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Does the world hate me?


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#1 Brian Rushfeldt

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Posted 24 October 2010 - 05:53 AM

This morning AW Tozer talks of the great gulf between us Jesus believers and the world followers. "I cannot hope to escape the charge of bigotry and intolerance that will undoubtedly be brought against me by the confused religionists who seek to make themselves sheep by association" he said.

Today the term bigot and intolerance is often used agaisnt the church - I should say against those Christians who openly promote or defend the gospel publicly. Those who just go to church on Sunday and are silent the rest of the week rarely would be accused. But those who boldy and publicly oppose immorality such as abortion, prostitution, pedophilia, homosexual behavior, divorce, and legalizing drugs,etc. often find the hatred of the world heaped upon us by athiests, secularists, humanists - the worldly people and the religionists.

But God has a church for the purpose of being witnesses, of not only His love and mercy, but his righteousness and justice. In todays corrupt world like that of old there needs to be Daniels, Nehemiahs,Esthers and prophets who are outside the church shedding the light for all to see. He has given us a spirit of power and love and sound mind so we can discuss and debate and testify of just how good and mighty is our Lord. We must not allow the spirit of fear to win at such a crucial time when Christ and His church is under invasion.

#2 Dave Dagwell

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Posted 25 October 2010 - 05:02 AM

This morning AW Tozer talks of the great gulf between us Jesus believers and the world followers. "I cannot hope to escape the charge of bigotry and intolerance that will undoubtedly be brought against me by the confused religionists who seek to make themselves sheep by association" he said.

Today the term bigot and intolerance is often used agaisnt the church - I should say against those Christians who openly promote or defend the gospel publicly. Those who just go to church on Sunday and are silent the rest of the week rarely would be accused. But those who boldy and publicly oppose immorality such as abortion, prostitution, pedophilia, homosexual behavior, divorce, and legalizing drugs,etc. often find the hatred of the world heaped upon us by athiests, secularists, humanists - the worldly people and the religionists.

But God has a church for the purpose of being witnesses, of not only His love and mercy, but his righteousness and justice. In todays corrupt world like that of old there needs to be Daniels, Nehemiahs,Esthers and prophets who are outside the church shedding the light for all to see. He has given us a spirit of power and love and sound mind so we can discuss and debate and testify of just how good and mighty is our Lord. We must not allow the spirit of fear to win at such a crucial time when Christ and His church is under invasion.



#3 Dave Dagwell

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Posted 25 October 2010 - 05:03 AM

How true your words. This is a fulfillment of John 15:18-19. Count it all joy, my brother!

#4 Julie Daube

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Posted 25 October 2010 - 11:07 AM

I needed this messsage today. Just yesterday, I discovered that an unsaved family in our neighborhood, with whom my husband and I have shared Christ's love in word and deed, has been bearing false witness against us. We know that our battle is not against flesh and blood, and that the enemy hates us for having introduced this spiritually impoverished family to the gospel. May God give us all the grace to boldly proclaim Christ and not be afraid when we come under attack from the enemy. Please pray that this family will be saved.

#5 Travis Richey

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Posted 25 October 2010 - 05:47 PM

"But those who boldy and publicly oppose immorality such as abortion, prostitution, pedophilia, homosexual behavior, divorce, and legalizing drugs,etc. often find the hatred of the world heaped upon us by athiests, secularists, humanists - the worldly people and the religionists."

I have found myself contemplating thoughts along these lines of late, especially in the hate charged atmosphere of political debate that is all around us right now. And in doing so, I have come to see that on very few occassions did Jesus "boldly oppose" anything in His circumstances. He did oppose the misuse of the temple, and did so very boldly. He did speak very clearly, and boldly, against the hypocrosy of the religious leaders of His day.

But when it came to sinners and their activities, our Lord tended to be very gentle as He sought those people out and led them to an understanding of Who He is. Jesus did not stand in the ruins of the Samaritan temple at Shechem and shout down the priests and worshippers there that they were bound for hell....instead He had a quiet conversation with a woman who was an outcast in that society, and through that conversation, led many Samaritans to believe the Truth.

