A Passion for Prayer — Jim Cymbala

This is session number eight of the 2011 Southeast Calvary Chapel Pastors Conference and now with a message entitled a passion for prayer. It's pastor Jim Simbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Good evening, everyone.

Good evening. It's great to be here. Can you hear me good? It's a real honor to be invited to be a part of your event this evening and How many pastors are here or people who lead others or teach or speak or exhort in some capacity as Spokesman is for the Lord in the body of Christ.

Just lift your hand if you're involved in any of that. Oh, wow. I Want to talk to you about What was such a mystery to me for years and I feel the Lord opened a passage of scripture to me. Years ago while I was in a hotel in London actually sitting on the floor reading the Word of God and The Lord seemed to come and just Wow.

Lights went off. Or exploded in my heart and mind and I would say that after knowing Jesus Christ as my Savior. This is one of the most important revelations or things that I've ever Had happened in my life and it's helped me and in a great Way in what we do many many years ago more than 30 years ago.

Ministry in a Broken Community

My wife and I came to a rundown building in the downtown rundown part of Brooklyn, New York in the hood that we're trying to do some good in the hood as they say and Less than 15 18 people in the church.

No crack at that time, but heroin big-time alcoholism rundown building. Just very very difficult. And I was a basketball City basketball player in New York City. Went to college on the basketball scholarship played NCAA tournament.

And that was my life and here God doing things, you know, you can't put God in a box here I was called into the ministry. My wife's a very talented musician has since then won six Grammy Awards with her choir and here we were in downtown, Brooklyn facing this dismal situation and You know God, how do you do this?

How do you make a change in people? How do you how do you see the gospel work out in power? I don't want to just study church history. Which I have about what God did a hundred years ago 200 years ago or talk about some future revival.

I want to know we want to know God do it now. How many say amen? Good do it now do it now in Florida. Let's get this on and See God do something great now so many years now since then the Lord has really blessed and helped us and and we've seen some amazing things happen in churches start out of our church and Now like 10 ,000 people come in out of the building that we're in now on a given Sunday.

Changed by the power of Jesus Christ in my wife's choir, which has like 280 90 people in it there are lawyers and doctors next to home former homeless people and drug addicts and black and white and Latino and you name it we have one who did it and Whatever country you want to name we have somebody but that's the way it's gonna be in heaven.

Amen. Every nation every tribe every tongue all singing praise to God for his grace. But you ever wonder about this. How did they pull that off in the New Testament we read it. How did they do that? No Bible.

No, New Testaments to hand out hadn't been written yet. Old Testaments, there are no printing presses couldn't hand those out especially in the Gentile world. No buildings. Christian Church had no public buildings for more than 300 years.

No microphones. No money. The Roman government and establishment against them with its polytheism and thousand gods. The Jewish religious establishment against them totally rejecting Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

They weren't about to admit that they missed the one who they were supposedly waiting for. No buildings. No money. No Bible schools. No seminaries and The people who started the work. Were all failures.

For after spending three and a half years with Christ on the day that he was arrested. They all fled and one who ended up being the leader cursed and denied the Lord three times and. Yet we read about stuff like they would go into a place like this on Ica.

They're not sure if they stayed there. Paul and his team stayed there weeks or months. But they didn't stay that long and they left behind a church and ordained leaders. How they do that. No prayer in schools, but they had something better.

They had prayer in the church. The problem today is not prayer in the schools is prayer in the church. I Don't care if they pray in the schools. I'd love to see him pray in the schools but it would be better if would start in God's house for Jesus said my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations all people.

Paul’s Message: The Gospel

Well. So we're talking about ministry here, how do you preach the gospel or how do you minister? How are you a Christian minister and see the world turned upside down and see miracles happen and and and people set free from demonic influences and crack addicts get clean and and.

And people messed up in every single way that you could imagine. Which is what I face every single week of my life. How do you do see that Happen so that God's name is glorified not a church not a denomination.

God's not going to help us so that our church's name is put in lights or that we become famous as ministers. God is not going to share his glory with some church or minister. Come on. That Christ might be glorified.

