Which is more valuable: the written word of God or the spoken word of God?
Obviously, the spoken word of God, in the form of Sunday sermons, is more valuable.
You simply have to follow the money and the time.
Christians spend billions of dollars every year to hear the Word.
A Bible is often a one time expenditure.
Many spend more time listening to sermons than reading the Bible for themselves.
Some try to read the Bible through in a year, but most never make it.
It takes about 10 minutes a day to do this. About an hour per week. Whereas, going to church can take 2-3 hours, including prep and travel time.
I guess Jesus was such a poor communicator that the words He spoke can only be understood through an interpreter.
Is it really so difficult to read the Bible for yourself and apply it to your life?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Lessons from the Life of Joseph
Joseph, the son of Jacob, is often spoken of as a shining example of one who stood up to adversity, grew in wisdom, did not become bitter and saved a nation by doing what was right.
He knew how to use his natural gifts and with a small revelation from God, was able to administrate a true deliverance for an entire nation. This was a testimony, not just of Joseph but of God himself.
Interestingly Joseph used a very sound business plan which not only saved countless lives but ensured Egypt’s prominence and wealth for centuries to come.
Not bad considering:
his brothers wanted to kill him but sold him into slavery instead,
when he had shown his value as a great administrator he was falsely accused of rape and thrown into prison,
when he correctly interpreted dreams with God’s help, he was still left in prison,
when he saw his brothers who had so cruelly treated him, he had nothing but love, mercy and compassion for them.
Lots of people want a word from the Lord without any hassles.
Where did Joseph get his tenacious spirit and unswerving faith in God? The only words he had from God would have been stories told and dreams that he received.
There was no Bible to study or groups to belong to.
Why do we think the answer to the riddles of life are found in a Bible study or a sermon? How can we admire Joseph and not get the fact that he lived an incredible life of integrity, compassion and wisdom without those structures that we deem so vital?
The Bible doesn’t necessarily teach truth as much as it reveals truth for us to apply.
Joseph is one of the greatest testimonies of a man who chose to be faithful to God and use his natural talents to bring God glory.
All that without ever going to church. Hmmmm.
He knew how to use his natural gifts and with a small revelation from God, was able to administrate a true deliverance for an entire nation. This was a testimony, not just of Joseph but of God himself.
Interestingly Joseph used a very sound business plan which not only saved countless lives but ensured Egypt’s prominence and wealth for centuries to come.
Not bad considering:
his brothers wanted to kill him but sold him into slavery instead,
when he had shown his value as a great administrator he was falsely accused of rape and thrown into prison,
when he correctly interpreted dreams with God’s help, he was still left in prison,
when he saw his brothers who had so cruelly treated him, he had nothing but love, mercy and compassion for them.
Lots of people want a word from the Lord without any hassles.
Where did Joseph get his tenacious spirit and unswerving faith in God? The only words he had from God would have been stories told and dreams that he received.
There was no Bible to study or groups to belong to.
Why do we think the answer to the riddles of life are found in a Bible study or a sermon? How can we admire Joseph and not get the fact that he lived an incredible life of integrity, compassion and wisdom without those structures that we deem so vital?
The Bible doesn’t necessarily teach truth as much as it reveals truth for us to apply.
Joseph is one of the greatest testimonies of a man who chose to be faithful to God and use his natural talents to bring God glory.
All that without ever going to church. Hmmmm.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Primitive Simplicity
How would you feel if you got a letter from a dear friend that you knew you would never see again? You can feel their joy and see the twinkle in their eyes, just as if they were sitting right there in your living room.
When you realize that this letter was written not just to you but to a number of your friends, wouldn’t you want to invite them over to hear your friend’s passion and wisdom?
Would you take that letter and tell everyone that gathers with you, that you will now read just part of the letter and then interpret it for everyone present? How would the group react to such a course of action? I'm sure they would have quickly laughed at the sudden swelling of your head.
When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, there would not have been an appointed interpreter; everyone had an equal share in hearing and responding to what he said. No one would have had the idea that they were reading a holy book. Nevertheless, they would have greatly valued the fact that their friend had taken the time to write to them.
Since the letter wasn’t written to any one person, no one was in charge, and yet everyone would have felt free to add his or her own unique perspective about what had been shared. They would have thought it preposterous to chop it up into chapters and verses. It would have been read as letters are intended to be, all at one time. The thought would not have occurred to them to have a Bible study.
The focus of the gathering would not have been the letter itself, but each other and their ever deepening love for Jesus.
There would have been no recriminations like: did you read the Word today? And yet, many would likely memorize the letter in the same way that a distant soldier might rehearse over and over a letter from his true love.
They might not even know that there were other letters, written to other people. No one would have thought to make a comparative study to show how the word LOGOS was used by different writers of the day.
The letter would not have been the sustaining centre of why they enjoyed being together. They had already learned how to love one another without it.
An expression used for this time period of Christianity is called the primitive church. Oh, how I long for the simplicity of that time.
When you realize that this letter was written not just to you but to a number of your friends, wouldn’t you want to invite them over to hear your friend’s passion and wisdom?
Would you take that letter and tell everyone that gathers with you, that you will now read just part of the letter and then interpret it for everyone present? How would the group react to such a course of action? I'm sure they would have quickly laughed at the sudden swelling of your head.
When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, there would not have been an appointed interpreter; everyone had an equal share in hearing and responding to what he said. No one would have had the idea that they were reading a holy book. Nevertheless, they would have greatly valued the fact that their friend had taken the time to write to them.
Since the letter wasn’t written to any one person, no one was in charge, and yet everyone would have felt free to add his or her own unique perspective about what had been shared. They would have thought it preposterous to chop it up into chapters and verses. It would have been read as letters are intended to be, all at one time. The thought would not have occurred to them to have a Bible study.
The focus of the gathering would not have been the letter itself, but each other and their ever deepening love for Jesus.
There would have been no recriminations like: did you read the Word today? And yet, many would likely memorize the letter in the same way that a distant soldier might rehearse over and over a letter from his true love.
They might not even know that there were other letters, written to other people. No one would have thought to make a comparative study to show how the word LOGOS was used by different writers of the day.
The letter would not have been the sustaining centre of why they enjoyed being together. They had already learned how to love one another without it.
An expression used for this time period of Christianity is called the primitive church. Oh, how I long for the simplicity of that time.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Why do taxpayers fund churches?
It is a common practice for churches that are registered charities to give tax receipts to those who give to them.
What does this look like in a typical church of 100 people? They will often have a building and pay a minister to look after the affairs of the church and preside over some form of religious service. They may provide care for the poor but not necessarily.
Much of what happens at the church is for the primary benefit of those who are members. The members are essentially giving to themselves. This is not so much charitable giving as it is paying for services rendered.
These members will get a tax receipt, which can save them as much as 43% of what they gave to the church.
If the church’s budget was $100,000, it is possible that taxpayers would pay $43,000 towards that budget through the benefits that members received as tax deductions.
There is nothing wrong with people forming groups and paying someone to look after the group.
I simply don’t know why taxpayers should pay for this.
What does this look like in a typical church of 100 people? They will often have a building and pay a minister to look after the affairs of the church and preside over some form of religious service. They may provide care for the poor but not necessarily.
Much of what happens at the church is for the primary benefit of those who are members. The members are essentially giving to themselves. This is not so much charitable giving as it is paying for services rendered.
These members will get a tax receipt, which can save them as much as 43% of what they gave to the church.
If the church’s budget was $100,000, it is possible that taxpayers would pay $43,000 towards that budget through the benefits that members received as tax deductions.
There is nothing wrong with people forming groups and paying someone to look after the group.
I simply don’t know why taxpayers should pay for this.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Tyranny of Evangelism
Sounds like a strange title when one considers how precious sharing our faith in Jesus Christ should be.
So let’s crunch some numbers to see how the church has historically done evangelistically. Alan Hirsch, “The Forgotten Ways”, says that at the end of the 1st century there were about 25,000 Christians in the world. By the end of the 3rd century there were about 20 million. These numbers literally turned the world upside down and made the Roman government of the day shake in their togas.
At around 40 A.D. there were at least 5,000 Christians in Jerusalem. So let’s see if each one, won two, how many times would this need to be repeated to get to 25,000.
