Too young to preach?

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convallaria

Banned
#41
Jul 1, 2015
584
9
0
#41
Lad said:
Ok let me be clear again, im not talking about being a pastor, as i said i already know thats Gods will for me through a gideon experiment. My question was related to preaching one sermon in the church I go to before going to seminary and finally building my own church.

Also for those who have mentioned Jesus, yes he was young but he was also GOD Himself so of course he was able to. As for charles spurgeon thats all well and good but I dont believe in untrained preaching, it may be good in some cases but i think it could be quite dangerous :)

And for me personally I dont just want a strongs concordance it doesnt go into near enough depth for me on the words, and Id rather know them myself after learning.

Thank you all for your input though :)
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Hi There!

God is the BEST teacher and trainer and equipper. You already feel there is a call on your life so just trust the Lord and be willing to let Him lead you and teach you how it is going to be.

If I were ever going to assess a person's qualification to preach, it would not be by some carnal measurement such as age, but by the Spirit. There is no "junior" Holy Spirit for those who are young: if you have received Him, you have received Him. So I would ask myself certain things. Is this person born again, and is he baptized in the Spirit? Can he speak under the unction of God and by His leading, or is he just sharing what he feels he knows in his fleshly mind?

There are any number of preachers out there who do so in the flesh....week after week....but my guess is you want to be the BEST that you can be for Jesus. He will do a work on your insides to equip you for whatever He has called you to do. Trust Him to give you all you need, and then to supply your opportunity. Be ready to do things His way, not looking to tradition or the rules of man or even the institutions of man to supply.

One warning, it is possible to spend some years in the seminary and still emerge only able to preach in the flesh.

Jesus is your answer. Trust Him! Be patient! NEVER give up.
 
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purgedconscience

Guest
#42
#42
JaumeJ

JaumeJ

Senior Member
#43
Jul 2, 2011
21,400
6,685
113
#43
It is still an existing thread. One post leads to another until all concerned are satisfied or fatigued of the subject.
 
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purgedconscience

Guest
#44
#44
JaumeJ said:
It is still an existing thread. One post leads to another until all concerned are satisfied or fatigued of the subject.
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That's fine. I just thought it right to point out that the young preacher is now a self-professed atheist.
 
Willie-T

Willie-T

Banned
#45
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
0
#45
purgedconscience said:
That's fine. I just thought it right to point out that the young preacher is now a self-professed atheist.
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Interesting, but it doesn't detract from the subject.

I don't believe half of what John MacArthur writes, but I still find his books of interest.
 
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purgedconscience

Guest
#46
#46
Willie-T said:
Interesting, but it doesn't detract from the subject.

I don't believe half of what John MacArthur writes, but I still find his books of interest.
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I never said that it does detract from the subject. I merely mentioned that I doubt that the OP is ever going to read any responses because some people were still addressing him 4 years after the fact and in that he is now a self-professed atheist. Discuss the subject as much as you'd like to. Perhaps I should apologize for trying to inform people here? It's not happening and I'll just unsubscribe now. As you were...
 
Yet

Yet

Banned
#47
Jan 4, 2014
3,756
69
0
#47
To preach is to witness to those that are lost.
There is no preaching in the local body. There is teaching, admonishing, prophesying with is simply speaking His truth by His anointing.
So you are not to young to tell folks about Jesus. You may need to study the word for a few years before teaching others.
 
Willie-T

Willie-T

Banned
#48
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
0
#48
purgedconscience said:
I never said that it does detract from the subject. I merely mentioned that I doubt that the OP is ever going to read any responses because some people were still addressing him 4 years after the fact and in that he is now a self-professed atheist. Discuss the subject as much as you'd like to. Perhaps I should apologize for trying to inform people here? It's not happening and I'll just unsubscribe now. As you were...
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No need to run off. I'm sure there are many young people reading this who are wrestling with the very same question. Think about them, and reply for them.

Truthfully most of my replies to any post are not necessarily for the argumentative poster, but for the silent majority, just sitting back, reading what we say.
 
