147 Sermon Illustrations on Change

Gorbachev in discussing the new Soviet policy of "perestroika" and its ensuing changes was quoted in Newsweek as saying, "Jesus Christ alone knew answers to all questions and knew how to feed 20,000 Jews with five loaves of bread. We don't possess that skill, we have no ready prescription to solve all our problems quickly."

Falwell feels these words were well chosen and intended to make an impression on Christians in America, but prays that God will lead this man to open up doors for the gospel in his country.

The American Baptist, Nov/Dec 1988, p. 5:

Same quote. Comment: "And what would that patriarch of pure communism, Karl Marx, think about such Christological allusion? If, as Marx stated, "religion is the opiate of the people," then Gorbachev might well be guilty of substance abuse."

“A church educator could well be called on to spend 30 percent or more of his/her time and energy in conflict resolution,” said William Treadwell, a popular authority on church conflict.

Treadwell, along with Larry McSwain, president of Shorter College, Rome, Ga., discussed recognizing potential conflict and dealing with it creatively. Treadwell is minister of education at First Baptist Church, Waco, Texas, and adjunct professor at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. McSwain and Treadwell are often called on to help churches and ministers find ways to turn conflict situations into constructive learning experiences.

Treadwell reminded the educators they are expected to be agents of change. “But change often causes conflict,” he warned. “While not seeking it, the educator’s task is to engage conflict in such a way that the ‘players’ can integrate convictions and feelings on a higher plane and move forward together. When conflict becomes a win/lose contest, negotiation is called for as an engagement procedure.”

However, Treadwell observed, it is virtually impossible to negotiate a theological issue. “Then,” he said, “it becomes a question of how much diversity a church can handle.”

According to Jeter Basden of Baylor University, outgoing SBREA president who helped plan this year’s program, conference leaders were “on target” as they addressed the theme “Turning Defeat into Victory in Congregational and Personal Conflict.”

Basden, associate professor of ministry guidance at Baylor, used the Alamo, a short distance from the group’s meeting place, as a metaphor for how seeming defeat produced by conflict can be a rallying point for ultimate victory. The conference leaders to whom Basden referred included Chuck Kelly, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, McSwain and Treadwell and Howard Hendricks, distinguished professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and chair of its Center for Christian Leadership.

According to Basden, “The goal was to help ministers deal with conflict created by the diversity of generations in their congregations, the collision of personal expectations with those of constituents and ministers’ internal struggles as they follow their calling.”

In that vein, Hendricks reminded participants “the goal of ministry is not to have a pain-free, stress-free life, but to do what God called you to do in HIS strength.”

In the process of zealously pursuing that calling, however, Hendricks said ministers often go beyond their personal limits, thus producing “burnout.” He went on to list several characteristics of burnout based on 1 Kings 20 (withdrawal, depression and despair, physical/emotional exhaustion, bitterness and self-pity and a feeling of indispensability), along with some practical means of dealing with the condition.

Among the latter were three important things that create “margin” (defined as the gap between rest and exhaustion): a healthy devotional life, time with family and exercise. “Marginless ministry is the disease of the ‘90s,” Hendricks said.

Reflecting on the 1997 meeting in San Antonio, one SBREA member, Ron Palmer of South Carolina, observed, “It is clear that effectiveness in ministry for the years ahead will be determined by our ability to discern our strengths and build on them, rather than focusing on trying to turn weaknesses into strengths. Our present situation has taught us that when you spend energy on weaknesses, you neglect what is already strong, and that makes everything just average.”

_________________

Harton is church ministries group leader, Virginia Baptist Resource Center

”There are new people and new needs. The problem of the church in every generation is to meet those new needs of new people without forfeiting the values in its heritage from the past. To live in the past is to fail the people in the present.” It is the duty of every generation to make the faith relevant to the needs of that generation.

This does not mean playing fast and loose with the essentials. The necessary conservatism comes in here. The essence of the faith is not subject to adaptation; otherwise, what we have is not Christianity but some other religion. But the expression of the faith is another matter. This generation has the responsibility equally with every other generation to tell its contemporaries what Christianity means in terms they can understand.

It is worth reflecting that the word “radical” derives from a Latin term meaning “root.” A radical in the strict sense is one who goes to the root of the matter. In this sense evangelicals must always be radicals. Again and again we must go back to our roots. But plants grow from the roots and what the roots supply. So we apply what we find in our roots to the needs of the day. We do not simply bury our heads in the sand.

We reflect that our Master refused to go along with a hidebound conservatism. There was a conservative party in his day, the Pharisees; but he rarely sided with them. He accepted as fully as any that the ancient Scripture was authoritative. But he saw that the traditional attitude to it had prevented some of his contemporaries from seeing its real meaning. He pointed out that Scripture testified of him (John 5:39). And when he spoke of the man who simply says, “The old is good” (Luke 5:39), he was not commending him: he was castigating him for refusing even to consider the new.

There are always risks in living in a new age. But there is disaster in trying to live in a past age. It is necessary that we conserve the values of the past. But we need the present also. It is always easy to dig in our heels and refuse to be budged from the comfortable past with those values we appreciate so well. It is not particularly difficult to see ourselves as radical, open to the best insights of our day. We are called on to do something much more difficult and important: combine the two.

One of a series in the issue dealing with homosexuals and the possibility of

changing. Interviews several leaders in the small movement.

"... an argument that makes some sense in our modern therapeutic society, but

none at all in biblical thinking [is] the claim that desires - particularly

sexual desires - have a fundamental claim on us, and that those who cannot

fulfill their desires must be unfulfilled."

