Stars and Celebrity Preachers

 People today are infatuated with celebrities and stars, but in the Bible we see that God has a very different view.

Who did God choose to be the mother of Jesus? A humble and completely unknown girl in Nazareth, a town with no good reputation. Mary was a nobody in Nazareth.

Shortly after the beginning of his ministry, Jesus chose Philip.

Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

“Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied. Jn 1:45–46 NLT

None of the first apostles were rabbis. Only one was rich, Matthew, a tax collector with a bad reputation.

Mary and the first apostles only became world-famous much later, long after their deaths.

Despite their humble origins, the disciples were not free of ambition.

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

“What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” Mt 20:20–21 NIV

Jesus had no desire for worldly honour.

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. Jn 6:15 NIV

Many in this world want to be famous. Many are infatuated with celebrities and stars. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who also have this attitude.

Christians in the traditional protestant churches and in the independent churches reject Catholics because they ascribe superhuman authority to the pope, but in America there is a church on every street corner where the head pastor rules like a pope.

 In the Old Testament, the Hebrews wanted a king even though that was against God's will. They demanded a king and God gave them Saul. Saul was humble at first, but gradually he became proud and self-centred.

Paul rebuked the Christians in Corinth for wanting to identify themselves as disciples of this or that preacher.

Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” 1 Cor 1:12 NLT

Many Christians want to find their identity in the glory of a great preacher, but your true identity as a Christian is only that of a beloved daughter or son of God because Jesus sacrificed his life for you on the cross.

God Uses Children

 Mary was a teenager when she became the mother of Jesus.

David was a teenager when he killed Goliath.

Daniel and his three famous friends were abducted as teenagers and were still very young when they began to play an important role in Babylon.

Samuel was a young boy when he became a prophet.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king and reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years.

He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, walking in the ways of his ancestor David, not turning aside from them to the right or to the left.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. 2 Chron 34:1–2 NIV

Josiah became king at the age of 8, and when he was only 20 years old he began to cleanse the Jewish nation of all kinds of sin.

In Europe and North America, many Christian leaders are distracted by human traditions and ways of thinking. Instead of being led by the Holy Spirit, they get caught up in all kinds of theological and political movements.

When this happened in the Bible, God raised up children and young people who were led by the Holy Spirit. Through Samuel, David, Daniel, Mary and Timothy, God stirred up the nations.

God will do the same in our day. Look out. The teenagers and students are coming, and the children too.

In 1904 revival broke out in Wales. The Holy Spirit moved the nation and revival movements spread throughout the British Isles.

Who released the Holy Spirit? The preacher, Evan Roberts, was only 26 years old. He had a team of intercessors, four girls.

God Raises Up Children

2020 was not just the beginning of a new decade. The pandemic has caused the conventional world order to fall apart at the seams. Many want to return to the supposedly normal world order, but the world of yesterday is never coming back.

Many of us try to explain the crisis with conventional ways of thinking, but conventional mindsets often lead us astray.

In times when yesterday's ideas are no longer enough, we see in the Bible that God often speaks through children or teenagers.
 
Mary was a teenager when she became the mother of Jesus.

David was also a teenager when he killed Goliath.

Samuel was a young boy when he became a prophet.

A seemingly successful pastor of a large American church attended a charismatic event. A very young girl came up to him, put her hand on his head and spoke with amazing boldness.

‘Lord, take the junk out of him!’

When the prominent pastor returned to his congregation, he was a completely different man. Until then, he had built up an active and well-organised church with his own abilities and spiritual gifts. He himself was the cornerstone of the congregation.

He recognised the pride and self-centredness of his Christian ministry. He began to focus on Jesus and give the Holy Spirit space.

Many members left the church, but in a short time the church was much larger than before.

When we try to solve new problems with traditional approaches, we become like ships without a rudder, sailing helplessly in circles.

The preacher who sparked the Welsh revival in 1904 was a man of only 26, Evan Roberts. He was supported by a team of intercessors, four teenagers, all girls.

Children and young people are often much more open to new ideas and revelations from God. We need this openness.

Very many Christians only want to believe and obey God when they understand God's leading. Children often have an open heart. They can believe and obey even if they don't understand.

Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Mt 18:4 NRSV

but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Mt 19:14 NRSV

When the children hear directly from God, and explain things differently than our old way of thinking, we must take the children seriously. We must not stand in the way of the Holy Spirit.

One of the countless people who was raised up by God in the Welsh revival was a street preacher who was 15 years old. She preached with such heavenly power that thousands of listeners took her seriously and were blessed. Among them were prominent businessmen and despised prostitutes.

You won't find testimonies like this in many books. History is often manipulated to promote our religious traditions.

Where did I hear that? A few years ago we had a Welsh guest preacher at our church. She told wonderful stories of dramatic Welsh revival.

The dramatic works of the Holy Spirit are often glossed over, but those who seek will find. 

Only Jesus is Perfect

 In the Bible, I see that even great men of God were not flawless. Moses needed the advice of his father-in-law.

The great King David sinned and was exposed by the prophet Nathan.

Some Christians want to put Peter on a throne, but when Peter went wrong, he was rebuked by Paul.

After his conversion, the apostle Paul gave the impression of being faultless. But how did Paul himself evaluate his Christian life?

For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;

but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Rom 7:22–25 NIV

Others want to worship St Mary as the Queen of Heaven. Jesus loved his mother. but Jesus had a different view.

While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.

Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Mt 12:46–50 NIV

If a preacher claims to always be right, don't trust him. That is prideful. If you think of your pastor or a prominent evangelist as always infallible, you're misguided.

The true disciples of the Lord learn to recognise the voice of God for themselves. They learn to think for themselves with wisdom.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. Jn 10:27–28 NIV

When God called Mary, she Alone Decided.

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, Lk 1:31–32 NIV
 

God did not ask Mary’s parents or fiancé for permission.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Lk 1:38 NIV

Young Mary made one of the most important spiritual decisions in the history of the world without consulting any man or older person.

What about Mary’s father? The Holy Spirit did not mention him.
What about Mary’s fiancé, Joseph? God told him after Mary was already pregnant.

Mary’s response was magnificent. She made perhaps the most important spiritual decision in history all by herself, even though it meant losing her reputation for chastity, risking the loss of her fiancé and her prospects of marriage and making her a social outcast.

Perhaps you have been trained to submit important spiritual decisions to elders, pastors, fathers or your husband. Mary did none of these things, and the Bible story commends her for her bold faith and her sacrificial obedience, obedience to God alone.

Suppose God is challenging you to make a decision which could lead to rejection by your church or even your family, is it possible the Holy Spirit wants you to follow the example of Mary?

If God is really calling you, and you know your parents or church leaders would not agree, asking these same people to discern or confirm your call is not obedience, as you may have been taught but actually disobedience to God.

Sometimes it helps to discuss a decision with friends or wise elders, but there are times when you have to step out in raw faith and suffer the consequences as well as reaping the blessings.

MARY MAGDALENE, THE CHOSEN WOMAN

John 20:15 (ESV)   Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 

• Was Mary Magdalene unspiritual to think Jesus was the gardener? 

Jesus was in a garden. He didn’t look like himself. 

• He was not shining with resurrection glory. 
• His beard was plucked out by the Roman soldiers who tormented him. 

Jesus was scarred and battered and perhaps not easily recognisable. 

We must not blame Mary Magdalene for this mistaken identity. She was closer to Jesus than any of the apostles at this time. 

• Mary Magdalene was chosen for the highest possible privilege, to be the first witness of the resurrection. 

According to Josephus, women were not accepted as witnesses in Jewish court cases. 

• I have found no evidence that this disqualification of women’s rights was authorised by God in Scripture but it is clear that the testimony of a woman did not carry the same weight as that of a man in the ancient world and the Jews were no exception.

When Jesus died on the cross, the innocent son of God suffered the ultimate injustice. With his unjust death, Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins. 

The only completely innocent human being in history died a cruel death, so that every guilty man and woman could be set free from the just condemnation of God.

•  When Jesus died a cruel and unjust death, He set about correcting all the curses and injustices that had followed like a plague on humanity after the fall of Adam and Eve in that first garden.

The first injustice was prophesied by God Himself when He declared that women after Eve would desire the love of their husbands but that their husbands would rule over them harshly.

