Read the Bible in a year

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Nathan

Adjective: Courageous

There are only a few men of God of whom the Bible is silent when it comes to their sins, or even their weaknesses. No doubt they had them, but they are hidden from us. Perhaps Nathan (like Moses, Jeremiah, Gideon, Elijah and others) complained to God when he was told that his irksome task was to tell a king that he was a murdering adulterer, and that God had seen his sin. Perhaps Nathan thought about how David had already committed murder, how he didn’t hesitate to remove the head of Goliath, and how with one nod of the king’s head, Nathan’s could be removed.

But we are not told of any such discourse between God and the prophet. And even if he did whine in prayer, Nathan was faithful to the task God set before him. David had committed the serious crime of not only taking another man’s wife, but of murdering him to cover up his offense, and he had to be confronted with his sin. So what did Nathan do? Did he change this punitive message with which God had entrusted him? Did he instead come before the king and say,

“David, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life; but there is something that is stopping you enjoying this wonderful plan. It’s your sin. Nevertheless, ‘All men have sinned and come short of the glory of God’.”

Why would he do that? David was a criminal and he had to be confronted with the crimes he had committed against God. To speak of some “wonderful plan” to a criminal would be ridiculous and extremely inappropriate. It would be like a prosecuting attorney suddenly talking about a wonderful plan to Charles Manson or some other mass murderer, and ignoring or diluting his crimes. Such a scenario would be unthinkable. And yet that’s the message of much of modern evangelism.

To be continued.

Adam

Adjective: Perfect

It is because of Adam that we have life. God used him as our first father. Adam was made in the image of God, and with the help of his God-given helpmate, they reproduced after their own kind. But it’s also because of Adam’s disobedience that we have what the Bible calls “corruption” throughout the entire creation. Everything miserable traces itself back to Adam and his rebellion.

However, his life gives us a very important evangelistic lesson. Adam’s transgression shows us that sin is something to be looked upon with the utmost solemnity. We say that God is holy, just, and good; that’s He’s morally perfect, but somehow those words don’t carry much depth in our dull and fallen minds. But in criminal court, we can see how “good” a judge is by how seriously he deals with a devious criminal. If he gives him a very light sentence, then the judge thinks lightly of crime; but if he gives him multiple life-sentences, we can see how serious the crime is in the judge’s eyes.

So, we can get a tiny glimpse of God’s goodness and love of justice by seeing how He dealt with one transgressor of His moral Law. Adam’s one seemingly insignificant sin ushered in pain, insanity, suicide, cancer (and thousands of deadly other diseases), killer tornadoes, devastating hurricanes, massive floods, frightening tsunamis, man-eating tigers and sharks, poisonous snake and spiders, alcoholism, starvation, wife-beating, drug addiction, demonic-possession, loneliness, fear, hatred, rape, abortion, blasphemy, murder, torture, wars, theft, racial prejudice, genocide, pedophilia, aging, death, Hell and damnation in the Lake of Fire. And I have just skimmed over the tip of the top of the iceberg of human misery--all because of one man’s transgression of God’s moral demands. Such is the frightening holiness of God. No wonder Isaiah cried “Woe is me, I’m undone!” when he found himself in His presence!

Sin is so terribly serious that it calls for the lightning of His wrath, and if He wasn’t “rich in mercy” we would be instantly struck down the moment we merely entertained the thought of sin—The Psalmist said, “He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, as in His living and burning wrath” (Psalm 58:9). Every time a sinner sins, he stores up God’s wrath that will, like a bursting dam of Eternal Justice, fall upon him on the Day of Judgment.

How soberly should we then preach the message with which Almighty God has entrusted us, never diluting the hennas nature of sin or the surety of judgment. We should never be afraid of the world’s scorn. To even entertain the fear of feeble man (that the Bible refers to as a worm), is to reveal a lack of the fear of Almighty God.

“Wherefore knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11).

The Joy of Root Canals

I was enjoying some cereal when I heard a distasteful “crunch.” At first I thought that the makers had accidentally included tiny stones in the cereal, but then I found that one of my fillings had decided that it had done enough time, and was leaving.  I called my dentist and told him the good news.

This was my second visit to this particular dentist, so I decided it was time to cheer him up by putting a plastic cockroach onto my tongue. After the usual “Open wide” he jumped back and excitedly said that it was the first time anyone had ever done that.  Then he told me about a panicking woman who had put superglue on her gums in an effort to hold in her false teeth. 