#951

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NEW YEARS DAY sermon:

"CAN OLD THINGS BECOME NEW?" Luke 5:36-39

I. The need for renewal.

A. New Year's resolutions remind us of need to change.

B. Is dramatic change possible?

1) People tend to resist change.

2) When people claim to change, most others are skeptical.

C. Often, dramatic change isn't a wish, but an absolute necessity.

D. The Bible says people can, and must, change.

1) "Except you are born again, you won't enter kingdom of God."

2) Conversion may start small, but has a big impact.

3) Analogies from self-help groups.

4) Don't just believe in Jesus - do what he says.

II. Old vs. new. (The reason for resistance)

A. We feel safe with what is old and tried-and-true.

B. Jesus brought something totally new and exciting.

III. Being open to newness.

A. Churches certainly resist change.

B. Churches can change.

IV. What will we change about ourselves? Our church? [1740]

*

Are some people beyond help and redemption?

In 1975 at the old prison at Windsor, Vermont, a particular prisoner applied for parole. The mood of society at the time leaned toward prisoners and questioned — even challenged — authorities. To all who knew him the inmate in question seemed an intensely dangerous man. Most guards may not be formally educated in the psychology or pathology of violence, but it is their stock-in-trade to know about it. Here, they saw, was danger. One day in his cell in the oldest part of the prison, in the basement, the prisoner poured lighter fluid over himself and lit a match. A brave and determined guard rushed in and saved him. The matter came to the attention of a Windsor minister and his wife. It seemed to them that kindness might effect something here. They asked that the prisoner be paroled in their custody.

Every employee at the prison was utterly against the idea. But while to the public the parole board and the prison authorities seem two arms of a single body, they are in fact totally independent of each other. The parole board voted affirmatively. Guard Mike Coxon called the area superior of the minister and begged him to tell his subordinate not to take in the prisoner. He told the bishop that the minister and his wife had neither the knowledge nor the experience to deal with such a person. The bishop would not be moved. Let the erring sinner be freed and helped. “We’ll hear about this sooner rather than later,” Coxon said when he saw it was no use going on.

The prisoner went to live with the minister and his wife, and in a little while he entered the home of a Windsor family whose nine-year-old son was being baby-sat by his seventeen-year-old aunt. He raped the teenager. He stabbed the child to death. Coxon was home in bed when Windsor’s police chief called with the news.

A variety of personal stories of how people were led to Christ. One by a neighbor, another by a daughter, by a wife, by a radio preacher.

Jim Young was a successful oil company executive. Wife Alma attended Bible study, got saved. Began studying Bible, going to church. Her life changed. More loving and patient. Peace in difficult situations. Never preached to him.

Jim liked the changes, but didn't understand them. Went to church but didn't like altar call. Finally went to a Bible study and liked the people. Pastor cut it short to watch a ballgame. Pastor asked if he was a Christian. He assumed he was, but hadn't thought much about it. Jim studied Jesus and found the Truth.

"Coming to Christ was a process, directed by the Word of God and the influence of other Christians. Without a word my wife demonstrated Christ's love."

#1196

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The following words were written on the tomb of an Anglican bishop in the crypts of Westminister Abbey:

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.

But it too seemed immovable.

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

And now as I lay on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.

From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.

________

By Anonymous, from Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Patty Hansen

In the book "Gaily the Troubadour," published in 1936, Arthur Guiterman wrote the following poem. Reading his observations, you wouldn't guess it was written nearly fifty years ago.

First dentistry was painless;

Then bicycles were chainless

And carriages were horseless

And many laws, enforceless.

Next, cookery was fireless,

Telegraphy was wireless,

Cigars were nicotineless

And coffee, caffeinless.

Soon oranges were seedless,

The putting green was weedless,

The college boy hatless,

the proper diet, fatless.

Now motor roads are dustless,

The latest steel is rustless,

Our tennis courts are sodless,

Our new religion, godless.

Quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Love is the most durable power in the world. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

“Resistance and nonviolence are not in themselves good. There is another element in our struggle that then makes our resistance and nonviolence truly meaningful. That element is reconciliation. The tactics of nonviolence without the spirit of nonviolence may become a new kind of violence.”

“We are faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time.”

[last two paragraphs from “The Christian Citizen,” Vol. 2, 2000]

Homosexuals are usually rejected, but they seek acceptance and love - and

salvation.

The homosexual son of a California pastor once said,

"Christ first said to the adulterous woman: I love you.

Then he told her to change.

Churches do the opposite.

They say: Change, then we'll love you."

CT, 2/6/81, 37

A West Coast woman and her lesbian friend were at an outdoor flea market. She bought a bumper sticker that said, "Have a Nice Forever." The man who sold it to her asked if she knew Jesus Christ. She said no, and the man told her about his own life, his family, and his conversion to Christ.

She began to get very angry. Finally the woman butted in and said, "Sure God loves you. Why wouldn't he? You're dressed nice. You drive a clean car; you have short hair and a new baby. You're not a thief like me. You don't drink or skip town running from the law like me."

She was a thief, an alcoholic, a child abuser, and a homosexual. He didn't know that, so she threw it in his face. "I'm gay. A homosexual. Do you know what that means?" She was so mad she felt like hitting him, and actually did. She slugged him across the chest and he fell down.

He got up, put his hand on her shoulder, and said quietly, "Praise the Lord. What make you think you have a monopoly on sin?"

