It pays to participate well in our youth group.  The “Jesus Freaks” won the Disciple Now competition and will now receive their very own championship T-shirts!  Members of the team  were Kaylin Adams, Beau Martinez, Kailyx Childers, Mallory Leary, Liam Horn, and Kolbey Adams.

 

Way to go!

 

The shirts were printed by:

Have you ever been confronted with the prosperity gospel? Certainly you know what I’m talking about. It’s called the prosperity gospel because on the surface it is the belief that God has promised health, wealth, and happiness to everyone who follows Him. In short, following God leads to (you guessed it) “prosperity”. And to be certain there are any number of texts quoted on TBN or from prosperity pulpits around the country that speak of how God promises to prosper those who follow Him. Now to be certain, those verses are real, and so is the reality that following God is well worth it. That is why few people try to take this “gospel” on at this level. Who really wants to stand up and say, “God won’t prosper you!” or “God won’t heal you!” or “God won’t fulfill the desires of your heart!” Obviously fighting the battle on that ground is a losing effort because the reality is that there are times when God does financially bless and God does heal and God does grant your desires. BUT BE CAREFUL BEFORE YOU EAT THE CANDY…

What proponents of this “gospel” often don’t tell you is about the bitter, hopeless and drastic fall out that is inevitable to occur with this hoax of a theology. And that fallout occurs the second you suffer. See, the prosperity gospel is standing at attention ready to take all the credit for every good thing that enters your life, but it sits noticeably silent on the day when the bottom drops out. And here is the kicker, if the prosperity gospel does speak up, you won’t like what it has to say. Why? Well, the prosperity gospel is built on a faulty premise and it goes like this. “You are blessed when you trust God, you are cursed when you don’t.” Sooooo…. If my life falls apart or tragedy strikes, what is to be assumed except that you obviously angered God. You didn’t obey Him properly, you didn’t trust Him enough, and now you are actually getting what you deserve. About that time the prosperity gospel actually stands up to defend itself against your obvious misfortune and statements like this arise: “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it.” Or, “If you would seek God and implore the compassion of the Almighty, if you are pure and upright, surely now He would rouse Himself for you and restore your righteous estate.”

You’ve heard that (maybe even said that) before haven’t you? Someone suffers and the thought is, “I wonder what they did wrong?” Or, tragedy falls and someone says, “You should pray more and find out why this happened.” Good luck with that. The immediate fallout is the bitter sting of feeling abandoned by God and the utter confusion of not knowing how to pull yourself out of the tale spin. The eventual fallout is anger at God and loss of faith. That’s the prosperity gospel for you. It is the harshest and cruelest of jokes. It promises blessing and on the day of suffering blames the afflicted for everything.

Ever been a victim of it? Probably. Ever offered it to someone else? Probably. Well before you offer it again, let me introduce you to the book of Job. No book shatters the prosperity gospel like this book. Oh yeah, they had the prosperity gospel back then. Those two quotes I gave you earlier came from Eliphaz (Job 4:7-8) and Bildad (Job 8:5-6). They were Job’s “friends” and they had no answer for his suffering, except to blame it all on Job.

I want to invite you this Sunday night to begin this study of Job with us. If you’re suffering (and we all do eventually) you may just find comfort in the sovereign hand of God. If you know someone who is, then come learn how to compassionately minister to them in their grief. But above all else, come study this book with us and see how God absolutely shatters every shred of the prosperity gospel and in the process solidifies our faith and establishes our assurance.

Trust me, you want to study this great book!
(Starting this Sunday night, August 16 – 6pm @ FBC Spur)

COMING SUNDAY NIGHTS THIS AUGUST!

Why do bad things happen to good people? What is the purpose of my suffering? How do I minister to those who are hurting? Where is God in my pain? Is my suffering some form of punishment? Is the devil winning? If I repent will it all go away?

Ever had questions like that?  I bet you have.  The questions are frequent, the answers are not.  Fortunately God has preserved for us a story of suffering that allows us to travel beyond the physical world and into the spiritual realm.  We have the privilege of seeing the most righteous man alive endure the world’s greatest affliction.  We even get to see why it happened!  We get to see the confusion that comes with it and all the false reasoning that humanity can provide.  A proper understanding of the book of Job will forever change the way you view suffering.  And it will help you learn how to minister to those who do.

