My Response
I apologize for the length between post. It is just that when I received this comment, I wanted to make sure that I responded properly.
First I want to say that I am appalled at some of the comments that we made. They were truly a result of pure ignorance.
"Most people are quite happy with their lives." Really? By that I assume you mean the Upper middle class white people. It is estimated by the World Bank that 2.7 billion [bah bah bah "b" as in Billion or 2,700,000,000 people] live on less the 2 dollars a day. Are those people happy? That doesn't even include the people who are struggling with in the inter cities of the United States, or in the Appalachian region.
Or what about the people who struggle with drug problems, or sexual immorality, or eating disorders, or a broken home, or gambling problems, or living with an abusive spouse, or who were raped, or just can't seem to tell the truth, or who steal money from work, or I could go on and on. Are they happy? Really and truly happy? Granted I am sure they are filled with joy when they get get that fix from drugs, or when they win big in a hand of black jack, after losing 5 pounds because of not eating for 3 days...But eventually they are going to lose that high, or spend that money, or gain the weight back and depression will set in again.
Here is the real issue, The word "love" has lost its meaning.
What is Love? [baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more {insert sideways head banging motion}] Seriously what is "Love"? They said, "There is much secular love and happiness in this world. If our sales pitch for the faith is love and happiness, people won't give it a second thought." It sounds like there is "secular love" but since there is "secular love" people don't need Love from God. If we need to label them differently, Secular love and Love from God, then they must be different. Yet if you think that people wouldn't want God's Love because they already have secular love, then you must think that they are at least equal. Which is just plain wrong.
I just explained how secular love, no matter what the source is, who provides it, is flawed. It isn't eternal love, it will fade, go away, you will need that "next fix". God's love, on the other hand, is unconditional, never ending. No matter what you do, God will not love you any less. [we all know where that comes from]
I agree, sin will lead to death. But to get the solution, we must look at the problem.
It all starts in the beginning.
There was God, Adam, Eve, and a garden. God and Humans were together. Adam and Eve eat the fruit, they disobey God, God kicks them out of the garden. God and Humans are separated. There is a hole in Human's hearts. A hole once filled with God, yet due to sin, is now empty. Humans feel sad, lack joy. Humans try to fill it with anything they can find. Drugs, Sex, Money, Gambling, Lying, Cars, you name the sin, humans tried to fill that hole with it.
Now listen, this is important.
The. ONLY. Thing. That. Can. Fill. It. Is. The. Love. Of. God.
That's it. That is the only thing that can quench that thirst that causes us to sin.
That is why I spread the Love of God, and no matter what anyone says, will continue to do so.
First I want to say that I am appalled at some of the comments that we made. They were truly a result of pure ignorance.
"Most people are quite happy with their lives." Really? By that I assume you mean the Upper middle class white people. It is estimated by the World Bank that 2.7 billion [bah bah bah "b" as in Billion or 2,700,000,000 people] live on less the 2 dollars a day. Are those people happy? That doesn't even include the people who are struggling with in the inter cities of the United States, or in the Appalachian region.
Or what about the people who struggle with drug problems, or sexual immorality, or eating disorders, or a broken home, or gambling problems, or living with an abusive spouse, or who were raped, or just can't seem to tell the truth, or who steal money from work, or I could go on and on. Are they happy? Really and truly happy? Granted I am sure they are filled with joy when they get get that fix from drugs, or when they win big in a hand of black jack, after losing 5 pounds because of not eating for 3 days...But eventually they are going to lose that high, or spend that money, or gain the weight back and depression will set in again.
Here is the real issue, The word "love" has lost its meaning.
What is Love? [baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more {insert sideways head banging motion}] Seriously what is "Love"? They said, "There is much secular love and happiness in this world. If our sales pitch for the faith is love and happiness, people won't give it a second thought." It sounds like there is "secular love" but since there is "secular love" people don't need Love from God. If we need to label them differently, Secular love and Love from God, then they must be different. Yet if you think that people wouldn't want God's Love because they already have secular love, then you must think that they are at least equal. Which is just plain wrong.
I just explained how secular love, no matter what the source is, who provides it, is flawed. It isn't eternal love, it will fade, go away, you will need that "next fix". God's love, on the other hand, is unconditional, never ending. No matter what you do, God will not love you any less. [we all know where that comes from]
I agree, sin will lead to death. But to get the solution, we must look at the problem.
It all starts in the beginning.
There was God, Adam, Eve, and a garden. God and Humans were together. Adam and Eve eat the fruit, they disobey God, God kicks them out of the garden. God and Humans are separated. There is a hole in Human's hearts. A hole once filled with God, yet due to sin, is now empty. Humans feel sad, lack joy. Humans try to fill it with anything they can find. Drugs, Sex, Money, Gambling, Lying, Cars, you name the sin, humans tried to fill that hole with it.
Now listen, this is important.
The. ONLY. Thing. That. Can. Fill. It. Is. The. Love. Of. God.
That's it. That is the only thing that can quench that thirst that causes us to sin.
That is why I spread the Love of God, and no matter what anyone says, will continue to do so.
posted by scuba at
6:30 AM
2 Comments:
From the orignal commentor:
I agree with everyting you wrote except:
"Yet if you think that people wouldn't want God's Love because they already have secular love, then you must think that they are at least equal. Which is just plain wrong."
I don't think they are equal in the slightest. To think a thing, I think you would agree, is blashemous.
However, this is in the context of evanglism. If you try to convince someone who dosn't know God's Love just how great it is in comparassion to everything else, they simply won't believe you. You'll get the same old, "that's great for you, but it's not for me" sthick that I got for years on end. People think that you only believe that it's so great because your life happens to be good. Which isn't true, but that's just how the world thinks.