I believe that today, we as Christians can damage our own testimony by being too "in your face" with our politics and how and where we choose to confront sin. I do believe we need to follow the example of the early church and pray for boldness to speak....but we need to also pray for the wisdom and discernment to use that boldness effectively. The hate of the world toward us may not always be a badge that we should be proud to wear...sometimes it may be a signal that we need to ask someone's forgiveness for our behavior.

#6 Dave Dagwell

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Posted 26 October 2010 - 03:28 AM

"But those who boldy and publicly oppose immorality such as abortion, prostitution, pedophilia, homosexual behavior, divorce, and legalizing drugs,etc. often find the hatred of the world heaped upon us by athiests, secularists, humanists - the worldly people and the religionists."

I have found myself contemplating thoughts along these lines of late, especially in the hate charged atmosphere of political debate that is all around us right now. And in doing so, I have come to see that on very few occassions did Jesus "boldly oppose" anything in His circumstances. He did oppose the misuse of the temple, and did so very boldly. He did speak very clearly, and boldly, against the hypocrosy of the religious leaders of His day.

But when it came to sinners and their activities, our Lord tended to be very gentle as He sought those people out and led them to an understanding of Who He is. Jesus did not stand in the ruins of the Samaritan temple at Shechem and shout down the priests and worshippers there that they were bound for hell....instead He had a quiet conversation with a woman who was an outcast in that society, and through that conversation, led many Samaritans to believe the Truth.

I believe that today, we as Christians can damage our own testimony by being too "in your face" with our politics and how and where we choose to confront sin. I do believe we need to follow the example of the early church and pray for boldness to speak....but we need to also pray for the wisdom and discernment to use that boldness effectively. The hate of the world toward us may not always be a badge that we should be proud to wear...sometimes it may be a signal that we need to ask someone's forgiveness for our behavior.



#7 Dave Dagwell

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Posted 26 October 2010 - 04:01 AM

Travis,
I am in complete agreement with you. Jesus didn't focus his time and energy on organized protests, marches, boycotts or other "in your face" confrontations to sway someone's opinion to get people to change their political or moral positions on issues. He focused on the heart, much like we do at Capitol Commission. Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the capitol communities of our nation through evangelism, establishing, equipping and encouraging our leaders. We believe that unless the hearts of our leaders and legislators are changed, our nation will not change. Lasting change will only come about with a heart change. As my Toser Devotional for today communicates from 1 Cor 2:14,
"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things
that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned."

Trying to convince politicians to take a biblical worldview on moral and ethical issues is like trying to convince a corpse. Forget trying to get their attention by knocking on the casket. Instead, we must ask the Holy Spirit to prepare their hearts for our salvation, heart-changing message and meet with them personally. If we can't meet with them, we can pray for them as Paul commands us to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-4. We will be having election eve prayer walks at many of our state capitols across the nation next Monday evening.

#8 Dan Messersmith

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Posted 26 October 2010 - 08:40 PM

Brian ,.. I see your point and agree with it to an extent . I myself, for 30 yrs was a Christian not making much of a difference in this world. I was walking around with my salvation tucked in my pocket and just "waiting on Jesus" .
Then thru a series of events in my life , God began deeply convicting me of my behavior. To make a long story short; He changed my prospective on life .
I do believe we need to be bold from the standpoint of simply having the courage to speak when we might not otherwise. The thing we have to be mindful of though is ; are the words we speak being delivered with the same degree of mercy and love shown to us by our Creator?
I don't believe we can truly be used by God according to His will and purpose without our heart being surrendered to Him first .
It's how I now start my day now and it's a process I now practice. The goal is to be intentional about getting "right" with Him each morning and see what happens. I'm not nearly as concerned about "christian doing" as I am about "christian being', because when we speak, it can't be "our own words" and we people look into our eyes , if all they see is us then something went terribly wrong.

#9 Robert Sanford

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Posted 01 November 2010 - 07:43 AM

Dan, Thanks for your words on "Christian being versus Christian doing." I think about this almost daily. The posts throughout FB and Twiiter on the intolerant and ignorant Christians. So I am glad to know others are looking for truth in the midst of this confusion. What actually brings God glory. What brings the gospel to those that are headed toward a Christless etermnity? What communicates God's love? Where does truth-telling require calling sin what it is?

These are seldom simple in my mind. So the call to "take up our cross daily and follow Him" seems a good word for the day.