Calling Sin by Name... Yes or No?

I was working today with my Dad about making some changes and updates to his web site. (http://www.darrelldunn.com/) While looking thru his site I came across something for Pastor's.

This jumped off the screen right at me. This asks a question that Most Pastor's don't want to have asked. I am posting it here for ALL OF US who are Pastor's. How will you personally answer the question.

Me, my Mom and Dad from a few years ago. (Evan. Darrell & Betty Dunn)

"CALLING SIN BY NAME...YES OR NO"

By: Evangelist Darrell Dunn

"A few years ago, while getting ready for a Sunday Morning service, I was watching a very well known Pastor on TV. Something he said caused me to stop what I was doing and walk over in front of the TV so I could hear his answer to a man's recent question.

The man wanted to know if this famous Pastor believe in calling sin by name. His answer literally stunned me!! For one or two minutes ,after giving his brief answer, he labored to prove his belief by this statement, "That is not my job. That is the work of the Holy Spirit...not mine." All right, he was now on record as to what he believed about calling sin by name. Truthfully, it was more of an opinion rather than a belief based on the Word of God.

How about you, Preacher? What do you believe about this now controversial subject? Go ahead, say your answer out loud. Write your opinion down on a piece of paper so you will have to remember what you thought. Then, hopefully, you will be like those in Berea. "...they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY, whether those things were so. Therefore, may of them believed... (Acts 17, 11&12).

Of course, you may be like many preachers and choose to believe what Pastor so-and-so says, because he is well known or famous and/or he has a big Church. As a dear Pastor friend of mine (Matt Swaitkowski at the Gospel Light Baptist Church in Kearny, N. J.)would say, "WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?" Brother Swaitkowski, who is like a son to me, believes in cutting to the chase or getting to the point. (Refreshing, isn't it?)

It would be great if Preachers would take the time, like the Bereans, and search the Scriptures daily to see if what they heard, think or believe, is Bible truth. I used to have many good sermons when I started preaching at the age of 14 years old (50 years ago). Isn't it amazing how a few verses of Scripture can destroy a good sermon!!! One day, while in meetings with Brother Swaitkowski, he asked my opinion about one of those difficult verses familiar to us all. I gave him a rushed opinion. Instantly he asked me, "But what about what the Bible says in....?" I jokingly replied, "Oh sure, go ahead and use the Bible against me...you should have told me if you wanted me to be Scriptural!!"

It took me seven long, difficult years to become established as an Evangelist. I didn't have my first full week Revival meeting until near the end of my third year. About a year later, I was in a meeting when I preached a message on the Judgment Seat of Christ for Christians. In that Sermon, I made two or three statements that I had heard a few preachers make in their sermons when I was a teenage Preacher boy. I liked their statements, so I had used them the few times I had reached on the Judgement Seat.

After the service, while fellowshipping with the Pastor, he looked me straight in my eyes and asked, "Brother, let me ask you about a couple of statements you made during your Message." I answered his questions as best I could, and he was very kind to this young and dumb Preacher. Finally, instead of telling me how those statements were wrong or partially incorrect, he simply said, "You might want to search the Scriptures again to make sure you are right." At least he didn't call me STUPID!

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night. I spent most of it searching the Scriptures to see if what I had been preaching was really the truth. To my surprise and amazement those two statements were wrong! With tears, I confessed my sin and laziness in searching the Scriptures for the truth about everything I would preach, believe and/or do, to the Lord. In His mercy and grace, He forgave and cleansed me...as I knew He would...according to I John 1:9.

Something else happened that night. I became a Bible Preacher. I determined, before the Lord, by His grace and the help of the blessed Holy Spirit, I would never again preach or teach anything else, anywhere, that I could not prove from the Word of God. I feel sure that the Pastor the Lord used to make me a Bible Preacher is not even aware of what the Lord did through him and his gracious manner to this young Evangelist.

Having learned and practiced this for over 40 years, I would not encourage any Preacher to PREACH THE WORD!! To every Christian reading this, we encourage you to give the people the Word of God in your teaching, witnessing, and conversations...not just your opinion. God promised to bless His Word...not yours!"

WHY POST THIS?

In know you may think I "Had" to post this just because he is my Dad. I have news for you, don't care who you are, this kind of "Straight Forward Biblical Preaching" is what we ALL need, from the Pulpit to the Pew!

That is my opinion about the matter. If we had MORE preaching like this, yes, even in these days of apostacy, we would still be seeing revival in the hearts of Christian's the world over, and as a result of this "Awakening" we would see souls saved and lives forever changed!

You don't have to agree... it's ok to be a "Stagnent Pond" for your church members to drink from. I"m sure that God will understand.

Pastor David J. Dunn

"Living In A World Of No Fear"

In our world today we are living in truly "Perilous Times". The men and women of today, both young and old, walk around as if they are "10 Feet Tall and Bullet Proof"! We see them in our school's, the workplace, the doctor's office, the store, the gas station and yes even in the Church!