Also, if your only approach to non-believers is just how important/fufilling God's love is people will not understand the disconnect between God's love and their sin. I myself continued in sin for years, happily, because I was told "God loves me." If you only preach God's love to non-believers you are not actually preaching the Gospel to them. You are cheating them of the full truth and not preparing them to run the race with endurance. This is exacttly why our nation is built up mostly of lukewarm people who's impression is that because they go to church and sing hymns and tithe that they are Christian.
Preaching only the love Gospel is to edit out parts of the Bible that you do not like and is also wrong in the eyes of our God.
"The Velvet Elvis" is a scary book. Much of it is good, but it is based on frightenting premises. He suggests that if it could be scientifically proven that Jesus was not born of a virigin, we shouldn't let that rattle our faith.
The virgin birth is an instrumental element to justification. To claim that important tennants of our faith are negotiable is to deny parts of God's character.
To not be ashamed of Christ and the Gospel means to preach it in it's fullness. We should not be embarrased by the doctrine of condemnation of sinners to hell. It should motivate us to evanglism.
By
Anonymous, At
7:47 PM
"There is a hole in Human's hearts"?????? Nope. Not in a rude way do I say this but thats not biblical. Meaning its false doctrine. I used to believe the same way. But its just not true. Its a attractive lie pretty much.
Two men are seated on a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put it on as it would improve his flight. He's a little skeptical at first, since he can't see how wearing a parachute on a plane could possibly improve his flight. He decides to experiment and see if the claims are true. As he puts it on, he notices the weight of it upon his shoulders and he finds he has difficulty in sitting upright. However, he consoles himself with the fact he was told that the parachute would improve his flight. So he decides to give it a little time.
As he waits he notices that some of the other passengers are laughing at him for wearing a parachute on a plane. He begins to feel somewhat humiliated. As they continue to point and laugh at him, he can stand it no longer. He slinks in his seat, unstraps the parachute and throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because as far as he was concerned he was told an outright lie.
The second man is given a parachute, but listen to what he is told. He's told to put it on because at any moment he'll be jumping 25,000 feet out of the plane. He gratefully puts the parachute on. He doesn't notice the weight of it upon his shoulders, nor that he can't sit upright. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he jumped without the parachute.
Let's now analyze the motive and the result of each passenger's experience. The first man's motive for putting the parachute on was solely to improve his flight. The result of his experience was that he was humiliated by the passengers, disillusioned, and somewhat embittered against those who gave him the parachute. As far as he's concerned, it will be a long time before anyone gets one of those things on his back again.
The second man put the parachute on solely to escape the jump to come. And because of his knowledge of what would happen to him if he jumped without it, he has a deep-rooted joy and peace in his heart knowing that he's saved from sure death. This knowledge gives him the ability to withstand the mockery of the other passengers. His attitude toward those who gave him the parachute is one of heartfelt gratitude.
Now listen to what the modern gospel says: "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment, and lasting happiness." In other words, Jesus will improve your flight. The sinner responds, and in an experimental fashion puts on the Savior to see if the claims are true. And what does he get? The promised temptation, tribulation, and persecution—the other "passengers" mock him. So what does he do? He takes off the Lord Jesus Christ; he's offended for the Word's sake; he's disillusioned and somewhat embittered...and quite rightly so. He was promised peace, joy, love, and fulfillment, and all he got were trials and humiliation. His bitterness is directed at those who gave him the so-called "good news." His latter end becomes worse than the first, and he's another inoculated and bitter "backslider."
Instead of preaching that Jesus improves the flight, we should be warning sinners that they have to jump out of a plane. That it's appointed for man to die once and then face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). When a sinner understands the horrific consequences of breaking the Law of God, he will flee to the Savior, solely to escape the wrath that's to come. If we are true and faithful witnesses, that's what we'll be preaching—that there is wrath to come—that God "commands all men every where to repent: because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness" (Acts 17:30,31).
The issue isn't one of happiness, but one of righteousness. It doesn't matter how happy a sinner is, or how much he is enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season, without the righteousness of Christ, he will perish on the day of wrath. Proverbs 11:4 says, "Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivers from death."
Peace and joy are legitimate fruits of salvation, but it's not legitimate to use these fruits as a drawing card for salvation. If we continue to do so, the sinner will respond with an impure motive, lacking repentance. Can you remember why the second passenger had joy and peace in his heart? It was because he knew that the parachute was going to save him from sure death. In the same way, as believers we have joy and peace in believing because we know that the righteousness of Christ is going to deliver us from the wrath that is to come.
With that thought in mind, let's take a close look at an incident aboard the plane. We have a brand-new flight attendant. It's her first day. She's carrying a tray of boiling hot coffee. She wants to leave an impression upon the passengers and she certainly does! As she's walking down the aisle she trips over someone's foot and slops the hot coffee all over the lap of our second passenger. What's his reaction as that boiling liquid hits his tender flesh? Does he go, "Man that hurt!"? Yes, he does. But then does he rip the parachute from his shoulders, throw it to the floor, and say, "The stupid parachute!"? No, why should he? He didn't put the parachute on for a better flight. He put it on to save him from the jump to come. If anything, the hot coffee incident causes him to cling tighter to the parachute and even look forward to the jump.
If we have put on the Lord Jesus Christ for the right motive—to flee from the wrath that's to come—when tribulation strikes, when the flight gets bumpy, we won't get angry at God, and we won't lose our joy and peace. Why should we? We didn't come to Christ for a better lifestyle, but to flee from the wrath. to come If anything, tribulation drives the true believer closer to the Savior.
Sadly, we have multitudes of professing Christians who lose their joy and peace when the flight gets bumpy. Why? They are the product of a man- entered gospel. They came lacking repentance, without which they cannot be saved.
By
Anonymous, At
12:49 AM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home