Category: Gospel

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Gospel

There’s an app (verse) for that!

The metaverse brings a new breed of threats to challenge privacy and security gatekeepers | CSO Online

According to businessofapps.com, the top 10 most popular apps in the United States in 2022 were TikTok, Instagram, CashApp, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Subway Surfers, Roblox, Amazon, Messenger, and Facebook.

No matter what it is you want to do (dining, directions, dating . . .), there is an app for that. If you were in the dark and needed an app, there’s a flashlight app for that. If you’re lost and in need of a map, there’s an app for that.

The Bible works much the same way. Not only is it a light and a map for life, it works much the same way as a phone with all its apps. No matter what you’re struggling with: Anger, Bitterness, Contentment; there’s a verse for that.

For example, let’s say your struggle is with Worry. Have you read Mat. 6:25-34; Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Peter 5:6-7; Ps. 37:3-7?  With a good topical or life application study Bible, you can find verses that will help you with your issue.

We all have problems, faults, and hang-up’s, it’s only the Pharisees who won’t admit they have them. Until we’re desperate and broken, we cannot be revived. When we’re revived, we’ll hunger and thirst for God’s Word.

You probably know by now that Facebook changed it name to the Meta, turning the word metaverse into a household name. What is the Metaverse? Wikipedia says, “In science fiction, the “metaverse” is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets.” Boy, we’re not far off, are we (read my last post)?

As cool as the Metaverse could be, it will never compare to the Metanarrative, the great and grand narrative of Scripture that is comprehensive and overarching with its lesser stories of Creation, Fall, Rescue, and Restoration. From Genesis to Revelation, we come across 66 books that present to us a Great Story which includes our own stories (lives). Who or what stands at the center  of The Story? It is none other than Jesus Christ and the redemption that he offers to you and me. When we accept his offer of salvation, his story becomes our story.

When his story becomes our story, we then have an obligation to go share The Story. We do this by sharing Jesus with others! We can share the Great Story of Creation, Fall, Rescue, and Restoration or we can share our own story of the aforementioned sub-categories (that’s called a testimony or life-story).

Even when the day comes where we find ourselves in the Metaverse shopping, gaming, and living our lives through a digital avatar while on our virtual headsets, we still need to be sharing the Metanarrative of Scripture.

Some of this may sound like its coming from a land far far away on a galaxy written about in some sci-fi book. It’s not! Over 50 percent of people living on this current universe are active social media users. Technology is not going to slow down. It’s only going to speed up. There’s a verse for that: Daniel 12:4

4 But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.

 

 

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Gospel

Gospel for the Holidays

Most churches capitalize on the holidays by hosting events such as a Christmas singing tree, a Trunk or Treat, or an Easter egg hunt. The reason for such events is to present the gospel to people who might not come to church otherwise. CEO “Christians” probably need to re-hear the gospel as well, that is “Christians” who attend church on Christmas and Easter Only.

This past Halloween, I was close to writing a post entitled, “Tract or Treat.” I have always liked to use this holiday in the Fall season to pass out gospel tracts while passing out candy treats. Whether it’s a “Bash at the Beach” or a “Day at the Park” (July 4th), churches should use events on holidays to attract church member and non-member alike.

Since we are a couple of weeks away from Easter, I would like to give you a simple gospel presentation that I created which you may use to present to children and or youth at your Easter egg hunt event.

Besides all the eggs on the church lawn that are filled with candy, I am going to have a few prize eggs with a theme/verse inside. We call our hunt a “Search for the Truth” hunt. There will be four prize eggs with the themes: (1) Creation, (2) Fall, (3) Rescue, and (4) Restoration. As children open their eggs, I will ask children to find out who has the prize eggs, starting with the “Creation” egg. I will move down the line, presenting the gospel as I go.

Easter eggs are beautiful, aren’t they? Have you ever seen a real Easter egg, spiffied all up with various colors? Where do you think eggs come from? Who created all the colors that we have? Who gave man artistic abilities to the point where he could paint such an egg? GOD (“Creation”). God made us and we are more beautiful to him than any Easter egg we could imagine.

But what would you do, if you take the most beautiful Easter egg you can think of, and accidentally drop it on the ground. Crack! Eggs have to be handled carefully or else. Like a broken egg, our lives have been ruined because of sin. We have messed up and made a mess and left it on the floor for someone else to have to clean up. (“Fall”) ­– We need a Savior!

