Author Archives: Jim
When Did “Worship” Become the Singing of a Song?
The memory is forever etched in my mind. It was a typical Sunday, the service was over. There was a line of people who wanted to talk to me. One of them was our sound guy, who said “Worship was great today pastor! Your guitar solo was AWESOME!” I remember this comment for two reasons. It was the first time in my ministry where I realized that people were equating songs with worship. What he meant was that he liked the songs we played. Even then, I knew that worship was much more than singing or listening to a song. The other troubling part for me was that I did not have any guitar solos, and the guy who thought I did was the soundman! (He had taken too many drugs as a young man, and apparently heard things that were not there. Not good if you are a sound guy. I guess I should be happy he did not imagine a really bad solo, but I digress.) Read the rest of this entry
Sunday Morning Prayer
The following prayer is from the largely forgotten deposit of the Puritan Movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It testifies to the richness and color of evangelical thought and language, as well as their devotion to the Savior. This prayer and others can be found in a book titled “The Valley of Vision”, by Arthur Bennet. I have included them in this blog so that others can use them in their own prayer life as a springboard to a more faithful walk with Jesus. These prayers are 200-400 years old! They were written in old English,but that should not get in the way if you don’t let it.
Following Him together… Read the rest of this entry
Cross-Centered Worship: “The Gospel Song”
We have noticed a disturbing trend in the corporate worship songs of the church. Perhaps you have too? It seems that we sing very little about the main point of Christianity. This is largely because the church wants to be more “sensitive” to those who are not Christians. With the best research in hand, we are told that non-Christians don’t really want to hear about sin and guilt and being accountable to a holy God. They also don’t want to hear about a Savior dying on a bloody cross for their sins. To reach them, we are confidently told, we must eliminate these topics from our sermons and our songs. Sadly, much of the Evangelical church has mistakenly signed on to this approach. Read the rest of this entry
Free Prayer!
Free Prayer?
Of course prayer is free, we just thought it was a catchy title! We all need prayer and sometimes we don’t have anyone to pray with. Other times, we have lots of people to pray with but we want as many people praying for our situation as possible. Whatever your situation is, we consider it a privilege and honor to pray for you. We have a team of people who pray over every request daily. So, let us know how we can pray for you. You can submit your request in the comment section. Let us know if you would like the request to be viewable by others (so that they can pray for you as well) or to be kept private.
Our only request is that you let us know how the Lord answers!
Following Him Together,
Jim
Staying On Message (2 Timothy 4:1-8)
Staying On Message 2 Timothy 4:1-8
An exposition of the Apostle Paul’s passionate final message to Timothy. The church must continue to proclaim the message of The Cross even when people will not listen to it. Given in October 2010 at a fellowship in Denver Colorado. Speaker: Jim Greer
Not For Itching Ears!
Not For Itching Ears is a blog dedicated to discussing the serious issues that exist within the American Evangelical church. It is a place for like minded people to share their thoughts on a host of issues relating to this subject. Our opinion is that the church in America is in serious trouble and has lost its way. If you believe that, then this will be an excellent forum for you. Our goal is not to bash the church. Rather, the goal is to bring people together to encourage one another and talk about solutions… Read the rest of this entry
The Precious Blood
The following prayers are drawn from the largely forgotten deposit of the Puritan Movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They testify to the richness and color of evangelical thought and language, as well as their devotion to the Savior. They can be found in a book titled “The Valley of Vision”, by Arthur Bennet. I have included them in this blog so that others can use them in their own prayer life as a springboard to a more faithful walk with Jesus. These prayers are 200-400 years old! They were written in old English. but that should not get in the way if you don’t let it.
Following Him together…
The Precious Blood
Blessed Lord Jesus,
Before thy cross I kneel and see
the heinousness of my sin,
my iniquity that caused thee to be ‘made a curse’,
the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.
Show me the enormity of my guilt by
the crown of thorns,
the pierced hands and feet,
the bruised body,
the dying cries.
Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
Its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought
Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.
Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
Born in my birth,
alive in my life,
strong in my character,
dominating my faculties,
intermingling with my every though,
my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul,
Sinner that I am, why should the sun give my light
the air supply breath,
the earth bear my weight,
its fruit nourish me
its creatures subserve my ends?
Yet thy compassions yearn over me,
thy heart hastens to my rescue,
thy love endured my curse,
thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.
Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation,
bathed in thy blood,
tender of conscience,
triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.
Listen to this prayer as a song recorded by Sovereign Grace Ministries: “The Precious Blood” (follow the link)
Jeremiah’s Message to Today’s Church Leadership
“If it feels good, do it!”
This has been one of the mottos of our culture since the 1960’s. Now it seems that the American church has adopted a similar pragmatic motto: “If it makes people feel good, we should use it.” Today we see church leaders of every persuasion trying all kinds of new things. If it works in drawing more people into services then it “works” and it must be good, right, and stamped with the very approval of God Himself. But is it?
One of the things we should remind ourselves… Read the rest of this entry
Whatever Happened to the Message of The Cross?
The sign said, “Now serving Starbucks coffee!” It was the late 90’s and the premium coffee craze was taking the country by storm. Everyone who liked coffee LOVED Starbucks or soon would. So it wasn’t surprising that some business would be utilizing the brand name to promote what they were doing. It made pretty good sense. It wouldn’t have fazed me at all if any other company was doing it. But this massive sign was hung in front of a local evangelical Christian church. The message was crystal clear: “Come to our service on Sunday, we have free Starbucks coffee!”
Not For Itching Ears 