“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Gon, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11).
If there was ever a time in our history when men needed to hear and heed the Word of God, it is today. If God forbid! If the Word of God isn’t enough to bring God’s people to the house of God, nothing else should be used in its place. What we need is not a change of our church services, but a change of heart. We don’t need entertainment in our churches, we need old fashioned “hell-fire-and-brimstone” preaching, and a dedicated, consecrated, and repentant congregation to take the words into their heart. Church members who think they are doing God a favour by being in church need to wake up to the fact that it is a precious privilege to hear God’s Word proclaimed, and to be careful not to be caught up in the great famine of the day: a famine of the Word of God. There ever was a time when the preacher needed to proclaim the “whole counsel of God,” it is today. Instead, there is a famine in the land. Folks who used to love to come to church and hear God’s Word preached, no longer care for it. People who used to be able to quote passages of Scripture without hesitation, can hardly find the books of the Bible. Why? Because the average church member has no hunger for spiritual things any more. Evidence of this is our evening attendance. Evidence of this is the cold, blank, ignorant stare the preacher gets when preaching on even the simple, basic doctrines of the Bible.
The church member who reveals a deep, sincere hunger for Bible preaching is the exception to the rule now-a-days. Some churches have gone into the entertainment business. They put on a “show” for those who come. Other churches have great “give-away” schemes, giving prizes to those who attend, in order to show a “big” attendance
for the day.
God forbid! If the Word of God isn’t enough to bring God’s people to the house of God, nothing else should be used in its place. What we need is not a change of our church services, but a change of heart. We don’t need entertainment in our churches, we need old fashioned “hell-fire-and-brimstone” preaching, and a dedicated, consecrated, and repentant congregation to take the words into their heart. Church members who think they are doing God a favour by being in church need to wake up to the fact that it is a precious privilege to hear God’s Word proclaimed, and to be careful not to be caught up in the great famine of the day: a famine of the Word of God.