I’ll be honest, I have a teaching on the church by Dever on tape and have seen him speak twice…I love his perspectives and insight and heart. He is clear, articulate and very simple and straightforward…even a dumb guy like me can understand what he is saying and where he is going with his points. Unlike Mohler, who I love, but talks even over the head of Sproul in his use of the English language…I only wish I were as smart as either of those guys.
His quote of Andy Stanley “going verse-by-verse is easy” (emphasis mine). Stanley went on to ask, “Do you know what your responsibility is as a pastor? It is to minister to felt-needs not to preach verse-by verse through Scripture.” is almost directly from the mouth of Rick Warren. When we were in the process of leaving our previous church, the pastor sat me down and asked me why we were leaving. I laid out the reasons clearly, and one of them was his desire to NOT teach / preach expositionally. He then popped in a VHS tape of Rick Warren speaking at a pastor’s conference at Saddleback…some 1500 pastors. Warren said very clearly and emphatically the same exact thing Stanley says above. Warren went on to say preaching expositionally is old, outdated and should NOT be done…the people need to have their felt / needs spoken to. My reply to that was simple…humanity’s greatest “need” is to have their sin dealt with, not figure out how to have a good day. He disagreed and 30 minutes later I left and never came back to that church. That church is Heartland Church at 96th and I-69.
We (the church) are really confused as to what constitutes “church life”…aren’t we? I love Dever’s simple approach to his ministry…preach the Word. I know you can appreciate this, and I know both of you know there is more to it than that. But if you aren’t preaching the Word, everything else is just chasing your tail and doesn’t glorify God.
Mark T
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