After looking at the gaping cavity in my mouth, he pointed out that I needed a root-canal. To back up his words he showed me my x-ray, and said, “I can’t understand it. You should be in great pain right now. I guess the nerves are dead.”  My teeth are so sensitive that it sets them on edge just to see people chewing ice.  Yet there was no pain from this Grand Canyon.  I could suck cold air into the cavity and smile as I did so. 

Such is the key to fulfilling the daunting job of evangelism. We are dead to the pain that comes with the irksome duty because we died with Christ on the cross. We are no longer our own.  We have been bought with a price for the supreme purpose of taking the message of everlasting life to a lost and dying world.  When it comes to evangelism there are more important issues than me and my well-being.

For many years a friend named Scotty picked me up each Saturday, and drove me to Huntington Beach, California to preach the gospel in the open air. It was about a 30-minute drive each way and we always filled in the time by talking about the things of God.  On one of these drives I said, “Tell me an adjective that comes to mind when I say this name: David.”

He told me what came to mind, and then I named another 40 or so biblical characters and we used an adjective to describe each one.  It was so interesting that it changed the direction of this blog.  But we aren’t simply going to look at biblical characters. We will look at their virtues and their vices as related to the irksome task of evangelism. 

Before we begin to “school” ourselves, let’s define our task so that we can see what’s involved. Evangelism is telling a Hell-bound world how to find everlasting life.  If I didn’t bother to tell them how to escape death, I personally believe that I would be a Judas to the cause of Christ.  I would be like a doctor who by neglect of duty lets his patients die, or a lifeguard who deliberately let people drown.  Or more applicably, I would be like a firefighter who let people burn when he had it in his power to save them from the flames.  I would be the worst of hypocrites because I would profess to have the love of God in me, and yet my inaction proved me to be cold-hearted, and selfish. I would be the “wicked and slothful servant” of whom Jesus spoke.  

But you’re not like that, because you are reading this blog. So let’s let these men and women of Scripture speak to us and help us to “train ourselves to deal personally with the unconverted”…until it becomes easier.  

To be continued…

A Special Note

A Special Note: Nothing consumes me like the subject of evangelism, and it’s my passion to see the Church of the 21^st Century looking and acting like the Church of the 1^st Century.  Every corner they turned, they preached the message of everlasting life. They cared for nothing but the salvation of the lost. The contemporary Church is concerned more with itself than with the lost.  So from now on this blog will be an on-going attempt to equip Christians to effectively share their faith. I hope you find it helpful.

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Evangelism: As Exciting as a Root Canal

It was Charles Spurgeon who said that evangelism was an “irksome task.” If something is irksome it’s“annoying; irritating; tiresome.”  The evangelistic burden is a stone in the shoe that won’t let us relax and enjoy our Christian walk.  It means embracing a lifestyle that demands the awkwardness of having to talk to people about a subject that makes both parties feel uncomfortable.  The message of the Bible is a big heavy and wet blanket on the world’s sinful pleasures.  It therefore elicits rejection, mockery, can destroy lifelong friendships, and make your own family turn on you. Jesus warned that you could even be killed by people who think that they are doing God a favor, when they kill you. 

So who in his right mind should have anything to do with this irksome task? To answer that important question, let’s look at Charles Spurgeon’s full quote:

"We must school and train ourselves to deal personally with the unconverted. We must not excuse ourselves, but force ourselves to the irksome task until it becomes easy." 

Is he kidding--“Until it becomes easy”? If I may be so bold as to change the Prince of Preacher’s words slightly, it may be helpful.  I know that there are certain things I can do to make the task easier, but it never becomes easy for most of us.  Spurgeon had a way with words that few of us have, but that’s not an excuse to excuse ourselves from the task.


To be continued.

Life of Joseph

Comfort Food
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 38, Psalm 41-43, Matthew 25

The life of Joseph is amazing. While it’s important to see that the story is a “type” of the life of the Savior, it has many practical lessons for us--from Jacob favoring one son above his others, to the power of jealousy and its predictable progression to murder. But what is thrilling about Joseph was his ability to patiently suffer while innocent, and then to forgive. Potiphar’s lusty wife destroyed his reputation and had Joseph thrown into prison, but there is no word of him angrily getting back to her after he was exalted politically. Perhaps he never had to, because she destroyed her marriage by running off with another slave. God knows. Then there’s the butler and baker episode, where Joseph was left to rot in prison, and the wonderfully forgiving attitude he had towards his nasty brothers, after he revealed himself to them. So take the time to study the life of Joseph, and watch not only for the parallels to our redemption in Christ, but for all the life’s lessons we can learn--and in doing so, save ourselves some pain.

