenda, “Jesus said
in so many words, God, Jesus, Moses and Elijah are here. What are you
doing talking? ”
Blackaby said the disciples were disoriented from God, and
that is the problem with many Christians today.
That must change, he said. “Revival is going from being
disoriented to being reoriented to do what God wants us to do.”
Blackaby warned that if everything one tries does not work
out, one must ask – are the efforts on Gods agenda or not?
“We do not know how to hear what God is saying to us,”
Blackaby said. “The Holy Spirit is at work in our churches today. I keep
seeing little glimpses. But the initial work of the Holy Spirit is quenched
rather than the flame fanned.”
Blackaby said Christians are disoriented to what revival really
is. “Repentance and brokenness precede revival. We have to get right with
God. If you do not know what revival is, do not be surprised if God does not
give it to you.”
Blackaby said when God moves in worship services, “insensitive
staffs and worship teams” close the services to get on with preset agendas.
“They do not have a clue about what is going on. God keeps showing up in
our services, and we keep seeing it as an interruption.”
He warned that people must be given time “to process with
God, to do business with God.”
He said ones prayer should be: “God, protect my
people from me. I cannot be trusted. Your best instead of mine.”
In a second message, Blackaby urged conference participants
to examine their lives and make sure they are persons of spiritual influence
and power.
“You cannot be a person of influence with people until
youre a person of influence with God,” he reminded them.
Blackaby insisted the church should be a place where people
in bondage can be set free. However, he noted that while people flooded to churches
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the return has dropped off now.
Part of the reason is that many people found nothing life-changing
or of God at the churches, Blackaby suggested. “And when people come to
the people of God, they ought to find people who can set them free.”
Unfortunately, many modern Christians are powerless, having
allowed pride and such to get in the way, instead of spending time with God
and focusing on giving Him the glory in all things, Blackaby said.
“Its not just enough to do the work of God,”
he said. “You have to do the work of God in Gods way and in Gods
time.”
Persons must decide what type of ministry and influence they
want – one of mere professionalism or one of power, Blackaby said. “We
all talk about how powerful God is, but in church after church, there is no
evidence. … (However) Once you have the experience of God showing up and putting
His hand on you and saying, I want to use you in this way, you never
want to go back to ministry the other way.”
Blackaby challenged persons to have a holy restlessness and
dissatisfaction” that leads them to say to God, “I cant stand
the way things are.”
Then, they will begin to change, he said.