Rev. Patrick Vincent
Augustine of Hippo said “he who sings prays twice,” once with our music and once with our words. This song has pierced my heart as only music can. It is my anthem of freedom.
My fears were drowned in perfect love. Jesus, You rescued me. No longer a slave to sin: I am a child of God!
Pray this song. “No Longer Slaves,” by Jonathan David & Melissa Helser
Churches are dying. Some are thriving, but the overwhelming majority are not. Attendance is dwindling. Most are hanging on by a thread. Many will have to shut their doors in as little as one generation.
A lot of this is because we live in a Post-Christian society that embraces the emerging postmodern worldview.
Look, people: we are at a tipping point. It is the 4th quarter and we are trailing.
We must re-think, re-tool, and re-frame. We must shift, evolve, and adapt.
If not, we will be mourning church closing after church closing.
“Churches across this country are going out of business, closing their doors, because they’ve lost their relevancy. They chose not to change with the times. They chose to keep people over 60 happy and forget about reaching people under 30. They, like my granddaddy, measured faithfulness by doing things the same way year after year, regardless of the response or the results.” – Edward H. Hammett
Please read that quote again only slower this time.
(I can feel you nodding your head in agreement.)
Traditions are great. But if traditions are only servicing personal preferences, then we need to take a hard look at them.
I know these are tough questions, but they need to be asked and honestly answered.
I’m convinced that people love Jesus, but have lost their love for church. I’m not saying that is correct, I’m just saying that seems to be the trend. The next generation does not see the relevancy church.
How do we reach a new generation for Jesus Christ? How do we help them fall in love with church again?
Ref: Hammett, Edward H. Reaching People under 30 While Keeping People Over 60: Creating Community Across Generations (TCP the Columbia Partnership Leadership Series): TCP Books, 2015.
How can a loving God send anyone to Hell? Why unlimited punishment for a limited behavior? Isn’t Hell cosmic overkill? Too harsh! Not fair!
I’ve heard this objection many times and it seems reasonable… at first.
John Bunyan said, “No sin against God can be little, because it is against the great God of heaven and earth.” Jonathan Edwards said, “The greatness of a sin is determined by the greatness of the being against whom it is committed.”
Erwin Lutzer gives the following scenario:
To throw a snowball at a mailman is one thing; to throw one at a policeman is another. And if you throw a snowball at the President of the United States, you will be arrested. Using that analogy, think of the infinite crime of sinning against an infinite God. Sin is much more serious to God than it is to us.
I’ve never had the opportunity to throw a snowball at the POTUS, but I’m sure if I tried – the Secret Service would tackle me faster than you can say Barry Allen. And that’s just the President! Imagine throwing a snowball at God? Unthinkable.
God doesn’t send anyone to Hell, they send themselves.
Heaven is God giving people want He wants. Hell is God giving people what they want. C.S. Lewis said that the doors of Hell are locked from the inside.
God wants ALL PEOPLE to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23, 32). He patiently wishes that NONE perish (2 Pet. 3:9).
Does a doctor enjoy telling her patient: Hey, you have asthma; smoking is not healthy. You should stop. Does she enjoy it year after year, telling the patient the same diagnosis? You should stop. Here is the medicine. Please take it! Of course not. Is God any different? But He won’t force the medicine on us. He loves us too much for that.
Here is justice in its purest form: You reap what you sow.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. – Gal. 6:7-8
You wouldn’t let just anyone come into your home, would you? Would you let in a thief? A murderer? A rapist? No. You have a standard. So does God. Unfortunately we can never meet that standard. So He made it easy on us: we come in with His Son (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
It all comes down to how you respond to Jesus.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. – John 3:17
The real question is: Why would God send anyone to Heaven?
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Ref:
http://www.biblebb.com/files/bunyan/sayings.htm
https://www.monergism.com/jonathan-edwards-we-are-inclined-sin
Remember CliffsNotes? I’m not sure if they still even have them now or not. Kids probably just use Google. But anyways for those too young (or for those who actually DID do their homework), CliffsNotes were the abbreviated version of literature classics. If you didn’t read the actual thing, you could buy the CliffsNotes and get the gist of it.
Are you getting Jesus or the CliffsNotes?
“The right understanding of Jesus Christ is essential to understanding many other vital truths, particularly the gospel and salvation. There’s no good news apart from Christ.” – John MacArthur
Let me give you just one verse. It is short and easy: “I and the Father are one.” – John 10:30.
I was at a restaurant once and they poured my Ginger Ale over a ton of ice. I could hardly taste it. It was gross, really. I have harsh words for anyone who waters down the Gospel to make it easier or more user-friendly. Its gross, really.
MacArthur also admonishes those who make their faith a “private” matter: “If your faith is ‘a private thing,’ it’s not the Christian faith.” I have heard this defense as I’m sure you have too.
Nothing about the Great Commission sounded “private” to me.
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation].” – Acts 4:12 (AMP)
Don’t make that private. Make it public!
Don’t settle for an abridged rendition of Jesus. Demand the full version!
Don’t read the CliffsNotes. Read the original!
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CliffsNotes
MacArthur, John. Good News: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Reformation Trust Publishing, 2018.
Let’s say someone comes up to you, removes your coat, and sends it away. Would you say you still had your coat?
No. It was removed. It was sent away. Literally, the coat is no longer here.
Jesus takes our sins away. (1 John 3:5). When John the Baptist saw Jesus he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:19)!”
