Brother Michael's Devotional

"And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he many minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazer and Ithamar, Aaron's sons." Exodus 28:1

Here we have the election of the priesthood according to the Mosaic Covenant. But who was it doing the electing? If it had been a modern church, there would have been a pastor search committee established, resumes would have been reviewed and the man with the most letters behind his name would have been called.

Friend, let me be plain. An education from a seminary is good, but a call from God is better. We are not to look to ourselves in an attempt to determine a good leader, we are simply to recognize God's called man, and validate his calling through the ordination. It is God that does the electing, not us.

But what sort of ministers do we need? We have a plethora of books and seminars that are being devoured buy our ministers. We have no end of megachuches, television ministries and mini empires being raised by our ministers. And it seems that everywhere around us we have "men of God" crying against the most vulgar of sin on Sunday only to appear in Monday's paper guilty of the very same act.

What we need are men with blood tipped ears on their face before God seeking a word from God. What we need are men of God with blood tipped thumbs carrying out their God called vocation. And what the Church is in the most desperate need of is God called men with blood tipped toes living their life Monday in light of what they preached Sunday (Leviticus 8). Friend, the reason there is so little power in America's pulpit is not because of the lack of potency of the Word of God, it is because of secret sin in the life of the ministers occupying those pulpits.

"But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and [before] Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep [this] commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:" I Timothy 6:11-14