The claim that Roman soldiers executed the God of the universe on a cross, like a criminal, also assaults our rational minds. It's an affront to the pride we carry for having the gift of reason that puts us above the animals.
Plenty of tolerant people out there say, "Okay, you're into this cross thing, and Jesus being crucified, and that's your truth. Good for you - we are an inclusive people. You're welcome to your foolish perspective, your simple, silly story of a crucified Jew, and that's fine if that's your truth. But it's not our truth."
Well here's the rub: It is your truth. It's everybody's truth. It's the only truth. The power of the crucified Christ is the only power of God by which He saves.
Wow, I love that. I wish I could write like that. (I guess if we all could write like that, John MacArthurs writings wouldn't be anything special.) It seems that the seeker sensitive, pop culture, fluff filled churches of today have not even come close to preaching anything like this in a long time, if ever at all.
It seems that the church in the western world has forgotten 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
This whole passage flies in the face of performance oriented church as it is done at mega churches all over America. How can we rationalize all of the lights and glitz when Paul makes it abundantly clear here that the path to Christ is not a pretty one. We should not do anything that brings glory to ourselves in the presentation of the gospel. God is a jealous God. Just like when a hitter in baseball hits a dry streak, he has to go back to the basics to make it right. It is time to return to the basics of Christianity. It is time to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is time to preach denial of self and taking up your cross and following Jesus.
Yeah, yeah, I've heard all of the arguments for making church seem more "friendly" and "safe" for people who are "seeking". Seeking? Romans 3:11 tells us- there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. So how did they come up with this whole "seeker sensitive" thingy anyway? Maybe Romans 3:11 isn't in the Message. Well, I just looked, and it is....sorta. You can look it up yourself. I'll not grace my blog with that kind of tripe.
Gotta go because sleep calls. I'll post more later on this book.
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