The woman could have handled any response but that one. He started talking again and she listened a long time. Finally she accepted Christ. She left her homosexual friend and her lifestyle. She said she has been tempted many times to return, and she did fall once. But after nine years, she believes she has conquered homosexuality, through the power of Jesus.

Sermon in Acts series. Riot in Ephesus. Acts 19:23-32

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GET ALL EXCITED

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I. Religious enthusiasm.

II. Genuine Christianity brings about change.

A. Jesus motivates people to turn their lives around.

B. The mark of a spiritual church remains its impact on people.

III. Change can be disturbing.

A. Those who don't change, react.

B. An outside challenge can reveal our real motivations.

IV. The place of emotions.

A. Emotions are God's gift to us.

B. Emotions are an important part of faith.

C. It is a drawback to be too rational.

D. When God is at work, people get excited.

V. Ignorant zeal or excited faith?

A. Everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

B. Emotions can be manipulated.

C. Be excited, but know what you believe.

A woman and her husband, professing Christians, asked Luis Palau why he was an evangelist. “I long to see people changed by Jesus Christ,” he replied. “That’s my source of satisfaction.” She responded, “In my whole life, I’ve never seen a person actually changed by Jesus Christ.”

Her comment touched his conscience. How changed was he by Christ? How different was he than his unchurched, unconverted neighbors? Palau has seen thousands of lives dramatically changed, even in his own family when his 29-year-old son converted.

There is little enthusiasm in evangelism in churches today, and too much emphasis on political action. But it’s the gospel and its essential partner, prayer, that will change America. Proclamation of the gospel was Paul’s primary course of action to confront and change a pagan society.

Christians should not expect an unconverted person to see eye to eye with them on biblical values and ethics. Some do, but without the Holy Spirit they lack the power to implement those values and ethics. Empowerment to live by biblical values comes only through conversion to Jesus Christ. Of course, conversion is only the beginning. Believers must live in obedience to their Lord in His revealed principles. These are the Christians whom Jesus Christ called the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

When anything but the gospel becomes the church’s top priority in its outreach to the world, we’re merely tending blemished fruit on the tree. Only the gospel deals with the roots. Only the gospel can change America.

The Roman Empire was socially corrupt, and it took a long time for Christians to have a positive influence.

Romans liked spicy "slice of life" theater, with ample nudity, live sexual acts, and the actual torturing of criminals on stage. Chariot racing was an obsession, and (as with modern-day soccer matches) fans of rival factions often rioted. In one riot in A.D. 532, 30,000 people were killed. Note the date: 532 was more than 200 years after the Roman empire had become (in theory, at least) Christian.

Worse than drama and racing were gladiatorial games. Their blood and brutality make 20th century hockey and boxing matches seem like parlor games. Gladiators, most of whom were criminals or prisoners of war, fought to the death. The loser in each contest was usually stabbed through the throat, with the crowds roaring. The bloody sand was raked over, and a new contest would begin. Such bloodbaths were not just for the dregs of society but for everyone, including the emperors. Blood flowed, bodies fell in droves, and the Roman elite cheered.

From the time of Nero on, Christians were part of the spectacle. The famous cry "Christians to the lions!" is truth, not legend. When Christianity became legal in the year 312 under Emperor Constantine, Christian persecution ceased, but the games did not. Did the supposedly Christian emperors find the games disgusting and immoral? If they did, they never let on. Politically speaking, it wouldn't have been prudent. The gory games were a cherished Roman tradition.

Both before and after Constantine's conversion, Christians lamented the evil of Roman public amusements. One Christian author called the games "cannibal banquets for the soul." Other Christian leaders claimed that the public shedding of blood for sport encouraged crime and a general disdain for human life. Even though many gladiators were convicted criminals under a death sentence, sensitive souls grieved that citizens enjoyed watching the butchery. Besides, some professional gladiators made a career out of public slaughter. Many churches refused baptism to a gladiator unless he changed professions, and some congregations refused holy communion to Christians who attended the games.

One Christian tried a more drastic approach. In the fifth century a man named Telemachus leapt into the arena to stop a gladiatorial contest. The mob (composed of citizens who were nominally Christian) stoned him to death. Soon after, the emperor ordered the contests stopped - permanently. They did not end solely became of Telemachus's martyrdom, but because enough Christians, and people influenced by Christians, saw the games as the vulgar, inhumane entertainment that they were.

What can we learn from this? One way to fight an evil is to make fellow believers aware of it. In the days of the empire, pastors reminded their flocks that Christ's people have no business attending such spectacles.

[see also #480]

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Another version from Rev. Brett Blair's illustrations:

Confronting Sin

When Honorius was emperor of Rome, about the year A.D. 400, the great Coliseum of Rome was often filled to overflowing with spectators. These had come from far and near to view the state games. Part of the sport consisted in watching as human beings battled with wild beast or against one another until one or the other was killed. The assembled multitude made Roman holiday of such sport and found its highest delight in the death of a human being. It was on such a day when the vast crowd was watching the contest that a Syrian monk by the name of Telemachus stood up in the vast arena. Telemachus was torn by the utter disregard for the value of human life and so he leaped into the arena in the midst of the gladiatorial show and cried out, "This thing is not right! This thing must stop!" Because he was interfering with their pleasure, the authorities gave the command for Telemachus to be run through with a sword, which was done. Thus he died, but dying he kindled a flame in the hearts and consciences of thinking persons. History records that because of this within a few months the gladiatorial combats began to decline and not long after they passed from history altogether. Why? Because on man dared to speak out against what was wrong.

