• Home
  • Issues
  • Articles
    • Alan Day
    • Alan Stewart
    • Ed Litton
    • Gary Miller
    • Keith Drury
    • Michael Catt
    • Stephanie Bennett
    • Vance Havner
    • Warren Wiersbe
  • Quotes
  • Sermon Outlines
  • Podcasts
  • More
    • Book Reviews
    • Calendar
    • Odds n Ends
    • Web Resources

Calendar

February 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728  
« Jul    

Archives

  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019

Categories

  • Alan Day
  • Alan Stewart
  • Articles
  • Book Reviews
  • Calendar
  • Ed Litton
  • Gary Miller
  • Issues
  • Keith Drury
  • Michael Catt
  • Odds-n-Ends
  • Podcasts
  • Quotes
  • Sermon Outlines
  • Stephanie Bennett
  • Uncategorized
  • Vance Havner
  • Volume 01 | Issue 01
  • Volume 01 | Issue 02
  • Volume 01 | Issue 03
  • Volume 01 | Issue 04
  • Volume 01 | Issue 05
  • Volume 01 | Issue 06
  • Volume 01 | Issue 07
  • Volume 01 | Issue 08
  • Volume 01 | Issue 09
  • Volume 01 | Issue 10
  • Volume 01 | Issue 11
  • Volume 01 | Issue 12
  • Volume 01 | Issue 13
  • Volume 01 | Issue 14
  • Volume 02 | Issue 01
  • Volume 02 | Issue 02
  • Volume 02 | Issue 03
  • Volume 02 | Issue 04
  • Volume 02 | Issue 05
  • Volume 02 | Issue 06
  • Volume 02 | Issue 07
  • Volume 02 | Issue 08
  • Volume 02 | Issue 09
  • Volume 02 | Issue 10
  • Volume 02 | Issue 11
  • Volume 02 | Issue 12
  • Volume 02 | Issue 13
  • Volume 02 | Issue 14
  • Volume 02 | Issue 15
  • Volume 02 | Issue 16
  • Volume 02 | Issue 17
  • Volume 02 | Issue 18
  • Volume 02 | Issue 19
  • Volume 02 | Issue 20
  • Volume 02 | Issue 21
  • Volume 02 | Issue 22
  • Volume 02 | Issue 23
  • Volume 02 | Issue 24
  • Volume 02 | Issue 25
  • Volume 03 | Issue 01
  • Volume 03 | Issue 02
  • Volume 03 | Issue 03
  • Volume 03 | Issue 04
  • Volume 03 | Issue 05
  • Volume 03 | Issue 06
  • Volume 03 | Issue 07
  • Volume 03 | Issue 08
  • Volume 03 | Issue 09
  • Volume 03 | Issue 10
  • Volume 03 | Issue 11
  • Volume 03 | Issue 12
  • Volume 03 | Issue 13
  • Volume 03 | Issue 14
  • Volume 03 | Issue 15
  • Volume 03 | Issue 16
  • Volume 03 | Issue 17
  • Volume 03 | Issue 18
  • Volume 03 | Issue 19
  • Volume 03 | Issue 20
  • Volume 03 | Issue 21
  • Volume 03 | Issue 22
  • Volume 03 | Issue 23
  • Volume 03 | Issue 24
  • Volume 04 | Issue 01
  • Volume 04 | Issue 02
  • Volume 04 | Issue 03
  • Volume 04 | Issue 04
  • Volume 04 | Issue 05
  • Volume 04 | Issue 06
  • Volume 04 | Issue 07
  • Volume 04 | Issue 08
  • Volume 04 | Issue 09
  • Volume 04 | Issue 10
  • Volume 04 | Issue 11
  • Volume 04 | Issue 12
  • Volume 04 | Issue 13
  • Volume 05 | Issue 01
  • Volume 05 | Issue 02
  • Volume 05 | Issue 03
  • Volume 05 | Issue 04
  • Volume 05 | Issue 05
  • Volume 05 | Issue 06
  • Volume 05 | Issue 07
  • Volume 05 | Issue 08
  • Volume 05 | Issue 09
  • Volume 05 | Issue 10
  • Volume 05 | Issue 11
  • Volume 05 | Issue 12
  • Volume 05 | Issue 13
  • Volume 05 | Issue 14
  • Volume 06 | Issue 01
  • Volume 06 | Issue 02
  • Volume 06 | Issue 03
  • Volume 06 | Issue 04
  • Volume 06 | Issue 05
  • Volume 06 | Issue 06
  • Volume 06 | Issue 07
  • Volume 06 | Issue 08
