A Voice

 There is a popular tv show called The Voice. I have never watched it. I think it is about finding new and gifted vocalists. That is not the point of this post. I'm not interested who can sing well for fame and fortune. I'm focused on God sending a voice. To raise a prophet who will declare His word fearlessly to a hard hearted generation. 

We need a voice and not an echo. If you listen closely enough to some preachers, you can tell what books they have been reading and what other preachers they are listening to preach. They are echoes. We need a voice of one who sits before God, hears from Him about messages, and puts fire in his soul to deliver them. These prophets only echo God. 

Preachers like to tickle the ears because it boosts the crowds and the offerings. Let a fire branded man of God thunder truth from the pulpit, and the crowd thins as well as the collections. This terrifies the hireling shepherd who is careful not to offend people. The prophet offends everyone, especially the established religious people. Bible truth churns in his soul like molten lava ready to erupt from a volcano. Souls of men get blistered when he erupts. 

Only prophets can awaken a nation. Between the book of Malachi and Matthew God remained silent for 400 years. He did not speak nor send a prophet. The priests carried on their duties ritually without the nation turning back to God. John the Baptist came on the scene and only preached for a short time. What the priests could not do in 400 years God used the voice of one crying in the wilderness to turn the nation back to God in six months. 

John the Baptist would have a hard time getting called to any church by a search committee these days. He dressed odd, ate an odd diet, and called the revered Pharisees a brood of vipers. He preached repentance. He feared no man. He even called out the adultery of King Herod which got him arrested and eventually beheaded. His voice still echoes today, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." John 1:29 

May God raise other voices who will declare His word boldly to a lost and dying generation. May God give those voices thick skin and tender hearts. May God inspire messages that will awaken a wandering generation. We need another voice. We need thousands of voices to penetrate the petrified hearts of this world. May the Lord bring other voices crying out in the wilderness.