James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Tyndale, 1988, p. 127

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Another version from Wayne Rice:

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Saint Telemachus, a fourth-century monk who lived in a monastery, felt God calling him to Rome. He couldn't figure out why God would want him in Rome, but he felt the pressure to go. Putting his possessions in a little satchel, he threw the bag over his shoulder and started out over the dusty, westward roads to Rome.

When he got to Rome, people were running about the city in great confusion. He had arrived on a day when the gladiators were going to fight both other gladiators and animals in the amphitheater. Everyone was heading to the amphitheater to watch the entertainment.

Telemachus thought this must be why God had called him to Rome. He walked into the amphitheater. He sat down among 80,000 people who cheered as the gladiators came out proclaiming, "'Hail Caesar! We die to the glory of Caesar."

The little monk thought to himself, Here we are, four centuries after Christ, in a civilized nation, and people are killing one another for the entertainment of the crowd. This isn't Christian!

Telemachus got up out of his seat, ran down the steps, climbed over the wall, walked out to the center of the amphitheater, and stood between two large gladiators. Putting his hands up, he meekly cried out, "In the name of Christ, stop!" The crowd laughed and jeered. One of the gladiators slapped Telemachus in the stomach with his sword and sent him spinning off into the dust.

Telemachus got up and again stood between the two huge gladiators. He repeated, "In the name of Christ, stop." This time the crowd chanted "Run him through!" One of the gladiators took his sword and ran it through Telemachus's stomach. He fell into the dust and the sand turned red as blood ran out of him. One last time, Telemachus weakly cried out, "'In the name of Christ, stop." He died on the amphitheater floor.

The crowd grew silent, and within minutes they emptied out of the amphitheater. History records that, thanks to Saint Telemachus, this was the last gladiatorial contest in the history of the Roman Empire.

Saint Telemachus changed the course of history. So can you. God loves to use one person to make a big difference in the world--and God wants to use you.

The best example we have is when God sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. One man made the greatest difference in the history of the world. God still works through individuals to accomplish His will. Will you be the one He uses next?

________

Hot Illustrations For Youth Talks Wayne Rice, Zonderzan, pp. 195-197.

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Another version from SermonCentral.com:

Rome was celebrating its temporary victory over Alaric the Goth in its usual manner, by watching gladiators fight to the death in the arena, when suddenly there was an interruption. A rudely clad robed figure boldly leaped down into the arena. Telemachus was one of the hermits who devoted themselves to a holy life of prayer and self-denial and kept themselves apart from the wicked life of Rome. Although few of the Roman citizens followed their example, most of them had great respect for these hermits, and the few who recognized Telemachus knew he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage to visit churches and celebrate Christmas in Rome.

Without hesitating an instant, Telemachus advanced upon two gladiators who were engaged in their life-and-death struggle. Laying a hand on one of them, he sternly reproved him for shedding innocent blood, and then, turning toward the thousands of angry faces around him, called to them: “Do not repay God’s mercy in turning away the swords of your enemies by murdering each other!”

Angry shouts drowned out his voice. “This is no place for preaching! On with the combat!” Pushing Telemachus aside, the two gladiators prepared to continue their combat, but Telemachus stepped between them. Enraged at the interference of an outsider with their chosen vocation, the gladiators turned on Telemachus and stabbed him to death.

The crowd fell silent, shocked by the death of this holy man, but his death had not been in vain, for from that day on, no more gladiators ever went into combat in the Colosseum.

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Source: John Foxe, Foxe’s Christian Martyrs of the World, pp. 26-27

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Homosexuality is not a mental disorder and it does not require a cure. That's the word from health professionals, and it's what they want our children taught in school.

A coalition of distinguished pediatricians, psychologists, and educators has mailed a booklet called "Just the Facts" to school superintendents around the country. But it turns out the booklet is short on facts and rather long on propaganda.

The authors represent the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Psychological Association, among others. They say they mailed the booklets because schools are being inundated with "inaccurate" information by conservative groups.

And just what is this so-called "inaccurate information?" Well, the booklet doesn't identify. But apparently it is the belief that homosexuality is a disorder that can be cured.

The booklet claims that reparative therapy and religiously-based transformational ministries are "likely to exacerbate the risk of harassment, harm, and fear" among homosexual teens.

Attempts to change a teenager's sexual orientation, says the booklet, has "little or no potential for achieving changes in orientation."

The authors also accuse reparative therapists of aligning themselves with "societal prejudices against homosexuality."

In reality, of course, when "Just the Facts" authors call certain information "inaccurate," what they really mean is that they disagree with it. Let's take a look at some REAL facts.

First, homosexuality DOES cause mental problems. A study conducted by Otago University's Christchurch School of Medicine in England confirmed that homosexuals are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and to attempt suicide.

And then there's the claim that reparative therapy does not work. Wrong again. A Wall Street Journal article written by five secular psychiatrists found that up to 50 percent of those who seek treatment to overcome homosexuality "experience significant improvement." And religiously-based ministries like Exodus International report high rates of success, as well, with many former homosexuals going on to marry and have children.

So much for the "fact" that therapy doesn't work. Just as important as the facts the authors include are the ones they leave out: For example, the American Public Health Association reports that more than three-quarters of all homosexuals acquire a sexually-transmitted disease at least once.

It's evidence that the gay lobby is not really interested in the truth. Its real goal is to pressure schools to present homosexuality as normative -- and to paint anyone who opposes their agenda as an intolerant bigot. In reality, societies around the world and throughout history have universally recognized that homosexuality is NOT normative.

