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Tag: media

  • Is the Evangelical Christian?

    Is the Evangelical Christian?

    What’s YOUR image of the evangelical christian?

    What is it that they do? Where do YOU hear about them?

    How do YOU become one? (Would you even want to add YOUR name to a list of evangelical Christians?)

    This all-American anomaly does seem more prevalent in certain months of certain years. It’s practically an insult, isn’t it?

    Who is calling out these evangelical christians so visible in the media?

    Good News – Bad News

    First, the Good News.

    εὐαγγελιστής – Evangelist (noun) – The Evangelist brings good news! It’s the name given to the NT heralds of salvation through Christ who are not apostles.

    Philip and the Ethiopian official in his chariot on the road from Jerusalem in Gaza, reading the scroll of Isaiah before he is baptized

    Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” And Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said,

    “Do you understand what you are reading?”

    And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

    Acts of the Apostles 8:26-40 Legacy Standard Bible

    GOOD NEWS: Philip is a Biblical example of an Evangelical Christian.

    Evangelicals are preachers – those who have received their Gospel from the angels of God!

    Christians are called to proclaim Jesus Christ, preaching His Gospel Good News to those drawn by God to eternal life.

    For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard.

    Hebrews 4:2 – HNV

    Now the Bad News (and it is two-fold).

    Many evangelical christians do NOT follow Jesus Christ

    1. Many who hear the Good News proclaimed will not benefit.
    2. Some who claim to bring their good news to all do not preach Christ. (Listen with caution to where these so-called evangelicals would lead you and their loyal herds into the turmoil of this world.)

    Listen to the sound reasoning of the Apostle Paul as he encourages believers of the Church at Corinth:

    But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

    For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. – 2 Corinthians 4:3-5 CSB

    A Christian Evangelical

    The authentic evangelical Christian claims no Lord other than Jesus Christ or agenda before the Gospel of Scripture.

    Roger@talkofJESUS.com

    The Gospel of Jesus Christ is foremost in the proclamation of the evangelical.

    • Political and cultural cause do not become a gospel for an authentic evangelical Christian.

    It is both true and troublesome that the label ‘Christians‘ was first used in Antioch (Acts 11:26) to malign followers of Jesus Christ compared to other religions and contemporarily used to claim or malign Jesus as a cause for or against culture unrelated to Christ.

    Not every evangelical is so, just because someone called them an ‘evangelical christian’ away from the context of worship.

    • The authentic evangelical worshiper will not ride every wave of contemporary culture or cling to cultural traditions of their past.
    • An authentic evangelical church does not blindly follow the vision of a pastor ahead of the Gospel which God has revealed in the Bible.
    • The authentic evangelical preacher does not substitute his own words for the true Gospel written in Scripture.

    What is it that authentic Evangelical Christians do?

    They evangelize good news of Christ.

    The Gospel is Good News for sinners saved from death and the judgement of God. But the NEWS of Jesus Christ is NOT a topic shared by the world set against God.

    Is the Lord Jesus Christ the HEADLINE of media?

    Hardly.

    What is it that Republicans do? They evangelize the good news of the republic (regardless of who they claim as their god).

    And what is it that Democrats do? They evangelize the good news of democracy (regardless of what universal religion of the masses they claim).

    Who is calling out these evangelical christians so visible in the media?

    The opposition – opponents both of each other and against Jesus Christ.

    So what is the business of media (including, of course, SOCIAL MEDIA)?

    NEWS that sells.

    Viral News that spreads through the unconsciousness of addicted consumers of culture.

    NEWS creates COVID

    – a Culture Of Viral Influential Destruction

    of its consumed viewers, readers, listeners and virtual audience.

    Whenever the world believes they can once again crucify the Lord God on their cross,

    the NEWS maligns evangelical christians as human examples

    demonstrating how God cannot save their world or their souls.

    From Tents to Stadiums & Community to MEGA-Church

    The Apostles of the first century Church appointed other men like Philip to serve their growing church and preach the Gospel. These men and women were evangelical Christians in the fullest sense, proclaiming Gospel Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord to all the world — men, women and children of every culture and nation.

    Their churches (some to which we have letters from the Apostles) were mostly house churches or gatherings of the saints in certain public places.

    Evangelism was by word of mouth and by their own example of Christ-like uniqueness from the cultures in which they lived.

    Peter, John, Paul, Philip, Barnabas, Luke and many others represent Christ as evangels of their first century lives. They traveled between communities, wrote letters, sent money and pastoral advice and stayed with these believers for a time when the Spirit led them to build up the Church.

    The Tabernacle was central to the Hebrew community as they traveled to the Promised Land

    Paul made tents for travelers, but by the days of the explorers of later centuries, larger tents became meeting places – a public square in the middle of nowhere as in the days of the Tabernacle of Moses.

    Evangelical Christians have gone into all the world in every century between the first and twenty-first an proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    a Glance at Evangelicalism Divided

    evangelical christians worshiping in church

    The impression of Christ by the evangelical of the twentieth century became tainted by evangelicals themselves, a trend which has multiplied into further contention in our cultural churches of the twenty-first century.

