Foolish Christians :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles, Sean Gooding

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

“For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Happy New Year to you all! I pray that you had a wonderful time remembering the birth of our Savior and enjoying friends and family. I sure did.

Just a few days ago, I had the chance to see a short video collage of some of the Christmas services that some of the ‘churches’ in the USA did. There were some very ‘interesting’ shows (I would not call them worship services) attended by millions of people. One of the shows was alleged to have cost about $3,000,000. Wow, just wow! Some were entertaining, others very cringe-worthy. But they all speak of the ‘churches’ desire to make the Gospel more palatable to the masses.

There is a famous saying to the effect that ‘true Christianity is not popular, and popular Christianity is not true.’ I have attended well-produced Christian pageants; one of the local Pentecostal churches here in Mississauga used to put one on every year. Thousands came to see it, and I took many to see it. It covered from the manger to the cross to the empty tomb. It was wonderful. The Gospel was clearly laid out and an invitation to receive Jesus at the end. It has been years since I went there, and I am not even sure that they still do it. While this was professionally done, even using real animals and the like, there was no sensationalism to detract from Jesus as the focus.

In our passage today, Paul tells us an eternal truth – the Gospel in its pure form sounds like foolishness to the natural man. Only when we speak the truth of the scriptures and the Holy Spirit opens a person’s eyes can they see the sheer beauty of the Gospel. For those of us who have seen the truth, it never gets old. Those of us in church have heard the Gospel over and over again; I teach about it over and over. There is never a service where we do not speak of the Gospel. Even when it is not the main focus of a message, we always bring it back to this one central thing: Jesus and Him crucified.

I love the study of languages like Greek and the way that words are deliberate. I love the study of archeology and how many, many artifacts have confirmed the Bible. I love that they have discovered thousands and thousands of manuscripts over the centuries that confirm the scriptures; these are all wonderful. But for millennia, all that the Christians had was the word of God. Some had the Old Testament; some had fragments of the New Testament letters. It is unlikely that all of the churches had access to all of the epistles like we do today. But they had enough of the word of God to say it and for the Holy Spirit to take that and convert billions over the last 2 millennia. Romans 10:17 says this:

“So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”

Our only tool is the Bible, the word of God. We are called to speak it often, speak it clearly, and let God do the work that only He can do. Only He can open the eyes of spiritually blind men and make the Gospel make sense. No amount of pageantry, lighting, and performing will make it less foolish. It makes us look foolish.

We are fools for Christ; there is nothing that you can do about that. The very nature of the Gospel is foolish. Supreme Court Justice Scalia once said:

“God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools … and he has not been disappointed. If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world.”

Paul told us this 2,000 years ago, and it still stands true. To the lost, the Gospel is foolishness. But to the saved, it is the greatest thing ever. Now, with our eyes opened and our hearts re-born, we can see the hand of God everywhere, and we can rejoice in the way He superintends our lives for His glory and for our good.

It is okay to be seen as a fool for Jesus. Just don’t be a fool. Stop trying to make the Gospel tastier to the masses; it is not and never will be. Stay the course; as Paul says, we preach Christ crucified, nothing less and nothing else. Stop the shows and the pageantry. Speak the clear, unadulterated Gospel in the simplest terms possible so that a child can understand it, and maybe, just maybe, some of the adults will get it, too.

Go! Be a fool for Jesus, repent, attend church, love your enemies, give to the work of the kingdom, forgive those that hurt you, and pray for the ones that hate you. Trust Jesus when things don’t work out, give Him the glory when they do, and trust that He has everything in His control. Godly wisdom is more than all the degrees in the world.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook (live broadcast of Sunday’s Message at 11 am): https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09

Online: https://www.mmbchurch.ca

Email: support@mmbchurch.ca

 

Now Earthquakes and Signs in The Skies :: By Jim Towers

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles

Quick! Open one of the Bibles you have in your house on the bookshelf, coffee table, closet, or attic – the one left by Paw paw.

Now check out this verse in the book of Joel – the Joel in the Old Testament, for goodness’ sake! The verse of scripture in the book of Joel reads like this: “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke…. Now, quick, check out the world news on your laptop. Do you see any resemblance between the things on the internet and that verse?!

Tennessee, Los Angeles, and Arkansas are experiencing earthquakes, as well as the northeastern states, to say nothing of huge earthquakes in China and Iran – among other small ones here and there.

