Sermon Packs a Punch!
In our local newspaper this morning, The Plain Dealer, in the Metro section, there was a picture (unfortunately I could not load the actual picture of it in my blog) of Pastor Paul Endrei knocking down another man in the middle of a boxing ring. It happened inside his church in Westlake, Ohio- The Church on the Rise. It was an illustration of a theme that he was talking about, "A Bout with Doubt." "There are lessons we can learn from boxing that have real-life application to our everyday lives."
One wonders what is next. I thought I have seen a lot, but this is now at the top of my list. The boxing world and the church are now one. Where will it all end? Pastor Endrei, also said that children could volunteer their parents to go into the ring during the service, as well. How amusing! Lord have mercy!
posted by stjohnstrongs @ 2:49 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Thank you for your comment. I am thankful that COR is committed to Christ. The question is: to what Christ are they committed to? The Christ that wants us to be successful in the eyes of the world or the Christ that tells us to carry our cross. "To win in life" sounds great, but what happens if you don't? Does that mean that you don't have faith or that God doesn't love you. A diligent study of COR teaching comparing it to the historic church may prove helpful. May God bless His Church as she remains faithful to the Word of God. Paul encourages us with his words in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." God bless.
Thank you for your post. I agree with StJohn that the illustration was just another way the larger churches and many small are appealing to people by saying "name it and claim it" In these illustrations the point seems to say that if you just fight hard enough, God will bless you. Well, we all know that is false. The message is wrong. It does not give the Jesus I know, or the Scriptures proclaim.
However, I believe we could use this boxing analogy. Didn't Paul bring the Olympic world into the church? Something about passing a baton and running the good race? I would love to see a pastor use this illustration and be willing to be knocked out. Talk about "weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Winning in life is only through the cross. There is no Easter without the cross.
I can understand your concerns about this message Dr. Endrei preached. However, if I may be so bold as to ask, have any of you actually listened to the message? I know for a fact it is available on CD. I have heard it, and I do not find it in the same category as the "Name it, claim it" groups. What it DOES do is use different boxing analogies to show how to overcome doubt in your life. For instance, he goes into the stance, and how it is important to have a firm foundation on the Word of God to defeat doubt. He goes into what boxers call "standing skinny" and shows how it is important to give doubt as less of a target in you as possible. Those are only a couple of points, but I think you get the general idea.
As for the idea about not winning in life....if Dr. Endrei and Church on the Rise did not believe that the possibility existed that you might not win in life, why would they have so many support groups available? There are groups for addiction recovery, divorce recovery, loss of a loved one, etc.
No, I feel that if you dig a little deeper, you'll find a solid theological, Biblical foundation to the messages Dr. Endrei is preaching. My advice, for the sake of intellectual integrity, is that you listen to some of the messages he preaches before deciding if he is or is not preaching Christ for the remission of sins.
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