    We will continue our look at Evangelical Christian Churches NEXT TIME in a brief overview of 1950-2000 by Iain Murray.

    Stay tuned…

  • 12 Men Texting as their Messiah approaches – Part 2

    12 Men Texting as their Messiah approaches – Part 2

    A Context to Texting

    You may find the photo headline of this post somewhat whimsical, but my incongruous placement of 21st century communications devices into first century Jewish hands comes with a purpose. Just imagine yourself in this scene of controversy.

    The very irony of our recent look back at the seriousness of what Daniel had to say about the future coming of the Messiah of Israel adds to divisions of thought by first century Jews.

    Any anachronistic imagery of the last days by Prophets like Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah and many more must have met with diverse interpretation.

    texting group - and you can be part of one to Talk of JESUS Christ in social media - 3-part series.

    Suppose the twelve Apostles and religious rulers of Jerusalem had communication tools such we do.

    Would they have been texting ahead as the Messiah Jesus approached?

    Of course these historical events did take place in the first century, but what if Jesus approached our city now?

    What do you think would happen?

    Consider the motivations of those in John’s Gospel as if they could communicate as quickly as we do in this 21st century A.D.

    The Jerusalem Jesus approached

    Jerusalem is a city under Roman imposed rules suppressing their world through might and mitigated right imposed by compromising captive national and local leaders. Their religious leaders convened as the Sanhedrin.

    The Sanhedrin‘s beginning is to be placed at the period in which Asia was convulsed by Alexander the Great and his successors. The Hellenistic kings conceded a great amount of internal freedom to municipal communities, and Palestine was then practically under home rule, and was governed by an aristocratic council of Elders

    John 12:

    google earth image of hills between Bethany and Jerusalem and Ephraim to the north

    You may recall the context of these parting paths from Jesus – Traveling to and from Bethany.

    The Twelve Apostles and many other Jews have just witnessed the Lord Jesus raise Lazarus from the grave!

    After returning to Bethany from Ephraim in the hills far-removed from Jerusalem’s public eye, they return to the home of Lazarus.

    Mary, sister to lazarus pours expensive oil on Jesus’ feet and one of the Twelve objects.

    5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

    We then followed the separate path of the Messiah and His Apostles away from the amazed public eyewitness of this great sign in Bethany.

    Good News / Bad News?

    Just image the Good News of the texts between those traveling with Jesus and the mourners of Bethany!

    Who did they tell of this confirmation of Israel’s Messiah?

    Last time we followed the storyline of the Good News (as Jesus retreated to the hills one last time). But now we will return to Bethany and follow the thread of bad news (no doubt texted ahead to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem). Now we turn to a divergent path headed in a different direction.

    Path of the Betrayer

    6 Now he [ Judas Iscariot ] said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it.

    7 So Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep [the rest of] it for the day of My burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”

    The impulse of betrayal

    What does a zealous follower of a powerful man do when spurned by his idolized leader who fails to take the path he had expected?

    (Perhaps this is not so irrelevant to these times and leaders as well.)

    Judas would have texted other zealots he knew in the capital, those in the palaces of power.

    Roger Harned- talkofJesus.com

    John 13:

    Once more, jumping ahead to follow Judas after the Messiah’s triumphal entry to the gates of Judah’s capital:

    2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him…

    To Peter the Lord said:

    … You are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

    Judas’ Betrayal Predicted

    You’ve entered the Holy gathering at the Table with the Lord.

    HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR CELL PHONES?

    You just can’t wait to tell your friends back home and waiting in the public square what has just happened. But just for a moment you allow Jesus to lead the events in the room.

    “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

    22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.

    After a murmuring among those present John tells us that after the urging of Peter he asks the unspoken question on everyone’s mind.

    6 Jesus then answered,

    “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.”

    So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

    A devil revealed reacts

    John has already witnessed in his Gospel that Judas is a devil of a disciple who will betray Jesus. He has also witnessed that Jesus called the leaders of Jerusalem by the same.

    So what will these devils of conspiracy against all righteousness do?

    What would they do in this day?

    Communicate! — “TXT ME“

    After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

    John 13:27 NASB – Judas Iscariot and the command of Jesus

    IF you were the betrayer, wouldn’t you immediately go for your communication device?

    We have to post an ‘update‘ to our ‘friend‘ network in the world we love?

    So did Judas!

    30 So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.

    Returning to Jerusalem

    Judas has left the Lord Jesus on a different path. (I pray that you have not left the presence of the Lord as well, claimer of Christ your savior for this brief life.)

    The Messiah Jesus called Judas a devil – διάβολος diábolos

    • prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely
    • metaph. applied to a man who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him

    Do you follow anyone like that?

    (Better not text them or pay much attention to their media campaigns pointed at you and their ‘followers.’)

    Do you believe that men and women like Judas claim authority as “followers of the Lord?“

    You will always have the poor and you will always have those who do evil in the eyes of the Lord!

