We Love God!

God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

There are a lot of temptations for pastors, one of which, because of our public role, is to think of ourselves more highly than we should. And in so doing, we can develop a tendency to depreciate those who are under our leadership. This can be manifested in a number of ways. Our messages can be occasions where we talk down to people. We can berate people about particular sins, though our own sins are just as heinous. We can assume a know-it-all attitude. We can conduct meetings in such a way that we take advantage of people or make light of their thoughts or suggestions. We can make public, veiled references to people. And we can use humor about our members from the pulpit at their emotional expense.
Curtis Thomas

Throughout Scripture we see the Bible testifying of the generating power of God's Word. Beginning in Genesis 1 we read that God spoke this world into existence creating life out of darkness. In Ezekiel 37 we have the fabulous vision where the Prophet is called to preach to the dry bones and through the preaching of God's Word, God's Spirit would bring deadness to life. This is how God gives us spiritual life. This is how God takes spiritually dead corpses and regenerates them through the teaching of His Word. 1 Peter 1:23, 'For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God' (cf. Jas. 1:18). In Romans 10 the familiar verse says 'faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ' (Rom. 10:17). That is why Paul told the Corinthians, 'God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe' (2 Cor. 1:21b; cf. 1 Cor. 1:17; 23; 9:16, 18; 15:11).
Randy Smith