40 A.D. 5,000
70 A.D. 10,000
100 A.D. 20,000
20,000 new converts + half of the 10,000 from 70 A.D. = 25,000
Every 30 years the church doubled. Meaning each person would have to win 2 people to the Lord every 30 years.
Let’s keep going for another 2 centuries. The rate of growth actually increased during this period of time.
122 A.D. 50,000
144 A.D. 100,000
166 A.D. 200,000
188 A.D. 400,000
210 A.D. 800,000
232 A,D. 1,600,000
254 A.D. 3,200,000
276 A.D. 6,400,000
298 A.D. 12,800,000
The church was now doubling, approximately every 22 years. Keep in mind they were doing this without any buildings and few, if any, paid clergy. In other words, the basic core identifiers of the Christian church today, which some would say are necessary for growth and discipleship, did not develop until after 325 A.D., under the reign of Constantine.
The world population is estimated to be between 200-300 million during that time. It's growth was relatively modest until 1600 A.D., when it reached 580 million.
If the growth of Christianity had remained consistent beyond 325 A.D., the entire population of the world would have been Christian within less than 100 years.
The genius of Constantine to curtail the impact of Christianity on his empire was to legalize it, pen it up in buildings, and create a paid clergy. Paid clergy ensured that men would fight for power, position and wealth. It was around 380 A.D. that the church began to persecute itself.
So how have we been doing this past century?
I’m using David Barrett numbers from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
560 million confessing Christians in 1900. Today there are 2.2 billion.
If the church had doubled every 30 years, the whole world would now be Christian. Doubling simply means one person, reaching two people, within 30 years.
1900 A.D. 560,000,000
1930 A.D. 1,120,000,000
1960 A.D. 2,240,000,000
1990 A.D. 4,480,000,000
What does this mean?
Billions and billions have been spent. Lots of guilt has been heaped on people and yet… the dynamic growth of the early church is missing. The rate of 1 person reaching 2 people has slowed down to every 50 years.
Some would say, "See, that's why we need professionals to get the job done." The average Christian doesn't care enough about others to even win one person to Christ, never mind the astronomical number of 2.
But here's another way to understand these numbers. The vast majority of Christians have never been released in such a way that they will reach even one person for Christ.
The early church grew at a much faster rate without the aid of mass communication techniques, professionals and beautiful buildings.
Billions of dollars have been spent and any dissenting voice to the cost is smothered up because we need to reach the lost. At last count, it cost $330,000 to reach one person for Christ. (see the David Barrett numbers as noted earlier)
It would seem that the idea of every Christian being equipped to be able to reach and disciple two others for Christ in their lifetime, has been abandoned in favor of modern day evangelistic preaching.
Since the early church only grew at the rate of doubling every 22 years, why are Christians often hammered at or made to feel guilty from pulpits about the need to "reach the lost."
The truth may be more surprising about how we are to live our lives. Instead of focusing on evangelism, maybe we should make it much simpler.
Stop holing up in divisive groups giving lip service to the need to reach our world.
(The catch phrase for let's build something big to bring glory to ourselves.)
Take the money we spend on pastors and buildings and share generously with our neighbors and the poor.
Stop terrorizing Christians with the need to "reach the lost" today. Performance and/or guilt, (mechanisms of control) is the only outcome when weekly or monthly evangelism is emphasized. Speed and numbers is only important to the person trying to make a name for themselves or to justify a pay cheque. Sadly, this technique seems to work for a short period of time. But when the personality driving this technique leaves, people are left with lots of guilt and little love for each other.
Let's not forget that Jesus didn't do much till he was thirty.
The performance preaching that tries to "guilt"everyone into evangelizing would have labeled Jesus as a slug because he was not using his giftings to their maximum.
Stop trying to evangelize people into a particular sect of Christianity. That smacks of cult like practices.
Maybe, we could even help the poor without the heavy administrative price tags that are generally associated with this kind of care. 95% for administration is not unusual for organized groups.
Who knows: we might even surprise our neighbors with Christ's love that is in our hearts.
