Vladimir Pustan – Cluj 2011

Pagina – Predici Vladimir Pustan aici.

Predica este intitulata – Patru lucruri care lipsesc intr-o Biserica, si a fost tinuta la Biserica Speranta, Cluj, 2011.

Primul clip video este doar o secventa de 6 minute din predica:

Dumneavoastra a-ti auzit de sfinta plictiseala penticostala, baptista, ortodoxa, catolica? 

Atita teoritizam “botezul cu foc”…  o gramada de idei nastrusnice. Ce-i botezul cu foc?  Stiti ce spune Ieremia? Un foc launtric ma mistuieste. Daca iubitilor, in foc e ascunsa sfintenia lui Dumnezeu… acolo era focul. Daca in foc e ascunsa prezenta lui Dumnezeu, cind a venit la Moise era cu rug aprins. Daca marile lucrari a lui Dumnezeu, prezenta Duhului Sfint e tot din foc, daca focul lui Dumnezeu ne inconjoara, in judecata noastra pentru ca spune ca faptele noastre bune intr-o zi vor fi aruncate in foc. Daca toate se intimpla: judecata, Duh Sfint, daca prezenta lui Dumnezeu si sfintenia lui Dumnezeu e foc, eu cred ca asta-i botezul cu foc: Pasiunea pentru Hristos.

Am fost botezat cu Duhul Sfint si zic: Ma voi duce in cer. Daca nu veti avea pasiune pentru Hristos in tot ce faceti, dumneavoastra deci n-ati gustat botezul cu foc. Pune-ti foc in tot ce faceti. Pune-ti foc cind recitati o pezie. Pune-ti foc cind cintati o cintare. Pune-ti foc cind predicati. Pune-ti foc cind daruiti ca nu daruiesti tu lui nimeni, ci daruiesti fratelui tau. Pune-ti foc pe slujirea lui Hristos. Pune-ti foc in dragostea pentru Hristos. Pune-ti foc in relatiile din casa. Fi-ti pasionati in casa cu dragoste.

Nu veniti la biserica pentru programe; e un blestem un program. E un blestem liturghie cita vreme Dumnezeu lipseste. Dumnezeu n-are nevoie sa-L vada sfinti plictisiti Duminica dimineata. El vrea ca noi sa ardem pentru Isus Hristos. Dumnezeu vrea ca sa fim botezati pentru ca atunci cind biserica respinge focul, respinge fundamentul ei cu care a fost creata, Hristos si-a zidit biserica Sa sa arda in lumea aceasta. Voi sinteti niste faclii asezate pe virf de munte si oameni sa va vada. Dumnezeu n-are nevoie de biserica sa fie un frigider, ci Dumnezeu vrea ca tot ce facem sa facem cu foc, din pasiune. Des gresim. Nu-i nimic. Din greseli se invata.

Nu va duceti intr-o biserica unde predicatorul, sau preotul nu predica evanghelia cu foc ca o sa ajungeti voi in foc intr-o zi. Dumnezeu se va uita la dragostea noastra. Cum adica la 18 ani sa n-ai ai foc in tine? Cum adica sa cinti fara foc? Ani de zile in biserica pe care o pastoresc acum n-a fost un om care sa poata predica cuvintul lui Dumnezeu. Erau niste femei care cintau. N-aveam cor. Corul l-am infiintat de 10 ani. Cintau niste femei, dar Dumnezeu lucra prin ele, in momentul cind se sculau in picioare sa cinte, Duhul lui Dumnezeu se cobora acolo, focul lui Hristos era peste ele si oamenii erau mintuiti prin Cuvintul din cintare.

Iubitilor avem nevoie de foc pentru ca focul curata, pentru ca focul sfinteste, pentru ca focul da viata, pentru ca focul distruge. Sa distruga Dumnezeu prin foc toate pacatele noastre.

Eram intr-o zi la Constanta si am vazut in soarele marii o trupa de rock, au facut repetitii de dimineata pina dupa masa. Rasuna pentru ca seara aveau un concert spre pierzarea multora. Si ai nostri cinta plictisiti in biserica. Am auzit despre un predicator care a cascat in timpul propriei predici. Cum sa nu doarma ceilalti daca el doarme la amvon? Iubitilor avem nevoie de focul lui Isus Hristos, daca nu va fi o mare problema pentru noi. Noi trebuie sa fim un rug aprins si niciodata consumat. Pe capurile apostolilor a coborit o limba de foc. Am citit de dirijorul orchestrei Philadelphia ca omul acesta dirija atit de pasionat orchestra aceia incit si-a dislocat umarul drept. In timp ce dirija orchestra si-a rupt mina. Si cei mai multi din confratii mei, indiferent de confesiune, nici macar nodul de la cravata nu se misca. Dumnezeu sa va ajute sa aveti pasiune pentru Hristos.