Well, we know this we know that Paul is given to us as the model minister Jesus since he had not accomplished the cross yet and resurrected is Not the exact model we have because he didn't go and preach the gospel because after he accomplished What he had to he then ascended into heaven after being with the disciples off and on for 40 days but then he sent them out to preach the gospel and Oddly enough it wasn't one of the twelve that the New Testament focuses on but the book of Acts starting with the church in Antioch and Paul's conversion he becomes the center point of The God of the gospel of the narrative in the book of Acts and he writes most of the rest of the New Testament.

So Paul is given to us as here's who you look at. He even said be imitators of me as I imitate Christ. He was the ultimate master builder. He was the efficient Minister competent minister of the new covenant not of the letter which kills but of the spirit that gives life.

So any minister who any man or woman who wants to make their life count for Christ? You got to study Paul carefully because he was the bomb right then right in the New Testament. He got hooked up with God and was used tremendously by the Lord.

Well, let's well when we analyze Paul, how did he pull these things off? How did he do this? Well, we know his message was the gospel. His message was the gospel. He didn't preach some dream or vision.

He didn't preach some Something he read in the newspapers. He didn't get corporate speak and and be clever. In fact, he said my speeching was my preaching was not with wise and persuasive words. But with a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit, so he said I am NOT ashamed of the gospel.

He preached the good news. He didn't preach Moses. He preached Jesus. He didn't preach the Old Testament. He preached the New Testament and only used the Old Testament and the law to create a sense of need.

Conviction of sin so that people could believe the good news. Christianity is not about bad news. It's about good news. Do I get an amen here from somebody it's about good news. So he preached the gospel brothers and sisters.

Let's remember that you never stop studying the gospel. What is the good news? How do you preach it? How do you explain it? How do you apply it to a prostitute? How do you apply it to some angry 11 year old kid in in the hood?

Who's seething with anger because he has no father doesn't know where his mother is and he's against everything. How do you bring the good news to him? What is the good news? How do I preach the good news in?

Paul’s Methodology: The Leading of the Holy Spirit

2011 in Florida or New York City or wherever you might be from. That's the message. What was his methodology? Well, we know his methodology. From the book of Acts and it can only be summarized by one word the Holy Spirit.

You cannot predict what Paul will do. Read the book of Acts you'll have no idea what he's going to do next because he was led by the Holy Spirit. Remember that place in the book of Acts where he wanted to go into Asia to preach the gospel, but he says the Spirit said no.

Then he took go tried to go to into Bithynia and again the Spirit of Jesus forbid him. How did that happen? Why? He just knew you can't go anywhere unless God sends you and he wasn't trying to sell computers.

He was trying to preach the gospel, but the Spirit forbid him. Why would that happen? We don't understand those things, but we want to be in the right place at the right time doing God's will. So his methodology was to be led by the Holy Spirit.

To depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. That reference I gave you from 1st Corinthians Chapter 2 my preaching was not with wise and persuasive words in most seminaries and Bible schools. That's the main thing they're trying to teach guys and girls to do be wise and persuasive.

How else you're gonna get converts. Paul said I wasn't wise and persuasive. But my preaching was with a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. What did that look like? I don't know, but I want to see it.

I want to experience it. He broke through into a pagan world and saw a converse to Christ because he wasn't clever. He was spirit-filled. That's not emotional that's not yelling that's not faking tears.

That's not being quiet not faking humility. There was some mantle and anointing of the Holy Spirit that when he spoke it penetrated people's hearts. Did everyone believe. No everyone will never believe.

They didn't believe when Jesus was here on earth. But when we're anointed and speaking the gospel with the power of God, we're gonna see converts. We're gonna see the name of Jesus glorified. We're gonna see changed lives and miracles happen.

Florida needs it. Have you noticed? New York City needs it so we can't twiddle our thumbs and and and and curse the darkness. We got a light a candle and say we want to tell you about Jesus. We got to preach the message and We got to have confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Rejecting Ministry Formulas and Imitation

All formulas Are worthless. Going to visit a church and trying to copy it. You are wasting your time the history of the Christian churches while we can learn and be encouraged by others. You have to seek God for yourself and find out what he wants you to do.

You can't be a typical evangelical to typical Baptist to typical Calvary Chapel the minute you say that you're a loser. Because God doesn't use copycats. God uses originals. Study the book of Acts study church history.