NB
Many people have outright rejected organized church and in so doing, have mistakenly associated Jesus with some of its shenanigans. The message of Jesus was love him and love others. His message was never join some organized, religious group. Sadly many people who are "doing evangelism" don't realize this and continue to alienate people from Jesus by trying to get them into their fold.
So let’s crunch some numbers to see how the church has historically done evangelistically. Alan Hirsch, “The Forgotten Ways”, says that at the end of the 1st century there were about 25,000 Christians in the world. By the end of the 3rd century there were about 20 million. These numbers literally turned the world upside down and made the Roman government of the day shake in their togas.
At around 40 A.D. there were at least 5,000 Christians in Jerusalem. So let’s see if each one, won two, how many times would this need to be repeated to get to 25,000.
40 A.D. 5,000
70 A.D. 10,000
100 A.D. 20,000
20,000 new converts + half of the 10,000 from 70 A.D. = 25,000
Every 30 years the church doubled. Meaning each person would have to win 2 people to the Lord every 30 years.
Let’s keep going for another 2 centuries. The rate of growth actually increased during this period of time.
122 A.D. 50,000
144 A.D. 100,000
166 A.D. 200,000
188 A.D. 400,000
210 A.D. 800,000
232 A,D. 1,600,000
254 A.D. 3,200,000
276 A.D. 6,400,000
298 A.D. 12,800,000
The church was now doubling, approximately every 22 years. Keep in mind they were doing this without any buildings and few, if any, paid clergy. In other words, the basic core identifiers of the Christian church today, which some would say are necessary for growth and discipleship, did not develop until after 325 A.D., under the reign of Constantine.
The world population is estimated to be between 200-300 million during that time. It's growth was relatively modest until 1600 A.D., when it reached 580 million.
If the growth of Christianity had remained consistent beyond 325 A.D., the entire population of the world would have been Christian within less than 100 years.
The genius of Constantine to curtail the impact of Christianity on his empire was to legalize it, pen it up in buildings, and create a paid clergy. Paid clergy ensured that men would fight for power, position and wealth. It was around 380 A.D. that the church began to persecute itself.
So how have we been doing this past century?
I’m using David Barrett numbers from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
560 million confessing Christians in 1900. Today there are 2.2 billion.
If the church had doubled every 30 years, the whole world would now be Christian. Doubling simply means one person, reaching two people, within 30 years.
1900 A.D. 560,000,000
1930 A.D. 1,120,000,000
1960 A.D. 2,240,000,000
1990 A.D. 4,480,000,000
What does this mean?
Billions and billions have been spent. Lots of guilt has been heaped on people and yet… the dynamic growth of the early church is missing. The rate of 1 person reaching 2 people has slowed down to every 50 years.
Some would say, "See, that's why we need professionals to get the job done." The average Christian doesn't care enough about others to even win one person to Christ, never mind the astronomical number of 2.
But here's another way to understand these numbers. The vast majority of Christians have never been released in such a way that they will reach even one person for Christ.
The early church grew at a much faster rate without the aid of mass communication techniques, professionals and beautiful buildings.
Billions of dollars have been spent and any dissenting voice to the cost is smothered up because we need to reach the lost. At last count, it cost $330,000 to reach one person for Christ. (see the David Barrett numbers as noted earlier)
It would seem that the idea of every Christian being equipped to be able to reach and disciple two others for Christ in their lifetime, has been abandoned in favor of modern day evangelistic preaching.
Since the early church only grew at the rate of doubling every 22 years, why are Christians often hammered at or made to feel guilty from pulpits about the need to "reach the lost."
The truth may be more surprising about how we are to live our lives. Instead of focusing on evangelism, maybe we should make it much simpler.
Stop holing up in divisive groups giving lip service to the need to reach our world.
(The catch phrase for let's build something big to bring glory to ourselves.)
Take the money we spend on pastors and buildings and share generously with our neighbors and the poor.
Stop terrorizing Christians with the need to "reach the lost" today. Performance and/or guilt, (mechanisms of control) is the only outcome when weekly or monthly evangelism is emphasized. Speed and numbers is only important to the person trying to make a name for themselves or to justify a pay cheque. Sadly, this technique seems to work for a short period of time. But when the personality driving this technique leaves, people are left with lots of guilt and little love for each other.