Predica in intregime :

C.S. Lewis – God as God (2) God’s Love and Do I have a right to be happy?

Read part 1 here - 

God can be no other than what he is: absolute goodness, justice, mercy and love. And he is all of these supereminently, as we have just said.

Being all-sufficient in himself, God still loves into existence the superfluous, since he is almost overflowing with goodness. This is not to be understood in the Neo-Platonic sense, for God is under no compulsion to create anything. He creates and conserves in existence so that he can love all created being.

God’s Love

This brings us into consideration of God’s love. We are not to construe it as something sentimental, or something which excites our feelings. We have a Father in heaven, but not a benevolent grandfather who simply wants everyone to have a good time on earth. God’s love is pure, spiritual and intellectual, and quite unlike the love we generally experience.; there may be almost an element of ferocity about it. In a word, God is exacting in his love, we are happy only insofar as this is compatible with praising, reverencing and serving him. He is not concerned about people’s saying at the end of the day,”A good time was had by all”. He is not to be mistaken for mere kindness, because he has loved us to the utmost.

In The Problem of Pain (Chapter 3), we come face to face with God’s love and human suffering. Each one of us is a divine work of art, and the Heavenly Artist has paid us the “intolerable compliment” of creating us in his image. Nor will he rest until he has accomplished his will, until each of us grows in Godlikeness according to the plan he has laid out for us. We may not altogether like the infinite care and patience which go into our artistry, but Lewis points out that in wishing for a less glorious and a less arduous destiny, we are asking not for more love but for less.

Our God is a consuming fire, a tremendous lover, a passionate seeker after every individual. He is the Lord of the terrible aspect, and to look upon him face to face is to die. We must not sentimentalize this God.

We are not the center of the universe; God is its center and all things- man included- exist for God. Hence God cannot allow us to remain as we are; his love constantly seeks to enlarge the mansion of our soul, for it is in this mansion that he intends to live himself. In answer to the question, Have I a right to be happy/ God replies no. Sin has marred our character to such an extent that God must cajole, woo threaten, refashion, and redesign our inner selves to his satisfaction, not our own. To struggle against this, to throw up blocks, to fail to surrender to the fort, is once again to ask for less love, not for more.

Excerpt from The Theology of C.S. Lewis  (Pleasures Forevermore by John Randolph Willis, Chapter 2)

Related articles

• C.S.Lewis BBC surviving audio tapes from the 1940′s
• C.S. Lewis – Three kinds of men – Which type is you?
• The BBC is the reason C S Lewis wrote “Mere Christianity”
• C.S. Lewis The Abolition of Man Chapter 1 – Men without chests
• C.S. Lewis The Abolition of Man Chapter 2 – The Way
• C.S. Lewis The Abolition of Man Chapter 3 
• Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul Learning from the Mind and Heart of C. S. Lewis – Desiring God

David French on the Collapse of the Evangelicals’ Cultural Influence

David French is the author of multiple books and Senior Counsel for the ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) . A Kentucky native, David is a 1994 graduate (cum laude) of Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a 1991 graduate (summa cum laude, valedictorian) of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. David is a regular contributor to National Review Online, a columnist for Patheos, and he has written numerous op-eds and articles, including pieces in the Washington Post, Washington Times, Human Events, Townhall, New York Post, New York Daily News, Boston Herald, and Philadelphia Daily News. (source)

The following is an excerpt from an article in the National Review Online, consisting of 3 points that David French makes in support of this claim:

During my years in the pews, I’ve witnessed a moral collapse — and a corresponding collapse in positive influence over the real lives not just of our fellow congregants but also of our fellow citizens in need. Of course it’s difficult to present a compelling witness when our own practices and lifestyle are often indistinguishable from the larger culture, but the problems get more specific. Here are three:

1. We are more focused on meeting the material needs of the poor than their spiritual needs. Spend much time in the evangelical community, and you’ll soon learn that the old-fashioned Gospel-focused mission trip is largely a thing of the past… Service must be accompanied by intentional, vocal evangelism and discipling.

2. We go on sinning so that grace may abound. The secular stereotype of the modern evangelical — as a judgmental moralizer — is so wrong as to be laughable. Everywhere you go, preachers reject this model entirely, emphasizing, for example, “divorce recovery,” therapy, and treatment for the consequences of sin. Again, these are worthy things, but Christ and the Apostle Paul also emphasized holiness and discipline. How often has your church actually disciplined adulterers? How often have you intervened in the life of a friend before they made devastating mistakes? Our desire to be liked trumps all, and suffering is the result.

