Sin Means To Miss The Mark
Ministry Update September 9, 2018
On Wednesday at Missouri State University I couldn’t get a permit for my usual spot. So I open-air preached at Strong Hall. I like Strong Hall, it was the first spot I witnessed at when I started witnessing at MSU around seven years ago. Toward the end of the message, a young woman stopped to listen and then she came over to talk afterwards. She studies Hebrew at the university and she said the Greek word for sin means to miss the mark. To that I said a hearty Amen!
But unfortunately, that was absolutely the only thing we agreed upon. No matter where I pointed her to in Scripture, she didn’t agree with it. In fact, she doesn’t even believe all the Bible is the inspired word of God. I didn’t get a chance to tell her this, but anytime you disagree with Scripture, you are placing yourself above God. How foolish is that? The Bible affirms that all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). Jesus constantly affirmed the Scriptures (Matthew 5:17-19). She believes Jesus, but doesn’t believe Paul. Ironically, every time I pointed her to something Jesus said (that disagreed with her viewpoint) she didn’t believe it meant what the text clearly states.
Heaven And Hell Are A State Of Mind?
For example, she doesn’t believe in a literal Heaven or Hell. I pointed her to Luke 16:19-31 where Jesus clearly talked about the torments of Hell and how the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to witness to his brothers so they would repent and not end up in Hell. But she still believes Hell is just a state of mind. Heaven and Hell to her pertains to this earth, you are in Heaven (near God) if you aren’t sinning, but you are in Hell if you are sinning and far from God. The student also believes the afterlife is also just a state of mind. She also believes that we are not punished for our sins, the consequences are the punishment. I told her that there are consequences for our actions, but God does punish sin.
She was big on the Torah, so I pointed out that in the Torah, we die because of our own sin (Numbers 27:3; Numbers 16:23-33). That sounds to me like we are punished for our sins. I also pointed her to Revelation 21:8 where Jesus says that all lairs will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone. She actually chuckled and said you don’t believe in a literal burning lake of fire, do you?
Yes I Believe Jesus
I assured her that I do believe it. Jesus said it, I believe it. I also asked her about Jesus saying that He was going to prepare a place for those who believe in Him. She went back to her belief that Jesus was referring to a state of mind and also about Him living inside us. I had to go back to work, but sadly she refused a Gospel tract. She’s seen them before and said she knows what I believe.
As we parted ways, she asked about the Gospel of Thomas that somehow it was more credible than Paul’s writings because it was written earlier. So you’re telling me because something is older it makes it true? I really feel sorry for this young woman. She’s going to someday graduate with a religious degree from MSU and she’s obviously lost as the day is long. You cannot deny Scripture and be saved. That doesn’t mean any of us understand everything in the Bible, but you need to believe the basics. When you start picking and choosing what you like and believe and discounting the plain truth of the text, you are blaspheming God and you are committing a great sin. This young lady truly needs to repent and surrender her life to Jesus, the real Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible.
Tropical Storm Gordon Effects Our Outreaches
Sadly, tropical storm Gordon caused Missouri State to move their football game up from 6 pm September 6, 2018 to 11 am that same day. Since Conner, Thomas and I all work full-time jobs, we couldn’t take off and witness at 10 am before the game. We had to cancel the outreach. Then the effects of Gordon were still around the next day and it rained during Art Walk, Friday night. It rained hard before Conner and Erica and I met downtown to witness. In fact, flash flood warnings had just gone out before we got there, but thankfully it lightened up once we were downtown.
Conner and I both brought messages. He open-air preached about the selfishness of unbelievers and I talked about how we are not ashamed of the Gospel. We know it must look foolish to stand on a street corner in the rain and lift up the name of Jesus, but we are not ashamed to do so. Jesus bore our reproach, humiliation and shame as He hung on the cross. What’s a little water in comparison to that? Then Erica led us in singing a few hymns to end the night. Singing and preaching in the rain wasn’t bad at all. Surprisingly there were some people walking by when we witnessed downtown.
(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others. Time short and the days are evil. Redeem the time. Tell others about our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ)