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Should ministers preach with brute force?

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Dave Slayer

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Should ministers preach with brute force? Is it Biblical?
 
No, I don't think so. A lot of people get turned away becasue of that in-your-face preaching. A more subtile approach I think is best.
 
I would rather hear just a few words by a reasonable man, that a dozen by a madman. I consider rant preaching more to magnify the preacher, than God. :yes
 
I have to admit, I'm not sure what "preach with brute force" means. Brute force usually means physically overpowering someone weak.

If you mean "In your face" kind of preaching about hell and things like that, frankly, sometimes a preacher needs to be blunt and upfront with his congregation about things. It's Biblical enough, Paul certainly didn't pull any punches about things, neither did our Lord for that manner. How "in your face" is this:


Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'

"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spicesâ€â€mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the lawâ€â€justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!

"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"


Now that's pretty "in your face". Sometimes people need this kind of preaching. Other times, we need to be gentle and loving.

Satan's job is to confuse us as to what is needed and when.
 
Yes , they should if its like Handy said, and if its lead by the holy spirit then it should be said . After much prayer.
 
Handy said:
... Sometimes people need this kind of preaching. Other times, we need to be gentle and loving.

Satan's job is to confuse us as to what is needed and when.

Yes, and when God has used me in such a way with my children whenthey were much younger, with myself and with others at various times, it doesn't feel good at all. But when Jesus was angry with the Pharisees did he like it, was he gentle? I don't think he enjoyed having to scold or discipline, It's not an enjoyable or gentle task. I think we are all used in different ways depending on the situation. Sometimes gentle and sometimes not so gentle.
Before I was saved from a particular sin. (being ignorant and negligent of my walk in Christ Holy Spirit) When was stopped dead in my own sin with another participating in it with me, and when the Holy Spirit gave me a hard jolting of a wake up call to what I was doing. I couldn't hold my silence to the person that was committing the sin with me. It took brute force Holy Spirit conviction to wake me up and then speak out to the person I was in sin with to say we need to stop this sin. Holy Spirit has many ways in which he works to wake us up from out of the stupor of sin.

Sometimes, the Holy Spirit doesn't use other people in our lives to use a brute force wake up call. I remember when I first started to read the bible on a daily basis rather than every so often... One night as I was sitting alone in a quiet room, reading the bible, the Holy Spirit convicted me of some of my sins so stark clear that I threw the bible to the other side of the room and was really freaked out by the truth of what I read. From that day onward I never stopped studying the bible every chance I got. And to this day, The Good Lord has forgiven me and has forgotten those sins in which he had wiped clean off of me back then! Praise God. :yes
And I know, that if needed, Holy Spirit brute force will be at work come to purge the sin out from my life if I happen to slip and fall at any time in the future. But I also know that the Good Lord will not hasten to pick me up when I have tripped up. God IS Good. God is full of Mercy and His Grace is given to overcome the sins of this world. We just need to reach out and take the offerings of those attributes of His. It's His gift to us. My Daddy God is soo Good to me. I don't like discipline, none of us do. But sometimes Holy Spirit Brute Force is what it takes to get through our hardened hearts and/or thick skulls!

The Holy Spirit works Brute Force when necessary. And Yes, sometimes, Holy Spirit will seclude us from others in order to get our attention. What we think as being a lonely place of solitude and being isolated from those we want to be with, is really a work of the Holy Spirit looking to get our attention so to work a transformation in us for the better.


Oh yes, and..... not to forget this other way the Holy Spirit of correction works a work in us....Brute force, also can be one of the moderators here come to give you a good whooping for what rules you broke on the forum! To say, go and sin no more. :lol


Peace ya'll ...
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Yes, some people react more to the 'in your face' preaching, but that in my experience most people prefer something more gentle rather than in your face. I'm not saying that it can't be blunt, I'm just saying it doesn't have to be full-on all the time. There's a time for both.
 
Nick_29 said:
Yes, some people react more to the 'in your face' preaching, but that in my experience most people prefer something more gentle rather than in your face. I'm not saying that it can't be blunt, I'm just saying it doesn't have to be full-on all the time. There's a time for both.

