Leadership And Humility

Humility in leadership is an essential virtue in the ministry of the Gospel. If a leader does not exude humility then he would not last in the ministry. The reason is simple. Pride is the nature of the Devil and humility is the antithesis of pride. Therefore, to be a genuine follower of Christ and to be used by Him in the ministry one has to have humility. It is without doubt that Jesus was a person of humility that is why the young, the old, ordinary people, fishermen, tax collectors, and outcast of society flocked to Him. They could not approach the Sanhedrin because of their pride and distance from the people.

Ritualism and Authentic Worship
You have answered the question that deals with ritualism and authentic worship in the last paragraph of your thread. Concerning speaking in tongues, the Apostle Paul provides instructions in how to go about it in 1 Corinthians 14. We have to be careful that in a communal or public worship, we do not draw attention to ourselves. In worship, we have only one audience who is God. Therefore, we have to make sure that we please only Him and not to demonstrate fleshly worship that seeks to glorify ourselves.

You have touched on an important topic that Kapic deals with in his classic. You are right. Prayer and the study of the Scriptures should go hand in hand. God speaks to us in His Word. We speak to Him when we have heard from Him. Therefore, there should be a balance between the two. There shouldn't be any dichotomy between the two.

You have put your finger on some of the issues we dealt with in my doctoral seminars in Contemporary Evangelism. I think that what you have pointed out and Kapic has stated eloquently are some of the reasons we do not see revival and the moving of the Spirit in our churches today. The sad thing is that the church is filled to capacity and yet the members are empty on the inside because they are not fed with the true word of God. There is not even enough time for fellowship with other believers because the sanctuary has to ready for the next service.

I would say that if anyone belongs to a church and the preacher says that person should pay his pledge or tithe with his credit card, the member should leave the church immediately. I believe true stewardship emphasis should be proclaimed or taught exegetically from the Bible to enable Christians understand what stewardship is all about. I know that some of the tele-evangelists use guilt, fear, and manipulation to compel people to give but that is contrary to the teachings of the Word of God.