If you have a child in public school, find out if "Just the Facts" is influencing the curriculum. And if so, you ought to challenge it with school authorities.

Thankfully, some school officials are evaluating the booklet for what it's worth -- and filing it, so to speak, in the round file. Among them is Antioch, California schools chief Lee Jenkins, who dismissed "Just the Facts" as mere "opinion." "Probably," he says, "the most reliable source is former homosexuals who have given up that lifestyle."

Absolutely right, Mr. Jenkins. It's a fact gay lobbyists don't want you to hear.

___________________________

Copyright (c) 1999 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

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Waves of change will confront Christians in the future, whether they stay in the United States or go to the foreign mission field. But the director of missions for the Boston Baptist Association believes uncertainty should not cloud one’s outlook with doom and gloom.

“Change is difficult to understand,” said Ignatius Meimaris. “Society likes to have quiet solitude. But as Christians, we have to say this is God’s opportunity. We have to learn more about him. From that perspective, it’s very healthy and I think that’s the perspective we should have.”

Meimaris was one of the featured speakers at a language leadership conference, “Preparing for Effective Language Ministry in the Twenty-First Century,” organized by Kentucky Baptists’ state language program director Tony Hough.

The Sept. 22-23 conference, however, could have been held in any venue across America. Attendees reflected the nation’s changing ethnic makeup, spanning such backgrounds as Chinese, Romanian, Korean, Hispanic, Haitian and Anglo.

Speakers addressed the shifting tides across the world and America, which was 80 percent white in 1980 but looks to become increasingly Asian and Hispanic.

The latter group is projected to overtake African Americans as the largest U.S. minority group by the year 2000, according to David D’Amico, professor of evangelism at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.

“Envisioning the future for world evangelism is an art and not a science,” D’Amico quoted one researcher in the field. “It may be dangerous, but it must be attempted and defined.”

Among the coming changes D’Amico reviewed are a continuing flow of immigrants to the United States, a need to minister to lower socio-economic classes in urban centers and a scarcity of trained ministers for these people groups.

In trying to reach Hispanics, Haitians and some Indochinese, churches and denominational agencies will have to “conceptualize” ministry forms, he said.

This may mean such unique outreaches as migrant worker churches that only meet for six months a year, short-term missions that only last until an ethnic enclave leaves an area and increasing numbers of bivocational pastors.

While such rapid change can bring conflict between various racial and ethnic groups, Meimaris said Christians should lead the way in bridging these cross- cultural gaps.

Successful churches in the future will be those willing to work with newcomers and remain open to the Holy Spirit’s leadership, he said.

“In some areas where there are a lot of Southern Baptist churches, some congregations wouldn’t let others come in, even though they were dying,” Meimaris commented. “If we’re in the Christian family, we better be accommodating to other believers.”

In Boston, a pioneering area for Southern Baptists, more than 80 percent of Southern Baptist churches don’t have their own buildings, he pointed out. So they meet in American Baptist, Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist churches and grange halls, he said. A few gather upstairs above bars.

Other denominations have even rented their buildings to small ethnic or Anglo SBC churches for payments of $1 per year, he said, displaying the kind of cooperation that needs to be extended to others.

In his opening speech, Hough also touched on the need for Southern Baptists to avoid fear when considering the future.

He compared the situation facing Americans with early Jewish Christians. He said first-century believers could either suffer persecution from the Romans if they stayed committed to Christ or retreat into the ease of old Jewish traditions.

“We face the same kind of (crisis),” Hough said. “In order to minister with ethnic and language groups, we are faced with challenges of huge proportions.”

In the first 25 years of the next century, Hough said the number of immigrants in some ethnic groups will double or even triple. Correspondingly, whites may expect to see their cultural dominance erode significantly, he said.

Coupled with daily reporting of global terrorism and tragedy, such changes leave many U.S. citizens feeling powerless and overwhelmed, he added.

He used the current book “Alien Nation” as an example of the current tidal wave of revulsion to immigration. The book argues Americans will become increasingly alien to each other, requiring an increasingly strained government to arbitrate between them. But Hough disagreed with that outlook.

“What (the author) does not factor in ... is the Christ who tears down walls, the Christ who heals pathological social, psychological and spiritual mutation, the Christ who gives a harmonious song of amazing grace for every race.”

Copyright (c) 1995 Baptist Press

We pride ourselves on problem-solving. From the historic challenge of putting a person on the moon, to the ordinary challenge of fitting 48-hour schedules into 24-hour days, we are solution-finders. But a trend is emerging that has a few deeply concerned: We are beginning to face problems with a magnitude, complexity, and velocity such as humanity has never before experienced.

The exponential increase in the speed of transportation vividly illustrates the dynamics of change which we are facing. The earliest people carried their own burdens at a walking pace. With the invention of the wheel and the domestication of the animals, heavier burdens could be moved at about six miles per hour. This simple progress enabled cities to develop because food could be transported more easily from the farm to the city. This situation lasted for about 6,000 years. Then, with the invention of the internal combustion engine and the automobile, people and things could move at about 60 miles per hour. This tenfold increase (what social scientists call a Force 1 increase, based on the exponential formula 101) had a radical affect on where people lived. Between 1930 and 1950, half the population in the United States moved from the farm to the city, radically altering the pace of life.

A third transportation shift occurred in the 1960s with the jet airplane which could travel at 600 miles per hour. This represents another tenfold increase (a Force 2, or 10 to the power of 2 increase from the horse-and-buggy days), but this time it occurred in 60 years instead of 6,000! The increase led to a mobile society, creating social demands that were never anticipated. The lack of extended families and the loss of long-term social networks have greatly taxed our coping skills. But an even more baffling situation faces us now.