How do you like to be preached to?
 
Dave Slayer said:
[quote="Nick_29":1tmv9bh3]Yes, some people react more to the 'in your face' preaching, but that in my experience most people prefer something more gentle rather than in your face. I'm not saying that it can't be blunt, I'm just saying it doesn't have to be full-on all the time. There's a time for both.

How do you like to be preached to?[/quote:1tmv9bh3]

Depends what my mood is and what the preaching is about. But I was talking more about preaching to non-Christians.
 
Talk about "in your face!"

[youtube:2u4nvkd3]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXshJ7a-qa4[/youtube:2u4nvkd3]
 
JoJo said:
Talk about "in your face!"

[youtube:2zzyqzz9]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXshJ7a-qa4[/youtube:2zzyqzz9]
:lol yeah, that's definately in your face". more literaly than I was talking about!
 
JoJo said:
Talk about "in your face!"

[youtube:3ov57446]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXshJ7a-qa4[/youtube:3ov57446]

If you think that is bad, check this out:

[youtube:3ov57446]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdtJwg_8aG8[/youtube:3ov57446]
 
Yeah....that's pretty in your face all right. I think that second preacher needs to re-evaluate what the pulpit is for. I'm guessing it's not for telling people who have a political disagreement to get the h*ll out of church.

There are times when a church might have to tell a member to leave the fellowship. That's probably not the way to go about it though.
 
handy said:
There are times when a church might have to tell a member to leave the fellowship. That's probably not the way to go about it though.
Agreed. And that's probably not the right reason for telling a member to leave either.
 
Upon thinking it over, I think I understand the preacher's point. He told the man "Get the h*ll out of my church." See, that's probably OK.

Now, if he was talking about Christ's church, well then he'd have a problem. ;)
 
I like it when the brothers just go through the Word, and preach whats there truthfully, lovingly, and boldly. I don't need someone to try to stir me up by being loud, or emotional, or even ultra-intellectual, just the plain Word is powerful enough. It's so much better when the Holy Spirit stirs us, and changes us, and shows us the truth, because it's lasting and not legalistic hype. If the person speaking is truly brought to emotion, then that's wonderful, but when it's a method or style it's dishonest to me and not a true presentation of God's Word.

The Lord bless.
 
I thought preaching style, was what was meant here. As far as preaching against Sin, and Hell I have no problem with that.

What I have a problem with, is loud screaming stomping preachers. That will get me to leave your Church, without asking. I have seen some normally evenly emotional preachers get carried away once in a while, that is fine. But when it becomes a style, then it is not. It may suit some people, like the Holy Rollers, but not me.
 
There are two types of preaching I don't like--boring, quiet preaching that puts you to sleep, and screaming, pulpit-pounding preaching that leaves you with a headache. I've sat through both, unfortunately. The kind I like is somewhere in the middle that gets very deep into the word and yet puts it at a level where simple people like me can understand.

Oh yeah, there is another kind I don't like--the high-brow high-education type of preaching where he uses words that are way above my head, and I sit there having no idea what he's saying. I've suffered through that kind also. I've heard all styles and those with no style.
 
.

I think there are many different types of people and so The Lord provided many different types of ministers. What one person prefers is what another does not, and visa versa.

The Lord provided a variety of flowers, races, cultures, styles of expression for each, and so, why not a variety of ministers? Who are we to say just because someone says something with a flare we are not use to is not how they should express. Many Southernerns are use to that loud type preaching, and many Northerners are not, and visa versa. Preaching styles are as varied as are denominations. Doesn't mean they are out of line with the the truth in the word. Jesus yelled, when he needed to.,and I think some people need yelling at and prefer that style.

What would we do without variety? I know I'd be bored. I like any style as long as it is truth being told. Sometimes I'll prefer one over the other, but then, sometimes I like strawberry ice cream over any other flavor. Sometimes I prefer a yellow rose over the red ones. God is good! He meets ALL our needs according to His purpose. God loves variety that is in accordance to His creations and His Truth.
God is NOT BORING! :biggrin

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