Everyone God ever used was an original. They didn't copy anyone. They were influenced by people, but they had the confidence to God's gonna use me through on my personality. I Went through a great battle.

Maybe this will help somebody here when I first went in the ministry I had a great battle with that because I never been a seminary never been a Bible school. I was shooting jump shots from the top of the key.

What did I know about? Bible. So when I went in the ministry, I Suffered from a lack of confidence. Like how could God use me? I don't have a great speaking voice. I'm not an orator. How's God gonna use me?

So I tried to for the while at the beginning I try to act like a preacher. Whatever that image you have in your mind, whatever the image I have in my mind. That's what I try to be because it protected me.

It could be my Armor that I could keep people away from me. Because I couldn't believe that God could use me speaking conversationally like I am now. I couldn't believe that I had to be like someone so I had certain images in my mind.

I was acting like that and my sermons were horrible. They were so bad. I fell asleep while I was preaching. That's not a good sign. Why? Because I couldn't believe that God could use me in my personality.

But I want to assure all of you here the moment you mimic anyone even unconsciously you grieve the Holy Spirit. He doesn't anoint actors actresses. People putting on a soft soft voice acting different than they do in their normal life.

That is not part of being a minister of Jesus Christ. Jesus never put on another voice or acted different. When he was with disciples and then when he spoke on the mountain and gave the beatitudes or the Apostle Paul in his ministry.

Waiting for God’s Direction

So our message is the gospel our methodology as Holy Spirit lead us. Holy Spirit anoint us. Holy Spirit show us where to go. Remember what happened when he was forbidden in those two places. He didn't know what to do when you don't know what to do you wait.

You don't think you wait you wait for directions. We're servants. Servants obey a master. They don't do. God's not waiting for creative thought from any of us. He's God. So as a servant he waited and in the night He had a dream and he had saw a man from Macedonia saying come over and help us and then Luke says he must have joined Him right around.

Then he says and then we took it that God was leading us and and. And then all that great missionary trip and all the blessings that God Brought upon him. Why. Because he waited and was led by the Holy Spirit.

We have very little of that today in my judgment from what I can see everyone's formulized the thing meetings are formulized. Holy Spirit has very little room to come and lead people. We got it down to the minute.

Listen, if God could lead the Israelites for 40 years, don't you think he could lead you and me through a meaning? Don't you think he knows what's going on? Don't you think he knows right now? What's needed in this room?

Don't you think he does. I don't. But don't you think he could communicate that to me? Or to you when you're doing ministry. The more we program the thing and become mechanical the more we're really saying.

I don't need the Holy Spirit. I know how to do this. We don't know how to do this. We need God. Can we all put our hands together and say amen to that? Well All of that to say this. I was aware of those two things and what I just said.

I know you're aware of it and most of you here can out preach me. So I'm not bringing anything new to you. But I didn't know the third thing the message yes. The methodology it's not by might nor by power but by my spirit say it the Lord not with wise and persuasive words, but with a Demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit.

So your faith wouldn't stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Mm-hmm. What must that have looked like. No wonder they turned the world upside down. But here's what really helped them turn the world upside down.

Paul’s Love for the Churches

This is the third part. That God was gracious enough to show me that's helped me so much. I wanted to help. I wanted to help somebody here and first Thessalonians Paul reveals himself His heart and he says this you can just listen to me.

You want to turn to it? I'll give you the references. 1st Thessalonians chapter 2. He says this about his ministry. You know, we never use flattery when we were with you ministering. Nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed?

We weren't trying to make a buck like these guys on television. You know, God just showed me there's 500 people supposed to give $1 ,000, you know, and all that. Oh, that's a con game. You know that right?

Those are con artists. If God gave him how many why don't you give him the name so we can just move on with the whole thing and get it over with. But it's it's it's business. It's business. God is our witness.

We were not looking for praise from men not from you or anyone else. That's important to remember as ministers if we were looking for praise. We've missed the mark not to look for praise from men boy.

That was a great sermon man. You were good. No, it's when you get along with God that he praises you and Says you did what you did good as apostles of Christ. We could have been a burden to you. We had rights as a minister.

But we were gentle among you like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much. Is this a love letter? Are they dating or is this an apostolic letter? Listen, we loved you so much that we were not delighted to share with you.

