Christian Living

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"OK, everyone, this church conference is now officially open. Under new business, Deacon Know-It-All has ask to be heard. Go ahead Brother, you have the floor".

"Thank you Mr. Chairman, I'll make this brief". said Deacon Know-It-All, I don't want to hold up Sunday dinner for anyone. We do have a problem, the Deacon continued. I'm sure all of you have noticed the visitor, who has been attending our Sunday morning service for the past several weeks. Well, I'm just afraid he doesn't fit in with our people".

And, if I may be so blunt, this man is quite different from us. He wears this funny robe, similar to the old Bible times and sandals caked with dirt. His long hair is annoying and he actually stinks, when you get close to him. Haven't you all noticed that no one ever sits close to him"?

About this time, Sister Busy- Bee spoke up, "What are we going to do here, she ask. After all, is this church not for everyone, saint and sinner alike. As you all can see, we haven't had many new visitors lately, attending our services. And when we did have some, they never came back after the first visit. Does this not tell you something about our approach to people. If we don't change our attitude, the only members left here will be the older "charter members", left in their gospel wheel chairs."

After Sister Busy-Bee finished speaking, the choir director,, Ms In-Tune raised her hand to speak. " I have noticed when we sing this visitor in question has a hard time " carrying a tune", so to speak. He seems to always want to raise his hands, as if He is praising God, or something. And that sort of distracts attention."

"Well, I've heard enough, said Mr. Penny-Pusher, the church treasure. Why I've never seen him put anything in the plate, when its pass by. In fact, I didn't want to bring this up, but I once saw him take some money out of the plate and give it to that poor old soldier, who sits on the back row. Is that not strange?"

To make a long story short, the church conference continued unusually long that Sunday. For you see, no one really had a real significant answer to Deacon Know-It-All's concerns.

What if Jesus did live today? Would he be accepted in this modern politically correct Christian society? I don't see Jesus laying out His Sunday clothes on Saturday night. Then, getting up on Sunday morning, going to church, returning home to a Sunday southern fried chicken dinner, and then calling it a week.

That was not His conception of spirituality. Nor was it the purpose for his earthly life. On one occasion Jesus said,
........"I have come that you will have life and have it more abundantly".(John 10:10)

Sad to say, Jesus would probably not be accepted in many of our churches today. You see, He was not a member of a particular denomination or church. In today's environment, it's imperative that you be a church member, to be recognized as being socially correct. In other words, if you don't belong to a certain denomination, you are not considered to be a Christian.

We know, from God's word, that Jesus was both truly and properly God and truly and properly Man(early Church Doctrine). You see, before time began, Christ Jesus was already in existence with God.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God "(John 1:1)

So, not only did Jesus bring to earth the attributes of God, but also the human characteristics of man, minus Sin.

" who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth" ( 1Peter 2:22).

From a secular point of view, Jesus appeared a lot like us. The government didn't like him. The religious establishment did not believe His doctrine. He had very few true friends. One in particular denied him in the end. And, He was even persecuted by the structured society of the day, then put to death.

Do you not sometimes, have a tendency to relate to the same earthly struggles that our Lord Jesus experienced, as He walked this earth? Have you tried to break into a new church environment lately, only to experience an uneasy atmosphere, among the church membership? Have your friends and co-workers distanced themselves from you, because of your Christian testimony? Well, to quote the old cliché, "Been there, done that".

So, let's take a journey, down the life of Jesus, compared to today's political correct environment. First, we see a baby, who was virgin born and was first housed in animal stable.

"And she gave birth to her first-born son; and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn' (Luke 2:7)

The Welfare Department would certainly have charged his parents with Child Abuse, due to Him being found wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manager which was used to house the feed hay.

At about twelve years of age, old, Jesus became lost from his parents, when He was taken to church to worship. When found and questioned by his parents, he replied,

" And when they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to hum, "Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, Your Father and I have been anxiously looking for you." ( Luke 2:48)

His reply was that He had to be about His Father's business. Again, the Child Welfare Department would have probably placed Jesus in a Foster home and charged His parents with Child Neglect.

When He was about thirty years old, He was observed, being dunked in a body of water, by an unknown stranger, which prompted a voice from the Heaven saying,

"This is my beloved Son, In whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).

Would this unusual action be grounds for "Criminal Assault.

After coming on the scene, He persuaded twelve country gentleman to drop what they were doing, and follow him.

" Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).

So, the men left their professions , to follow a man they didn't even know. This could possibly be viewed as Obtaining Assistants Under False Pretends.

Once, during the Jewish Passover, Jesus drove the money changers out of the Temple and overturned the money changers table.

"And He made a scourge of cords , and rove them out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers, and overturned them tables." (John 2:15).

Would this have been Criminal Assault?

On numerous occasions, Jesus was found by the Religious Leaders, preaching in public, without a preaching license. or a seminary degree. And on many occasions, He even claimed to be God, Himself.

(See Matthew 23). This could have been acting under False Pretense.

Jesus was well known, on many occasions, for healing the sick and raising people from the dead. "And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23) Was He practicing medicine, without a license?

Why, once He even gave advice to a emotional disturbed women, at a local well. This would defiantly come under practicing psychiatric care without a license.

Jesus even did such super natural feats as turning water into wine, walking on water, feeding over five thousand men, at one time, with just a few fish and bread and. calming the seas, in bad weather, with only His spoken word. (Accounts recorded in the first four books of the New Testament). What would these feats get him charged with, in today's court-of-law.

During the course of His earthly life, He advised His followers, on many occasions that He would be killed and would even be raised from the death, in three days. (Accounts recorded in the first four books of the New Testament). This statement alone caused the Religious leaders to accuse Him of blaspheming God.

Now you have it. We know, based on God's Holy Scriptures, that Jesus was surely God in the flesh and His main purpose was the redemption of mankind. This plan, as recorded in the scripture, is spoken of as "The Full Gospel".

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Today, as in the days of old, the human race does not recognize, or accept, God's deity. Nor, is God's plan of redemptive Salvation accepted.

"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God' (I Corinthians 1:18).

Mankind just cannot understand the simplicity of God's gospel. For you see, mankind is waiting until becoming good enough to approach God. However, it's simply a matter of taking God's grace by faith, and accepting the finished work of God's Son Jesus Christ as accomplished on the cross at Calvary.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works that no one should boast". (Ephesians 3:8-9)

Thus, it's up to us, who claim the name of Christ, to witness to God's redemptive power.

"but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem (your home town), and in Judea (your state) and in Samaria (your country), and even to the remotest parts of the earth". (Acts 1:8).

Amen

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