Next!

Why is it that so many Christians spend hundreds of hours to condense the gospel down to it's bare minimum: memorizing a one-minute monologue - years of study on the "exact point of salvation" - revolutionizing expedient efficiency in saving souls? Some spend more time in the planning than in any form of execution.

I know some are truly thinking, "There's so many lost - I MUST reach as many as possible!" I totally respect that. And I have no problem with these presentations in the vein of planting seeds.

God gave us scripture - but reaching the unbeliever was a charge given to us for personal delivery. The hurdles of salvation aren't usually in the words of the gospel - but in the heart of the hearer. We can't be afraid to give the unbeliever more than a minute.

Blogging about the most important thing...

"Maybe God has given us all different gifts - and different blends of gifts - through the same Spirit for the common good of the body. (1 Corinthians 12)

For the folks in Corinth, "Keeping God's commands is what counts." (1Corinthians 7:19)

For the folks spread across Galatia, "... what counts is a new creation." (Galatians 6:15)

In both cases, circumcision or uncircumcision counts for nothing.

For the folks Paul wrote in Rome, Abraham was justified by faith not works - because they were struggling with the idea that they had to earn justification (Romans 4).

For the folks James wrote, Abraham was justified by faith through works - because they were struggling with indolence and a misconception that mental assent justified them (James 2).

In both cases, active acceptance of God's work in one's life is absolutely crucial."

Take a moment to read Keith Brenton's post, from Blog In My Own Eye, entitled The Most Important Thing. I have to admit, I do agree with him, both in sentiment and frustration

"Maybe I'm just rationalizing in frustration. I gotta tell you, though ...

This possibility that "the most important thing may be different for people that God made different" is of some comfort to me.

Except for the overwhelming conviction that I spend way too much mind-preoccupying, opportunity-squandering, butt-numbing time reading and writing blogs about the most important thing."

Not the same words

Genesis 11:1-9

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.

It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.

"Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech."

So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.

Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

I've been thinking about this passage for some time. In my last post about Living Water, I was honestly just throwing out all the scripture I could find referencing such, and a little commentary. The fella I was discussing this with at another blog had been tossing the term around for a long time. He seems to claim that he completely disagrees with my conclusion on the symbolic (allegorical?) meaning of the phrase - and yet, he then says it is the knowledge of Christ. I thought that was what I said?

I spend a bit more time these days "listening" to the blog conversations and less time entering them. I've noticed that people keep talking around each other. If the conversations continue long enough, the speakers finally realize that they are basically saying the same thing - although it's been rather apparent to those simply listening in.

We may speak the same language - but not the same words.