Not only the gospel. But our own lives as well because we loved you. So much and you have become so dear to us. Later on in the first second chapter. It says but brothers. When we were torn away from you for a short time in person not in thought.

Never stopped thinking of you when you're in love with someone you never stopped thinking of them. Out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you for we Wanted to come to you. Certainly. I Paul did again and again, but Satan stopped us.

We don't know how what that meant, but Satan somehow stopped him. For what is our hope? Minister. What is our hope and our joy or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Jesus Lord Jesus when he comes?

Is it not you? Indeed. You are our glory and joy and then in the next chapter he talks about the fact He couldn't stand being away from them. So he sent Timothy to find out how they were doing. Timothy has just come back to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love.

That's what we're trying to see grow in people. Not are they coming to the building on Sunday? Are they growing in faith and love? He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us.

Just like we long to see you. What is it? Are they dating that this sounds like you open someone's love letter? You long to see us old. We're happy because we long to see you. We miss you. You miss us.

Oh, wow. Therefore brothers in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith for now we really live. Because you stand firm in the Lord. Here's the third missing thing that we need in our churches.

I certainly needed in my ministry and we needed in the Brooklyn Tabernacle and that is Paul had the message and he had the methodology, but he had a powerful motivation. He was absolutely by the grace of God and through the work of the Holy Spirit.

He was madly in love with the people he ministered to. That's where we fall short. We're preaching the gospel of Jesus without the love of Jesus. You can preach and Be mad at people. You can be angry.

You can be upset. You can be venting while you're preaching. Have you ever seen a minister do that? Is he speaking truth? Is he preaching from the word? Yes. Is his spirit right? No. Does he care about the people?

No, he's just waiting for the meeting to get over. He wants the meeting to get over. That's his job. He's putting his time in he gets a salary. Don't you get it? But Paul that would be unknown to Paul.

Paul said when I was with you in Thessalonica. Don't you remember how I was with you? I didn't use flattery. I wasn't trying to con you. I didn't want your money. I wanted you. For I you remember when I was with you look at the picture in the Greek for I was like a mother gently nursing her baby and the picture in the Greek is a woman pulling down her blouse and bringing an infant to her breast and Feeding her.

That's how I was when I was with you. You ever see a mother feeding a baby. You think she's doing it for money? When she looks down at the baby, do you think she's watching for any problem because she loves that child?

She's giving the baby figuratively figuratively her life. That's how I was when I was with you. Maybe that's why he was so powerful. He not only had the right message and he depended on the Holy Spirit.

But when you love somebody and you're passionate about them, they know it. Your words will penetrate. Many years ago 20 years ago when my oldest girl got away from us and away from God my wife and I went through a long Two and a half year nightmare our oldest girl away from God she's now the wife of very great pastor and she's Doing a great work.

She has gifting of her of her mom who's not trained. Neither is Chrissy, but she writes music directs worship directs a choir. But when she was away from God My heart was broken. I could hardly get to church.

Sometimes I would just cry the minute I time turned on the ignition and drove 20 minutes to the church. Do you think when I talked to her I went, uh, basically Chrissy. I'd like you to turn to first Thessalonians with me here for a second.

I'd like to share a little word with you. You think I talked to her like that. Have you lost your mind? I would never talk to her like that. I I talked to her from in here. That's my girl. That's my daughter.

My daughter's on the edge of an abyss. That's my girl when you love your daughter you talk not from here. You talk from here you talk truth, but you talk from here. Paul said when I was with you I was like a mother nursing her baby for I not only want to give you the gospel.

I wanted to go down for you. I was ready to die for you. I haven't met five ministers in my life ready to die for their congregation. I was just with someone. I was with Robbie Zacharias in Hong Kong just a few weeks ago ministering to hundreds of Mainland China underground home church pastors.

Oh, I Felt so unworthy. I didn't want to get up and talk. Half of them been in jail and I'm preaching to them. There's a there was a passion intensity there. Listen Christianity is never laid back if you're being in if you're into being laid back, you can't be effective for Christ.

Calvary has nothing laid back about it. There's nothing cool about Christianity its passion its love. He wept over Jerusalem he was crucified stark naked he rose again from the dead. He wept over Jerusalem even though it was going to crucify him.