Ge 3:16 (ESV)  To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” 

Not only have billions of husbands ruled like tyrants over their wives but men in general have treated women like second class human beings. 

• The Jews in Bible days were also guilty of this but a quick look at church history and contemporary church life will tell you that men still dominate women in a way that God did not intend.

When Jesus returned from the grave, His first act was to restore full equality and dignity to women.

Mary Magdalene was divinely appointed to be the first witness of the resurrection, not Peter or John and not Mary the mother of Jesus. 

Mary Madgalene thought Jesus was the gardener. The first gardener was Adam and Paul said Jesus was the LAST ADAM. 

1Corinthians 15:45 (NKJV)  And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 

1 Corinthians 15:22 (NKJV)  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 

• Adam was the first man and the father of all humanity. He was without sin before he yielded to temptation. 

• Jesus came as the second sinless man and He resisted every temptation. 
• Jesus came to restore men, women and children to the glorious innocence and justice of the original creation, to establish a new humanity where women and men would be completely equal and free to fulfil their potential.

When Mary Magdalene and her friends told the Apostles of the new church that Jesus was alive, the men did not believe the women. 

• Then Jesus appeared to them and rebuked them for not believing the women. 

• For two thousand years men have continued to punish women for the disobedience of Eve. 

• Ordained priests and pastors have exalted themselves above church members. 

It is time to repent.

GOD MADE YOU UNIQUE..DISCOVER YOUR DESTINY

1Co 4:7 (NKJV)  For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

THIS TEXT TEACHES US NOT TO BE PROUD. 

You and I must not claim the credit for what God has called us to do because with the calling, 

• God also gives the inspiration, the wisdom, the faith, the love, the knowledge, the strength and the skill to fulfil HIS purpose in His way.

However, there are other lessons hidden in this text.

Firstly, we do differ from one another. Some of the differences are by God’s design.

• God did not call Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel to be preachers, but to write some of the most glorious music ever heard on this earth.

• God did not call Billy Graham or Reinhard Bonnke to teach theology in a Bible college, but to preach to great crowds to bring millions of lost men and women into the Kingdom of Heaven.

If God has gifted you to transform the lives of children, He may not have given you the gift of preaching to crowds of adults. 

One of the saddest things in churches is the low value we put on children and children’s ministry.

• Samuel was a child when he heard the voice of God and became a prophet.

• Mary was a young teenager when she conceived the Son of God.

• In Mozambique, Heidi Baker adopts abandoned children and raises them up to preach the Good News of Jesus to hostile Muslims and witchcraft workers. 

  • Little boys and girls open blind eyes and deaf ears and whole villages come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Children’s ministry can be a place of training for preachers to adults. However, we should not only see children in this way.

• I often hear people speak of children as “the church of tomorrow.” I hate this saying. 

  • Although it is partly true, it poisons the church with unbelief concerning the potential of children to be heroes of faith right now.

• In churches where these thoughts are accepted, the adults are often spiritual underachievers as well. God save our children from becoming mediocre unbelieving believers!

Another reason for differences between believers is simply that only some believers have learned the secret of receiving in order to give.

“For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive?”

Lk 7:47 (NKJV)  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."

• The first thing we all need to receive is forgiveness for our sins. 

  • If we have a revelation of the wonderful goodness of God, we will see more and more how much we need His forgiveness and how great is His mercy and grace.

Some of us strive to be good but we are really trying to cover our weaknesses and faults.

• Paul wrote:

2Co 12:9 (NLT)  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

I love to hear preachers talk about their weaknesses and faults and how God has helped them overcome them. Unfortunately, few preaches dare to be so transparent.

There are other believers who depend on their knowledge and abilities instead of opening themselves to the wisdom and direction of God. 

• If you empty yourself and receive revelation, wisdom and direction from God, He will also use your knowledge and talents but your own ability must never be your starting point or the thing you rely on.

The Apostle Paul and John Wesley were both brilliant scholars but they laid down their lives to learn from the Holy Spirit. 

• God redirected their thinking and used their minds for His Kingdom.

1Co 1:21 (NKJV)  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

• We must also not go to the other extreme by despising intellect. 

  • We would not have bibles and study resources without highly educated believers. 

  • We also need believing doctors, teachers, writers and politicians.