“For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Acts 20:27
Have you ever known people that are obsessed with one subject? No matter what you try to talk to them about, it always goes back to that one thing. There are pastors that every sermon they preach, they somehow tie it in with their favorite hobby-horse issue. Fixating on one issue is a common tendency that many of us struggle with. The Bible is a deep book, so as Christians, and especially as pastors, we need to make a concerted effort to stay balanced.
Some preachers only like to talk about the King James Bible versus other versions. Others focus on end-times prophecy, creation versus evolution, or even specific false religions. Some people want to blame all of the evil in the world on Islam or Catholicism, and they wonder why I don’t preach more about their most hated religion. They need to realize that the Devil is in control of all false religions, so I try to hit on all of them.
I don’t want to be known for just one thing. I don’t want to be just that post-trib guy, because I also want to be the guy that defends the King James Bible. I want to be the one that takes a hard stand against the homos, but I also have a lot to say about Bible reading and memorization. I like to preach sermons on marriage and child rearing, but I’m also all about soul winning.
Little kids often want to watch the same movie or hear the same book read to them over and over again, but as we get older our interests should broaden. Babes in Christ will often want to fixate on a convenient doctrine that doesn’t require a change in their life. They want to keep hearing how bad the homos are or what’s going to happen in the end times. They aren’t interested in hearing preaching against their besetting sin, but that’s precisely what they need to hear.
If you are considering becoming a pastor, you need to take an interest in a variety of different subjects—both popular and unpopular. One of the reasons I like doing the Wednesday night chapter sermons is that it forces me to preach about things I may not have otherwise thought to preach on.
There are people in the pulpits as well as in the pews that go overboard on certain things. We need to make sure that we get a well-rounded view of Scripture instead of trying to make every chapter of the Bible about that one doctrine we are fixated on. This is especially true for aspiring pastors. People will enjoy the preaching when they first start attending a new church, but they will quickly become bored once they realize the sermons all revolve around one topic. If you want to grow spiritually, you need a balanced diet, and if you are a preacher, you need to avoid running any one subject into the ground.
Here is a sermon to go with this article.
5 comments:
One of the several reasons I listen to your sermons every night is because you are not a one issue preacher. You completely cover every topic across the board. Many times I have encountered an issue, or a problem and I know I can look through your sermons to find the answer in the Bible I need. While I don't always agree with you 100%, I know you'll biblically guide me in the right direction.
For example, I disagree with you on your view of animals, and your belief they are not important in the big picture. I do consider my dogs are my fur children. Yes, I also grand-dogs.
Thank you for sharing your sermons.
Well said Pastor.
Pastor Manly Perry is going through a 3:16 series, which is a good device for preaching throughout the whole Bible. Your Jeremiah bible study series has been a great blessing because you have woven so many subjects into each chapter (the sermon on patriotism was a classic, even if the subject was only part of the whole sermon).
Such is the word of God. It is astounding that meaning should be woven in all the various books in the exact order they have been arranged from the Old Testament to the New Testament. I think it is the media that tries to jam the Bible into one channel; their current favorite seems to be Sodomite News.
Praise God for your diverse teaching.
It's the islam obsession that's really getting to me. Some folks just can't shut up about it. I blame the media. It's the media whipping them into a war mongering frenzy.
If the middle east was full of hindus I'm sure these one issue people would be against Hindu because of the tv.
I used to be like that too...when i was like 18, easily led and i listened to a lot of talk back radio etc.
These people gotta wise up. Most of them are a lot older than 18. They have to stop getting 3rd party info and go to the Bible.
Hi. I agree with the other "Anonymous". Media is a cancer! They do cause people and preachers to have fear, to fixate on a given issue, to focus on the wrong issue and ignore the real issue at hand, and to get brainwashed into a particular train of thought. Naturally then, people will speak about it or preach about it.
But what about the issue of infiltration? Surely that is a big reason as well - causing people to - knowingly or unknowingly - promote a bad agenda, a bad teaching. Yes, Christian Zionism, I'm looking at you! I understand that many preachers are misled and misguided by their former Pastors, or by Bible Colleges, and it's hard to wake them up with Scripture since this false doctrine has been hammered into people for over 100 years now. But there are also false preachers, liars of Satan, who deliberately teach false doctrine and I suspect they too only fixate on one issue - such as *ptoo ptoo* John Hagee.
Also, do you think that preachers/teachers who fixate on one issue tend to be false preachers? I mean, if I think of a few...
John Hagee - fixates on loving Israel at Jesus's expense - FAKE
Ray Comfort - fixates on Atheists with a little Creationism thrown in - FAKE
Jonathan Cahn - fixates on 9/11 - FAKE
Doc Marquis - appears to have the Gospel right on his website, but fixates on the Illuminati and Paganism; in so doing he teaches Jewish fables and steers viewers away from suspecting Zionism - FAKE
(and going back to the media, the fake-Christian media pushes these liars so the lukewarm stay lukewarm and the unsaved pretenders don't get offended)
And then there's Kent Hovind - who fixates on Creationism; I think he's saved but his fixating on one issue has caused him to fail in nearly all other areas, so he is carried away by every wind of doctrine (and as a result so are many of his viewers). Culminating in the embarrassment of September, where he proudly declared his sin as Sodom on Youtube and reckoned God wants him to commit his sin of choice.
Then, there is also the perception of a preacher fixating on one issue. If you look at the media, and watch a few selected sermons, people think Pastor Anderson is fixated on the homos. He does refer to them in passing quite a bit :-) but when watching a few, dozens, hundreds of his sermons, you see he is incredibly varied in topics, more so than most preachers!
(once upon a time I wrote articles too; I tried to be really varied but almost all readers only visited to read about 1-2 cults getting exposed, so they too thought I was fixated on 1-2 topics when I wasn't)
Anyway, greetings from Africa! Where the churches are pathetic and we don't have real ones, where the governments are wicked and hate God and His people, and where the "believers" care more about misguided national pride than about the Gospel. Even so, we do have people who are receptive so please, if you can get "The Bible Way To Heaven" translated to Swahili, Zulu and Sesotho, with the languages you do already have you would cover about half of Southern and Eastern Africa, and you could make a Gospel DVD just like you did with India - and there are people who will make sure it gets spread a lot within the continent. Given the demographics you may need to use dodgy churches (Pentecostal often) but they don't know better since they don't get real evangelists, and they'll lap up free DVDs and learn heartily from them - especially DRC, Burindi, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you PSA!
FWBC Malawi opens near you April 2017.
This time we pray, try as they might, they won't be able to kick FWBC out and it will finally gain a long-sought foothold on the continent! But if they do get deported, just shake off the dust and move to the next country just a little closer north.
Today I was in an conversation where someone is proposing to prepare and hold a rural lot in trust for when the fundamental KJV missionaries finally arrive in their country in the deportation queue. People in Africa are beginning to take notice!
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