The Era of Mega-Preachers is Over.

I've been noticing the trend lately, amongst the charismatic/pentecostal circles to focus on something our movement has ignored for quite some time: service.  Full Gospel denominations and movements have had their voices overshadowed, intentionally or not, by the mega-preachers.  The Benny Hinns, Creflo Dollars, Joyce Meyers, and (God help us) the Joel Osteens of the world.  I'm calling it today, and we'll reconvene in a few years to see how right I am (Hint: very).  While we'll probably see Benny's giant hair, Joyce Meyers man-pants, and Joel Osteen's impossibly large teeth for on TV for quite some time, I believe their influence on modern churches is waining.

Recently, I was encouraged to hear Dutch Sheets really ripping into modern churches today, and he said something I found incredibly interesting, "It's my goal to keep as many people out of the pulpit as possible . . . from what I do . . . it's my goal to ordain lawyers, and doctors . . . to go out into the world and share Jesus."  According to Matthew 11:10-13, we are a kingdom at war.  We've always been at war, and we will continue to be, until Jesus returns, sets things right, and hands the Kingdom over to his father (1 Corinthians 15:24-26).  We can't win a war with the troops sitting around marveling at the equivalent of super-solders showing off their strength by ripping phone books.  We win a war by training and equipping soldiers to fight, and then sending them out to defeat the enemy.

I believe this celebrity-focused Christianity we've experienced thanks to TBN and the like over the last few decades has created a dangerous set of circumstances in the church.  We have people praying for hours, to get deep revelations, just for sake of praying for hours and getting revelations.  To impress friends and church members.  To share with other Christians, who are also sharing their "deep revelations" to the same group.  Never leaving the church... never venturing outside to a world in need of salvation.  We have more and more dramatic church services, with people being slain in the spirit, getting one deliverance after another.  It's bred an inwardly-focused body of Christ.  This is clearly not conducive to gaining new converts, winning the lost, or impacting this world for Jesus.

But, during this time, I've also noticed a movement among young people and college students towards what I'm calling here, "new-radicalism."  They have an understanding that the ministry is not about being in a pulpit.  That revelations are practical knowledge from God for one purpose: to aid in preaching the gospel to the utter-most parts of the earth.  These young people are embracing something I did several years ago: you don't have to have a ministerial license, or a theological degree, to be in the ministry.  We're in the ministry because we've accepted Jesus Christ, and have committed our lives to serving him, and spreading his Gospel everywhere we can.  I work in the business world . . . a place many traditional preachers can't reach.  I meet people regularly with very comfortable lives, who are seldom confronted with the Gospel.  How do you show someone a need in their lives, when they believe they have every need met, and plenty more laid up in store?  A preacher can't . . . but one of their own can.  Doctor's are notorious know-it-all's.  But who can reach a doctor?  A better doctor.

So, while I'm boldly proclaiming that the era of Mega-Preachers is over... I do expect to see them on the Television for several years to come.  But always catering to the same crowd...an aging crowd...a self-indulgent crowd.  And as they die out, and retire to their mega-mansions and yachts, I believe we're going to see a movement dramatically rise to fore-front of Christianity that is starting right now - a movement of regular people, in regular jobs, who are sold out to God.  A movement of regular people who boldly preach the Gospel on streets, brokerage floors, board rooms, hospital rooms, court houses . . . the list can go on forever.  I believe this is a group that won't compromise with the seeker-sensitive movement, and will call sin sin.  I believe this group will be empowerd by God to do greater works than the televangelists ever thought about.  I expect healings, miracles, signs, and wonders to happen...in ordinary lives, in ordinary circumstances . . . through extraordinary and yet totally average people.

The next time you see Joel Osteen's grin...the next seeker-senstive service you attend...the next time Joyce Meyers tries to make you believe it's okay for women to look like men...just smile and realize that they're on the way out.  A revival of a church similar to the Book of Acts is happening.  And I'm joining in.  Are you?

Where have all the posts gone?