As we enter the Information Age, the transportation of information is the catalyst for a change unlike any we’ve ever seen before. Experts tell us that the speed of change in the last decade, through technology and information, is a Force 30 increase! That’s 10 to the power of 30. What does that mean? If you took one grain of sand and magnified it ten to the thirtieth power, it would be the size of the Milky Way galaxy! The mind boggles and the heart cringes.

Let’s bring it closer to home. A young person is confused as she faces intense peer pressure in school where ethnic diversity and a pluralism of values fuel an intensity that students of earlier generations never knew. A college graduate faces a frightening future with little hope in the midst of a high-tech, globally competitive world. Men and women who prepared for a career 30 years ago now find that the job market has left them behind. A new parent feels twinges of anxiety mixed with joy as he wonders how to raise a responsible child in a world that has lost its moral moorings. A middle-ager feels the threefold squeeze of growing children, aging parents, and the career pressures mounting in these “harvest years.” Grandparents try to figure out how to support their children and grandchildren who are dealing with problems they themselves never had to face. One who has been “resingled” through divorce or death wonders how to find love and loyalty in a partner, when so many have no concept of honorable commitment.

These are trying days. Any one of these problems taxes our problem-solving resources. Yet, if we had only one such problem to manage, we could probably find our way through it. Many individuals and families face all or most of the stresses listed above at the same time! What does one do?

Alan Medinger grew up with a distant father and was early-on attracted to other men. He married, had two daughters, and then entered into a secret homosexual lifestyle that lasted ten years. Except for this one great, dark area in his life, Alan had it all together. He was successful in business, a pillar of the church, and had a wonderful family, including foster children they took it. Theologically, he had it pretty well figured out. All men and women commit sin, and this was his particular area of weakness.

He tried to keep it under control but the compulsion was increasing. His marriage crumbled. His wife began attending a prayer meeting and "let go" of him emotionally and spiritually. Alan himself attended a prayer meeting and was told by the friend who invited him, "What the Lord has for you is far better than anything you could imagine." When Alan heard that a great peace came over him.

As the large group of two or three hundred people were praying and praising God aloud, he quietly surrendered his life, including his homosexuality, to Jesus Christ. He admitted his helplessness, that his life was a wreck, and that he was will to let Him do whatever He would with his life. His fantasies disappeared, he felt a love for his wife Willa that he never knew was possible, and God was no longer a faraway scorekeeper to him. He was a Savior who had come down from His heaven and brought him salvation. Alan no longer feels inadequate around straight men and has assumed headship over his family.

He avoids temptations like literature and movies that would arouse him and has found that the desires from that part of his life are steadily decreasing.

In his sermon “Christmas 365 Days a Year,” Stuart Briscoe brings listeners face to face with their spiritual condition:

“The Bible says we’re being changed from glory to glory even by the Spirit of the Lord. Do you know what you ought to be able to do at the end of a year? You ought to be able to look back and see some specific ways in which you have grown spiritually. There ought to be evidence of new habits, new attitudes, and new abilities relating directly to the fact that you’re being changed by the Spirit of the Lord.

“Can you think of one overwhelming weakness that had you by the throat at the beginning of this year? Do you honestly believe that if Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, came into your life, he could release you from it, and you could live in newness of life?

“You say, ‘I don’t know about that.’ Nothing is impossible with God. If it is part of the divine will, it rests well within the divine capability.”

*

[see #3957 for original article on preaching with illustrations]

True story of a tragic accident and the gracious, forgiving response by young parents.

It was September 9, 1981. Clark and Vicki Sheldon had just moved to this area [Ledgewood, New Jersey]. They were living out of a motel because they hadn't found a house. As they stopped at a red light on Route 46 in Dover, a station wagon barreled down on them at a high rate of speed. His license had been revoked. The second time. The driver had a long history of drug use, but he wasn't on drugs that day. Perhaps his mind was thinking about his crumbling marriage. No one will ever know.

What we do know is that his station wagon hit the Sheldon's car so hard they flipped over into the intersection. The hatchback flew open and their two young daughters were ejected. Very young - Katy was 2, and Lyndsi was 3. Both were killed.

The funeral service was held at Ledgewood Baptist. They didn't know anyone in town, but the accident was so tragic the church was packed. Everyone who was there remembers only one detail of the service, but they remember it perfectly. The Sheldons, both still recovering from injuries, got up and spoke to the congregation. They said they believed it was all part of God's plan. Just as their daughters used to bounce in the back seat of the car, they were now bouncing in heaven, with God was taking care of them.

And they wanted everyone there to forgive the young man for what had happened. They said they held no bad feelings for him. After the service, they got on with their lives.

The reaction of the people I have talked to was that the Sheldons must have been real Christians. And more than a little nuts. Several felt it was almost obscene to forgive their girls' killer.

What do you think? In their situation, what would YOU do? As a Christian, what SHOULD you do?

[At conclusion of message the illustration continued...]

About nine months later the state prosecuted the young man on the charge of “vehicular manslaughter.” It was the first time New Jersey had done this. In the end, the jury found him not guilty, but convicted him of “death by auto” instead. He served a year in prison and was released.

He told his sister-in-law that he had changed the things in himself that had caused the accident. He quit drugs, and changed his devil-may-care attitude. He goes to Alcoholics Anonymous three or four times a week. He also stops by the Dover Soup Kitchen and helps out, and talks to addicts at the Hope House.

