EMMAUS FAMILY MESSAGE FROM P G VARGIS
PG&Lilly Vargis
A letter from a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For any one doing any kind of ministry in the body of Christ and who wants to improve and excel.
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God Even Uses Your Mistakes
Ravi Zacharias recalls a visit he made to a place known for making the best wedding saris in the world: ‘With such intricacy of detail, I expected to see some elaborate system of machines that would boggle the mind in production. But this image could not have been further from the real scene. Each sari was made individually by a father and son team. The father sat above the son on a platform, surrounded by several spools of thread that he would gather into his fingers. The son had only one task. At a nod from his father, he would move the shuttle from one side to the other and back again. This would then be repeated for hundreds of hours, until a magnificent pattern began to emerge.
‘The son certainly had the easier task. He was only to move at the father’s nod. But making use of these efforts, the father was working to an intricate end. All along, he had the design in his mind and was bringing the right threads together.’
Ravi Zacharias ends the story by saying, ‘God alone can weave a pattern from the disparate threads of our lives – whether suffering, success, joy, or heartache – and fashion a magnificent design. Perhaps today, if you will stop and reflect on it, you will see that the Father is seeking to weave a beautiful tapestry in your life.’
Job said, ‘You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit’ (Job 10:12). Everything that happens in this world is within the sphere of God’s working. ‘Providence’ means God’s foresight: the way he anticipates and prepares for the future. ‘Providence’ is the way God guides and steers human history – he is present and active in the world – sustaining it and ruling it.
It is also the way he guides and steers your life personally and individually. As the apostle Paul wrote, ‘In all things God works for the good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ (Romans 8:28). Even your mistakes he uses for good. In all the circumstances of your life and the events going on around you, you can trust in the providence of God.
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Part II - QUOTE
The DEADLY VIRUS of CELEBRITY CHRISTIANITY by J. Lee Grady
Some bigheaded preachers demand rock star treatment. If the apostle Paul were around today he might throw rocks at them.
Just when I thought we charismatics had finally taken enough abuse from the egomaniac ministers in our midst, I've learned that some of our leaders are taking things to a new extreme. We've moved beyond the red carpets, limousines and entourages of the 1990s. A new strain of the celebrity virus is spreading in large segments of the church.
"What is this sickness spreading in the body of Christ? All I know is that God is grieved by all of this shameful carnality."
One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent preacher could speak at her conference. The minister's assistant faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to book a speaking engagement. The demands included:
a.. a five-figure honorarium
b.. a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane
c.. a manicurist and hairstylist for the speaker
d.. a suite in a five-star hotel
e.. a luxury car from the airport to the hotel (2004 model or newer)
f.. room-temperature Perrier
This really makes me wonder how the apostle Paul, Timothy or Priscilla managed ministering to so many people in Ephesus, Corinth and Thessalonica. How did they survive without a manicurist if they broke a nail while laying hands on the sick?
I was relieved to know that this celebrity preacher's requirements in 2007 did not include a set of armed bodyguards - because I just might want to jump uninvited into her Rolls-Royce and say a few words.
It gets worse, if you can believe it. At a charismatic conference in an East Coast city recently, a pastor stood on a stage in front of a large crowd and smugly announced that the guest speaker was "more than an apostle." Then the host asked everyone to bow down to the person, claiming that this posture was necessary to release God's power.
"This is the only way you can receive this kind of anointing!" the host declared, bowing in front of the speaker. Immediately, about
80 percent of the audience fell prostrate on the floor. The few who were uncomfortable with the weird spiritual control in the room either walked out or stood in silent protest.
So today, I guess it's not enough to feed a celebrity preacher's ego by treating them like a rock star. We also are required to worship him.
And apparently in some places you even have to pay big bucks to speak with him. In a city in the South, a well-known preacher is known to ask for money in order to secure a five- or 10-minute counseling session. The minister uses Proverbs 18:16, "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men" (NASB), to support this bizarre practice. Some people are known to give more than $1,000 for a short meeting.
People on fixed incomes need not apply. (That would include lepers, blind beggars, Samaritan women or any other social outcasts who were welcomed and healed by Jesus without payment.)
What has become of the American church? What is this sickness spreading in the body of Christ? I don't know whom to blame more for it: The narcissistic minister who craves the attention, or the spiritually naive crowds who place these arrogant people on their shaky pedestals. All I know is that God is grieved by all of this shameful carnality.
How far we have fallen from authentic New Testament faith. Paul, who carried the anointing of an apostle but often described himself as a bond slave, told the Thessalonians, "Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives" (1 Thess. 2:8).
New Testament Christianity is humble, selfless and authentic. And those who carry the truth don't preach for selfish gain or to meet an emotional need for attention. May God help us root out the false apostles and false teachers who are making the American church sick with their man-centered, money-focused heresies.
~SOURCE: http://www.charismanews.com/ (2007)
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Your brother in Christ,
P g vargis