Beginning Sunday nights this August we will travel through the woeful world of Uz and see why suffering is a major tool in the hands of God, why the prosperity gospel is a cruel and false comfort, and how to maintain a proper Biblical view in the midst of your pain.  The study won’t always be fun, but no one can doubt the necessity of it.

SO WHAT DOES JESUS THINK OF BRUCE JENNER?

That seems to be a pretty significant issue to most people in the debate. Some are convinced that Jesus is disgusted and would completely turn His back, some are convinced that Jesus would refrain from judging and welcome him unconditionally.

I certainly don’t care to weigh in on the decisions of one human being, but in this case it seems the debate has escalated to such an extent that the clarity of the gospel and the message of salvation hang in the balance. Whether you are a devoted follower of Jesus, one who adamantly disregards the need for Him, or somewhere in between, understanding Jesus’ stance on something like this is of the utmost importance.

No, there are no instances in Scripture were Jesus specifically encountered a man who felt that they were a woman trapped in a man’s body, who then had an operation to correct the perceived wrong. So a direct case study won’t happen. However Jesus did deal with His fair share of societal rejects. We could look at John 4 and read about Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman. She had been married 5 times and was now living with a man who was not her husband (vs. 17-18). To make matters worse, (from the perspective of a Jewish man) she was a dreaded Samaritan. (If you want more input on her, listen to our recent sermon: “The Kindness of Jesus”) To make a long story short, you just need to understand that in John 4 Jesus was in a conversation with a person of different gender, different race, different moral code, and different religion. How did Jesus respond to her? Well, He was obviously kind, striking up a conversation with her, and one that even shocked the lady (vs. 9). It must be noted that Jesus’ kindness even shocked those who followed Him (vs. 27). And based on that, we would expect nothing from Jesus toward Bruce Jenner except for kindness. Jesus seemed to reserve His wrath for the self-righteous (hence the “judge not” passage we’ll get to in a moment). However, Jesus also refused to turn a blind eye to her sin. Yes she was a sinner. Yes she had fallen short of God’s perfect plan for her life. And yes, we all have. Jesus brought up the issue of this woman’s immoral past, Jesus exposed this woman’s problem of false worship, and Jesus offered this woman eternal life. He was kind, He was compassionate, He went further than any other Jewish man would have gone, but that does not mean He was willing to allow this woman to remain in her sin. The beauty is that this woman embraced the conviction of Jesus (she even bragged about it – vs. 29) and responded to Jesus. If we were to apply this to the case of Bruce Jenner we would assume that Jesus would be kind, compassionate, and that He would expose all of Bruce’s sin, and offer him that same eternal life He offered this unworthy woman. After all, Jesus came to save sinners.

We could turn to John 8 and read about a woman who was caught in the very act of adultery. This woman was dragged before Jesus as a test to see if He would be merciful or righteous. The mob was ready to stone the woman and Jesus intervened. No, we don’t know what He wrote on the ground, so don’t guess, but we do know what He said to the crowd. He uttered the infamous “let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Please notice that the issue of whether or not the woman sinned was not in question. She was a sinner, as was the entire crowd. Jesus’ solution was to stone all the sinners right here and now. Of course no one really wants to play the game that way so they dropped the stones. Jesus’ response to the woman is very telling for our study. “Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you? She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.” (vs. 10-11). Jesus didn’t come to condemn sinners, but He also didn’t come to leave them in their sin. It is important that our society understand this. I don’t think for one second that Jesus would approach Bruce Jenner and hit him with stones or seek to throw him alive into hell, but I am also under no misconception that Jesus would let him comfortably remain in his sin. That’s just not how Jesus operated.

And the stories continue. Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, why? Well according to Him “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” (Matthew 9:12). Now please understand that. Was Jesus compassionate? Yes, He was eating with these guys despite what the religious elite thought about it. However, don’t miss the fact that Jesus called their sin a sickness that was in need of healing. Watch Jesus do the same with Zaccheus in Luke 19, or with a woman of shady reputation in Luke 7. (Also a woman whose “sins” had to be forgiven).

I hope you get the point. Jesus would not have gotten on Facebook and vented how “sickened” He was about Bruce Jenner. Jesus would have met with him at his house. But don’t assume that Jesus would have smiled and looked the other way regarding Bruce’s sin, He would not have. Jesus would have compassionately confronted it, required Bruce to repent of it, and then…and this is huge, Jesus would have died to pay the penalty for Bruce’s sin. Jesus’ goal would not to have been to embarrass Bruce, but to save him. He would not have just let him remain in sin. In fact Jesus won’t let any of us do that.