  • Volume 06 | Issue 09
  • Volume 06 | Issue 10
  • Volume 06 | Issue 11
  • Volume 06 | Issue 12
  • Volume 06 | Issue 13
  • Volume 06 | Issue 14
  • Volume 06 | Issue 15
  • Volume 07 | Issue 01
  • Volume 07 | Issue 02
  • Volume 07 | Issue 03
  • Volume 07 | Issue 04
  • Volume 07 | Issue 05
  • Volume 07 | Issue 06
  • Volume 07 | Issue 07
  • Volume 07 | Issue 08
  • Volume 07 | Issue 09
  • Volume 07 | Issue 10
  • Volume 07 | Issue 11
  • Volume 07 | Issue 12
  • Volume 07 | Issue 13
  • Volume 07 | Issue 14
  • Volume 07 | Issue 15
  • Volume 07 | Issue 16
  • Volume 07 | Issue 17
  • Volume 07 | Issue 18
  • Volume 07 | Issue 19
  • Volume 07 | Issue 20
  • Volume 07 | Issue 21
  • Volume 07 | Issue 22
  • Volume 07 | Issue 23
  • Volume 08 | Issue 01
  • Volume 08 | Issue 02
  • Volume 08 | Issue 03
  • Volume 08 | Issue 04
  • Volume 08 | Issue 05
  • Volume 08 | Issue 06
  • Volume 08 | Issue 07
  • Volume 08 | Issue 08
  • Volume 08 | Issue 09
  • Volume 08 | Issue 10
  • Volume 08 | Issue 11
  • Volume 08 | Issue 12
  • Volume 08 | Issue 13
  • Volume 08 | Issue 14
  • Volume 08 | Issue 15
  • Volume 08 | Issue 16
  • Volume 08 | Issue 17
  • Volume 08 | Issue 18
  • Volume 09 | Issue 01
  • Volume 09 | Issue 02
  • Volume 09 | Issue 03
  • Volume 09 | Issue 04
  • Volume 09 | Issue 05
  • Volume 09 | Issue 06
  • Volume 09 | Issue 07
  • Volume 10 | Issue 01
  • Volume 10 | Issue 02
  • Volume 10 | Issue 03
  • Volume 10 | Issue 04
  • Volume 10 | Issue 05
  • Volume 11 | Issue 01
  • Volume 11 | Issue 02
  • Volume 11 | Issue 03
  • Volume 11 | Issue 04
  • Volume 11 | Issue 05
  • Volume 11 | Issue 06
  • Volume 11 | Issue 07
  • Volume 11 | Issue 08
  • Volume 11 | Issue 09
  • Volume 11 | Issue 10
  • Volume 11 | Issue 11
  • Volume 11 | Issue 12
  • Volume 11 | Issue 13
  • Volume 11 | Issue 14
  • Volume 11 | Issue 15
  • Volume 11 | Issue 16
  • Volume 12 | Issue 01
  • Volume 12 | Issue 02
  • Volume 12 | Issue 03
  • Volume 12 | Issue 04
  • Volume 12 | Issue 05
  • Volume 12 | Issue 06
  • Volume 12 | Issue 07
  • Volume 12 | Issue 08
  • Volume 12 | Issue 09
  • Volume 12 | Issue 10
  • Volume 12 | Issue 11
  • Volume 12 | Issue 12
  • Volume 13 | Issue 01
  • Volume 13 | Issue 02
  • Volume 13 | Issue 03
  • Volume 13 | Issue 04
  • Volume 13 | Issue 05
  • Volume 13 | Issue 06
  • Volume 13 | Issue 07
  • Volume 13 | Issue 08
  • Volume 13 | Issue 09
  • Volume 13 | Issue 10
  • Volume 13 | Issue 11
  • Volume 13 | Issue 12
  • Volume 13 | Issue 13
  • Volume 13 | Issue 14
  • Volume 13 | Issue 15
  • Volume 13 | Issue 16
  • Volume 14 | Issue 01
  • Volume 14 | Issue 02
  • Volume 14 | Issue 03
  • Volume 14 | Issue 04
  • Volume 14 | Issue 05
  • Volume 14 | Issue 06
  • Volume 14 | Issue 07
  • Volume 14 | Issue 08
  • Warren Wiersbe
  • Web Resources
2ProphetU
  • Home
  • Issues
  • Articles
    • Alan Day
    • Alan Stewart
    • Ed Litton
    • Gary Miller
    • Keith Drury
    • Michael Catt
    • Stephanie Bennett
    • Vance Havner
    • Warren Wiersbe
  • Quotes
  • Sermon Outlines
  • Podcasts
  • More
    • Book Reviews
    • Calendar
    • Odds n Ends
    • Web Resources
Articles . Gary Miller . Volume 13 | Issue 15

