I have said, numerous times, that we are called to be a light to the world. God tells the people in the Bible over and over again to turn from their ways and come back to Him so that we could be the example that the people walk to on their way back to Him. Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians and recounts his arrival in their city. He did not talk to them and try to debate with them, refuting from Scripture that Jesus was the Christ. He displayed a demonstration of God’s power. He only wanted to know the life that Jesus lived and died for.
Somewhere along the way, the message has gotten lost. I am going to use the aforementioned song to further my case against this mess that we’ve got ourselves in.
“There are way too many different religions with vivid descriptions, Begging all men and women to listen”.
Nearly every time you turn around, you discover a new branch of Christianity: Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Messianic Jews….etc. The list is longer than I have time to look up. They all have their points, their doctrines. None of them are any more right or wrong than the other ones. Every one of them is trying to get people’s attention. LOOK AT US, WE’VE CORNERED THE MARKET ON GOD AND WE HAVE THE TRUTH! Not all are like that, but the general populace has heard that sort of message from all sides. Here’s the rub: NONE OF US HAVE GOD FIGURED OUT!!!!! The best and most effective place to take in all this is that of humility. I have found great success in telling people that in some things I flat out do not know. God is way too big for me to wrap my mind around Him.
“I’m so sick of this stuff, people call me a sellout. Hopped to Christianity so strongly then I fell out. Now I’m avoiding questions like a scared dog with his tail down. Feeling so humiliated because they’re looking at me like I’m hell bound. What story should I tell now? I’ll just expose the truth. I’m so close to the edge, I should be close to you. But who are you? You never showed the proof. And I’m only human, what am I supposed to do?” Ok, someone tries to leave their worldly life behind and begin a new life with Christ. This young man was all in and holding nothing back. His old friends were mocking him because he wanted to leave the old man behind. His church family was right there to help him in his time of need right? NOPE! Unfortunately that is not the case. They judged him because of his past. If he told of his doubt of God or the guilt of his past, they would have cast him out like a leper. He wanted to be close to Jesus, but the very people that were supposed to be showing him what God looked like judged him for his past. We are supposed to be the proof that the seeker is looking for. Can God act of His own will without us? SURE, HE CAN!! He has chosen humanity to be His light to the world in yet another effort to have relationship with us!
“But I can’t buy it; it’s just too hard to stand beside it. I need an answer and humans can’t provide it. I look at the earth and sun and I can tell that a genius man designed it. It’s truly mind blowing, I can’t deny it. Is heaven real? Is it fake? Is it really how I fantasize it? Where’s the Holy Ghost at? How long does it take for a man to find it? My mind’s a non-stop tape playing and I can’t rewind it. You gave me the Bible and expect me not to analyze it?” I guess that I’ll go ahead and hit my main point home with this section of the song. People are crying out for the supernatural. They are crying for evidence that this world is not just an accident. Some part of all of us wants to believe that the Bible is true, that God the Father loves us beyond measure, that God the Son died as an act of love and sacrifice for us, and that God the Holy Spirit is moving throughout the earth doing His will. Ever noticed that entertainment about ghosts, zombies, witches, etc is seriously popular? If someone goes to a “haunted house” around Halloween and they don’t see something that they can’t explain, they are disappointed. There are actually groups of Christians that would look at a situation where a man’s leg grew back and turn their nose up at it because it doesn’t fit their doctrine. This guy is looking to God for the supernatural and even getting in Scripture to find answers to his questions. Then, he’s questioning the things that seem a little odd to him. I’ve seen people be ridiculed because they found something in the Bible hard to believe. “You shouldn’t question God,” is what they’re told. Bull crap, you shouldn’t. Get a firm foundation of faith to stand on, but always ask questions. If you don’t ask questions, you will never learn more of the infinite amount of truth that can be found in God’s Word. I’ve learned more through question asking about Scripture, then in any amount of study that I have ever engaged in. This is an example that I was taught to ask questions with: John 21 says that Peter runs up to Jesus and saw Him cooking over burning coals. Why did they specifically mention burning coals? Why not just say cooking breakfast by a fire? When was the last time that Peter was around burning coals? The last time that burning coals are specifically mentioned before this particular encounter is when Jesus was on trial and Peter denied knowing Him. Therefore, Jesus recreated the scene where Peter monumentally failed, and then made him a winner! ALWAYS ask questions.
“Show yourself and the boom is done. Every rumor is gone. I no longer doubt that you’re the one. I’ll admit that my sinful life was stupid fun, but all of my old habits can hop on top of a roof to plunge. I’ll donate to a charity that could use the funds. Forget the club, instead of loose women, I’d hang out with a group of nuns. Everyone I’d run into would know what I came to do. I would not take a step unless it was in the name of you.”
Again, God gave us the authority to be Him to the world. He told Moses that he would be like God to Pharaoh before he went to Egypt to get the Jews out of slavery. Be like God to the rest of the world. You cannot sit in church, study a bible on a consistent basis and miss the message that we are supposed to be the flesh and blood example of Almighty God to the entire world. However, we have missed that mark by miles. This guy is begging for some glimpse of the God of the Christian Bible to be made real to him. Honestly, my heart goes out to him. I was in the place that he was in when he wrote this song. It sucks and I wish that no one ever had to go through it ever again.
I sincerely hope that I have jarred some of you out of apathy. We are in a war with a world system that is leading people away from their Creator and towards a miserable life. Let’s face facts here: Religion does not work. Only a supernatural Church will be able to make a difference in this world. People have heard it all before. We have all of our catch phrases: “Jesus loves you,” “Be blessed,” “I’m blessed and highly favored of the Most High God, how are you?” Is there anything wrong with those phrases? Of course not, unless you do not put the action behind your words. If you have the yellow, blessed and highly favored magnet cross on your car, don’t flip people off in traffic. If you must flip people off in traffic, take the magnet off first. Remember, faith without works is dead!
