Stirring the Pot

 After a recent sermon, a woman met me after the service and told me, "You love to stir the pot." I really did not know what she meant. That certainly had not been my intention in preaching that morning. I admit I have preached some hard and even unpleasant truths. I do not shy away from Biblical truth no matter how popular or unpopular. Truth is truth no matter which way the prevailing political winds of the day may blow. 

There are multiple hot button topics like abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, racism, the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. There are issues out there like pedophilia, occultism, rape, murder, greed, and fraud. The Bible has much to say about those issues. Many preachers shy away from preaching the whole counsel of God. I WILL NOT BE A VELVET MOUTHED PREACHER as George Whitfield first proclaimed. I think he meant by that statement that he would not preach to please people and tickle ears. 

Many people are turned off by hard preaching. I prayerfully seek to balance hard preaching with truth that builds up, comforts, and offers hope. I will not preach those messages to the exclusion of hard truth. We live in serious times. Time is short as we approach the end. Most everyone I talk to believe these are the end times. I believe life is short, hell is real, eternity is long, and Jesus is the only way to salvation. I believe that the rapture is imminent. I believe seven horrific years of the Great Tribulation are ahead for those who have not trusted Jesus for salvation. I believe evil forces are at work pushing toward a one world global government, the rise of a one world leader known as the antichrist will rule the world as a pawn of Satan, and all those things are being set in motion right before our eyes even now. 

How can I stand in the pulpit or enter the public sector and not proclaim truth even if my message is not popular. I am mandated to rescue the perishing like Rom 1:14-16 exhorts. Matt 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15, Acts 20:24 all compel me to stir the pot. So, I take the Bible as my spoon and the world as my pot, and I stir. I agitate. I mix in all the seasons of God's words.