And Paul says when I was with you. You think I was giving you a sermon so I could get a love offering. Are you kidding? You were like my children. The mother doesn't charge the baby she nurses she loves to do it.

It's her life and They had that Paul had that boy. Do we need that? Because you can get mechanical and just preach to people it's time to time to share a word do a teaching. I got my next expository little word.

I looked in some commentaries. I got my three points in a conclusion you think that's gonna change the world brothers and sisters. Look at me you live in Florida, Florida got a lot of problems. I'm from New York a lot of problems.

You think the world's gonna be changed by little ditties that we're gonna share with somebody. Oh, come on. We're gonna need something from God full of the Holy Spirit and we're gonna need to have it filled with love if you believe what I'm Saying just lift your hand and say amen.

The Church’s Crown Is People

So this is how the church was born what you and I have developed whatever American concept we have. We got to compare it to the original. And say God help us to get back to the power and fervency of the original.

Paul goes on later to say and I'll close here and Paul says. For I had to leave you torn apart, but I never stopped thinking of you. I Made a lot of ministers who the congregation is a pain in the neck.

They'll preach they'll take their check but the people their problems counseling them. It's like, you know that that that guy he just drives me insane. He's always got a problem. I'm tired of counseling that dude.

What is it with him or her or whatever? Paul says when I was torn apart from you just in never in thought. I Never stopped thinking of you. You know, I have a new grandson. I never stopped thinking of him.

My daughter Susan. My middle girl is 37. She has two children. 13 year old. 10 year old. I was just showing some of the pastors before the meeting picture of my new grandson. She's always want to adopt a child.

That nobody wanted and that probably would never hear of Jesus. So she started working with an orphanage. And after 11 months, they called her and said we got the boy that you put in for so last March, she took her husband who's one of my associates and The 13 and 10 year old Luke and Claire and They came back my wife and I met him in Kennedy when they came through customs with my new.

He's now 13 months old my new grandson from Ethiopia. Bet you don't have one of those. Anybody here got Ethiopian grandson? His name was Bush era, which means good news. Their mother died giving birth from malaria.

Father six foot three. Boys gonna play the NBA. I'm telling you. I'm gonna be shaking and baking somebody. Had four other kids the father didn't know what to do. Couldn't keep Levi Bush era. Could have left him by the roadside.

Thank God he rode eight hours on the bus and left him at the orphanage that Susan was working with. I love him. I've somehow knit and bonded with him. I try to find you know, I bet I asked her. Can I babysit?

She said I'm bordering on idolatry with the child, but it is what it is, you know I think of him all day long. I prayed for him today. You think you have to tell me to pray for him? Listen. When you love someone you will pray for them.

Paul says I remember you constantly in my prayers. Why do you think you took you had to tell him in the morning now get up Paul you got to pray you think when Chrissy? Was away from God you think you had to tell me to pray for my daughter?

Come on. Our problem is we don't have those deep Currents of love and passion for people because when that possesses you you get crazy for God. You get crazy for them. You pray you'll you'll you'll agonize you'll travail.

Because love makes you do crazy things so Paul says. For of course, I think about you always because when Jesus Christ comes what is my crown? What is my glory? What is my joy? Is it not you? Did you know pastors those of you are leaders when Christ comes you don't have anything else to show God but people.

I Have a beautiful building was built in 1917. 4100 seats when it was built. We restored it to the way It looked like in 1943. It really is God blessed us. It's a beautiful building and it's a beautiful place to meet downtown all the subways and buses come there because half our people don't have cars and.

And That's very important in New York, how do you how you gonna get to the subway? How are you gonna get to the place especially at night things go down?

So I rebuke whatever that was.

So What am I gonna show God a building when when when when Christ comes when I show him the building? He he made the heavens and the earth. My wife won six Grammy Awards. What was she gonna do? Hold up a Grammy Award for him.

The years ago I won Book of the Year for a book I wrote. And they sent me a certificate. I didn't go to the award ceremony, but I was out of the country, but When Christ comes when I show Book of the Year award, he wrote the Bible.

What am I gonna show him my book? Look, I wrote this book. He'll say I wrote this book. How about that? No. All we have is people. Paul Paul who wrote the New Testament said you are my crown. You are my glory.

