Legal Restrictions on the Gospel

[GodsoldierClintus]

Slogans have their place, but so does deeper thought about the fullness of what it means to bring God's light to the world. If God's purpose could be reduced to a few pithy punchlines we wouldn't need 66 (or more) books and thousands of years of thinking about them.

Why is it then that in the western world where we have the bible colleges, the different translations of the bible, well funded churches - our numbers are falling? Yet it is in parts of the world where they are persecuted and oppressed, where there is little money and little resources. Where some evangelists don't even have bibles...why are they witnessing greater miracles, and greater success then the western church?

The gospel is not difficult. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only so son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. That's taught in Sunday schools all around this country of ours. Why can't we believe in what we preach? That simple truth is greater than anything else in this world! Why are we sitting around discussing theology when there is a world out there that needs saving? Can you not hear God calling? Can you not see the pain in this world? The moment the church stopped becoming relevant was the moment that we became irrelevant. You said yourself before that it is a tragedy every time a soul is lost...but I needed to look at the bigger picture? Is there a bigger picture? For sure, the picture will be pretty damn big in heaven at the knee of Jesus when he asks me to give an account of my life....and below me there is the wailing of sinners, forever lost.

We've made religion so complicated and so irrelevant to society that surely we've got a lot of explaining to do in heaven.

I admit it - I am a pharisee. I am part of a system that makes up rules and makes it harder for others to enter but does not lift one finger to help them. Are you?

 

[GodsoldierClintus]

My thanks norbie...it is my hope I can back up by word and conviction with action. Don't feed my ego too much though lol, I've got enough problems with pride as it is.

You older Christians always inspire me...forgive my political incorrectness...but I would not know how it would feel to see youth running around and making you remember your past. But the older Christians have been in their faiths for so long, and still so full of joy, and still take the time to encourage us - us who think we know it all.

I'm getting to know a few Salvos now, and the way they just smile at me, they way I've seen how they have dedicated their lives to the Lord. That's inspiring. That's faith.

So thank you, and forgive a brash young man. Hopefully I can make a contribution worthy of what Jesus did for me. - what a joke!

God Bless.

 

[GodsoldierClintus]

Mark 16:15
He said to them: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."

It doesn't say - "Go and build churches and chapels and invite them in, and if they will not, leave them alone."

How did we EVER get to where we are I don't know, except that the devil is utterly good at deception. It is no surprise that Christianity has become a joke in this world.

 

[ebia]

I can feel with you and understand what you mean, GS.
There are a lot people out there they still believe that good deeds, working in church, charity and so on will get you to heaven - the Bible tells us otherwise. No good work get you there - only to accept Jesus as our Saver will bring us ethernal life.
We must learn from Jesus himself: why did he perform miracles and healing? Today we would call it 'promotion', it atracted the crowd. But then he went on to his main purpose: teaching.

That misses a lot of the point of the healings - they aren't just about getting attention (though they do that). They are a central part of the teaching as they anticipate and enact the Kingdom of God that he is teaching about. They are as central as the words, if not more so, as the words generally follow the actions to explain them. The actions demonstrate the kingdom, and his verbal teachings then explain the action.

In a very real sense Jesus' actions are the real teachings and his sayings simply the gloss we need to understand them.

 

[Monarchist]

Pithy punchlines, healing?
I think the whole point of "Go ye into the whole world" is simple.
Sew seeds and leave the rest of the work to the Spirit.
I think our individual actions and our daily walk are the main parts of our witness, but its all wasted if we are not sewing seeds.
That simple.
Nobody will come to Christ because of me, only the Spirit can convict them.

 

[ebia]

Pithy punchlines, healing?
I think the whole point of "Go ye into the whole world" is simple.
Sew seeds and leave the rest of the work to the Spirit.
I think our individual actions and our daily walk are the main parts of our witness, but its all wasted if we are not sewing seeds.
That simple.
Nobody will come to Christ because of me, only the Spirit can convict them.

True but... the Spirit does a lot of his work through people.