It's been quite an ordeal, lately. I say "it," as if I'm referring to a single issue, but that's quite the over-simplification. My posts from the last few months have disappeared, due in large part to my failure to back things up, and in small part to a rough and bumpy ride taken by my web server. This has also encouraged yet another look on this page...which is not yet complete, and a reinvention of TheLimitless.com . . . again. I've learned an awful lot about web servers, and php, and the dreaded CSS, and how not to cook microwavable pizzas lately, so it wasn't an incredibly taxing endeavour, except that the front page of TheLimitless.com lots all its modifications, such as they were, and is now a relatively blank slate, waiting for my clammy and cludgy fingers to manipulate it into a somewhat presentable affair.

Now, I know that the few people who still visit my blog (very few, after over 2 weeks with no site up at all) don't come here to hear me prattle on about web servers, and CSS, and all that crap. Oh no, you come here to watch me get all red faced and rant about politicians, or to see me be a bit too honest, and make a fool out of myself, in the attempt to share a little truth about life and Godliness.

So, I must be honest, I don't really keep up with political news anymore. Tabitha, or Pinky, as I call her behind her back, and the slightly unwelcome tweets of the #TCOTers are about all the news I force myself to consider, and I typically read the headline and never click through on the link. So guess what that leaves us with? :D

I recently lost a mentor. Not only a role model, but possibly the single most influential person in my spiritual life. And I was okay with it, as she was a woman of God, and a person who lived the fullness of the Gospel in every area of her life. She has a great reward in Heaven that I'm sure she's enjoying right now. However, a few days after the funeral, I found myself perusing job sites, and I thought to myself, "Uh-oh...I don't have anyone to ask if this is right or not...I better pray and know the will of God before I go off on a job hunt."

A sound idea, at any time. But I realized what an unGodly burden I placed on this person, to be my conduit to God, my oracle. And how spiritually lazy I had been to think like that. Wow.

But don't wag your finger, my friend, because I'm not the first person to think like that. The only difference is that I'm portraying as an unrighteous behavior. This type of spiritually damaging dependency is not only tolerated, but encouraged in many churches. Either because the pastor is controlling and self-aggrandizing, and wants to be able to take credit for every victory in his member's lives, or because the pastor is a poor and lazy shepherd, and allows his people to use him up, abuse him, and leave him out to dry, instead of teaching them how to be profitable Christians.

In saying that, I obviously can't blame pastors only, or even mostly. We Christians are a lazy, self-absorbed lot. Instead of reaching out to help others, with an honest eye turned toward ourselves enough to realize we're no better than anyone else, we choose to spend our time self-analyzing, and fault-finding, and asking for help and prayer over the little things we go through. I'm not suggesting that what you're going through isn't important, but there's one important difference between you and sinner in the same situation. You have hope. Act like it.

It's been a dangerous and selfish practice of Charismatic/Pentecostal circles over the last century to experience "More of Your Glory, More of Your Power, More of Your Spirit in me," simply for the sake of experiencing it, and impressing other Christians with how spiritual we are, and sharing our deep revelations with other Christians so they can marvel at our wisdom, while the world goes to hell. There are great deep things of God, and they need to be searched out, but there is always a purpose to it: souls.

And yet, we're still babies needing to be weaned off the pastoral nipple. Something is dreadfully and horribly wrong. In being forced to "grow up" through my loss, I've had my eyes open to what a pitiful little infant I was. And I'm concerned that as much as I thought I was spiritually mature, there many more out there who believe the same, in the same situation, who may never see the truth, because they believe it's the right way to be.

I think that God is shaking things up in the church worldwide, to allow us to see this, and take on our mantle of servanthood and ministry. And I'll talk more about that soon. Welcome back readers. I hope to see you all a lot more soon.

What's up with the site?!

TheLimitless.com is down for what will hopefully be a short period of time.  We were moving locations, and it seems the main server didn't quite weather the move the way we hoped, and is FAIL.  I'm waiting on a brand spanking new MOBO and Processor to come in (hopefully this will give the site a ton of room for growth, as I wasn't planning on an upgrade until I passed the 1,000 visits per day milestone) and will hopefully have the site back up and running in no time.
Until then, feel free to peruse these extremely old posts of mine, from before I began developing the new site.