It is apparent to me that some people are adamant that Jesus accepts people like Bruce because their theology requires it. They need for Jesus to accept Bruce just the way he is, so that they can reassure themselves that Jesus will accept them just the way they are. To put it another way. If Jesus doesn’t require Bruce to repent, then He won’t require me to repent either. I’m sorry to burst that bubble, but it simply isn’t true. Jesus’ first message was repentance (Matthew 4:17) as was John the Baptist’s (Matthew 3:2). Peter preached it (Acts 2:38) as did Paul (Acts 17:30). Regardless of who you are, and regardless of whether you have a sin that is shocking to society or one that is more of the “Good Ole Boy” nature that everyone is comfortable with, Jesus will respond the same. He will deal kindly and compassionately with you (Matthew 12:18-21) but He will confront your sin, require you to repent of it (i.e. leave it) and then offer you forgiveness through His own death. That is true for Bruce Jenner and it is true for you and it is true for me.

So what about (as previously promised) when Jesus said, “Judge Not!”? Yes, He really did say that, and I’m not sure any words that He did say ever get quoted more. But if no one has ever explained it to you, then please pay attention, you need to understand this.

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

In this passage Jesus is addressing hypocrites (vs 5). He is addressing those who use the sin of others to make themselves feel better about their own lives. Incidentally there are plenty who are doing this with Bruce Jenner, and those on both sides of the argument. There are for sure religious people who beat down Bruce Jenner because it makes their own sin (things like gossip and slander) seem not so bad. There are also people who defend Bruce Jenner for the same reason, his sin makes theirs feel a little less condemning. There are hypocrites on both sides of the argument, and that is who Jesus is addressing. But if you will simply read what He said you will recognize that Jesus was NOT telling people to leave sin alone. Jesus didn’t do this, why would He request it of others? In fact if you’ll read verse 5 you’ll see that Jesus is all for taking the speck out of your brother’s eye. His request is that you make sure you are seeing clearly before you do it. And you can’t see clearly if you have a log in your own eye. Who wants to go to an eye doctor for eye surgery who has to squint to make out your face? The point of Jesus here was not to overlook sin. In fact the point was just the opposite. Jesus point was to sharpen your gaze and make sure you get ALL of the sin. Starting with yourself and then addressing your brother.

There are plenty of people on Facebook who have posted about Bruce Jenner who need to be read this very verse, because their condemnation has been done in a spirit of self-righteousness and hypocrisy, but don’t let their failure cloud the gospel or the salvation of Jesus. Sin is still wrong (all sin, everyone’s sin) and unrepentant sinners will not inherit eternal life. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21). However the glorious message of the gospel is that Jesus offers forgiveness from sin and freedom from sin. He will forgive and He will change you. Did you hear that? He will change you! (2 Corinthians 5:17). That means that Jesus changes the way sinners feel about their sin. I don’t doubt for a second that Bruce Jenner legitimately feels the way he feels, just like any other sinner feels about their own sin. We are in fact born sinful (Psalms 51:5) we inherited that from our father Adam (Romans 5:12-14). And our sin reveals itself in different ways in different people. Some people’s sin manifests as greed, others as lust, others as hatred, and others as homosexuality, but it is all sin and Jesus can handle all of it. He can both forgive the sinner and so change their heart that they no longer even desire that sin. It is the miracle of salvation!

So the message for you and for your sin (which is really what the debate is about); your sin (and my sin) is not ok. It may feel natural, it may even be enjoyable, but it is grievous to God, and it brings a penalty of eternal death in hell (Romans 6:23). However the glory of God is that He loved sinners (Romans 5:8) and sent His perfect sinless Son to take their punishment and offer them forgiveness. You can be forgiven…You can be set free…You can be made new…You can inherit eternal life. Just repent of your sin, place your faith in the sacrificial atonement of Jesus, and submit your life to His control!

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

Many of you are familiar with the new movie “God’s Not Dead”. I want to say that this is not meant to bash that movie, for certainly there are aspects to the movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. However I don’t think this movie is accurate in the way it seeks to prepare you to witness to the lost on your campus.