The Life

“But during the night and angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, ‘Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.” Acts 5:20 (NASB)

The Amplified Version of the Bible describes this angelic charge, to the imprisoned preachers “declare to the people the whole doctrine concerning this Life (the eternal life which Christ revealed). v. 20 (AMP)

The New King James Version records they were to speak, “all the words of this life.” v. 20 (NKJV) The English Standard Version seems to combine all of the above, by stating, “speak to the people all the words of this Life.” v. 20 (ESV)

The Point: The first century preachers were imprisoned, by their enemies, for preaching about Jesus. They were set free by angels, to keep doing the very thing that put them in jail.

One of the more intriguing questions, asked on the cusp of the Jesus Revolution of the late Sixties and early Seventies of the last century was, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

Today, many preachers can sleep easily, when they put their head on the pillow on Saturday night, knowing that nothing they say in their pulpits on Sunday, could possibly offend anyone who is an enemy of Jesus. They simply never mention his name. They talk a great deal about the good life, the better life, the best life, and even the next life, but it fails to point to Jesus, as “THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.” (John 14:6)

This is a far cry from the preaching of The New Testament Church. It may pass the smell test for the Emerging Church, The Contemporary Church, The Submerging Church, or The Church of What’s Happenin’ Now, but it leaves a stench in the nostrils of God. If you go to church and your preacher can’t find Jesus, find a church that has a preacher who can.

The Life Satan fears the most is The Life of Jesus. When Jesus came into the world, Satan sought to destroy The life. First he sought to murder The Life as a child. Then he sought to marginalize The Life through sin, by tempting Jesus, in the wilderness. His final move was to destroy The Life, on the cross, by means of crucifixion. Hell rejoiced when Jesus said, “It is finished.” Satan thought The Life was. He was wrong. He always is.

The Resurrection was the turning point of final death to eternal life. Satan never saw it coming. Jesus broke Satan’s power over death, hell and the grave. He took on the worst Satan could throw at him, and turned his worst into God’s best. Jesus only does this…EVERY TIME. Your best is simply not good enough to please God. Your worst is not enough to shock God. Give both to Jesus, and watch what He can do.

When Max Lucado addressed a gathering of 60,000 preachers, at The Promise Keepers Clergy Conference in February 1996, he began with a simple request. He asked everyone to shout out the name of their church affiliation or denomination. The cacophonous sound created in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, by calling on clergy to identify themselves, was a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds, indeed. Two words come to mind, as I try to label it, pride and prejudice.

The good pastor from San Antonio then asked the same people to shout out The Name that was above every other name. He called for The Name at which every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess. By the time he got through qualifying and identifying The Name, even the boys on the back row understood, he was calling for them to shout out The Name of Jesus. When they did, it was one of the most soul-stirring moments of my life. Words like awesome and powerful pale in comparison to it.

