The Meat Of The Word 10/11/2017

Good Morning,

Hey feet on the floor and let's go! Praise God for another day and a cup of Door County Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti Coffee. Lot's to be thankful for.

November 3rd will find me at church enjoying our Men's Ministry Annual Steak Feed. You will find a couple hundred men grilling an 18 ounce steak and then getting dessert from the Word of God delivered by Pastor Joe.  There's nothing like seeing men and boys chow down to a steak with all the trimmings and washing it down with Sprecher Root Beer. I like my steak hot and cooked medium well. That's how I like to receive the Word of God, fresh from the preacher and hot to the touch! Life changing and challenging to my soul is the powerful Word of God.

I was praying about the blog today and I will share a couple of thoughts on the church and the world. As Christians we are to embrace the worldly and show them the love of Jesus without judging. But I believe within the universal church there is this thought that we have to become like the world to reach the world. Oh, there is a fine line in becoming all things to all people to reach them with the Gospel. One cannot violate God's Word to reach others. Bending the Word is not setting captives free, it takes the Christian captive to the world. Once the Word of God becomes an option it is no option at all. We need to fellowship with the world but on our standards, not allowing the world to believe that we have become tolerant of sinful behaviors which are outside of God's established behaviors. God gives us clear warning to stay within the Word.

Romans 1:28-32

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

2 Timothy 4:2-4New King James Version

2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

We must hold true to the Word of God. We can reach the world without segregating ourselves. Over exaggerating the point would be to have your wife become a prostitute tp reach the prostitutes. The better way would be to bring the prostitute to a better and Godly way of life through love, compassion and example. This does not mean that the prostitute should not be welcomed or sought out by caring and loving people. There is a fine, fine line in reaching people without condoning the sin or becoming part of it. We have to decide if we as Evangelicals are filling the seats in church through plain popularity or building an eternal kingdom based on the foundation of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.

Lot's of meat in this message today, inspired by a friend.

Marty