Dessert
Copying the Healing Power of the Body
The body’s capacity of healing itself of scrapes and cuts can be invaluable if applied to polymers composites used to build aircraft fuselage. “Self-healing plastics” is the name of a composite material in development by scientists. These plastics are made from hollow fibers and filled with epoxy resin that is released when the fibers are damaged with cracks or stresses.

“Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement.” ― Charles H. Spurgeon

A Can of Paint

Comfort Food 
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 37, Psalm 39-40, Matthew 24

A family recently made the mistake of putting a large bucket of paint on the back seat of their car, instead of putting it in the trunk. They were then involved in an accident, spraying the inside of the vehicle and its passengers with paint. It was reported that the ambulance driver wouldn't let the female paramedic out of the ambulance because she couldn't stop laughing -- he said it wasn't professional.
Most people think that sin only affects themselves, but it often affects a whole family. When a man is caught in adultery, he not only destroys the trust of his wife, but he betrays his children, and he dishonors his name.  Such was the way with King David when he lusted after his neighbor's wife, took her to himself, and then committed adultery. The two secretly tangoed, and then the sin was swept under the carpet. But the woman became pregnant and his adultery exploded like a can of paint in a car accident.  He ending up taking the husband's life, taking his wife, destroying their marriage, resulting in the death of the baby, the dishonor of his name, and the downfall of his kingdom.  Such is the eventual destructive nature of sin. If it doesn't get you in this life, it will get you in the next. Turn from sin (trust in the Savior), and then stay away from it.

Dessert
Copying the Hummingbird
"A technical milestone never before achieved: controlled precision hovering and fast-forward flight of a two wing, flapping wing aircraft that carries its own energy source, and uses only the flapping wings for propulsion and control has been achieved by AeroVironment. The milestone was part of the Phase II contract awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to AV to design and build a flying prototype 'hummingbird-like' aircraft for the Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) program. The final concept demonstrator is called the 'Nano Hummingbird' and is capable of climbing and descending vertically, flying sideways left and right, flying forward and backward, as well as rotating clockwise and counter-clockwise, under remote control and carrying a video camera payload. During the demonstration the Nano Hummingbird flew in and out of a building through a normal-size doorway." 

Source: McFarland, M. W. (ed.), The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1: 1899-1905, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1953.

"When you see a man with a great deal of religion displayed in his shop window, you may depend upon it he keeps a very small stock of it within." ― Charles H. Spurgeon

Tossed in the Trash

Comfort Food
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 36, Psalm 38, Matthew 23

The Associate Press today reported that in Los Angeles “One of the world’s smallest surviving babies was discharged Friday from the hospital where she spent nearly five months in an incubator — but not before getting the Hollywood treatment.” This tiny person was born at 9 1/2 ounces, less than a can of soda. “Wearing a pink knit hat and wrapped in a pink princess blanket, Melinda Star Guido was greeted by a mob of television cameras and news photographers outside the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.” The world is celebrating the survival of the second smallest baby ever born in the U.S. But not too many are asking, “What’s wrong with this picture?” This is the age at which babies are legally killed through abortion, and yet there’s festivity and wonder that this child survived. That’s like the Nazi’s celebrating because a Jew survived the horror of their concentration camp. The only reason this baby wasn’t torn limb from limb while in the womb, was because her mother wanted her to live. Had she seen her as an inconvenience, a mere signing of a form, and Melinda would have been tossed in the trash, and not cradled in an incubator. Please, help us to change hearts and minds about the horror of legalized abortion. See 180movie.com then pass it on.

Dessert
Copying the Night Vision of Bees and Beetles
“The nocturnal vision of insects has led biology professor Eric Warrant at Lund University in Sweden to an exciting collaboration with the automaker Toyota. The collaborative project aims to develop a new type of color camera that, in the future, will help people drive cars more safely when it's dark outside.”
Warrant said, "For instance, there's a lot to be learned from nocturnally active dung beetles that live in cow dung." The professor and his team at the department of biology, Lund University, are interested in the function of eyes of various animal, especially in terms of their ability to see in the dark. Beetles, bees and moths have compound eyes with multiple lenses that work and these work together to make a single image in the animal's eye...” [Source]

“That very church which the world likes best is sure to be that which God abhors.” ― Charles H. Spurgeon