Max Lucado was no fire-breathing, sweat-slinging, prophetic serminator provoking preachers to pile on the sins of the contemporary culture. He quietly requested the preachers, in the same room to come together, and agree on the one name, and The Life that can transform any life. Mention His name, in the culture, and the culture is transformed, one life at a time. The result was a cacophony was transformed into a symphony, in an instant. This is the definition of Awakening. Jesus is enthroned. The Spirit saturates. God dominates.

There is still a tepid, timid tolerance, in this nation for a song or a phrase, as long as it stays within the bounds of, “God Bless America!” The bone in the throat, the rock in the shoe, and the fly in the ointment of this culture is caused by the name of Jesus. Try replacing the previously mentioned three-word, politically correct mantra, with the much more accurate two word message, “JESUS SAVES!” You will split the house. Again. This only happens…EVERY TIME!

Why? People who are comfortable with a baby in a manger, and even have a place in their lives for an empty cross, or man on a crucifix, don’t know what to do with The Risen Christ. God in Heaven and His angelic messengers do. They say, “PREACH JESUS!”

Some will say, “PREACH THE WORD!” The angels reminded the early preachers, “PREACH JESUS!” Big difference.

Note to self: Intense word studies, and exhaustive exegesis, can give birth to brilliant illustrations, enlightened explanation, practical application, and creative alliteration, but they can also overshadow The Life of Jesus. STOP IT! PREACH JESUS!

Prayerless preachers are able to fill the air, with powerful, practical and polite words about Jesus. Only personal, persistent, private prayer can fill these same preachers with The Person, The Presence and The Power of Jesus.

Talking about Jesus and talking to Jesus are not the same thing. Preaching about Jesus, must be preceded by praying to Jesus, before it is fueled with the power of Jesus. Preaching, without praying leads to no conviction in the life of the preacher or any change of direction the lives of the people in the pew.

The Life of Jesus was a life of prayer. He loved spending time with His Father. Praying conformed His will to His Father’s will, and this availability to God, was His key to His ability to release The Love and The Life of God to those who heard Him. The words of Jesus say it best.

“I came that they might have life.” Jesus – John 10:10

Prayer transforms preaching from a cacophony of creativity to a symphony about Jesus. Preach Jesus. He is still The Way, The Truth and The Life. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

copyright, Dr. Gary and Dana L. Miller
All Rights Reserved

Gary Miller

For over 40 years, Gary and Dana Miller have invested their lives in the pastoral ministry of churches in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Georgia. Gary and Dana believe the hope of the world is the local church, and the strength of the church is sustained by praying people.

They have taught extensively on the role of prayer in spiritual awakening, counseled people to build strong marriages by equipping husbands and wives to pray together and have ministered internationally in Hong Kong, Japan, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and Switzerland through their TALK LESS! PRAY MORE! Prayer Conferences.

Gary and Dana live in Fort Worth, Texas and have been married for 40 years. They are parents of two grown daughters, Ashley and Allyson.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Print

Read An Article

  • A Step at a Time
  • Hard Words to Swallow Lead to Revival (Part 1)
  • Day and Night

RSS Warren Wiersbe Podcast

  • Praise and Thanksgiving: Praise The Redeemer (Revelation 5)
  • Interview: Dr. Erwin Lutzer on Wiersbe back then, and Preaching today
  • Praise and Thanksgiving: Praise the Creator (Revelation 4)
  • Bible Fires: A Burning Furnace (Daniel 3)

RSS Sherwood Baptist Podcast

  • Deconstructing Faith
  • Steward His Story
  • Controlled Burn
  • We Overwhelmingly Conquer

MICHAEL CATT MESSAGES

Verse

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
1 Peter 3:9

Warning: Undefined array key "rand" in /homepages/0/d89980231/htdocs/2PU2onMCC/wp-content/plugins/recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails/recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails.php on line 138

Quotes On

  • Hypocrisy

Search

Links

Michael Catt

Vance Havner

Ron Dunn

Sherwood Church

Copyright 2ProphetU 2021. All righrts reserved.