I've always heard it said that if you don't strike "oil" in 30 minutes, quit "boring!"
I believe that is true. A pastor friend of mine took some classes geared toward general presentation skills (not church related), and that was their advice. Studies show that you start losing people in a big way after 30 min. I understand about moving where the spirit leads, but I will tell you that some of the best messages I have heard fall within that time frame. It seems to me that after that, speakers often start repeating themselves - sometime because they are unsure that they've made their point.
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Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it. — André Gide
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds... - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I want to know....WHY don't preachers/pastors KNOW when they have reached their audience????? I continue to be frustrated service after service. My Pastor was preaching today....he was doing a really good job. There were several people up front worshiping, the congregation was worshiping, we had gotten the point and were ready to shout, pray whatever....he says he's going to end. We are standing there for another 25 MINUTES!! By this time, the spirit was totally supressed. Then he doesn't understand WHY he doesn't get a reaction at altar call. So then he's FRUSTRATED and keeps trying to pull something out of us that was there 25 minutes ago. I'm so frustrated. I want to talk to him about it, but my husband says it's not my place. Okay, rant over.
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Originally Posted by joyful
I totally understand what you are saying and have experienced this frustration as well. What I have started doing is just going up to the altar to pray or worship if the pastor is winding down and the Spirit is moving. If you do this, it may encourage others to and then you won't worry about how long the pastor is taking to wind down. The Spirit won't be quenched because you will be in the Spirit praying or worshipping.
Funny I don't find anything in scripture about altar calls and interrupting the pastor to make sure we don't QUENCH the spirit. All this sounds out of order. Trust me I come out of a church where folks were completely out of control. If the pastor even tried to teach instead of preach we would have people leave because they said the "spirit" wasn't in it. During an altar call you were luck if a new convert made it out without whiplash.
Just pure crazyness. I just don't get people NEEDING all the antics. I just don't understand, if people are full of the Holy Ghost why do they yearn for these moments.
Sorry if I offend anyone I am just in that preMonday morning funk.
Funny I don't find anything in scripture about altar calls and interrupting the pastor to make sure we don't QUENCH the spirit. All this sounds out of order. Trust me I come out of a church where folks were completely out of control. If the pastor even tried to teach instead of preach we would have people leave because they said the "spirit" wasn't in it. During an altar call you were luck if a new convert made it out without whiplash.
Just pure crazyness. I just don't get people NEEDING all the antics. I just don't understand, if people are full of the Holy Ghost why do they yearn for these moments.
Sorry if I offend anyone I am just in that preMonday morning funk.
okay, our church is not like that at all. We are very much in order.
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Originally Posted by deltaguitar
Funny I don't find anything in scripture about altar calls and interrupting the pastor to make sure we don't QUENCH the spirit. All this sounds out of order. Trust me I come out of a church where folks were completely out of control. If the pastor even tried to teach instead of preach we would have people leave because they said the "spirit" wasn't in it. During an altar call you were luck if a new convert made it out without whiplash.
Just pure crazyness. I just don't get people NEEDING all the antics. I just don't understand, if people are full of the Holy Ghost why do they yearn for these moments.
Sorry if I offend anyone I am just in that preMonday morning funk.
First of all, pastors are still human. LOL!!!! They don't always get it right. Secondly, if you're feeling like you need to get down to the altar, then get on down there!!!! Would your pastor stop you halfway down the aisle?
Be VERY CAREFUL with this! I DO know a pastor who WOULD stop you. My former pastor was all about "order" and structure. If he didn't have control over everything that was going on, he regained it very quickly with calculated actions. If someone were to actually feel something and run to the altar for prayer, if he wasn't done with his message/lesson, his wife or son (or someone else to whom the responsibility was delegated) would swoop in and quickly usher that person to a seat. It just was not proper to do anything like that. If the congregation became too excited over, say, a choir song or special, and carried on for much longer than the permissible 30-60 seconds, the wet blanket was unfolded. One of the sayings that was always a pet peeve of mine, was "we're going to change the order of the service now..."
Miss B, I know your posts always are saturated with well-measured, logically balanced thoughts and advice. And I would agree that this one is as well. The broad brush of reason does not always apply everywhere, as I assume you know. So, while it would seem reasonable that a hungry soul praying at an altar would be the entire reason we gather with the saints, not everyone sees it exactly that way.
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Instead of studying to make sure what we believe is supported by Scripture, we MUST study the Scripture to see what IT TEACHES... then BELIEVE THAT!
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2.15 KJV
I love it when a visiting minister speaks, then the pastor gets up and says, "I don't want to add to the message, then goes on for another 30 minutes repeating what they just preached"!
Guess they aren't really adding - they are just repeating!
Would your pastor stop you halfway down the aisle?
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