Verses For Practical Problems

[UltimateGift]

Please answer with your best three or four verses concerning these problems I have listed below. I'll give one example so you know what I am looking for.

1) How do you address a person who never reads the Bible, never goes to Church, has some strange ideas about the Bible, has no Christian friends and when confronted about Jesus, she says she believes but never does she have a burden to mention Jesus to anyone or lead anyone to Christ. You may have known this person a long time and never did they mention Jesus until after you got saved, and it seems to you that they are just answering you as though they know what you want to hear from them that they believe in Jesus, but never do they mention Jesus to anyone. It seems they are purposely lying to you, because there is nothing to make you think they are a Christian even though they say they believe in Jesus, but only when in response to you asking them.

RESPONSE: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 10.32)

2) A Muslim says Jesus didn't die on the cross and that the Bible is fabricated to make it seem like he died on the cross, and that the Trinity is silly, for 1+1+1=1 is mathematically wrong.

3) The general populace who are so oblivious to Christ that to even mention Jesus to them seems like an utter waste of time because they could care less as they carry on in the world with no thought of a creator or atheism or anything, just want they are doing in their lives.

4) What verses would you recommend for a Christian who might be frustrated by the unresponsiveness of people to the need for salvation. It almost seems like giving the gospel is a waste of time in our day and era because everyone has heard it before; it is like beating a dead cat, for people just could care less anyway.

Anyway, you can see my problems. It is hard to convince someone to believe in Jesus when they are so mindlessly belligerent, ignorant, obstinate or unconcerned.

Love to hear your choices for verses and any additional comments.

 

[Easyrider]

Please answer with your best three or four verses concerning these problems I have listed below. I'll give one example so you know what I am looking for.

1) How do you address a person who never reads the Bible, never goes to Church, has some strange ideas about the Bible, has no Christian friends and when confronted about Jesus, she says she believes but never does she have a burden to mention Jesus to anyone or lead anyone to Christ. You may have known this person a long time and never did they mention Jesus until after you got saved, and it seems to you that they are just answering you as though they know what you want to hear from them that they believe in Jesus, but never do they mention Jesus to anyone. It seems they are purposely lying to you, because there is nothing to make you think they are a Christian even though they say they believe in Jesus, but only when in response to you asking them.

RESPONSE: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 10.32)

2) A Muslim says Jesus didn't die on the cross and that the Bible is fabricated to make it seem like he died on the cross, and that the Trinity is silly, for 1+1+1=1 is mathematically wrong.

3) The general populace who are so oblivious to Christ that to even mention Jesus to them seems like an utter waste of time because they could care less as they carry on in the world with no thought of a creator or atheism or anything, just want they are doing in their lives.

4) What verses would you recommend for a Christian who might be frustrated by the unresponsiveness of people to the need for salvation. It almost seems like giving the gospel is a waste of time in our day and era because everyone has heard it before; it is like beating a dead cat, for people just could care less anyway.

Anyway, you can see my problems. It is hard to convince someone to believe in Jesus when they are so mindlessly belligerent, ignorant, obstinate or unconcerned.

Love to hear your choices for verses and any additional comments.

2) Matthew 28:18-20
18 Jesus came and told his disciples,
“I have Been Given Complete Authority in Heaven and on Earth.
19 Therefore, go and make Disciples of all the Nations, Baptizing them in the
Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
20 Teach these new Disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.



3) John 20:30-31
30 JESUS’ Disciples saw HIM do many other Miraculous Signs
besides the ones recorded in this book.
31 But these are Written so that you may Believe that
JESUS is the Messiah, the Son of GOD, and
that by Believing in HIM you will have Life.

4) John 17:13-21
13 “And now I am coming to you. I have told them many
things while I was with them so they would be filled with my joy.
14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them
because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not.
15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world,
but to keep them safe from the evil one.
16 They are not part of this world any more than I am.
17 Make them pure and holy by teaching them your Words of Truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
19 And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours.
20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will
ever believe in me because of their testimony.
21 My Prayer for all of them is that they will be One,
just as you and I are one, Father—
that just as You are in me and I am in You,
so they will be in us, and the World will Believe You Sent Me.