As for the rain that is inundating the world, Jesus warned us with this parable, “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it.”

Of course, he was speaking of the spiritual implications. Yet we are seeing the physical aspects play out all across the planet, resulting in great and fearful sorrow and wondering when the rains will end.

In Budapest, the Danube River threatens to flood the city, running over its banks. Thailand, too, is inundated by unrelenting rain, as the central coast of California reels like a drunken sailor from earthquakes, while China has just experienced a 6.2 earthquake between Gansu and Qinghai provinces.

Now type anomalies in the skies or UFOs; next, go to earthquakes, and if your heart hasn’t failed you yet, type in war – it’s spelled with only one r – as in red. Smoke comes from war and earthquakes. There you have it, and unless you are blind, you can’t miss it.

Now Oahu and Maui are flooded and are experiencing hurricane-force winds. At the same time, Hezbollah is lobbing bombs from Lebanon all along the northern border of Israel. Meanwhile, Syria and the Houthis continue to lob guided missiles toward Jerusalem – one of which could destroy the Dome of the Rock inadvertently. Then, there would be hell to pay as the Muslim entity blames it on the Israelites.

We, my dear friends, are living in the end times with the Tribulation period right around the corner. Tribulation is spelled trib… but you don’t need that information since you, having received Jesus Christ as your Savior, will be able to watch these events take place from the safety of heaven after you’ve been taken away in what’s called the rapture – or “Parousia,” (not sure of the spelling since it is a Greek word – I think) for those of you who are scholars.

I know that the rapture is something new for you since it was only spoken of since the early 20s – but how could you not believe it if Jesus said two will be working in the field, one taken and the other one left? Or the parable of the bridesmaids, which can only mean one thing – that Jesus will come like a thief in the night to take away His (bride’s) own and that no man knows the day nor the hour – so be prepared!

Now to further make my case, here is a tidbit of information you should know. The Bible also says that knowledge and information will be vastly increased as the end times approach. Thus, it speaks of the internet with its bewildering and mind-boggling information from around the world and beyond. With the James Webb telescope letting us know what is in the furthest reaches of the universe, we are beginning to see what things are out there, including a tic-tac-like object that some astronomers and scientists speculate is God’s home! But can God the creator be confined in any sense of the word? I, for one, think not.

While here on earth, we human beings are seeing more and more weird phenomena in our skies (anomalies and such). It is becoming more apparent that we are not alone and that something is going on out there, such as weird cloud formations, UFOs, and sounds (if you believe in the veracity of some of the articles on the internet, many of which are hoaxes or the rants of some drugged out phony with nothing better to do.

But WAIT! THIS JUST IN…

Now in South Carolina, Georgia, and Jonesboro, Tennessee, and in Hawaii, where a 4.4 rattled windows. If this news doesn’t make your knees buckle, Kim Jong-Un asks his people to prepare for war just when Israel is mopping up the terrorist troublemakers in Gaza.

I would ask – what’s the occasion? It seems everyone wants to fight.

Don’t discount what the Bible says about all these events, but remember that Jesus said, “When you see these things begin to happen, look up, for your redemption draws nigh.” He also said, “Don’t be afraid, for I have overcome the world.” Which is to say that he has everything under control and is coming for His elect (you and I) to whisk us away in the rapture, after which all hell is going to break loose during the seven years of tribulation.

Before closing, this news is BREAKING:

Today, Joe Biden warned that the United States is at risk of being pulled into a direct conflict with Russia if the Kremlin succeeds in its war against Ukraine.

Hey, that sounds fishy to me since he just met with Zalinsky behind closed doors in Washington, and since he couldn’t continue funding Zelinsky’s war – the ultimatum was to help us, or else we’ll spill the beans about Burisma. This is like a spy movie filled with political intrigue.

(Former Comic) Zel: Since you can’t get my money, maybe you could join us in our war with Putin; that would take the heat off you and Fredo, your son, and you would be a war hero!… That is, if you win!

Joe: Let me ask my son what he thinks. He’s as slick as they come, ha, ha. We’ll be going on vacation soon.

Zel: What, again?

So, if you have any sense at all, repent, receive Christ, and prepare for the most breathtaking ride of your life as the rapture and then the tribulation period approaches.

YBIC

Jim Towers

You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or visit me at www.dropzonedelta.com My book Visions, Miracles, Peace, and Power can be ordered on Amazon Books and Kindle. You can also find me on my newly restructured website www.propheticsignsandwonders.com.