“Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” ~ Acts 17: 22, 23
These poor people living in Athens were so superstitious (and religious) that they actually made an altar, beside the ones that they had for each of the gods which they worshipped, for this unknown god. Their whole lives revolved around keeping their gods placated so that they could have a good life, and be successful, and not die. They so believed this, and were so scared, that they had dedicated an altar to [fill in the blank] just in case they missed someone. You see, if there was some god out there that they were not taking care of, he wouldn’t appreciate that, and he might curse them; their economy would fail, they would lose their wars, they would be destroyed—so they thought, at least.
Just as then, this World is dark. They don’t know what they need to fill the longing they have; they think they know, but it never works. For some people, there lives are full of fear: What if I lose my job? What if my child fails? Does this President know what he is doing? Will I have enough money to retire? How long will I live Doctor? Others may seem to have it under control, but inside there is some fear and uncertainty. Everyone has something to worry about, whether it’s as insignificant as whether or not their team will win (don’t tell them that’s insignificant) or as important as whether or not the world is going to end, or at least theirs. Depression, drunkenness, drug abuse, and so on are all rampant. Suicide is all too common. This World has no answer.
That is, they won’t accept the Answer. As my Pastor’s banner says: “Got problems? Jesus is the Answer!” The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Light: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world:” (Jn 8:12) As for darkness, there’s none of that around Him. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn 1:5) I truly believe that Jesus is the answer to all of men’s problems. He definitely cares more about each of us than anyone else does.
So if you’re a Christian, you have The Answer. You know the true God; the only God. There’s no worries about leaving a god out, or on how to please God. You now walk in the light of the Word. You are a child of the Light.
“He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” ~ Jn 8:12b
Category Archives: Christianity
Did You Wash Behind Your Ears?
The other day, while I was brushing my teeth, I thought about the studies showing that cleaning your mouth reduces your risk of disease—besides gum and teeth diseases. If that is really the case, it’s sad to think that people who otherwise take care of their bodies can still end up with heart disease or arthritis simply because they didn’t take the time to brush their teeth. The same point can be made about many different things: If you don’t take care of wounds they can get infected, if you don’t regularly bathe you can end up with skin problems, stay out in the sun too long without protection and you will get sunburned and possibly, down the road, skin cancer, etc.
What’s worse is that many Christians make the same mistakes in their spiritual lives. All too often, we neglect something in our daily “hygiene”. Prayer, reading and meditating on the Bible, and other things are all necessary; stop doing one of them and you will be “overtaken in a fault” (believe me, I know it). It doesn’t matter what else you are doing and taking care of, if you don’t take care of everything something will go wrong. Other times, we get an “injury” or an “illness”. If we ignore these problems they will eventually catch up to us, even if we are healthy in every other area; Steve Jobs proved that.
Proverbs 4:26 says “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.” Once you neglect part of your daily hygiene routine or get hurt or ill, your feet start going down a different path, away from the Great Physician. Please take a spiritual physical; if you don’t pass make an appointment with the Doctor.
A Passion For Souls
Last week, I was reading my Bible in Romans:
“I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:”~ Romans 9:1–3
Ouch. I don’t think I can honestly say that even my grandparents or other close family, much less the average American or Briton, my ancestors. Not even my own siblings. Is that wrong? Is Paul saying that we need to so badly want our family, fellow-citizens to be saved that we would go to Hell if it meant they would go to Heaven? I don’t know. I don’t think so; but could we perhaps want it enough that we would go outside our comfort zone? You could spend $2,000,000,000 on tracts, missions, etc and it would be easier than going to Hell. Could you give $20, $50, $100? It would be far easier to spend the rest of your life as a missionary in Africa or China. Are you willing to go on a missions trip, knock on some doors, hold a banner? “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (1 Pt 3:9)
There is no greater reward than to know that someone has come to Christ through something you have done. Your reward will be great in Heaven. Let us see souls the way God sees them, get a passion for them, and get out of our comfort zone and do something for them. “Hear their cry…”
“The true Christian ideal is not to be happy but to be holy.”
~ A. W. Tozer
“Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervors, or un-commanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God thinks, and willing as God wills.”