This movie highly embraces apologetics (the defense of the faith) as preferred method of evangelism. Now it is true we are emphatically told to “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 1:3) but Jude said to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” Jude wasn’t begging you to appeal to scientific reasoning, Jude was begging you to stay true to the gospel. It is the gospel that was handed down (that’s why it and not scientific arguments are what fills your Bible) The purpose of this blog is to turn your heart back to trusting the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit as the true and only effective means of reaching the lost.

I love the statement Paul made to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:20-21, “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” — which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.” What had been entrusted to Timothy? It was the sound words of the gospel (2 Timothy 1:13-14), it was the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), it was the sacred writings (2 Timothy 3:14-17). Timothy was called to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:1-5) and this was what it meant to “do the work of an evangelist.”

The sad thing is that under the banner of evangelism today

People are doing precisely what Paul warned Timothy not to do.

 

Instead of “avoiding worldly and empty chatter and opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” men are embracing them. Men are even studying them. Men are teaching them, and apparently even making movies about them. The result is that in obsessing over these types of arguments men are actually going “astray from the faith.” They are actually disobeying Jude. They are not contending for the faith which was handed down, they are instead embracing worldly “knowledge” in an attempt to be effective.

I’m asking you not to fall into this trap. Ditching the gospel for secular arguments will not cause you to be more effective in evangelism. It will only succeed in eliminating your only source of power which is the Holy Spirit and His determination to use the gospel. And while you may feel better about yourself for being able to argue down an atheist, rest assured that there are always more atheists with more dilemmas and sooner or later you will face a dilemma you are not ready for. (youtube videos refuting “God’s Not Dead” are plentiful, though most are too foul to watch) The point being is that secular arguments rarely prove anything and very rarely “win”. I want to save you from this problem and call you back to God’s determined means of evangelism.

Namely, I want to remind you that “God’s Not Dead” and so you should trust Him to do what only He can do in turning sinners to Himself. Do not take the issue out of His hands, thrust it squarely on His shoulders. He is alive! He does convict sinners! He will work through you! Just resolve to do it His way. With that in mind let’s look at a brief clip from the “God’s Not Dead” movie and we’ll talk about true evangelism.

LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE PROBLEMS HERE.

God is NOT on trial (by us or anyone else) even though the student hypothetically puts Him there.

• We are not defense attorneys, we are heralds
• He doesn’t owe anyone an explanation, He will never answer to anyone, and what people think of Him is irrelevant. Namely because even if all of humanity votes to condemn Him, at the end of the judgment He will still be God, and they will still have to answer to Him. The goal of evangelism is NOT to prove to people that God is good. The goal of evangelism is to show sinners that they need God’s forgiveness which only Christ can provide.
• Beyond that God has already proven to sinners that He exists (creation), the problem is that men don’t want to see that, they suppress the truth that is clearly seen, and for that they will stand judgment (Romans 1:18-23)
• While I don’t really like the court room analogy, it would be far more accurate to say that God is the Judge, we are the prosecuting attorney, and the sinner is on trial. The goal would be to help the sinner see their guilt and push them to throw themselves on the mercy of the Judge, who will abundantly pardon.
• In short, WE ARE NOT TRYING TO PROVE ANYTHING ABOUT GOD, GOD DOES ALL THE PROVING. That is the role of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26, John 16:7-15). We simply are called to proclaim His predetermined message.
• When we proclaim God’s message, sinners are placed on the defensive (in their heart, if they won’t admit it on the outside). They are challenged to answer the tough questions about sin, death, and judgment. Remember, God is not on trial, but sinners will be. It is better to maintain an actual reality than a hypothetical one.

 

Most of us don’t understand most of what this young man is talking about

• Does anyone in here really think they could make this kid’s argument? I honestly don’t understand at least half of what he is talking about. If you do, that’s great. I applaud your intellect, but I wish to encourage the rest of us normal folks who know we could not argue effectively in this field.
• This type of debate leaves you always on the defensive, never knowing where the argument might go, and it is virtually impossible to know enough to win that type of debate. You are constantly having to leave and study to come back and give an answer. It leaves the challenger looking superior because all they have to do is continually take you to an area of “expertise” that you are not yet familiar with

This movie paints an unrealistic, and unbiblical expectation for you in evangelism.