I bless you all to know that you serve a God that believes in you more than you believe in yourself. He does so much that He risked it all. He put on flesh, submitted Himself to the things that He created, and died (and of course rose again) just so that He could have a relationship with His bride. We are the bride of Christ. Therefore we have a responsibility to carry His Name in a way that does not disappoint the hope that rests upon it.
Grace and Peace Be with you ALWAYS!!!
Matthew 7:21-23
Jeremiah 22:16
“I’m so sick of this stuff, people call me a sellout. Hopped to Christianity so strongly then I fell out. Now I’m avoiding questions like a scared dog with his tail down. Feeling so humiliated because they’re looking at me like I’m hell bound. What story should I tell now? I’ll just expose the truth. I’m so close to the edge, I should be close to you. But who are you? You never showed the proof. And I’m only human, what am I supposed to do?” Ok, someone tries to leave their worldly life behind and begin a new life with Christ. This young man was all in and holding nothing back. His old friends were mocking him because he wanted to leave the old man behind. His church family was right there to help him in his time of need right? NOPE! Unfortunately that is not the case. They judged him because of his past. If he told of his doubt of God or the guilt of his past, they would have cast him out like a leper. He wanted to be close to Jesus, but the very people that were supposed to be showing him what God looked like judged him for his past. We are supposed to be the proof that the seeker is looking for. Can God act of His own will without us? SURE, HE CAN!! He has chosen humanity to be His light to the world in yet another effort to have relationship with us!
“But I can’t buy it; it’s just too hard to stand beside it. I need an answer and humans can’t provide it. I look at the earth and sun and I can tell that a genius man designed it. It’s truly mind blowing, I can’t deny it. Is heaven real? Is it fake? Is it really how I fantasize it? Where’s the Holy Ghost at? How long does it take for a man to find it? My mind’s a non-stop tape playing and I can’t rewind it. You gave me the Bible and expect me not to analyze it?” I guess that I’ll go ahead and hit my main point home with this section of the song. People are crying out for the supernatural. They are crying for evidence that this world is not just an accident. Some part of all of us wants to believe that the Bible is true, that God the Father loves us beyond measure, that God the Son died as an act of love and sacrifice for us, and that God the Holy Spirit is moving throughout the earth doing His will. Ever noticed that entertainment about ghosts, zombies, witches, etc is seriously popular? If someone goes to a “haunted house” around Halloween and they don’t see something that they can’t explain, they are disappointed. There are actually groups of Christians that would look at a situation where a man’s leg grew back and turn their nose up at it because it doesn’t fit their doctrine. This guy is looking to God for the supernatural and even getting in Scripture to find answers to his questions. Then, he’s questioning the things that seem a little odd to him. I’ve seen people be ridiculed because they found something in the Bible hard to believe. “You shouldn’t question God,” is what they’re told. Bull crap, you shouldn’t. Get a firm foundation of faith to stand on, but always ask questions. If you don’t ask questions, you will never learn more of the infinite amount of truth that can be found in God’s Word. I’ve learned more through question asking about Scripture, then in any amount of study that I have ever engaged in. This is an example that I was taught to ask questions with: John 21 says that Peter runs up to Jesus and saw Him cooking over burning coals. Why did they specifically mention burning coals? Why not just say cooking breakfast by a fire? When was the last time that Peter was around burning coals? The last time that burning coals are specifically mentioned before this particular encounter is when Jesus was on trial and Peter denied knowing Him. Therefore, Jesus recreated the scene where Peter monumentally failed, and then made him a winner! ALWAYS ask questions.
“Show yourself and the boom is done. Every rumor is gone. I no longer doubt that you’re the one. I’ll admit that my sinful life was stupid fun, but all of my old habits can hop on top of a roof to plunge. I’ll donate to a charity that could use the funds. Forget the club, instead of loose women, I’d hang out with a group of nuns. Everyone I’d run into would know what I came to do. I would not take a step unless it was in the name of you.”
Again, God gave us the authority to be Him to the world. He told Moses that he would be like God to Pharaoh before he went to Egypt to get the Jews out of slavery. Be like God to the rest of the world. You cannot sit in church, study a bible on a consistent basis and miss the message that we are supposed to be the flesh and blood example of Almighty God to the entire world. However, we have missed that mark by miles. This guy is begging for some glimpse of the God of the Christian Bible to be made real to him. Honestly, my heart goes out to him. I was in the place that he was in when he wrote this song. It sucks and I wish that no one ever had to go through it ever again.
I sincerely hope that I have jarred some of you out of apathy. We are in a war with a world system that is leading people away from their Creator and towards a miserable life. Let’s face facts here: Religion does not work. Only a supernatural Church will be able to make a difference in this world. People have heard it all before. We have all of our catch phrases: “Jesus loves you,” “Be blessed,” “I’m blessed and highly favored of the Most High God, how are you?” Is there anything wrong with those phrases? Of course not, unless you do not put the action behind your words. If you have the yellow, blessed and highly favored magnet cross on your car, don’t flip people off in traffic. If you must flip people off in traffic, take the magnet off first. Remember, faith without works is dead!
I bless you all to know that you serve a God that believes in you more than you believe in yourself. He does so much that He risked it all. He put on flesh, submitted Himself to the things that He created, and died (and of course rose again) just so that He could have a relationship with His bride. We are the bride of Christ. Therefore we have a responsibility to carry His Name in a way that does not disappoint the hope that rests upon it.
Grace and Peace Be with you ALWAYS!!!
Matthew 7:21-23
Jeremiah 22:16
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