~ John Brown
Friday Nights in Auckland
My apologies again for taking so long, but with institute, a computer science course, and several repairs on the house, car, and computer, I haven’t had much time :). However, here is something about one the things we did in New Zealand.
Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, with 1,377,200 people living within its limits. The city is 402 sq. mi (1042 sq. km) with a high point of 2,257 ft (688m), and a low point of sea level (It is on the coast, after all ;)). Auckland is known as the City of Sails due to the large number of sailboats based there. It was to this city that we went, every Friday night, with our Bible, tracts, and Scripture signs.
Auckland City’s location within New Zealand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Auckland has a bit of the feel of New York City, but without quite as many people. But just because there were not as many people does not mean that there was no one to talk to; there were too many! We did what we could, but there were many people nearby that did not get the message of Christ. Throughout the time that I was in New Zealand, the only people we saw more than once in Auckland were the police patrol in that area and the shop owners, with the exception of three young men that we saw twice. The good news is that we were not alone. Almost every night there were people right across the street from us, and a few times Pastor Gustafsson came out with a few of his members. Of course, we had the typical strange encounter now and then, such as: a drunk man arguing with me about something so crazy and mystical I can’t even remember what it was, a man dancing to music from another man (the funny thing was that he looked like a marionette), and the cookie vendor who gave Matthew and I some free macadamia nut cookies, which were a premium cookie, although this was more nice than strange. All in all, we had a great time while giving out the gospel. It was also during one of these nights that Jillian met Vicki, a student at Auckland University, which led to a Bible study at the University. That’s all for now; I’ve got to leave some for more posts, after all.
Letter-boxing
The other day we went letter-boxing (putting tracts straight into the mailboxes). We went as far as the jeep car would go, then hiked through the bush to get to the houses. Continue reading
NZ Update I
I’ve now been here for a week. On Monday the boys and I did some landscaping for a member of the church. Ezra and I biked to Pukekohe to exchange my money on Wednesday and that night was children’s Bible study, Thursday was door knocking in Pukekohe and adult Bible study. Friday night we went street preaching in downtown Auckland with a stop at Wendy’s afterward for a Frosty Cone. We’ve been busy, but we’ve had fun. I get a kick out of practicing and polishing my Kiwi accent. 😉 Jillian said she was jealous that I could it so well. Please pray for me as I do Family School on Sunday. I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers Mate!
The Iroquois and the Soap Company Have It Right
“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
-From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy
I found this quote on the back of a soap bottle from Seventh Generation. It makes me wonder how many times we actually think about the consequences of our actions. Do we even ask ourselves how it will affect us next year? The Iroquois looked 350 years ahead. It might surprise you if you consider what types of decisions have lasting affects: That movie you watched, that book you read, how you use your money, where you go to church-or whether you go to church, even what you eat. Will your entertainments, your friends, your church, etc. lead to your descendants ending up in Hell? It may not do anything to you, but over time it will most likely open the door to worse and worse. Will your health choices show your grandchildren farther down the path to cancer or diabetes? Maybe you’re reading this thinking “I don’t plan on having children or grandchildren”. Well, what about your friends and their children? Your family members and their descendants? You may not realize it, but you have many people watching you, some of whom will follow you. I’ll end with a verse that compliments this: “Ponder the path of thy feet.” -Proverbs 4:26a.
New Zealand
It’s now “official”; I’m going to New Zealand! I’ll be helping the Snyder’s, a missionary family we’ve known for years. Originally, I was going for one year, but, due to new requirements for religious workers, I am not able to apply for a work visa (needed for a visit longer than three months). Instead, I will be going on a three-month visitor visa and applying for a work visa over there to finish out the year if we get the necessary paperwork in time. I will be leaving New York around Memorial Day, stopping in California to visit relatives, and arriving in New Zealand on June 2. Some of the things we will be doing include:
- Children’s Bible club
- Teaching in the schools
- Nursing homes
- Street preaching
- And whatever else Mr. Snyder says
Please pray for me and the Snyder family. I will be posting updates as often as possible.
Very thought-provoking. I’ll admit that I was just a fan for many years until God showed me it was not enough.