Let's not forget that Jesus didn't do much till he was thirty.
The performance preaching that tries to "guilt"everyone into evangelizing would have labeled Jesus as a slug because he was not using his giftings to their maximum.
Stop trying to evangelize people into a particular sect of Christianity. That smacks of cult like practices.
Maybe, we could even help the poor without the heavy administrative price tags that are generally associated with this kind of care. 95% for administration is not unusual for organized groups.
Who knows: we might even surprise our neighbors with Christ's love that is in our hearts.
NB
Many people have outright rejected organized church and in so doing, have mistakenly associated Jesus with some of its shenanigans. The message of Jesus was love him and love others. His message was never join some organized, religious group. Sadly many people who are "doing evangelism" don't realize this and continue to alienate people from Jesus by trying to get them into their fold.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Reap What You Sow
This blog is about making money. If you find that offensive don't read it.
Interestingly enough Jesus endorsed the idea that we are to make money. In Matthew 25 he was pleased with the guy who went from 5 talents to 10. This would have been a very rich dude in the time of Jesus. Jesus literally attributed this making of more money as one aspect of proving oneself to be faithful.
It also should be a building block of discipling others. If people are going to do what is in their heart to do, wouldn't it be nice if they had their own resources to do it?
Perhaps people have seen too many preachers taking up too many offerings for themselves and their agendas and think this is how "sowing and reaping" works in the kingdom of God. HINT: It's NOT.
A better approach would be offering to help someone else increase their finances. I want to focus on one aspect of kingdom life that Jesus wants his people to be free in and teach how we can help others to have that same freedom.
REAP WHAT YOU SOW
This is an old phrase that is jam packed full of truth. However, some people misunderstand this principle, thinking that sowing and reaping are equal. But as any good farmer will tell you, the reaping part should be at least 30 times what you sow. Jesus said it this way almost 2,000 years ago:
"Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. Matthew 8:8-14
Reaping more than you sow is the only reason a farmer is willing to get up at dawn to work the land. If he thought for one second that the seed he planted in the ground would only return one more seed he would have gone fishing instead. Furthermore, there would be no life on earth if reaping wasn’t greater than sowing.
Imagine starting out as a single celled egg that couldn’t be seen without the aid of a microscope, beginning to multiply through the simple process of doubling. A human being is estimated to have over 100 trillion (100,000,000,000,000) cells.
Can this principle be applied at a fundamental level of the way we earn money to support our families and be salt and light to our world?
Please allow me to introduce you to the world of network marketing. The bedrock principle behind network marketing is the kingdom principle of reaping more than you sow and can be simply understood through the power of doubling.
Let me illustrate how doubling works.
The key is for people to understand that all they need to do to become successful is to get 2 people to invest $100 a month into healthy products. As this is repeated and they get 2 people who get 2 people who get 2 people…, the potential reaping is astronomical.
REMEMBER: It’s not about personally recruiting tons of people. It’s about understanding doubling.
L0 1 +
L1 2 + +
L2 4 ++++
L3 8 ++++++++
L4 16 ++++++++++++++++
L5 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
L6 64 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Total people = 127
The first person only enrolled two people and yet they are able to reap the benefits of over 120 people. At an average return of about 5% per person, that’s over $1,000 month from an investment of just $100 per month.
To be fair though, there is an even more powerful and yet simple way of maximizing our efforts. Let’s modify the principle of doubling ever so slightly and include just one more person each. This is the power of tripling.
L0 1
L1 3
L2 9
L3 27
L4 81
L5 243
L6 729
In the same number of steps you would have gone from 100 people, to over an astounding 1,000 people.
Potential monthly income is over $5,000 per month.
As my father always said, “That’s better than a kick in the pants with a frozen boot.”
How many people did you personally get to understand and apply this life changing principle?
Is there something that can kill this principle? Yes. It’s called “do nothing”.
Nothing sowed = nothing reaped.
Are you one of those people who are willing to tap into the unlimited potential of reaping more than you sow?
Doubling or tripling: it’s up to you.
Let me help you unleash the power of reaping more than you sow. In the process you will also learn how simple discipleship really is.