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to FORGIVE US OUR SINS and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 (Emphasis mine)
Just like that coat; they’re gone. Now, of course we don’t miss the coat or go shopping for new coats, right?
“No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin,” – 1 John 3:9 (AMP)
Therefore, if we repent and turn to Him, Jesus forgives our sins (something only God can do, by the way).
The Greek for “forgive” carries the word picture of discharging something so as to leave.
I note it because:
Therefore, because of Jesus’s wonderful Love & Grace, your sins have been:
Let go; fired, dismissed, sacked, axed, laid-off, and canned. They have been given their “pink slip” and “walking papers.” Like Elvis, your sins have left the building.
Brother and sister, they are not even there! (Heb. 8:12, Rom. 11:27, Mic. 7:19, Psa. 103:12)
To pretend otherwise is to act like you still have that coat on that someone removed from you and sent away.
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Ever been seated at a restaurant and a waiter goes by with a tray full of bowls? You can’t see what’s in those bowls but everything is nice & neat. Everything is in order… until they get tripped up. Then what’s inside comes tumbling out!
What comes out when you get tripped up?
What’s inside your bowls: the fruit of the Spirit or the works of the flesh? (Gal. 5:16-26)
Come on now, we’ve all felt like the odd-man out. We’ve all felt like we didn’t know the secret handshake. We’ve all felt left out. But I promise you, there is a place where you belong.
There is a home for you with Jesus.
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” – John 14:23
Don’t just skim over that: the God of heaven & earth and His Son, Jesus the Christ will make their home with you. That seems pretty substantial. Give it some serious thought.
Your heart is God’s. He made it. Return it to Him. He doesn’t exclude you. He invites you. He meets you where you are and elevates you. Turn from your former life and run to the Savior. Keep His word. Be changed from the inside out.
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted & grounded in love, – Eph. 3:17
There is a place you belong. There is a home for you with the Lord.
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Inspired by X Ambassadors, “Home.”
If it were against the law to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to arrest you?
Or would you be released with a warning?!
Is there fruit in your life that Jesus is your Lord? Is there hard evidence that you are a follower? Would your life convict you? Are you convicted right now? (See what I did there?)
Christian-ese would be: Is there proof in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8; Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20)? Would your case be thrown out due to lack of proof!
How hard would the prosecutor have to look for clues of your Christianity? How many witnesses would have to take the stand to corroborate your faith? How long would the jury have to deliberate; a week? a day? an hour?
Testimonies are crucial. They can sometimes sway the jury. What would yours do?
Finally, it all comes down to this: The verdict. Are you guilty or innocent of being a Christian? I would want to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, wouldn’t you? Then what are you waiting for? Start leaving behind evidence!
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Look, I know it’s heavy. Too heavy. Who can lift it? Troubles, trials, & temptations; I know they crush you. They weigh you down. I know you feel defeated. Conquered.
So please listen: Jesus can lift you up.
All that heaviness? Light as a feather to the LORD. Lighter still!
Sound too good to be true?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke? – Isa. 58:6
He desires for you to hand over the reigns of your life to Him. Is there anyone more able? Is there anyone more willing? He takes your burden and exchanges it with His rest. Where’s the verse for that you scream?
Come to Me, all you who labor & are heavy laden, & I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you & learn from Me, for I am gentle & lowly in heart, & you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy & My burden is light.” – Matt. 11:28-30
Jesus will lift you up no matter how heavy you think your life has gotten. Jesus will lift you up no matter how badly you think you’ve messed everything up. Jesus will do all of these things & more, if you but submit to Him.
Then WATCH GRACE WORK!
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:6-7 (also Psa. 55:22)
Its all for His glory, not yours. Its all for Him, not you.
So, go out now with a lightened load. Go out with renewed strength. Go out & help your brother (Gal. 6:2). Go out & bring others so He can do the same for them!
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Inspired by: X Ambassadors, “Feather.” (VHS)
One of the most commonly shared experiences has got to be lighting candles on a birthday cake. You know how it goes: you take one candle & light it. Then you light the other candles with it until they are all lit.
That is exactly how the Holy Spirit ignites our hearts for the Gospel; individually, until we are all burning. Even the smallest candle has the potential to set a whole forest ablaze. That is how Grace grows! LIKE AN INFERNO!
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. – 1 John 1:7
A candle without the Flame is useless. It’s just wax & some string. But the candle ABLAZE becomes powerful (Psa. 18:28). Now it’s a beacon (Matt. 5:14-16). That shift is solely due to the Source: God, who is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29).
He kindles us (Luke 12:49).
As lanterns for the Gospel we carry the light of God’s truth through this present darkness (Eph. 6:12). A torch cannot help but burn & bear light. Neither can we (John 12:46; 8:12)!
We, the kindled, the ignited, the aflame – spread those sparks into a roaring wildfire.
William L. Watkinson said “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Yelling at the night never did any good. No, we overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21).
Now, don’t expect the world to like your torch (John 15:18). Don’t expect a Thank-You card & some flowers. No, light DESTROYS darkness. So for them, its self-preservation. Don’t be surprised when the world turns on you. They like it in the dark, can’t stand any light, & don’t want His light cast on their dark. They like to be covered in a blanket of shadows.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. – John 3:19
It is the appearance of light that kills darkness. Light douses dark. Darkness can’t extinguish the torch. Never! No, darkness has to flee (John 3:19).
With one word, the darkness is vanquished. That word is JESUS!
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Inspired by: X Ambassadors, “Torches”
A Verse A Day 