I intensely dislike the term update…I like the term Good News better. When Jesus shared with his disciples, it was never an update on what God was doing, it was the story of God’s mercies being new every morning. The woman at the well perceived that Jesus was a prophet, but he did not dwell on the sign and the wonder, he concentrated and focused on her life being changed. Power was not some kind of parlor trick to create a spectacle. It was the operating system of Jesus’ life. That term power is used in the Bible repeatedly in the form of the Greek word “dunamis”, meaning explosive.  The contemporary church has tried to take this word dunamis and exchange it for a word meaning “arm of the flesh.” When we do things in our own strength, we get things in return that are relative to our own strength. I believe that Albert Einstein sufficiently proved in his paper on the theory of relativity that things done in a particular inertia will give off that same measure back. The thing to remember about this is that without the continual re-energizing of an event, the momentum will begin to wane. That brings us back to the good news. When we trust in the anointing, we are dependant upon something bigger than ourselves, capable of strength ad-infinitum, and totally void of the human factor. If church just puts on a good show without the anointing, it is like Jesus telling the woman at the well that she has indeed encountered a prophet, but her life would remain unchanged. Jesus called out her inordinate past, but met that with the forgiveness of her sin and the renewing of her spirit. You can’t do that with a program. There’s no way to forgive sin with a “cute idea”. Only the anointing of God can meet the weakness of our humanity and free us from the bondages of Satan. It kind of reminds me of a story I heard recently

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preachers visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The preacher made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, 'Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.’

Church is just entertainment without the anointing. Without the fire of God, we grow cold

and die. If you live in the Slidell/Southern Mississippi /Greater New Orleans area and you do not have a church home where the power of God is embraced and the presence of the Holy Spirit is welcome, we invite you to our services. If you do not have a church home where the worship isn’t just good, it’s anointed; then check us out. Our service times are listed here on the website. I’ll be looking forward to meeting you! Peace.

In His Wonderful Service,
Larry Roques
JFC Senior Pastor

Posted 8/17/2008 6:54:51 PM