OK, I'll admit I got some...

5 Comments

Comment by clint demoret on August 6, 2008 at 7:00pm

you are so right on with this, when preachers interject words like ,, come on somebody!! after every other sentence, one preacher on knyd the other day was talking about the subject of sinning and then saying amen right after that, and saying it a lot. others on knyd get worked up in a soulish freenzie and say," come on some body" during thier teaching . i was just commenting about this to a co worker tuesday afternoon when david eli was on knyd. i know that preachers have desires , that to them, seems they are doing God and people that are hearing them a service. yet sober minded, fear and trembling under Gods unction, preaching is what we need!!! .the apostle Paul said.. in 1cor 2:1-5 and i bretheren, when i came to you , came not with excellency of speach or of wisdom, declaring unto you the mystery of God. For i determined not to know anything amoung you, except Jesus Christ , and Him crucified. and i was with you in much fear and trembling. and my speech was not in persuasive words of mans wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but IN THE POWER OF GOD .. the best thing i can say along these lines , is to keep looking to Jesus , not to the kings men , but to the king himself, Christ Jesus, it is He , who sets the captives free. I personally , even at the prayer center , do not give my minds attention to everything that is said there . i do not pass sentence on anyone there , i just know that i cannot receive faith from all that is said , and i look to jesus and not to anyone else , God will weave me into the perfect place in His body as He sees fit for me, so Look to Jesus and think on pure,lovely and virtueous things, even in the midst of man carrying on his own tangents , from behind the pulpit

Comment by Dave on August 6, 2008 at 8:32pm

Yeah I feel ya Doug, it is funny when someone need confirmation, Dad does it too... but I think most preachers are trying to make sure you are keeping up/ not losing interest/ not falling asleep. But not unlike when a girl (or guy) says "I feel so ugly today" in hopes that someone will say "no , no your so pretty" fishing for amens is mostly annoying when there is nothing to Amen for. Like "God is good, Amen?" Duh. move on we are already passed the milk stages here lets here the word. I guess it really boils down to style and personal inflection since every personality is different. I find thats it's best to smile and nod and let God sort em out since in the end if they are winning souls to the Lord and signs and wonders are following their ministry then they must be doing something right so I concentrate on that part of the service and ignore the stuff that would annoy me... if I cared. If we are gonna talk about what really annoys me it's when someone is asked to sing and they get up there and preach for 5-20 minutes before singing starts or they decuide to hold a prayer line as they finish singing because they "know" that the annointing dropped like that. That annoys me because they are out of order.

Comment by Doug Lee on August 7, 2008 at 12:19am

Two more points I'd like to add relating to the fishing for amens:
If someone is really stirred up in their spirit, and they have to let it out, I'm not the one to restrict their freedom. The Word does say that all things are to be done decently and in order. If your loud Amens keep someone else from hearing the Word, then I hope you realize you are interfering with that person's growth.
Also, on the flip side to the fishing for amens issue, are those that say Amen while the speaker continues to talk. What they don't realize is that when your mouth is open, your ears are shut. You might be interfering with your own growth then.

I didn't used to be this critical, and I don't mean to put anyone down. I'm just pointing out some things that people accept too easily, and I want to see people do better.
Years ago, I was interested in writing, so I bought a book about writing that was written by a Baptist pastor who wrote a column for his state Baptist publication. One thing he said that has stuck with me, and might be a factor in these quirks, is that the two areas of society that are the most open to accepting poor writing are government and church. Since then, I try to pay attention to my language, and I guess I notice how other people use language. I could go on, but I don't want to use up the bandwidth. I suppose that when I get my turn in the pulpit, and the Lord allows, I can address some things. Until then, I can only pray the Lord to stir people up to learn.

Comment by Debbie Hindman on August 11, 2008 at 2:06pm

Thanks for giving, (not sharing) your thoughts on "amening." (smile)

I hate to say it, but when I was "amening" a lot in church it was because I didn't know much, or a better reason: because I was so excited about what I was hearing, either way I may have been annoying my neighbor! It's good to be reminded to be thoughtful of others.

Sometimes silence "scares" a preacher, but when the Holy Spirit is impressing someone with the TRUTH, silence means we are simply absorbing it. The preacher or teacher may not know what is going on inside the hearers, and he wants some interaction. I can understand that. There is a balance to be had.

You're not being critical. You are teaching here.

Iron sharpens iron.

Comment by Doug Lee on September 26, 2008 at 2:04pm

Additional input on the "sharing" thing:

Years ago, I came across a scripture about giving in, of all places, Proverbs. In Proverbs 21: 25-26 we see:
The desire of the sluggard puts him to death,
For his hands refuse to work;
All day long he is craving,
While the righteous gives and does not hold back.

This is not to say that those who only "share" with out giving are being lazy, but this verse does point out that the righteous do put an honest, straightforward effort into everything they do.

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