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convallaria

Banned
#49
Jul 1, 2015
584
9
0
#49
Yet said:
To preach is to witness to those that are lost.
There is no preaching in the local body. There is teaching, admonishing, prophesying with is simply speaking His truth by His anointing.
So you are not to young to tell folks about Jesus. You may need to study the word for a few years before teaching others.
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I disagree! The body needs preaching and the Word is more than just telling people about Jesus...we have to disciple them to a place of maturity, as follows:

Ephesians 4:
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#50
Nov 24, 2012
30,742
3,670
113
#50
purgedconscience said:
That's fine. I just thought it right to point out that the young preacher is now a self-professed atheist.
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In another thread, called "How to fall in love with Jesus ", Lad states..
Hey, So I'm pretty close to coming back into Jesus' arms, but I don't want to come back to a christianity where rules overtake my life, where I'm constantly feeling guilty about my sin and trying...
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Perhaps he's not quite the atheist one would think but just burned out by legalistic preaching.
 
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atwhatcost

Guest
#51
#51
purgedconscience said:
I never said that it does detract from the subject. I merely mentioned that I doubt that the OP is ever going to read any responses because some people were still addressing him 4 years after the fact and in that he is now a self-professed atheist. Discuss the subject as much as you'd like to. Perhaps I should apologize for trying to inform people here? It's not happening and I'll just unsubscribe now. As you were...
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Actually, I saw the date of the original post, read the OP, and wondered if he ever figured out why he shouldn't be preaching at his young age. So, nosy woman that I am, I checked his forum history and found out the same thing you did.

This is why I don't think young folks should preach except if they've been thoroughly checked out on their beliefs and teaching abilities first. Not that he became an atheist so much, (BTW, I see no evidence this account has been banned, although he left after he announced he was atheist), but they're still in the process of learning and have huge gaps they simply haven't studied yet.

To me, it's something like having a third grader teach 10th grade English. Sure, they may well know the parts of speech, but they haven't yet discovered the hard stuff like gerunds and participial phrases. So, they know some, but not enough yet. Meanwhile, there are people like me learning too, even in 10th grade English. I know of gerunds and participial phrases, but if someone is up there teaching me verbs and one of the things they teach is if a word ends in -ing, then it's a verb, I stay mixed up on gerunds for a lot longer (and I really am still mixed up with gerunds and participial phrases lol), because I assume the teacher knows the subject better than I do.

Teachers should be certified to teach, especially sermons. There are, on rare occasions, 19-year-olds who are certified to teach a sermon, but that's because the lad is a genius and has been studying at a faster rate than most of us. Most young people think they're ready to teach, but usually because they have no idea how much effort is needed to learn how to teach and then to learn the subject matter thoroughly, so they don't screw it up for us slower learners. (And "us" in the general sense that I can't be the only slow learner. No finger pointing, except at myself. lol)

So, ha! Appreciated what you said PC, but still responded to the new audience for an old post that proved its own answer already. :D
 
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atwhatcost

Guest
#52
#52
convallaria said:
I disagree! The body needs preaching and the Word is more than just telling people about Jesus...we have to disciple them to a place of maturity, as follows:

Ephesians 4:
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
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Not to worry. Most disagree with Yet most of the time. :)
 
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ember

Guest
#53
#53
everymade said:
God only helps those who help themselves.:cool:
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well, here I am telling a banned member that the op is now 23 and this thread should prob have stayed in the vault :p
 
E

ember

Guest
#54
#54
atwhatcost said:
Actually, I saw the date of the original post, read the OP, and wondered if he ever figured out why he shouldn't be preaching at his young age. So, nosy woman that I am, I checked his forum history and found out the same thing you did.

This is why I don't think young folks should preach except if they've been thoroughly checked out on their beliefs and teaching abilities first. Not that he became an atheist so much, (BTW, I see no evidence this account has been banned, although he left after he announced he was atheist), but they're still in the process of learning and have huge gaps they simply haven't studied yet.

To me, it's something like having a third grader teach 10th grade English. Sure, they may well know the parts of speech, but they haven't yet discovered the hard stuff like gerunds and participial phrases. So, they know some, but not enough yet. Meanwhile, there are people like me learning too, even in 10th grade English. I know of gerunds and participial phrases, but if someone is up there teaching me verbs and one of the things they teach is if a word ends in -ing, then it's a verb, I stay mixed up on gerunds for a lot longer (and I really am still mixed up with gerunds and participial phrases lol), because I assume the teacher knows the subject better than I do.

