Friday, November 7, 2014

SPRINGING FROM EXPERIENCE

A minister colleague of mine preached a sermon recently where he told of how a young man came up to him, after church, and asked my colleague to pray, "that I might be anointed to preach like you." Now, this colleague has had a rough several years. He has been involved in some pretty serious personal scandals that have rocked his church and his family. He has been near the bottom. But through forgiveness, prayer, and a lot of healing, he and his family and his church are all being restored.

The point being that this colleague now preaches the way he does because of the suffering he's had to do. And so, the colleague told this young man, "You don't know what you're really asking for."

But the young man was insistent that he wanted my colleague to pray for him, so that he might preach like my colleague. So, finally, they went back to the front of the church, and the minister began to pray for the young man, "Lord, take this young man down to the depths. Tear apart all of his comfort and his security. Take away all he trusts and believes in..."

At that point, the young man jumped up and said, "Hey, that's not what I wanted you to pray!!!" To which my colleague replied, "Well, if you want to preach like me, you're going to have to experience those things for yourself."

-- Copyright Eric Folkerth 2000. All Rights Reserved. (Used with Permission)


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