The Twisted Gospels
Recently, while I was eating my mid-ride snack at the lake, there was a family enjoying a picnic in the same shelter; we were all seeking relief from the summer heat and humidity of the South. I’m actually glad that fall starts in a few weeks. I think my sheltermates feel the same as I do.
Unfortunately, fall in the South typically has a mixture of hot days and cool days TWISTED together and you never know what you may get from day-to-day. And that’s what this new blog will be about, WHEN EVERYTHING IS CHANGING, it can be confusing. CAN YOU FEEL IT?
Back at the lake, the men in the group began to drink beer and laugh obnoxiously. Two little boys in the family decided to come and sit with me at a picnic table. As the little boys and I shared biking stories, one of the men walked off through the park drinking a beer and soon one of the boys followed him.
It wasn’t long before the little boy came running back to the shelter screaming, “Poppa needs help, he fell and can’t get up!” Immediately all of the women in the family began running up the road following the little boy.
The other men stayed back and continued drinking, one of them told me not to worry about, “Poppa”, he just wants some attention. They assured me that everything would be alright. I hung my head in shame and admitted that I too had experienced the PSYCHOSOCIAL tendencies of alchohol and loneliness (Romans 1:18–2:4).
They didn’t realize Poppa was crying for help because like me—all of us, he needs a savior. As the days grow darker and the Curse wreaks havoc on all of humanity, we’re all in need of a superhero to save the day and give us peace from our problems. Now that I’m a BIG BOY, I know no man is an island.
Martin Luther King Jr. noted, “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” Unfortunately, most people look for hope and comfort in temporary things that don’t satisfy—they offer a glimmer of hope, but fail to deliver any lasting value. The world has really gotten it all twisted (1 Peter 1:1–4)!
GOSPEL?
For the first time in seven years my focus in writing will be on evangelism and not discipleship. As I watch the news and see the sad stories of young Michael Brown and actor Robin Williams, I can’t help but want to share the gospel, the “good news” of Jesus. This is the mission of the church, to spread the gospel and SHOW LOVE to the lost—not to be haters.
The word gospel is found about 100 times in the New Testament. It is derived from the Greek noun euangelion and the Greek verb euangelizo, the combined meaning is to bring forth or proclaim good news—in its most excellent form the Greek word euangelizomai (active voice) means to bring news of a great victory!
I can’t think of a better way to describe the message of Jesus. However, over the millennia, the secular world has taken bits of the gospel and fashioned it to fit their desires. . . financial blessings and materialism have become signs of God’s favor—while the only joy many people ever get is a PAYCHECK and they are just getting by trying to be somebody.
The Philanthropy movement has become a way of getting into HEAVEN. As the days grow darker FASTER than ever, more people believe that they can earn God’s favor and have favor because of their works instead of Jesus’ work on the cross, He’s a SUPERHERO that will fight for you!
The list of word crimes goes on and on, it will take some time to unravel the SCHWEET lies from the truth of the gospel (2 Peter 3:16–18). But I AM convinced that the message of Jesus is needed by the multitudes of lost souls who are overcome and overwhelmed by the pressures of a dying world.
Perhaps if the church wasn’t so preoccupied with seeking greatness and trying to WALK ON WATER, we’d see the LONELY PEOPLE who are sinking deep in twisted Gospels.