Power draws a line and the sand, and it demands a decision.
When someone encounters God, it is impossible for them to walk away the same. I believe the world does not need people who know facts, but people who can demonstrate power. I am afraid to say that I think the church has embraced a gospel of information, and logic, instead of the real gospel.
The gospel is not an intellectual argument about why God is real, or about why you should believe in Jesus. I believe that we’ve left out a major aspect of the gospel.. The gospel is not complete without the supernatural. Jesus never preached without a demonstration of power. The early church likewise never preached the gospel without demonstrating it in power. The western world has intellectualized a gospel that’s supposed to be experienced. It’s not the gospel until there is power involved in it. Religion is information without power. It’s preaching about God without giving people a chance to meet Him for themselves.
We owe the world an encounter with Jesus. Now as much as I love doctrine and theology, I also know that ideas can not remain just good ideas. They have to effect me.It’s not good enough to just study God.Don’t be satisfied until you encounter Him.
In Romans 15:19 Paul says this:
“Through the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
Paul fully preached the gospel not by good theology, but by power. Here’s another one from Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5..
“My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”
Now of course I am not saying that the gospel shouldn’t be preached. We still need to tell people about Jesus. I am saying however that it’s not good enough just to tell people about Jesus. I owe them a face to face introduction. The world needs burning men and woman who passionately pursue His presence, who live in purity, and who can demonstrate the gospel with signs, wonders, and the miraculous!
We owe the world an encounter with God!