Teachers should be certified to teach, especially sermons. There are, on rare occasions, 19-year-olds who are certified to teach a sermon, but that's because the lad is a genius and has been studying at a faster rate than most of us. Most young people think they're ready to teach, but usually because they have no idea how much effort is needed to learn how to teach and then to learn the subject matter thoroughly, so they don't screw it up for us slower learners. (And "us" in the general sense that I can't be the only slow learner. No finger pointing, except at myself. lol)

So, ha! Appreciated what you said PC, but still responded to the new audience for an old post that proved its own answer already. :D
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epic...LOL!
 
DiscipleDave

DiscipleDave

Senior Member
#55
Sep 4, 2012
3,095
70
48
#55
Lad said:
Hey all,

Im 19 and I know its Gods will for me to be a preacher in the future. When I asked my pastor if I could send him a sermon for him to look over and for me to eventually preach he gave me a look that said "your far too young to preach"

Is it wrong for me to want to do a sermon? Should I wait until ive been trained? What do you guys think?
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When i was 12 years old, i knew i was called to preach. i walked up to the preacher and asked him, what must i do to become a preacher. What he told me, i was not expecting. He said "You must go to college for four years" i immediately said, that is pretty sad if God calls upon a poor person to preach" and walked away.

There are a few who are actually called to be preachers.
There are many who choose to become preachers because it appeals to them.
i was called to be a preacher before i was even born. my Mom was going to be a Nun, then she met my Dad, and fell in Love with him, they married and had me, my Mom felt so guilty about turning away from her calling to be a Nun, that she prayed to God there her firstborn son would be dedicated to the Lord. So when i was in the womb of my Mother, she only read the Bible to me. i can't remember a time in my life that i did not know and believe in Jesus. i believed in Jesus before i even believed in Santa Clause.

my point is. God calls whom He will call. and God will educate a person in what they need to preach. Is it not the Holy Ghost that reveals Truths to a person? No not this generation Truth is revealed to a person through college now, through professors, through books and essays.

Your preacher felt you are far too young to preach, because you have not yet been to college for four years.

i will tell you the Truth the Holy Spirit of Truth can teach a person in five minutes what it will take a year in college to grasp and understand. The problem is the people that belong to the Churches, choose a preacher, and they base their choosing, if they had been to college or not.

As i said before, Few are actually called to preach, Many go to college to become preachers because being a preacher appeals to them.

Those who Truly desire to be Preachers of God, will seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost, not the guidance of professors.

Responding to OP
 
C

convallaria

Banned
#56
Jul 1, 2015
584
9
0
#56
DiscipleDave said:
When i was 12 years old, i knew i was called to preach. i walked up to the preacher and asked him, what must i do to become a preacher. What he told me, i was not expecting. He said "You must go to college for four years" i immediately said, that is pretty sad if God calls upon a poor person to preach" and walked away.

There are a few who are actually called to be preachers.
There are many who choose to become preachers because it appeals to them.
i was called to be a preacher before i was even born. my Mom was going to be a Nun, then she met my Dad, and fell in Love with him, they married and had me, my Mom felt so guilty about turning away from her calling to be a Nun, that she prayed to God there her firstborn son would be dedicated to the Lord. So when i was in the womb of my Mother, she only read the Bible to me. i can't remember a time in my life that i did not know and believe in Jesus. i believed in Jesus before i even believed in Santa Clause.

my point is. God calls whom He will call. and God will educate a person in what they need to preach. Is it not the Holy Ghost that reveals Truths to a person? No not this generation Truth is revealed to a person through college now, through professors, through books and essays.

Your preacher felt you are far too young to preach, because you have not yet been to college for four years.

i will tell you the Truth the Holy Spirit of Truth can teach a person in five minutes what it will take a year in college to grasp and understand. The problem is the people that belong to the Churches, choose a preacher, and they base their choosing, if they had been to college or not.

As i said before, Few are actually called to preach, Many go to college to become preachers because being a preacher appeals to them.

Those who Truly desire to be Preachers of God, will seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost, not the guidance of professors.

Responding to OP
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AWESOME! Thanks for confirmation.
 