Looking forward to your success.
Interestingly enough Jesus endorsed the idea that we are to make money. In Matthew 25 he was pleased with the guy who went from 5 talents to 10. This would have been a very rich dude in the time of Jesus. Jesus literally attributed this making of more money as one aspect of proving oneself to be faithful.
It also should be a building block of discipling others. If people are going to do what is in their heart to do, wouldn't it be nice if they had their own resources to do it?
Perhaps people have seen too many preachers taking up too many offerings for themselves and their agendas and think this is how "sowing and reaping" works in the kingdom of God. HINT: It's NOT.
A better approach would be offering to help someone else increase their finances. I want to focus on one aspect of kingdom life that Jesus wants his people to be free in and teach how we can help others to have that same freedom.
REAP WHAT YOU SOW
This is an old phrase that is jam packed full of truth. However, some people misunderstand this principle, thinking that sowing and reaping are equal. But as any good farmer will tell you, the reaping part should be at least 30 times what you sow. Jesus said it this way almost 2,000 years ago:
"Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. Matthew 8:8-14
Reaping more than you sow is the only reason a farmer is willing to get up at dawn to work the land. If he thought for one second that the seed he planted in the ground would only return one more seed he would have gone fishing instead. Furthermore, there would be no life on earth if reaping wasn’t greater than sowing.
Imagine starting out as a single celled egg that couldn’t be seen without the aid of a microscope, beginning to multiply through the simple process of doubling. A human being is estimated to have over 100 trillion (100,000,000,000,000) cells.
Can this principle be applied at a fundamental level of the way we earn money to support our families and be salt and light to our world?
YES!!!
Please allow me to introduce you to the world of network marketing. The bedrock principle behind network marketing is the kingdom principle of reaping more than you sow and can be simply understood through the power of doubling.
Let me illustrate how doubling works.
The key is for people to understand that all they need to do to become successful is to get 2 people to invest $100 a month into healthy products. As this is repeated and they get 2 people who get 2 people who get 2 people…, the potential reaping is astronomical.
REMEMBER: It’s not about personally recruiting tons of people. It’s about understanding doubling.
L0 1 +
L1 2 + +
L2 4 ++++
L3 8 ++++++++
L4 16 ++++++++++++++++
L5 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
L6 64 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Total people = 127
The first person only enrolled two people and yet they are able to reap the benefits of over 120 people. At an average return of about 5% per person, that’s over $1,000 month from an investment of just $100 per month.
To be fair though, there is an even more powerful and yet simple way of maximizing our efforts. Let’s modify the principle of doubling ever so slightly and include just one more person each. This is the power of tripling.
L0 1
L1 3
L2 9
L3 27
L4 81
L5 243
L6 729
In the same number of steps you would have gone from 100 people, to over an astounding 1,000 people.
Potential monthly income is over $5,000 per month.
As my father always said, “That’s better than a kick in the pants with a frozen boot.”
How many people did you personally get to understand and apply this life changing principle?
3
Is there something that can kill this principle? Yes. It’s called “do nothing”.
Nothing sowed = nothing reaped.
Are you one of those people who are willing to tap into the unlimited potential of reaping more than you sow?
Doubling or tripling: it’s up to you.
Let me help you unleash the power of reaping more than you sow. In the process you will also learn how simple discipleship really is.
Looking forward to your success.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Magic
Therrie and I went to a magic show the other night in Niagara Falls. We were with her sister and brother-in-law and we had a great time. We had no illusions about what to expect at the show. We expected to be entertained by being tricked into seeing something that wasn’t true.
I even had the dubious pleasure of being picked out from the audience to help with one of the feats of magic. The trick that was being performed had Greg Frewin (the magician) taking a live duck and having it magically re-appear into a bucket that I was holding. The crowd was awestruck, when sure enough, upon taking the bucket back from me, he opened the lid to find the duck that had disappeared from the stage. Since I had been guarding the bucket there was no possible way for some slight of hand to take place.
Of course, I knew all along how the trick was being done. The entire time that I had been holding the bucket, I could feel a ‘look a like’ duck squirming inside.