• In this movie, the boy wins the intellectual argument and the class votes that he is right. This just doesn’t happen Biblically. In Athens Paul was called an “idle babbler” (Acts 17:18), before Festus and Agrippa he was accused of being “mad” (Acts 26:24) and Paul Himself said that he was routinely considered a “fool” (1 Corinthians 1:18, 2:2-4, 4:10) And in every case the crowd agreed. In Athens no record of a church being formed exists. Agrippa was listening when Festus called Paul mad and Agrippa admitted being under conviction but still refused to believe. In short, it was never intended for you take the gospel message into an academic setting and come out looking intelligent.

The gospel message is for the purpose of convicting sinners,

Not commending Christians.

 

• A more accurate depiction of what should have occurred in the movie is as follows. The professor challenges the boy to the debate. The boy approaches each class with nothing other than the gospel message. “I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The professor intellectually humiliates the boy, making him a mockery of ignorance and stupidity before all the students. The boy stays faithful to the gospel message and at the end of the day the professor flunks the student, but some in the classroom are truly saved as a result of his faithfulness.

 

HOW DOES A PERSON GET SAVED?

• Are sinners argued into the kingdom of heaven? Is the decision to trust Christ merely an intellectual exercise where one follows the most logical argument? NO
• Salvation is purely a work of God’s Holy Spirit. It is to move from spiritual death to spiritual life. This is far more than an intellectual event, it is a miraculous one. Lazarus, being raised form the dead is one of the most accurate analogies for genuine salvation (John 11:17-44). You couldn’t reason Lazarus out of the tomb, you couldn’t argue Lazarus out of the tomb, you couldn’t threaten Lazarus out of the tomb, you couldn’t love Lazarus out of the tomb. The only way Lazarus was coming out was if someone who had the ability to speak to the dead, spoke to him. And if someone with the ability to set him free from death, set him free. Salvation requires the power of God. Only God can bring a sinner to salvation. (John 6:44) Notice Pentecost, Peter preached the gospel message of judgment and redemption and the people were “pierced to the heart” (Acts 2:37), this was God at work, honoring His message.
• What does the Holy Spirit do? (Read John 16:8-15). He convicts men of sin, righteousness, and judgment (you don’t have an argument in your repertoire that can do that), He guides men to the truth (you don’t have a slick enough argument to do that), He glorifies Jesus (too many times our intellectual arguments glorify us as intelligent, we leave looking smart, but sadly Jesus has been forgotten). The point is, if the Holy Spirit is not involved sinners will not be saved.

 

SO HOW DO WE GET THE HOLY SPIRIT INVOLVED IN OUR EVANGELISM?

• Our goal is not to argue people into the kingdom, our goal is to do whatever the Holy Spirit directs (and incidentally, this is not mystical, He has already directed us what to do) “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16) and “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heart? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14) And “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. “ (1 Corinthians 1:17) This is what the Holy Spirit requires of us.
• We simply preach the gospel. We are farmers sowing seed (Mark 4:26-29, Matthew 13:18-23). We can’t change the soil, most of the time we can’t even tell what kind of soil it is until after the gospel is presented. We simply drop the seed, God has to cause it to work. Do you see that evangelism like this takes all the pressure off of you and puts all the pressure on God? He doesn’t require you to be super intelligent or well versed in secular arguments.

God simply wants you to preach His message, and trust His power.

All He wants from you is FAITH! Faith in His message and Faith in His power.

So be bold my friends and trust God.

 

• When you preach the gospel, the Holy Spirit moves in and begins convicting hearts and exposing sin and drawing men to Christ in a more powerful and real way than your arguments ever could. You have weapons in the gospel and the Holy Spirit that far exceed anything you can produce on your own. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4) 
• 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
• 1 Corinthians 3:18-20, “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”; and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.”

 

SO WHY THE RECENT INFATUATION WITH SECULAR KNOWLEDGE AS AN EVANGELISTIC TOOL?

