Dear friends:

When I read the late Bill Bright's below devotional on Charles Finney, I
thought of the "new measures" in many churches today that are
receiving
harsh criticism from traditionalists.  Let us be slow to criticize if God
is being exalted, Christ is being preached, and people are being instructed
in the truths of God's Word.  We do not want to be found fighting what the
Holy Spirit may be doing.

Jim
____________________________________________________________

INSIGHTS from Bill Bright
Reflections from the late Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus
Crusade for Christ International

Finney's Radicalism

By your own tradition, you nullify the direct commandment of God (Matthew
15:6, NLT).

Dear friends:

I love tradition and the old ways of doing things.  However, if we are not
careful, we can allow tradition to quench the work of the Holy Spirit.

Can you imagine church members protesting an invitation to receive Christ
after an evangelistic sermon?  Christian History, Volume III, says they did
so in 1825.  Not only did church members object to an invitation, but so
did many of the ministers.

There was a new evangelist in town.  Charles Finney had come on to the
religious scene in America and by 1825 had become quite popular.  He was
reaching many Americans with the gospel by implementing what grumbling
critics were calling "new measures."

Among these intolerable changes and new measures were: praying for people
by name, having an invitation after the sermon, sharing the gospel by
visiting in homes, allowing women to pray and testify, holding services on
days other than the usual times for worship, and preaching in an informal
manner that appealed to those who attended his services.  By the way, these
services were another outlandish idea he called "revival services."

Finney was perceived as a radical troublemaker, but his "wrong"
approach
introduced hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to Christ.  He became
one of the greatest evangelists in history, now widely respected.

Tradition just for the sake of tradition can be a bondage.  Change is
usually threatening yet its results can often be tremendous.  Can you
imagine the opposition there would be in Finny's day to the gospel being
proclaimed via radio, television and films?  Yet God has used these media
to bring millions of souls into the Kingdom.

God is our great Creator.  He conceived of and created more than 100
billion galaxies and innumerable creatures.  Creativity is one of His
attributes.  He also gives creativity to His servants as they help to
fulfill the Great Commission and seek Him for wisdom in performing the task
in a changing world.

For example, in 1945 He put the idea of a film on the life of Christ on my
heart.  Approximately 33 years later, He enabled us to do a full-length
movie on the life of our Lord, taken directly from the Gospel of
Luke.  Since its use began in 1980, there have more than 5.5 billion
exposures to the gospel through this film, now seen in 236 countries and
translated into over 827 languages.   After viewing it, many hundreds of
millions have indicated salvation decisions to trust and follow Christ.

Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission
each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright
 

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The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of
Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry
in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000
trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent
of the world's population.  In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ
has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide.  The
film, "JESUS," which Bright conceived and funded through Campus
Crusade for
Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever
produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into
839 languages and viewed or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228
countries.  Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty books. Dr.
Bright recently co-founded Global Pastors Network to "Touch, Teach and
Train" a group of 5 million new house churches around the world 24/7/365 at

http://www.crosswalkmail.com/jcsvapv_ibkafe.html.

Copyright (c) 2003, Bill Bright.  All rights reserved.  However, readers
may copy and distribute this message as desired, without restrictions in
number, as long as the content is not altered.  Forwarding this e-mail to
friends is encouraged.  For many evangelistic and spiritual growth
materials, visit the Campus Crusade for Christ Web site at
http://www.crosswalkmail.com/wpecrtp_ibkafe.html. See
http://www.crosswalkmail.com/ehtnrmb_ibkafe.html for Bill
Bright's own
materials.