No More Manufactured Christianity!

I literally seen this in my facebook newsfeed after my post titled, "The modern church is today's Tower of Babel". Holy Ghost confirmation for me! If she's "famous" and can be bold and tell what needs to be shared, well so can I! I just refuse to play church or be entertained when it comes to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Some of these very same things she mentioned are what I mentioned in my devotion below this post, about God being tired of the entertainment aspect of the modern church, and He's shut it all down.

Evangelist and author Priscilla Shirer said she hopes temporary church closures will empower ministers to rely more on the Holy Spirit instead of trying to manufacture the fire of God by using production "gimmicks" many modern churches have become dependent on. Click on link for full article. 

Shirer was among 50 other Christian leaders, musicians, speakers, and pastors who participated in a 10-hour livestream event called “Leader Check In” hosted by PULSE and Year of the Bible founder Nick Hall on Wednesday. During her segment, she preached from 1 Kings 18:21, 23 and 24.

"I've been thinking about something this morning, just in preparation for the opportunity to share today with everybody who would be gathered in this particular week when we're heading into Easter when we are celebrating the sacrifice of our Lord. With the power of our Lord that He got up out of the grave, that He still lives, ever making intercession for us, ever the mediator that bridges the gap between us and the Father. So the thoughts that have been on my mind have been in and around Elijah, one of the premier Old Testament prophets,” Shirer said.

The daughter of Dallas megachurch pastor Tony Evans taught from Elijah’s example when he proved that His God, not Baal, was the one true God. She said Elijah understood that as believers we are to provide the sacrifice and God is who provides the fire. 

"We're supposed to do our part but not step into the margin — that's supposed to be God's part,” Shirer explained. "It’s the Spirit’s part to light the fire, the anointing, the favor that will be required for every single one of our churches' streams to be effective in the lives of people. That they reach all over the globe on this coming Sunday, when for the first time, definitely in my lifetime, maybe in history, that as many people have been reached on Easter Sunday as will be reached this Easter. 

She said Easter won’t just be a “good production” or “good technology,” but it will be a service that will have to “impact the souls of human beings.”

"What that means is, is that it's gonna have some fire on it. And it can't be a fire that we have manufactured in our own humanity. Emotionalism is not gonna cut it, promotion is not going to cut it,” Shirer continued. “All the gimmicks and the stories and the emotionalism, the veneer of actually having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

"The charisma, the talent, all that stuff that may have been able to carry us in front of a crowd, now that we've been stripped down, one of the things that I believe the Lord is inviting us back to is this reminder that we're supposed to present ourselves, a living sacrifice to Him. That we give Him our best. That we study to show ourselves approved, that we walk in integrity, and in characters as leaders in the body of Christ. That we continue to cultivate an actual real-life friendship with God that doesn't need an audience to sustain it.”

Priscilla Shirer