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purgedconscience

Guest
#57
#57
crossnote said:
In another thread, called "How to fall in love with Jesus ", Lad states..

Hey, So I'm pretty close to coming back into Jesus' arms, but I don't want to come back to a christianity where rules overtake my life, where I'm constantly feeling guilty about my sin and trying...
Click to expand...
Perhaps he's not quite the atheist one would think but just burned out by legalistic preaching.
Click to expand...
Lad's last post on this forum was a little more than 1 year and 3 months ago and that is when he declared himself to be an atheist not because of legalistic preaching, but because, in his opinion, he believes that science and reality show the Christian beliefs to be false and logic tells him that the existence of a deity is highly improbable:

http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/85887-there-such-thing-atheist-117.html#post1505850

He did also say that if he could be convinced of God's existence through evidence, then he would believe and I find this somewhat puzzling in that he was initially telling people that he knew that it was God's will for him to be a preacher. Well, how did he know this if God hadn't, at least in his mind, told him so?

In any event, I hope that he finds the Lord. The post in which he identified himself as an atheist came two years after the post that you mentioned, so, again, I was merely seeking to inform people of the poster's last known belief system or, in this case, unbelief system.
 
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purgedconscience

Guest
#58
#58
atwhatcost said:
Actually, I saw the date of the original post, read the OP, and wondered if he ever figured out why he shouldn't be preaching at his young age. So, nosy woman that I am, I checked his forum history and found out the same thing you did.

This is why I don't think young folks should preach except if they've been thoroughly checked out on their beliefs and teaching abilities first. Not that he became an atheist so much, (BTW, I see no evidence this account has been banned, although he left after he announced he was atheist), but they're still in the process of learning and have huge gaps they simply haven't studied yet.

To me, it's something like having a third grader teach 10th grade English. Sure, they may well know the parts of speech, but they haven't yet discovered the hard stuff like gerunds and participial phrases. So, they know some, but not enough yet. Meanwhile, there are people like me learning too, even in 10th grade English. I know of gerunds and participial phrases, but if someone is up there teaching me verbs and one of the things they teach is if a word ends in -ing, then it's a verb, I stay mixed up on gerunds for a lot longer (and I really am still mixed up with gerunds and participial phrases lol), because I assume the teacher knows the subject better than I do.

Teachers should be certified to teach, especially sermons. There are, on rare occasions, 19-year-olds who are certified to teach a sermon, but that's because the lad is a genius and has been studying at a faster rate than most of us. Most young people think they're ready to teach, but usually because they have no idea how much effort is needed to learn how to teach and then to learn the subject matter thoroughly, so they don't screw it up for us slower learners. (And "us" in the general sense that I can't be the only slow learner. No finger pointing, except at myself. lol)

So, ha! Appreciated what you said PC, but still responded to the new audience for an old post that proved its own answer already. :D
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The banned member is the one who jumpstarted this thread after 4 years:

http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/25518-too-young-preach-2.html#post2212972

This member only had one post, the one on this thread, and one blog entry about customizing homemade concrete flower pots, so I don't know what that was all about.

As far as being a teacher goes, we know from Ephesians chapter 4 that Christ gifts some to be teachers. Personally, I concentrate on trying to be a good student or a good disciple of the Master and then I generally just repeat to others what I believe that I've learned from Him. If I have any specific calling, then I really don't know what it is.
 
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phil112

Guest
#59
#59
Yet said:
To preach is to witness to those that are lost..............
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Not the whole of preaching, so kind of wrong. :)

convallaria said:
I disagree! The body needs preaching and the Word is more than just telling people about Jesus................................
Click to expand...
Quite right. :)


Malachi 3:16 "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name."

Preaching doesn't have to always be correction and instruction. It can also be edifying and building each other up. Nothing wrong with preaching to each other. :)
 
dcontroversal

dcontroversal

Banned
#60
Dec 12, 2013
46,515
20,401
113
#60
I know this thread is 4 years old and Lad is probably not around, but for all of the young preachers out there I say this....

Paul told Timothy as a young pastor of the church at Ephesus to not let anyone despise his youth......I have seen some young people who have a greater understanding of the scriptures than some of the older people who claim to have an understanding.....if you are young and desire to preach the word...give her beans captain and let the word fly!
 
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