One morning not long ago we headed through downtown Branson and our vehicle just stopped running. Everything was completely dead! I tried for several minutes to figure out what was wrong but nothing worked. I finally called a nearby service station and related my problem to the attendant. He went back to speak with the manager, who was under a car on the grease rack. The attendant came back with this helpful offer, "Sure, we can take care of it. Bring it on in!"
Now isn't that the trouble with a lot of religion? You get instructions, but you don't get power.
You get some good advice, but you don't get the strength to carry it out.
Kind of like the "Church of Oprah." (Here is info on Oprah's new church http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA . Let me tell you something...
Good advice, without power is bad news!
Oprah might think that all of this new stuff or "new age" is new but it is as old as satan.
The Old Testament law was impossible to live by. That is what the sacrifices were for. The law tells you what you should do and should not do, but it doesn't give you the power to perform.
Even the Sermon on the Mount is, by itself, Bad News!
Have you read it recently? Have you tried to do what Jesus says we're supposed to do? If that were all of the religion that Jesus had to offer, it would surely be bad news. Its precepts are beautiful, Its ideals are noble , and its metaphors are magnificent. But Good News? Hardly!
Who in the world can live by it?
And that's not all the disciples heard. They saw Jesus cure people who were sick. he brought at least two dead men back to life. He restored the sight to the blind. He put lame folks back on their feet. Then He turned to his disciples and said, "Go and do even greater things than these."
Good News?
Why He might as well have told them to fly to the moon!
But Jesus knew that His disciples needed more than precepts, more than instruction. They also needed Power.
Because of that I believe Acts 1:8 is one of the greatest verses in the Bible.
"You shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be My witnesses!
Now, THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
Precepts plus power is Good News!
The Cross is Good News about God's Love!
The Resurrection is Good News about the power of God!
The Good News is that there is Power available to . . .Love like God loves. . . .To Live like Christ lived. Has that happened in your life? Have you discovered the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you through faith in Jesus Christ?
It was precepts plus power that made the early disciples effective in their living and in their service. Ever since I can remember people have been trying to tell how to live with no power to live it.
Oprah has NO POWER!
Open your heart to the Holy Spirit today!
Now isn't that the trouble with a lot of religion? You get instructions, but you don't get power.
You get some good advice, but you don't get the strength to carry it out.
Kind of like the "Church of Oprah." (Here is info on Oprah's new church http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA . Let me tell you something...
Good advice, without power is bad news!
Oprah might think that all of this new stuff or "new age" is new but it is as old as satan.
The Old Testament law was impossible to live by. That is what the sacrifices were for. The law tells you what you should do and should not do, but it doesn't give you the power to perform.
Even the Sermon on the Mount is, by itself, Bad News!
Have you read it recently? Have you tried to do what Jesus says we're supposed to do? If that were all of the religion that Jesus had to offer, it would surely be bad news. Its precepts are beautiful, Its ideals are noble , and its metaphors are magnificent. But Good News? Hardly!
Who in the world can live by it?
And that's not all the disciples heard. They saw Jesus cure people who were sick. he brought at least two dead men back to life. He restored the sight to the blind. He put lame folks back on their feet. Then He turned to his disciples and said, "Go and do even greater things than these."
Good News?
Why He might as well have told them to fly to the moon!
But Jesus knew that His disciples needed more than precepts, more than instruction. They also needed Power.
Because of that I believe Acts 1:8 is one of the greatest verses in the Bible.
"You shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be My witnesses!
Now, THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
Precepts plus power is Good News!
The Cross is Good News about God's Love!
The Resurrection is Good News about the power of God!
The Good News is that there is Power available to . . .Love like God loves. . . .To Live like Christ lived. Has that happened in your life? Have you discovered the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you through faith in Jesus Christ?
It was precepts plus power that made the early disciples effective in their living and in their service. Ever since I can remember people have been trying to tell how to live with no power to live it.
Oprah has NO POWER!
Open your heart to the Holy Spirit today!