We paid $90 bucks each to have front and centre seats, knowing that we would be deceived during the entire performance. We tried our best to figure out the tricks but for the most part we could only applaud to how well we had been deceived. I was especially happy because at least I knew how the duck trick was done.
Lots of money went into the magician’s theatre. The seating was laid out to ensure that the audience’s attention was on the star. It was much nicer than church because we could get drinks during the show and there was even an intermission so we could have a potty break without interrupting anyone.
I didn’t expect to go back week after week to see the same kinds of tricks, so $90 for the night didn’t seem like a bad deal to me. For most of my Christian experience I had been paying $100-150 per week for a performance that hardly ever changed, at a theater that I was misled into calling, “church”.
I simply hadn’t taken Jesus’s words seriously enough.
Matthew 24: 4-5 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many.
The trick that was played on me was that just because someone claims they are proclaiming Christ they could very well be deceiving many. I was so duped by the magic that for a time, I had even become one of the magicians for awhile.
What value did Jesus put on a building?
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." Matthew 24:1-2 (NIV)
What did Paul teach new converts about buildings?
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
What did Peter teach about buildings?
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4,5
What was Barnabas and Paul’s reaction to the crowd after the healing of a crippled man?
14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15"Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." 18Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Acts 14: 14-18
Today, it seems that men/women who are used by God, put no effort into getting people to NOT put their trust in them. And Christians are more like the people of Lystra wanting to sacrifice to holy men who perform signs and wonders. (It didn’t take them long to be persuaded by a different religious mindset to stone Paul and leave him for dead.)
What is the difference between the magic show that I went to and the weakly ritual of going to church?
1. I knew I was going to be deceived at the magic show.
2. I only paid for the performance 1 time.
3. The magician never expected me to follow him week after week.
Why do Christians feel the need to erect a special building and follow a special man?
MAGIC.
I even had the dubious pleasure of being picked out from the audience to help with one of the feats of magic. The trick that was being performed had Greg Frewin (the magician) taking a live duck and having it magically re-appear into a bucket that I was holding. The crowd was awestruck, when sure enough, upon taking the bucket back from me, he opened the lid to find the duck that had disappeared from the stage. Since I had been guarding the bucket there was no possible way for some slight of hand to take place.
Of course, I knew all along how the trick was being done. The entire time that I had been holding the bucket, I could feel a ‘look a like’ duck squirming inside.
We paid $90 bucks each to have front and centre seats, knowing that we would be deceived during the entire performance. We tried our best to figure out the tricks but for the most part we could only applaud to how well we had been deceived. I was especially happy because at least I knew how the duck trick was done.
Lots of money went into the magician’s theatre. The seating was laid out to ensure that the audience’s attention was on the star. It was much nicer than church because we could get drinks during the show and there was even an intermission so we could have a potty break without interrupting anyone.
I didn’t expect to go back week after week to see the same kinds of tricks, so $90 for the night didn’t seem like a bad deal to me. For most of my Christian experience I had been paying $100-150 per week for a performance that hardly ever changed, at a theater that I was misled into calling, “church”.
I simply hadn’t taken Jesus’s words seriously enough.
Matthew 24: 4-5 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many.
The trick that was played on me was that just because someone claims they are proclaiming Christ they could very well be deceiving many. I was so duped by the magic that for a time, I had even become one of the magicians for awhile.
What value did Jesus put on a building?
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." Matthew 24:1-2 (NIV)
What did Paul teach new converts about buildings?
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
What did Peter teach about buildings?
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4,5
What was Barnabas and Paul’s reaction to the crowd after the healing of a crippled man?
14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15"Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." 18Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Acts 14: 14-18
Today, it seems that men/women who are used by God, put no effort into getting people to NOT put their trust in them. And Christians are more like the people of Lystra wanting to sacrifice to holy men who perform signs and wonders. (It didn’t take them long to be persuaded by a different religious mindset to stone Paul and leave him for dead.)
What is the difference between the magic show that I went to and the weakly ritual of going to church?
1. I knew I was going to be deceived at the magic show.
2. I only paid for the performance 1 time.
3. The magician never expected me to follow him week after week.
Why do Christians feel the need to erect a special building and follow a special man?
MAGIC.
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