Today I sit down to write about something that has been troubling me for a long time. In II Timothy 3:1-7 we see the truth about this plague that is quite literally infecting Christianity and the Church of today.

II Timothy 3:1-7 says:

(1) ¶ This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

(2) For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

(3) Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

(4) Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

(5) Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

(6) For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

(7) Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

As an Evangelist for many years I began to detect a frightful change in the direction of most Christians in most of our Bible Believing Churches. It is with a heavy heart I must tell you that there has been a steady decline in the way that we, the children of God, are treating Him, His Blessed Book, His Sacred Principles, His Precious Blood, His Grace and His Mercy.

THERE IS NO REVERENTIAL FEAR OF GOD ANYMORE!

America does NOT fear falling into the hands of a Righteous, Holy God, she does not fear that God will bring destruction upon her because of her great sin. BUT He will! Even if America chooses NOT to believe it, that will not keep it from coming. The Christian Church in America does NOT fear The Lord and His Divine Judgment either. The proof of this fact is easily seen, just look around your local Church house next Sunday. I never cease to be amazed at how "Far" we "Christians" will try and stretch the grace and mercy of Almighty God!

We go right on living the way we want to, dressing like the world, forgetting separation, forgetting worldliness, listening to whatever music YOU like, most of us NEVER take God into the consideration process of what is in fact "Good Music". We watch whatever WE want on the TV, never giving God a second thought, not caring that we are ripping His Heart out every time we do wrong. Here is a little bit of truth that we "Christian's" need to be reminded of! When we are NOT serving God, We are serving Satan! You can argue all you want that "No I am not serving satan Preacher, I am looking out for ol' number 1." (ME) If you are looking out for "Self" then you cannot be looking for Jesus.

Think about it this way, every time that we, the Christian's in America, do something wrong, or take His word out of context and blaspheme His precious promises, we drag His Holy name through the mud, or instead of fighting alongside of our Christian brother's we are killing them ourselves with "Friendly Fire" shooting them in the back. It is my personal opinion that we (Christian's) have shot and killed as many as the enemy has. When we do this it is as if we are "Re-Nailing" Jesus to that Cross again and again and again.

We through our "Willful Stupidity" and total lack of concern for the things of God, have begun to make a mockery of all that is Holy and Sacred. When we come together to worship inside our Churches we come in loaded up with all kinds of sin and covered in the filth of this world, with no thought of the truth that in the Old Testament, before they went into worship God, the first washed themselves. They cleaned up before they went into God's presence. Do you know why?

BECAUSE THEY KNEW THAT GOD WAS IN THERE WAITING FOR THEM!

That is the difference, they KNEW God was in there! Today, when we go into Church or the Prayer closet, or to sit down and have our devotions, we don't see God in it, we don't even believe that He is there! We don't go to Church to SEE or MEET God anymore. We go to sit and listen to the Pastor, Evangelist, or Missionary speak, or we go to listen to "Sister So And So" stand and sing a song. We go with our physical eyes open and we NEVER ask God to open our Spiritual Eyes so that we may see HIM!

Shame on us! What have we done! What kind of excuse can we give to God today?? There isn't one that will make it right. Face it folks, we have sinned in rejecting Christ! The Bible tells us about the fact that lost people, those who have rejected Jesus Christ, will be punished for eternity in Hell for this great sin. Hey Christian, I wouldn't be pointing a finger at the lost and wagging my head at them in dissapointment, they learned it from US! We have been putting forth the most pathetic example of what a Christian is supposed to be. It's no wonder that lost people in the world don't want to have anything to do with God. Look at the Church, look at Christianity as a whole, look in the mirror. What kind of example are you setting?

I think that Christian's everywhere need to sit down and take a good, long look at II Timothy 3:1-7 again. Don't just read it once and then close the Book, read it several times, each time asking God to make it real to ALL of us.

The apostle Paul was very clear about this fact, he said (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) that in the "... last days perilous times shall come." (II Timothy 3:1) Paul went on to tell us just exactly what the world would be like "In the last days". I think, if you and I were honest before God, we would have to confess that this does describe our world in 2008! I mean look at some of the list that was given:

1. Lovers of their own selves
2. Boasters
3. Proud
4. Blasphemers
5. Disobedient to Parents (* God feels that this is something "Perilous".)
6. Unthankful
7. Unholy
8. False accusers
9. Despisers of those that are good
10. Traitors
11. Highminded
12. Lovers of pleasure more than Lovers of God

All of these certainly describe our world today. Let's look at verse 5. Paul says that they have a "Form of godliness". Notice this phrase, Paul did NOT say they "WERE GODLY" He used the word "Form". Webster in his dictionary gave the definition of this word as meaning "Model, or Pattern". Another words, paul was saying that these people "Profess" to know God, but in fact they do NOT have the real thing, they have a "Model" OF the real thing. Notice again, Paul said the word "godliness", They had a "Form of Religion", But denied the power, or the Real Power of God, and did not let the true Power of God influence their lives in any way. I believe that God say's we are to turn away from these kinds of people. I am afriad that the sad truth of it is that our churches in America and around the world are full of these kinds of people!