Luke says that the Disciples were Eyewitnesses to All
that had Happened to JESUS CHRIST-HIS life before
HIS Crucifixion, and the forty days after HIS Resurrection,
when HE Taught them more about the Kingdom of GOD.

Today there are still people who doubt JESUS’ Resurrection.
But JESUS appeared to the Disciples on many occasions after
HIS Resurrection, proving that HE was Alive!!
Look at the Change the Resurrection made in the Disciples’ lives.

At JESUS’ death, they scattered-they were disillusioned,
and they feared for their life. After seeing the Resurrected
CHRIST, they were fearless and risked everything to
spread the Good News about HIM around the world.
They faced imprisonment, beatings, rejection,
and martyrdom, yet they never compromised their mission.

These men would not have risked their life for something
they knew was a fraud. They knew JESUS was raised from
the dead, and the early church was fired with their enthusiasm
to tell others. It is Important to know this so we can have
Confidence in their Testimony.

Twenty centuries later we can still be Confident that our
Faith is Based on Fact!!

(Source=Life Application Study Bible-NLT)

 

[UltimateGift]

Excellent. Thanks. Anyone else?

 

[UltimateGift]

Has anyone come across this problem?

After 9 months a woman I had been getting to know tells me she believes in God after all, and that she was just telling me she was an atheist all this time to see how I would react. I recall our first get together. She said very candidly she is more tolerant now talking about religion, faith and her belief in atheism.

Isn't it funny how people behave? They just can't admit they now believe in an uncreated creator because they were convinced by a Christian, however she still does not believe Jesus is God. My Christian friend told me she was just being immature.

Unfortunately, she does not allow me to discuss salvation through Christ with her. She was a stiff-lipped atheist before. Now she is a stiff-lipped believer in a god of her own making which is not God of the Bible. You can't get through to her because she explicitly says not to discuss it with her. There is nothing you can do.

Does anyone have any advice how to handle this situation?

 

[Easyrider]

Try bringing her among other Believer's like Church groups, Picnic's, and see if
her hardened heart soften's any. Maybe a stranger will get through to her somehow.
The Holy spirit works in Mysterious Way's ...

 

[UltimateGift]

Yes.

 

[Simonline]

Please answer with your best three or four verses concerning these problems I have listed below. I'll give one example so you know what I am looking for.

1) How do you address a person who never reads the Bible, never goes to Church, has some strange ideas about the Bible, has no Christian friends and when confronted about Jesus, she says she believes but never does she have a burden to mention Jesus to anyone or lead anyone to Christ. You may have known this person a long time and never did they mention Jesus until after you got saved, and it seems to you that they are just answering you as though they know what you want to hear from them that they believe in Jesus, but never do they mention Jesus to anyone. It seems they are purposely lying to you, because there is nothing to make you think they are a Christian even though they say they believe in Jesus, but only when in response to you asking them.

RESPONSE: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 10.32)

It sounds like you've come up against someone who regards their 'Christian faith' as an entirely private mattter, possibly someone who has had a bad experience of Christianity (or Christians) in the past and, as a result, has retreated into a private and personal faith?!

The problem with this stance is that, whilst it is completely consistent with the Humanistic, self-orientated, individualistic ethos of modern-day life (i.e. Man, rather than God, is the measure of all things), it actually goes right against everything for which Judeo-Christianity stands.

Judeo-Christianity does not recognize maverick 'go-it-alone' Christians who privatize their faith in order to arbitrarily decide for themselves (in accordance with their own personal preferences and predilictions) what is true and what is false, what is good and what is evil. As finite sinful creatures we are in no position to be making arbitrary judgment calls on what is true or false, good or evil. It is for this reason that YHWH has established 'community' of which every true believer is an integral and fundamental part. Except under exceptional circumstances (where one might, for example, be being kept in enforced isolation as part of being persecuted for one's faith) authentic faith is something that can only be lived out within the context of a faith community. Only as a part of a community sharing the same faith with common values, common culture, common Scriptures as the basis for those values and culture, can one's faith be regarded as authentic.