You are my joy. What else are you gonna break bring them? Just people. I'm so proud this to hear the report this Sunday afternoon. I was away I'm supposed to be on vacation here in Florida with my wife.

Testimony of Diana’s Deliverance

When the Tampa area and a Girl who was demon-possessed and brought into our church many years ago she gave her testimony for the first time publicly and this girl's four foot ten and She was on drugs they said they're gonna bring her to the prayer meeting pray for her.

This is a long time ago I said, yeah bring the girl will pray for her. So we're in the middle beginning of the prayer meeting do praise and worship for a while. I say there's a couple here. Siblings a brother and a sister they get they got some girl here that wants to be prayed for her name is Diana so everybody we're gonna pray for and she walks up four foot ten, right and When she got about ten feet away the Holy Spirit began to warn me something was gonna go down.

Something was gonna happen. My heart started to beat. Palpitating. I got very alert spiritually mentally emotionally every way I called a minister woman Evangelist who was near in the front row. I said come and help me pray for her.

So she's coming as the girls being brought down the center aisle and this woman I think moved upon by the Holy Spirit just said Oh Jesus and when she said that this four foot ten girl who stooped over like she's on methadone.

You know just kind of like a that kind of body posture. She flipped out. Rushed me threw me against the facing of the platform. Ripped the I had a dress shirt on that you wear a tie. She ripped the shirt the collar like it was tissue.

She's four foot ten. Like tissue the thing came off. She has her hands on my throat. I grabbed her throw her down and these voices start yelling at her all through the church. There were a thousand people there.

There's three thousand people now every Tuesday in our prayer meeting. There were a thousand people there that night who heard the voices screaming at me and all of us leave her alone. She's ours. You'll never have her get out of here.

She's ours. We threw down and I threw it down on the ground. Her eyes are rolling. She spits in my face and I had a deacon. Tap me on the shoulder and he taps me on the shoulder while this is all going on.

He says pastor I believe she's demon-possessed. And the real prophet on my staff, you know so She gave her testimony on Sunday. Her name is Diana burials. I wish she was here. If you brought her out.

You'd never believe that she could ever do that because just like the Holy Spirit gives us power to do things. We can't do. Demonic possession is nothing more than Satan's counterfeit of a church filled with God doing exploits.

You ever sorry you say no way she could do that. Let's stick of a woman.

Flip me like that. I.

Still tell her now, you know Diana. I love you and and you're serving the Lord. He's kept you all these years and I heard she was so anointed on Sunday. They said oh did God use her when she told her story how she grew up.

Her mother was in a witch and it got involved in all this dark side stuff but I told her Diana, I love you, but. You ruined a shirt. You're so cheap. Would you buy me a shirt, please? 1634 and she'll laugh and laugh now.

My book award or whatever any notoriety that that means nothing. But Diana, oh, yeah. I'll show Diana to Jesus for what else is my crown? What else is my hope? What else do you have? But change lives if we don't have those what are we going to show?

Prayer and the Ministry of Love

What's your crown? Finally and this reveals it again. Paul says. So I couldn't take being away from you. Because I had to know that my work was not in vain. I had to be sure this tempter hadn't come and tempted you so I sent Timothy.

Oh, man. It's so good because Timothy's come back and he told us how strong you are in your faith. And now I really live. Because you stand firm in the Lord. Oh I've seen that haven't you ever seen that haven't you ever seen a mother in the hood?

I've seen this so many times. She works three jobs. She works herself to the bone she looks 15 years older than she is but she walks up on the platform at the end of a service or walks up to me and introduces me to her son and says He's been accepted into med school or he's gonna be a lawyer and she killed herself.

But do you think it bothers her? Of course not. When you love someone you'll kill yourself. If you don't love someone it's just a job. Just a job punch in the time do the preaching we'll pray for you.

I got to get to the golf course. That's what my real life is about, you know. That wasn't the early church. They were crazy. They had the same spirit that was in Christ. So Paul says now I really live.

Put me in prison do anything you want do anything you want. Now, I really live. My children are growing in their faith. Brothers and sisters listen, you cannot teach that. We have a like a cult today of teaching I think.

We think that Christianity is a teaching religion. It is we need teaching. You can't teach love. The Holy Spirit imparts love. The love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit. Not only love for God, but the love of God.