Verse 7 to me is such a sad verse, however it too describes our world today. It says: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." In other words, they sit under these "So-called" religious teachers but they NEVER get the basic, foundational truth of Salvation. They sit and they work, they sit and they work, and it ALL COUNTS FOR NOTHING. THEY ARE LOST WITH NOTHING BUT HELL TO LOOK FORWARD TOO.

What a sad, sad truth. We truly do live in a World of NO Fear. The real question is Christian, what are "WE" doing to change this? The answer is... NOTHING!

Wake Up Christian... God IS watching!

There's No Friends Like Old Friends!

This has been an exciting week for me due to the fact that I have "Reconnected" with two friends that I have not seen or heard from in over 20 years! I was very pleasantly surprised to hear from both of them.

College Chum's

One of them was a friend of mine from College days! (Not that either one of us actually did anything even close to studying during this time.) He has lived on the west coast since leaving college, married the love of his life and settled down. He and his wife now have 2 daughters of their own and they are thinking of adopting another baby girl.

He decided about 3 years ago to go back to school, and he and his family moved to Missouri to attend the college he felt led to attend. We were able to spend several hours on the phone just catching up and laughing about a lot of old memories, swapping stories and updating each other on our families and our ministries.

High School Teacher

The other person that I was able to make contact with was a gentleman who was a teacher back when I was in high school. His name was Mr. Jackson back then, (He told me on the phone that I don't have to call him "Mr. Jackson" anymore if I don't want to.) and he was one of the absolute "Coolest" teacher's I had ever met! Here is something that may seem a little crazy... I never had Mr. Jackson for a class! Not once! I met him through a rather unusual path.

In my high school, when you got in trouble for something, you received a "Detention". For each one of these you had to stay after school and go to "Detention Hall". This is where I met Mr. Jackson. He and I became quite good friends seeing how I was "Hanging Out" with him in detention hall almost EVERY DAY!!!

Detention Hall was part of my life. Let me explain to you just what it was all about. Mr. Jackson had made up some rules for my fellow students and I and here is how we spent our time together. If you were to serve time in Detention Hall you had to be in the room, in your seat with nothing on your desk, before the 3:00 pm bell would ring. Once seated Mr. Jackson would explain the rules. (Again & again, day after day, week after week, month after month, and in my case, year after year!) Here are the rules. (** Over 20 years later and I still remember them!) From 3:00 to 3:50 pm, you had to sit in your seat at your desk, facing forward. You could either fold your hands on the desk or you could place them apart on the desk with your palms down. (The palms down way was not a good way, your hands seemed to move more. When they are folded they don't seem to get "Squirmy"!) You had to sit still, Hands on the desk, head facing forward, your feet flat on the floor, (You could not move ANYTHING.) even if someone came in the room after 3:00 you could not move your head to look at them.

You were allowed to sneeze and cough, but you had to do this without moving. Oh and by the way Mr. Jackson was very good at telling a real sneeze from a fake one you made up just so you could try to move a little. (The man was an artist!) You were allowed 3 scratches during that 50 minute time period. He would keep track of it in his notebook and I must say that for a man with glasses, he had incredible vision!

After the 50 minutes you did not just get up and go, you had to be dismissed, so you might have to sit there a few minutes longer than someone else. Now get this, You were not allowed to talk, you could answer a question if Mr. Jackson asked you one, but if you talked, you failed. If you scratched more than 3 times, you failed, if you moved it was used as one of your scratches. The really interesting part about all of this is that "If" you failed, Mr. Jackson would not tell you until the time was over and that meant that you would have to come back the next day after school and do it ALL over again!

During my years in Detention Hall, by the way I do still hold the record for the most detentions in a career, Mr. Jackson and I became very good friends. He would many times ask me questions and he and I would have these wonderful discussions right there in front of everybody. We would just talk like we were sitting around visiting with old friends. (Only I was NOT allowed to move a muscle!)

Looking back now, I have to confess that the job he did was not easy. He was always surrounded by the "Trouble makers" and the "Misfits". I dare say that I owe a large part of who I am today to Mr. Jackson. In a time in my life when other teacher's were actually telling me that I was "Useless", I met a man who saw that I was good for something.

They say that a teacher has the ability to make or break a student. I for one Thank God for Mr. Jackson, he took time out of his life to invest in mine. He didn't have to, yet he did.

So, it is with a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, that I say:

"Mr. Jackson, Thank You Sir."