• Christians wrongly assume this makes them more effective. Somewhere along the line someone decided that secular arguments would help us win the day, but they don’t. The problem is not that men don’t know the facts about God, it’s that they suppress the truth about God (Romans 1:18-23).  As Adrian Rogers said, “An Atheist can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman.”They love their sin and don’t want to leave it. They don’t have a knowledge problem, they have a sin problem and intellectual arguments can’t solve that problem.
• Secular arguments allow Christians to save face in an academic world. Don’t be fooled, academic arguments won’t cause sinners to like Jesus more, but it might cause them to like you more. As already noted, we are fools for Christ. We are offering forgiveness through a condemned man, redemption through a rejected man, and life through a crucified man. We hold that the God of the universe actually became human flesh, and then humbled Himself to the point of death at the hands of sinners in the most hideous way imaginable. We contend then that this dead man rose from the dead, thus validating His successful work on the cross, ascended to heaven, and will come again to judge the world. That message makes Jesus look great, but it will make you look like a fool – so be a fool for Jesus!
• Listen to what Paul said to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 4:8-13 “You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.”
• Don’t be fooled there, Paul isn’t saying that the Corinthians really are filled and rich and kings and prudent and strong and distinguished. He is laying the sarcasm on thick! What he is saying is that the ambition of the Corinthians is nothing like the ambition of the actual apostles. Whereas the apostles sought to be faithful and as a result were condemned, a spectacle, fools, weak, and without honor, the Corinthians are in search of a much better reputation, not faithfulness. (Make the application as you will) How is it that we think we can fulfill the same calling they fulfilled and receive honor when they fulfilled it and received only scorn? Something clearly doesn’t add up. Friends, if you follow Jesus you’ll be treated like Jesus for a slave is not greater than His master (Matthew 10:24-25, 2 Timothy 3:12)

Christian, as you go back to your schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods, I simply want you to know that God is not expecting you to scientifically prove why evolution is wrong or why big bang is wrong or why circular reasoning or moral secularism or any other academic thing is wrong. God is simply asking you to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to all the saints.” God is asking you to “guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” God is asking you to not be “ashamed of the gospel”. He is asking you to be bold and simply trust that He knows how to draw sinners to Himself. His method is the gospel, His power is the Spirit, He wants you to preach the first and trust the second.

 

If you really believe that “God’s Not Dead”,

Then prove it by trusting Him to do what He says.

You may indeed be called a fool.

You may indeed be rejected as ignorant,

But do not be discouraged that puts you in great company!

 

One final story I would share with you that I heard from Adrian Rogers:
(Though I can’t remember the names, it was told as a true story)

There was an atheist in a small southern town who took special delight in humiliating Christians with his intellectual arguments. One day a new young preacher came to town and the man zeroed in on him. Seeing the new preacher on the sidewalk, the atheist quickly crossed the street to confront the new preacher. The atheist said, “I hear you’re the new preacher in town.” The preacher responded, “Yes sir.” The atheist then said, “Well I wanted you to know that I think you’re a fraud and a phony. I think you are doing more harm than good. I think that book you preach from is a myth. Jesus can’t be proved as real, dying, or as having risen from the dead. Your argument is full of holes, and I challenge you to prove to me that your God is real.”

The young preacher replied, “It is appointed a man once to die and then comes judgment.” (quoting Hebrews 9:27). The atheist quickly interjected, “Stop right there, if you want to prove anything to me you’re going to have to use something other than Bible. I already told you that book is full of holes and can’t be proven. You’re going to have to argue with me on an intellectual level.” The preacher responded, “It’s appointed a man once to die and then comes judgment.”

At this the atheist chuckled. “Wow, are you really that stupid that this is all you can say? You don’t know anything other than that?” The preacher responded, “It’s appointed a man once to die and then comes judgment.” The atheist continued his mocking, “I thought we’d have a nice conversation, but you’re obviously too dumb to even have a conversation, all you can quote is that worn out old book.” And again the preacher, “It’s appointed a man once to die and then comes judgment.”

Finally after a few minutes of this the atheist became agitated, and snapped at the man, “Well I can see that there will be no intellectual stimulation for me today, you’re obviously too stupid to have a regular conversation. You won’t last long around here, even the blind sheep in your congregation will quickly see how dumb you are.” And the two parted company.
Later on in life, the atheist recalled this true story and shared how as he walked home that day he had to cross a small bridge over a small stream, and as he crossed even the bullfrogs below seemed to say, “Juuuudgment! Juuuudgment!”. All of the intellectual reasoning in the world could not overcome the unrest in his heart. This man ran to Christ for help and became a believer.

My question for you to ponder is this.
Could the young preacher have said anything as profound or penetrating or as effective
As what the Holy Spirit was saying to that man’s heart through His perfect word?

“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

 

Grace to You,

Bro. Rory