…And yet the principal point in the spiritual life so entirely consists in disposing ourselves to grace by purity of life that if two persons were to consecrate themselves to the service of God at the same time and one were to devote himself wholly to good works and the other to apply himself altogether to the purifying of his heart and to rooting out whatever within him was opposed to grace the latter would attain to perfection twice as soon as the former. [... Louis Lallemant]
12 Facts That Historians Cannot Dispute:
1. Jesus died by Roman Crucifixion.
2. He was buried, most likely in a private tomb.
3. Soon afterward, the disciples were discouraged, bereaved, and despondent, having lost hope.
4. Jesus’ tomb was found empty very soon after his interment.
5. The disciples had experiences that they believed were actual appearances of the risen Jesus.
6. Due to these experiences, the disciples lives were thoroughly transformed, even being willing to die for this belief.
7. The proclamation of the resurrection took place very early, at the beginning of church history.
8. The disciples public testimony and preaching of the resurrection took place in the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus had been crucified and buried shortly before.
9. The Gospel message centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus.
10. Sunday was the primary day for gathering and worshiping.
11. James, the brother of Jesus and a former skeptic, was converted when, he believed, he was the risen Jesus.
12. Just a few years later, Saul of Tarsus (Paul) became a Christian believer due to an experience that he believed was an appearance of the risen Jesus.
Dr. Gary Habermas’ 12 Indisputables – from the Risen Jesus and Future Hope [Roman & Littlefield 2003]
1 Peter 3:15-16 (TNIV)
15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
NO SERIOUS HISTORIAN DISPUTES THE FACT THAT JESUS EXISTED.
Mark 7:20-23 (Today’s New International Version)
20 He went on: “What comes out of you is what defiles you. 21 For from within, out of your hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile you.”
What’s wrong with man?
What’s wrong with the world?
What’s wrong in this nation in which we live?
Jesus had an answer He said that ALL of these evil things come from within us.
Man has a disease and that disease is called Sin… it produces gossip, evil thoughts, theft, sexual immorality, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, murder etc…… All of these things come from within man and on the larger scale they end up in the production of wars, social injustices, etc.
Our national problems are in actuality only a reflection of our individual problems.
Our conciseness have become dulled… We have come to accept things like murder and war as the norm.
We don’t even blink an eye or shed a tear anymore when we hear of a thirteen year old dying in the street at the hand of another child.
We have come to accept it as ” just part of life” as we know it [today] when a pastor is gunned down, literally murdered, while delivering the Word of God on a Sunday morning standing at the alter of a church sanctuary!
And those that do mourn these senseless losses of life; those that do grieve the utter depravity of the current world, the current state of man, those that cannot help but feel the hurt deep within their hearts are often times looked upon as being somehow unhealthy, as “dwelling” upon the issues and possibly to be suffering from “mental or emotional instability” simply because they cannot help but to grieve these things which the majority of our society has come to accept as the norm.
So, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD TODAY? What is wrong is precisely what Jesus states in Mark 7: 20-23.
However, what can correct that wrong in the world is TO KNOW THE LOVE OF JESUS…And that is what the world does not know, as a majority, is JESUS. Please don’t misunderstand the point here, there are indeed tens of thousands of Godly men and women among us. This message is in no manner intended to undermined that fact.
John 3:16 (Today’s New International Version)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
He laid His life down to spare us from the burden of our Sins……Therefore, it is a wonder, why are we not sharing the Good News of His great love with the world as though our lives depend upon Him?
JESUS is the ONLY hope for our hurting world – We must get back to the basics of sharing His message of redemption and sanctification with the world.
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17b) (NIV)
article source: ‘Introduction To Evangelism‘
“ Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. And lo, there were many fish in the waters all around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry.
Year after year these who called themselves fishermen met in meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they might go about fishing.
Continually they searched for new and better definitions of fishing. They sponsored costly nationwide and worldwide congresses to discuss fishing and to promote fishing and hear about all the ways of fishing.
These fishermen built large, beautiful buildings called “Fishing Headquarters.” The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish. One thing they didn’t do, however; they didn’t fish.
They organized a board to send out fishermen to where there were many fish. The board was formed by those who had the great vision and courage to speak about fishing, to define fishing, and to promote the idea of fishing in far-away streams and lakes where many other fish of different colors lived.
Also the board hired staffs and appointed committees and held many meetings to define fishing, to defend fishing, and to decide what new streams should be thought about. But the staff and committee members did not fish.
Expensive training centers were built to teach fishermen how to fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology, but the teachers did not fish. They only taught fishing. Year after year, graduates were sent to do full-time fishing, some to distant waters filled with fish.
Further, the fishermen built large printing houses to publish fishing guides. A speaker’s bureau was also provided to schedule special speakers on the subject of fishing.
Many who felt the call to be fishermen responded, and were sent to fish. But like the fishermen back home, they never fished.
Some also said they wanted to be part of the fishing party, but they felt called to furnish fishing equipment. Others felt their job was to relate to the fish in a good way so the fish would know the difference between good and bad fishermen.
After one stirring meeting on “The Necessity for Fishing,” a young fellow left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported he had caught two outstanding fish. He was honored for his excellent catch and scheduled to visit all the big meetings possible to tell how he did it.
So he quit his fishing in order to have time to tell about the experience to the other fishermen. He was also placed on the Fisherman’s General Board as a person having considerable experience.
Now it’s true that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. They received the ridicule of some who made fun of their fishermen clubs and the fact that they claimed to be fishermen yet never fished.
They wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meetings to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men?
Imagine how hurt some were when one day a person suggested that those who didn’t catch fish were really not fishermen, no matter how much they claimed to be. Yet it did sound correct. Is a person a fisherman if year after year he never catches a fish? ”