Some people have the misguided idea that being a Christian is all about being a 'good person' and that, as long as one is a 'good person' then one is a Christian(?!) The problem with this is that it presupposes that Christianity has a monopoly on goodness and that adherents of other faiths are not 'good people' (which is insulting to people of other faiths)?! This stance fails to grasp the reality of the situation that Judeo-Christianity is about trusting God (and His incarnation as the Messiah) and living in accordance with the Truth that God has revealed through the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, within the context of a Judeo-Christian community.

2) A Muslim says Jesus didn't die on the cross and that the Bible is fabricated to make it seem like he died on the cross, and that the Trinity is silly, for 1+1+1=1 is mathematically wrong.

If the Qur'an (supposedly given by Allah, via Gabriel, to Mohammed in the sixth century AD) testifies to the authenticity of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves of Qumran in 1947 proves that the Judeo-Christian Scriptures that we have today are essentially identical to the Judeo-Christian Scriptures that were used by the Messiah and the apostles during the first century AD then, for modern-day muslims to declare that the Judeo-Christian Scriptures that we have today have been altered and are therefore not the Word of God means that they are by implication declaring that the Qur'an was lying in declaring in the sixth century that the Judeo-Christian Scriptures are authentic thus proving that it is the Qur'an and not the Judeo-Christian Scriptures that are not the Word of God?!

See also the writings of Mark A. Gabriel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY1-pb_Jrac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WI8h0JUB1w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmg5K4Hh-SA&watch_response

3) The general populace who are so oblivious to Christ that to even mention Jesus to them seems like an utter waste of time because they could care less as they carry on in the world with no thought of a creator or atheism or anything, just want they are doing in their lives.

Contrary to popular opinion, it is not the role of the Church to convert the world to Judeo-Christianity. Rather, it is the role of the Church to proclaim the gospel to all the world so that the elect might have an opportunity to favourably respond to it and so be called out from [Greek ekklesia - those who are called out from] the world and into the Church. The Scriptures teach that, because of their sinful rebellious nature, and the fact that they have not been made regenerate by God, there are many who simply will not respond favourably toward the gospel. Thus any effort to 'convert the world to Judeo-Christianity' is a futile waste of energy and contrary to the purposes of God in commissioning the Church to simply proclaim the gospel to the world so that the elect might respond favourably to it and so become a part of the Church.

4) What verses would you recommend for a Christian who might be frustrated by the unresponsiveness of people to the need for salvation. It almost seems like giving the gospel is a waste of time in our day and era because everyone has heard it before; it is like beating a dead cat, for people just could care less anyway.

It sounds like you're working yourself to death (in the flesh) trying to convert the world to Judeo-Christianity when God has already ordained that that is simply not going to happen (Matt.7:13-14). The world is never going to become the Church. Only the elect are going to be called out of the world to become a part of the Body of Christ. The rest have, from Eternity, been predestined for everlasting Perdition. The role of the Church is not to 'convert' but simply to make known and live out the Truth to one and all. God alone can regenerate the unbeliever.

Anyway, you can see my problems. It is hard to convince someone to believe in Jesus when they are so mindlessly belligerent, ignorant, obstinate or unconcerned.

Love to hear your choices for verses and any additional comments.[/quote]

You need to stop striving in the flesh and concentrate on getting to know God better. As Christians we are not scalp hunting for converts. It's not a race to save as many people as you can before the end of the world. That is a parody of the Scriptural message.

One cannot talk with men about God until one has first talked with God about men. Discover the mind and heart of God for yourself. Only then will you be able to communicate it to others.

Simonline.

 

[Robin228]

A lesson in humility is what Christians needs to hear more of today.

Mark 12 verses 28-34 states:

[28] And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
[29] And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
[30] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
[31] And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
[32] And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
[33] And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
[34] And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

Instead of coming up against non Christians you need to love them as much as you love yourself. Jesus Christ ate with the sinners, he was their friend and he loved them and respected them.