Ever heard of the personified egg, Humpty Dumpty? I’m sure you have . . . “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again.” I mean, what man can fix an egg once its broken. Sure, you can try to put the yoke back in a taped-up shell, but the cracks will still show. And you probably only got half the yoke back it. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t do it . . . why think you can? Only Jesus can clean up our mess. Only Jesus can fix our broken lives. Only Jesus can put us back together again. (“Rescue”)

And when he does, we look like that beautiful Easter egg that we started off with. No cracks, no scratches, just a masterpiece. Let God do to you what no man can. (“Restoration”)

This is a simple way to present the gospel to the next generation in a way that they can understand. Use the holidays, use every day to re-present the good news!

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Gospel

2018: Know it, Share it, Live it

Happy New Year! May this be the year that evangelism trumps terrorism. About 2000 years ago, a man met 12 of his followers on a mountain, gave them the big idea, and released them to turn the world upside-down. About 20 years ago, another man met his followers in a room and shared his idea of bringing America down. Jesus and Osama Bin Laden both led movements with radical ideas that changed the world as we know it.

My fear in next generation ministry is that students in next generation ministry are not getting the gospel. I don’t mean that they are not hearing the gospel. I mean that they don’t understand the gospel is bigger than them, their idols, the time they have been allotted to live on planet earth. Most people who start movements don’t set out to. Martin Luther King Jr. did not say, “I have a plan.” No, he said, “I have a dream.” God wants his church to reach the whole known world with the gospel! Are you in? Are you all-in?

The idol of our time is entertainment. The average young man plays 10,000 hours of video games before by the time he is 21. Let’s be honest: Another idol of our time is porn. Statistics have shown a large percentage of men in the church (that includes pastors) are struggling with this idol. Our culture promotes tolerance of many sins, including watching porn. With the proliferation of iPhones, etc., without filters, I can only image the percentage of sex addicts we are raising up. Help addicts understand acceptance (from God), not just forgiveness, freedom (in Christ), not just shame. Another idol is sports. I once heard someone say if you spend more time talking about sports in a week than you do talking about God, you have an idol. Not all idols are bad things. Some idols are good things. But when a good thing becomes a God thing, it becomes a bad thing. Idols never deliver all they promise. I always tell people sin will take you farther than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, and keep you longer than you want to stay. Sin robs us of our time, talent, and treasure. The gospel is much grander and glorious than entertainment, video games, porn, or sports combined. I know I’m primarily addressing men and young men here but women and young women have idols too. Throw all your idols in one basket and they come no where near touching the affections derived from the gospel.

I don’t think the next generation gets the gospel because we next generation leaders don’t get the gospel. Preach the gospel to yourself first. Immerse yourself in it, read books on it, listen to gospel-centered preaching, saturate yourself in the gospel. Do you not know what the gospel is? It is the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, but its more. It’s more than propositional truth. It’s more than personal allegiance, surrendering yourself for God’s kingdom purposes. The gospel began before creation and will continue after the world has been restored. Jesus is the good news and there is no end to his kingdom. The gospel is a passion we have that will never go away. Yes, you may go to heaven, but you will never forget how you got there – that’s the gospel! You can never say enough, write enough, hear enough about the good news because the good news of the gospel never becomes old news. The gospel lives inside of you if you know Jesus. I once heard when you read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), its like your looking Jesus in the eye, face to face, mano y mano. Jesus is the gospel. When you share the good news, you’re sharing Jesus! What else would possess an 8 year-old to share Jesus with an 80 year-old? Why else have people throughout the ages given up their possessions, their family, their very lives? – because of the gospel!

Once you know it, next generation leader, share it! Be like Jeremiah the prophet – let that fire out of your bones. Though the weeping prophet didn’t see results, he couldn’t just keep the message inside of him. Tell it as you go, not just when your at church. Serve, but share. We need less service projects and more mission projects where we serve and share. Evangelism and discipleship go together. Who wants peanut butter without the jelly? Your students will see you sharing the gospel and will follow suit.

Finally, live the gospel. We just celebrated Christmas. We experienced the Word come alive in human flesh. Some people only know about presents wrapped in paper, not the Present wrapped in swaddling clothes: God incarnate – Jesus, the God-man. Live what you are. Live the gospel. Let it be your identity. Paul talked about knowing nothing but Christ. John said he had to decrease. Jesus talked about dying to self. What say you?

Religion says look right, act right, be right. Jesus says follow me. The religion of our day is moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD). We have confused the essence of the gospel with the results of the gospel. Morality says be good. Therapy says feel good about yourself. Deism says God does not involve himself in your life affairs. THAT’S NOT THE GOSPEL! God does care about you or he would not have given up his one and only Son (John 3:16). John 3:16 is the gospel in a nutshell.