Monday, July 24, 2017

July 25, 2017

"For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” Luke 7:33-35

There is a communication principle that says, "The more predictable you become the less impact you will have."

One of the reasons Jesus had such a profound impact during His brief earthly ministry was He was anything but predictable. His unpredictable ways allowed Him to reach many people and it also got Him considerable criticism. It also got Him considerable converts!

What was it that brought down such vehement criticism and condemnation upon the Son of God? It was the fact He ate with sinners. Yes, you heard it right, he shared meals with reprobates such as tax-collectors and an occasional prostitute.

That was unheard of for a rabbi. Not only was it unheard of it was intolerable in the opinion of the religious elite of His day! It is precisely why they had become so ineffective and irrelevant in reaching or relating to their culture.

Jesus came to change that! They would have been wise to have copied Him rather than to condemn Him.

So, Brad, are you saying it's good to hang out at bars and night clubs with my friends who drink?

Only if you are prompted clearly by the leadership of the Holy Spirit and only if you are sufficiently spiritually established in your faith to maintain your witness.

But it you want to reach people far from God you have two choices, you can hope they will come to where you hangout OR you can go to where they hang out. Jesus made the surprising decision to hang out with them.

For the sake of contrast it is significant to note that when Jesus wanted to connect with His disciples He also ate and drank with them!

What was the common denominator between eating with sinners and eating with followers? EATING! He understood the powerful bonds that are formed when people eat together.

Family bonds are the closest bonds and families eat together to strengthen those bonds!

Friendship bonds are also very close bonds and friends often eat together to deepen those bonds!

Fellowship bonds are strong within a church and church members often eat together around the dinner table as well as the Communion Table!

Unless you think about it, eating with sinners may seem like a surprising thing to do. But if you understand the power of the table and the power of relationships it shouldn't surprise you that combing the two is and effective way to reach people!

Just another thing to learn from Jesus!






July 24, 2017

"Thy Word is truth." John 17:17


How do you reconcile two seemingly contradictory concepts? For example, how can we claim we believe the Bible is free from error when it was written by fallible men?

As Roman Catholic theologian Bruce Vawter writes, "A human literature containing no error would indeed be a contradiction in terms, since nothing is more human that to err" (Biblical Inspiration, Philadelphia, Westminster 1972).

As Wesleyans we steadfastly maintain that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Is that a defensible position? How can we reconcile these perceived inconsistencies?

Let's think about that for a few moments.

My washing machine was made by imperfect men, but when I follow the manufacturer's instructions and push the right buttons it works perfectly.

Jet aircraft are built by fallible men and 99% of them fly millions of air miles and carry hundreds of thousands of passengers with no malfunctions.

Imperfect men are capable of creating machines that operate perfectly because they faithfully follow specifications and instructions that have been meticulously designed. Perfect plans followed perfectly can take men's imperfections out of play.

An imperfect man and an imperfect woman can produce a perfect baby.

Consider this: The testimony of Scripture is clear. God used fallible men to receive and record His infallible Word so that it would reach us, correct and without error. Sounds difficult? With our God it's not. As He said (Jeremiah 32:27, NASB), "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"

The Bible is inerrant not because of man's infallibility or scholarship. It is inerrant because they had hearts and minds perfectly tuned with God's Holy Spirit so that God's perfect Holy Spirit could perfectly plant God's perfect thoughts into the willing minds of imperfect men. The same Holy Spirit directed the writing, the canonizing, the translation, and the compilation of these Scriptures that we know are true. Praise God for His faithful Holy Word!

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," II Timothy 3:16

If you can believe in a perfect, infallible, and holy God, you can believe in the inerrancy of the Bible because you will know that the perfection of God is greater than the weaknesses of man!

Like they say, even a stopped clock is right twice a day!