Monday, March 10, 2008

How well do you follow instructions?

I am sure you have all seen the following...


1. Read all directions before doing anything.

2. On a sheet of lined paper, write your name in the upper right corner.

3. Number your paper from #1-#7, leaving two blank spaces between each number.

4. Draw five small squares beside #1.

5. Put an "X" in the second and fourth squares.

6. Put a circle around #2 on your paper.

7. Count the number of words in the first sentence and write the answer beside #3 on your paper.

8. Say your name out loud.

9. Write today's date beside #4 on your paper.

10.Stand up and sit back down again.

11.Choose one of the following words and say it out loud:
Iguana
Moose
Gunky
Geek

12.Write the words "Job Search Club" beside #5 on your paper

13.Now that you have completed the reading, skip all directions except the first two.

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I can remember doing this when I was in junior high school. Somewhere in the 7th to 9th grades. I failed it. Just like everyone else in my class. We all got a good laugh out of it as it shows how we fail to truly follow instructions.

We can laugh about that! but what about what the Bible says?

I will choose two commands in the Bible and we will see how well you are doing in following instructions...

Let's pick the very first thing that Jesus said in His ministry here on earth. We must realize that this is the very first thing He said so it must have some level of importance.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The theme of repentance runs all the way through the bible. Jesus chose this verse as His opening verse for His ministry. Why did He choose this one?

Because without repentance, there is no salvation! Plain and simple! Unless ye repent, ye shall likewise perish!

Now let's look at the last thing Jesus spoke in His ministry.

Go, into all the world preaching the gospel to every creature.

God's will is to bring the redeemed of the Lord together in one in heaven and on earth.

We are to reach out to the lost whether they be Jew or Gentile. We are to preach God's Word in season and out of season.

Do you notice something about these two statements/verses?

They are both entirely neglected by today's contemporary church!

The call for repentance is not done because pastor's are afraid of offending people with God's Word. They don't want to lose members.

The Great Commission has turned into a friendship evangelism in the sense that it is all about bringing people into the church. It has nothing to do with giving them the whole gospel message for the sake of their salvation. It is all about increasing membership in a church.

Is it any wonder why only 2% of Christians actually do evangelism?

Obedience is not taught! People are told to believe in Jesus but are not told to repent of their sins and are not told to go out into the world and reach the lost. How sad it is that churches and pastors have decided to not listen to Jesus. They have ignored His teaching completely!

May God have mercy on them.

Not following God's instructions is not a laughing matter! is it?

4 comments:

Jason said...

Another one they had us do was the whole, "Tell your teacher how to make a PBJ sandwich." And you wouldn't do it step by step, making sure you didn't take knowledge for granted. Like when you told her to put some peanut butter on the knife she would try to do so and stab the knife directly through the lid since you didn't tell her to take the lid off.

I wonder if there are some pastors who like that teacher neglect teaching what sin is because they figure that everyone knows what sin is. (Some I think think of studying the bible as a leisure time event.)

I myself fail miserably in following God's direction.

michelle said...

i was totally doing that exercise in my head... hahaha... I'm happy to say my church preaches the Gospel... :-)

pastorbrianculver said...

Praise God for that Michelle, as I am sure you have found, there are many churches in your community that do not preach the whole gospel message! I am thankful that you have found one that does. I praise God for you being in a church that edifies the body of believers!

pastorbrianculver said...

Jason, you're not talking about Jessie here now are you?? She knows to take the lid off the peanut butter, right? just kidding Jessie!

actually, you hit it right on the head with your comment...

there are pastors who neglect to teach what sin is because they figure everyone knows what sin is. That is why I fell into mormonism, that is why I was not saved early on in my "Christian" walk. It wasn't until sin was preached and I realized how sinful I was towards God (because it was towards God and God alone that I had sinned) it was then that I knew about the need to repent and to cling to Jesus as my Savior!

very good point Jason!