3. We church-shop, seeking to meet our needs rather than serving the church. This echoes Douthat’s point above. Church-switching is pernicious. Not only does the church “market” breed selfishness, it also makes pastors market-oriented. As you survey church after church, each doing things their own way, ask yourself, which of these church institutions will still be present and viable in 50 years? Or 100 years? Or 1,000? Evangelicals often look askance at Catholics, but which of our churches has even lasted since the Reformation? We cannot build institutions when our focus is on building the self.

He concludes: I once heard it said that following the social and political disruptions of the 1960s and early 1970s, religious conservatives decided that they had to win elections, while secular leftists decided to win the culture — and both groups succeeded. So now here we are, enjoying unprecedented influence on presidential outcomes even as our cultural foundation rots away beneath our feet. Click here to read the entire article at the National Review Online.

Something to think about; each and every one of us (especially the laypeople) has contributed to this decline with our (perceived) individualistic daily decisions in how we live our life whether we obey God’s word or simply choose to disregard it. How then shall we influence unbelievers? Grace Bible Church of Tulsa, OK  has an excellent article elaborating on the fact that we can only influence by what we are:

It is the difference in our character that distinguishes us from unbelievers. The believer influences the unbeliever by what he is, not by what he has. Turning our attention to verse 13 we see that Christ did not say, “You have salt and light to dispense,” but rather “You are the salt. . . . You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13, 14). The believer’s very presence in the world acts as salt and light, preventing corruption and exposing error. The only question, as Jesus goes on to say, is whether or not we are tasteful salt and effective light

2 Cor 2:14-16

14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?

Returning back to Matt 5:13, the “you” in both verses is plural. It is His whole body, the church, which is called to be the world’s salt and light. Each person has ones own limited influence, but the church collectively is to have an influence throughout the world.

Christ is the source of our savor and of our light. (HT)

May the Lord help us to search our own hearts and live according to His word!

Unusual Songs (8) Misty Edwards – The Caged Bird

One Thing 2011 Conference

• Unusual Music 1 – Jesus Culture – Holy, You are Holy
• Unusual Music 2 – Misty Edwards – The Harlot
• Unusual Music 3 – Freddy Hayler - Healing Waters
• Unusual Music 4 – Matt Gilman - Kiss my heart
• Unusual Music 5 – Misty Edwards – Soul Cry
• Unusual Music 6 – The Disciples – Still (Indonesian)
• Unusual Music 7 — HIghland Cathedral — Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Misty Edwards sings at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri. Here’s a little bit about IHOP:-You can watch the prayer room live, 24/7 on God TV.  God TV Schedule on Locate TV For those who don’t get the Christian channel, watching online may be the only way to tune in, but even those who get the channel can still watch IHOP prayer room live online.  Just click here to access the site.  IHOP Prayer Room on God TV.

What Is the Prayer Room?

Central to the work of the missions base is our 24/7 prayer room, inspired by David’s tabernacle (1 Chr. 23:5; 25:7), where 288 singers and 4,000 musicians were employed as their full-time occupation to minister to the Lord and serve the community. The 24/7 schedule is divided into twelve two-hour worship-based prayer meetings a day.

Scripture teaches that night-and-day prayer is crucial for the fullness of God’s power and purpose to be released (Lk. 18:7–8; Isa. 62:6–7). We are offering Jesus unceasing adoration, while contending for justice and the power of the Holy Spirit to be manifest and bring transformation in every sphere of society.

The song is “Caged Bird” and it is based on one of Misty Edward’s favorite poems, which was written by  Gene Guyon,  in prison for writing on prayer and the Song of Solomon.

1. A little bird I am,
   Shut from the fields of air,
   And in my cage I sit and sing
   To Him who placed me there;
   Well pleased a prisoner to be,
   Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.
2. Nought have I else to do,
   I sing the whole day long;
   And He whom most I love to please
   Doth listen to my song;
   He caught and bound my wandering wing;
   But still He bends to hear me sing.
3. Thou hast an ear to hear
   A heart to love and bless;
   And though my notes were e’er so rude,
   Thou wouldst not hear the less;
   Because Thou knowest as they fall,
   That love, sweet love, inspires them all.
4. My cage confines me round;
   Abroad I cannot fly;
   But though my wing is closely bound,
   My heart’s at liberty;
   For prison walls cannot control
   The flight, the freedom of the soul.
5. O it is good to soar
   These bolts and bars above!
   To Him whose purpose I adore,
   Whose providence I love;
   And in Thy mighty will to find