Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Divine Fire Storm by Reinhard Bonnke

I am humbled by the passion and power of Brother Bonnke's writing. And he does it every day. I confess I feel lukewarm and barely alive when I read what he writes in his Notes on Facebook. Perhaps someday I will be able to write at this level of fierceness.

The Divine Fire Storm

Jesus said ‘I have come to scatter fire on the earth.’

The fire of God is the very heart of the Bible Gospel, His zeal, passion, His burning desire to save us. He put His life in it. It is not an idea, a theory, a piece of doctrine, but a living truth reaching out arms, tongues, flames, embracing the world. Our Gospel is His greatest investment. God’s Word enshrines God’s longings to redeem the lost world.

God came into our world as what He is – fire. To think of Him any other way, as indifferent, just laying down his imperial edict, leaving us to argue and dogmatise, persuade, that misses the essential character of the Gospel – FIRE. A cold Gospel is not a Gospel. Jesus is not a doctor prescribing cures or a psychologist giving advice. He is the God of the Upper Room. We need a remedy but it is for the flame of God to be planted in our heart.

The Gospel is not merely a textbook doctrine. The Gospel is a message not a theological concept. It is news, and news not told is not news at all. Fire that does not burn is not fire. It communicates more than thought, but soul desire.

Preaching the Gospel is to set hearts on fire. Preaching the Gospel is not being clever, not a chance to air our learning, to impress admirers with our eloquence and culture. It is a single-minded passion to let others catch fire.

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