    False leaders must ultimately promote a lie of their own false traditions and compromised purity. John uncovers the motives of these ‘leaders.’

    Judas had hoped Jesus would overthrow Jerusalem’s autocratic, aristocratic religious leaders and their Roman allies violently, but the Messiah chose a sacrificial path.

    Now we return to the capital of the land in an earlier visit.

    John 8:

    We have examined this defendant of the devil before in Before Abraham was, I AM! Jesus had called these same leaders with false interpretation of Scripture and devious leadership to their own cultural ends, ‘devils!’

    37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

    42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God…

    “You are of your father the devil, G1228 and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks [fn]a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of [fn]lies.

    45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

    Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”

    The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon.

    John 8:51-52a NASB

    What do you think?

    What BREAKING NEWS will you TXT ahead?

    • Will you remain with the Messiah, essentially following obediently as commanded as did the eleven?
    • Or will you betray your only Hope of cleansing of your sin (and text ahead to the world that the Messiah isn’t what you thought?)

    Perhaps you’ve been listening to distorted news of the powers you seek from principalities you cannot touch. You need to identify with these ‘leaders’ of the world and in the world.

    What is your reaction to the Messiah Jesus approaching in these last days?

    To be continued...
  • SELF-absorbed

    SELF-absorbed

    Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. – Philippians 2:3 NLT 

    I have a list of texts I have sent to friends and loved ones which end with my request for their response. It seems that we have all become too busy with our own agendas to take proper time and response to others. Are they too SELF-absorbed to answer ME?

    The worst offenders on MY list are those I care about most. (Why don’t they answer ME?) Really, I would have called them, but they are always so busy and it seems I can never find a good time for them that works into MY own busy schedule.

    In fact, what I would most prefer is more PERSONAL contact and time just for ME and them in person… but that never seems to happen. Really, I need a hug now and then. It seems no one in available for such intimate things in these busy days and lonely nights.

    Now for the personal disclaimer: I am most guilty of thinking of MY SELF before serving others in the way I communicate. YOU may add me to your list of those who do not reply instantly to your impersonal texts, emails, forwarded clever emails, facebook stuff, game requests, etc. I do, however, respond personally to telephone calls (unless you are a bill collector or a recording from one of our personal physicians, dentists, school principals & others).

    ScottyWe all seem to have gone off the deep end into the cloud and no message from our communicator can beam us up to the reality of the relationships of this brief life.

    I And then there is:selfie

    “Social media” – an oxymoron for the internet where we can be superficially social.

    It is a place where a “selfie” can define who we are at one instant and then another selfie for our next hours online.

    What does all this have to do with living our life as a Christian in this world? you may ask.

    The application is quite simple (and should be quite SELF-convicting to you and ME). Let’s look at our letter from Paul to the church at Philipi.

    Philippians 2

    English Standard Version (ESV)
    Christ’s Example of Humility

    So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

    3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

    4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

    5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

    Have the same love, Paul advises, as Christ Jesus, who as God humbled Himself to men as a servant.

    Do you empty yourSELF as did our Lord?

    How can we claim Christ, while we witness that we are too busy for our loved ones?

    Therefore, what should we do?

    Be a loving wife – a loving husband – in Person, as if you were Christ Jesus and served your beloved in the same way He washed the feet of His Disciples.

    Be a loving friend, even as Christ wept for Lazarus, dined with Martha and Mary and visited His dear friends in Person at every known opportunity. (Do you think that our Lord did not have other things to do on His important agenda?)

    Be a loving friend like Paul and Peter and John, who all wrote from their hearts to their friends in many churches so many times as they traveled from place to place. The Apostles never forgot their friends, the saints of other churches, as they moved on in their mission, yet continued to pray for these beloved ones.

    Be a listener to those who cry out to you for help. Think how many times Jesus paused in an unexpected place to engage the heart and soul of one who cried out.

    sad selfieHelp me, their eyes say. Help me, their silence speaks. Help my emptiness (even their ‘selfie’ stares into your scrolling heart).

    Have we become, even as those claiming the love of Christ, so busy with our SELF-image of what a ‘christian’ ought to be that we seldom take the time to relate to one another as we would have our Lord love us?

    I offer no answer for us – we, the SELF-proclaimed ‘christians’ who look to others just like everyone else. (Perhaps a little SELF-examination through scripture and prayer would be in order.)

    I will suggest one possible snare into which we ought not fall as we get so caught-up in the rush and impersonal ‘social’ habits of these last days. It is from the Apostle Paul’s caution for the church of the next generation in his letter to Timothy.

    2 Timothy 3English Standard Version (ESV)
    Godlessness in the Last Days

    But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

    2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

    Paul is speaking of NON-Christians; however he warns how such godless people and behaviors easily creep into contact with believers (and he has some unequivocal advice about these relationships).

    Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

    Perhaps the time has come in our own busyness to examine the quality of our love we so flippantly and familiarly overlook in our responses to loved ones – especially in our heartless blind eyes so evident, so near and so frequent in our ‘personal’ devices and ‘social’ communication.

    Is anyone listening? (Please comment.)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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