His family was devastated and shamed by the accident. A year later, his father died of cancer. The relatives got tired of hiding, and decided to do what they could to get their good name back. The mother helps take care of quintuplets in the area. His sister-in-law got involved in community projects.

None of this will bring two little girls back to life. Only God can do this. When we forgive, we are announcing that we believe God is still in charge, that he will work things out in the end.

If you really believe in God, REALLY BELIEVE, you can extend the gift of grace, forgiveness, to those who wrong you. The Sheldons were not nuts. They just knew what it is all about.

"A FRESH LOOK AT JESUS" sermon series Luke 8:26-39

WHAT CAN JESUS DO TO YOU?

=========================

SERMON SUMMARY: A short communion sermon. Jesus was in the business of

changing people, including "hard cases." We tend to be skeptical but

Jesus can even change us.

I. Jesus changed people.

A. Jesus had a way of getting people's attention.

1) He got noticed by religious types.

2) The "sinners" didn't just notice him, they followed him.

a) It usually brought a drastic change in their life.

B. One of most dramatic conversions - the Crazy Man of Gerasenes.

1) He was the ultimate outcast.

a) He didn't wear clothes or live in society. 8:27,29

b) He was violent and psychotic.

1> Chained and guarded, but still broke free.

2> Self-mutilation. (Mark's version)

c) Jesus' diagnosis is demon-possession.

1> Symptoms are similar to mental illness, but not

identical. Luke 4:40-41

2> Note the supernatural knowledge -and fear- of Jesus.

3> He was enslaved by evil.

2) Jesus delivers him. 8:35

a) The demons vacate.

b) The man returns home as an evangelist.

1> He simply tells what Jesus has done for him.

C. A great story - can it happen today?

II. Our skepticism.

A. Are some people beyond help and redemption?

In 1975 at the old prison at Windsor, Vermont, a particular

prisoner applied for parole.

The mood of society at the time leaned toward prisoners and

questioned - even challenged - authorities.

To all who knew him the inmate in question seemed an intensely

dangerous man.

One day in his cell in the oldest part of the prison, in the

basement, the prisoner lit lighter fluid over himself.

A brave and determined guard rushed in and saved him.

The incident came to the attention of a Windsor minister and

his wife.

It seemed to them that kindness might affect something here.

They asked that the prisoner be paroled in their custody.

Every employee at the prison was utterly against the idea.

The parole board voted for it.

Guard Mike Coxon called the area superior of the minister and

begged him to tell the pastor not to take in the prisoner.

He told the bishop that the minister and his wife had neither

the knowledge nor the experience to deal with such a person.

The bishop would not be moved.

"We'll hear about this sooner rather than later," Coxon said

when he saw it was no use going on.

The prisoner went to live with the minister and his wife, and

in a little while he entered the home of a Windsor family.

The parents were away, and their nine-year-old son was being

baby-sat by his seventeen-year-old aunt.

The prisoner assaulted the teenager.

He stabbed the child to death.

Coxon was home in bed when Windsor's police chief

called with the news.

#962

1) Can we rise above Nature - above our genetics, upbringing?

B. Many feel religion gives us comfort but we remain the same.

1) Jesus disagreed.

III. How Jesus does it.

A. Jesus gives us a new position with God.

1) He justifies us. No one can take it away.

B. He begins a moral revolution in our souls.

[expand...]

C. He places us in fellowship of like-minded believers.

1) Christians should sharpen other Christians.

2) We should be an inspiration to others.

Johnny Hart is one of the best-known cartoonists in America,

drawing "B.C." and "The Wizard of Id" every day.

If you follow those strips, you know that Hart is a

born-again Christian.

At Christmas, Easter and even Halloween his cartoons speak

directly of the good news of Jesus.

Yet Hart admits that for years he was anything but serious

about his walk with God.

He sought pleasure, enjoying the luxuries his successful

career offered.

Johnny had made a commitment to Christ in his earlier years

but never lived it out.

"My wife Bobby and I had backslidden and fallen into a life

of drinking and partying," Johnny recalls.

They ran with the "Hollywood types," yet he was becoming

less and less satisfied.

Then Hart had a satellite dish hooked up at his estate.

A Christian father-and-son team installed it, and temporarily

lived on-site with the Harts.

The two workers were always flipping the dish to a Christian

channel.

Hart jokes that they "used PTL as their test pattern."

He began viewing the shows as well.

Challenged by what he was hearing, Johnny and Bobby began

going back to their Bibles.

With time, the couple's commitment to the Lord solidified.

"Probably the biggest realization -- and it came to me very

subtly -- was that the Bible is the Word of God.

Johnny and Bobby now have set their lives on a course of

service.

Both teach Sunday school at the Presbyterian church in a

small town in upstate New York.

All because a Christian satellite dish installer didn't

hide his faith.

#4465

IV. We must decide to change.

A. Others can't save you.

1) The villagers tried to help "Legion" but couldn't.

a) Even your own family can't save you.

2) Legion's encounter with Jesus is what made the difference.

B. It is never too late. [below not given in actual sermon]

The story of "Wrong Way Riegels" is a familiar one, but it

is worth repeating.

On New Year's Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played UCLA in the

Rose Bowl.

In that game a young man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble

for UCLA.

Picking up the loose ball, he lost his direction and ran

sixty-five yards toward the wrong goal line.

One of his teammates, Beeny Lom, ran him down and tackled him

just before he scored for the opposing team.

Several plays later UCLA had to punt.

Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, demoralizing the

UCLA team.

The strange play came in the first half.

At halftime the UCLA players filed off the field and into

the dressing room.

As others sat down on the benches and the floor, Riegels put

a blanket around his shoulders, sat down in a corner, and

put his face in his hands.

A football coach usually has a great deal to say to his team

during halftime.

That day Coach Price was quiet.

No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Riegels.

When the timekeeper came in and announced that there were

three minutes before playing time, Coach Price looked at

the team and said,

"Men, the same team that played the first half will start

the second."

The players got up and started out, all but Riegels.

He didn't budge.

The coach looked back and called to him.

"Roy, didn't you hear me? The same team that played the first

half will start the second."

Roy Riegels looked up, his cheeks wet with tears.

"Coach," he said, "I can't do it.

I've ruined you.

I've ruined the university's reputation.

I've ruined myself.

I can't face the crowd out there."

Coach Price reached out, put his hand on Riegels' shoulder,

and said, "Roy, get up and go back.

"The game is only half over."

Riegels finally did get up, and he played hard and well.

All of us have run a long way in the wrong direction.

Because of the forgiveness offered in Jesus Christ, however,

the game is only half over.

#2090

V. Have you been changed?

A. Does your faith feel like the real thing?

1) Do you sense the presence of God, when you are in church,

or personal prayer or Bible study?

B. Is your lifestyle along the lines of Jesus' commands?

C. Are you open about your faith?

1) Be a witness where you live.

=======================================================================

SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

This series was inspired by Issue 56 of Discipleship Journal, March 1990.

#962, "In Windsor Prison," by Gene Smith, American Heritage Magazine,

May 1996, page 108.

#2090, "To Illustrate: Forgiveness," by Wayne Rouse (Astoria, Illinois),

Leadership Magazine, Spring 1992.

#4465, "Johnny Hart: Not Caving In," by Joe Maxwell, Online Christian

Reader Magazine, March 1997.

These and 4,500 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,

absolutely free, at http://users.nac.net/wdh2000/illust.html

#4462

*

Denominational insights

=======================

HOW MANY BAPTISTS does it take to change a light bulb?

Change? Who said anything about change?

HOW MANY CALVINISTS does it take to change a light bulb?

None: God has predestined when the light will be on. Calvinists do not change light bulbs. They simply read the instructions and pray that their light bulb will be the one that has been chosen to be changed.

HOW MANY CATHOLICS does it take to change a light bulb?

None. They use candles.

HOW MANY CHARISMATICS does it take to change a light bulb?

Ten: One to change the bulb and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.

HOW MANY INDEPENDENT FUNDAMENTALISTS does it take to change a light bulb?

Only one, because any more might result in too much cooperation.

HOW MANY LIBERALS does it take to change a light bulb?

At least ten, as they need to hold a debate on whether or not the light bulb exists. Even if they can agree upon the existence of the light bulb, they still might not change it, to keep from alienating those who might use other forms of light.

HOW MANY MEMBERS OF AN ESTABLISHED BIBLE-TEACHING CHURCH THAT IS OVER 20 YEARS OLD does it take to change a light bulb?

One to actually change the bulb, and nine to say how much they liked the

old one.

HOW MANY UNITARIANS does it take to change a light bulb?

This statement was issued: "We chose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey and you have found that a light bulb works for you, that's fine. You are invited

to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your personal relationship with your light bulb (or light source, or non-dark resource), and present it next month at our annual light-bulb Sunday service, in which we explore a

number of light-bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, three-way, long-life, and tinted -- all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence."

HOW MANY NEO-ORTHODOX does it take to change a light bulb?

No one knows. They can't tell the difference between light and darkness.

HOW MANY SOUTHERN BAPTISTS does it take to change a light bulb?

At least 109:

7 on the Light Bulb Task Force Sub-committee who report to the 12 on the Light Bulb Task Force, appointed by the 15 on the Trustee Board. Their recommendation is reviewed by the Finance Committee Executive of 5, who place it on the agenda of the 18-member Finance committee. If they approve, they bring a motion to the 27 member Church Board, who appoint another 12-member review committee. If they recommend that the Church Board proceed, a resolution is brought to the Congregational Business Meeting. They appoint another 8-member review committee. If their report to the next Congregational Business Meeting supports the changing of the light bulb, and the congregation votes in favor, the responsibility to carry out the light bulb change is passed on to the Trustee Board, who in turn appoint a 7-member

committee to find the best price on new light bulbs. Their recommendation of which hardware store has the best buy must then be reviewed by the 23-member Ethics Committee to make certain that this hardware store has no connections

to Disneyland. They report back to the Trustee Board who then commissions the Trustee in charge of the janitor to ask him to make the change. By then the janitor discovers that one more light bulb has burned out.

HOW MANY TELEVANGELISTS does it take to change a light bulb?

One. But for the message of light to continue, send in your donation today.

HOW MANY WORSHIP LEADERS WHO USE GUITARS does it take to change a light bulb?

One. But soon all those around can warm up to its glowing.

HOW MANY YOUTH PASTORS does it take to change a light bulb?

Youth pastors aren't around long enough for a light bulb to burn out.

________________________

Other versions:

HOW MANY EPISCOPALIANS does it take to change a light bulb?

Three. One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks and one to talk about how much better the old one was.

HOW MANY MORMONS does it take to change a light bulb?

Five. One man to change the bulb, and four wives to tell him how to do it.

HOW MANY METHODISTS does it take to change a light bulb?

Undetermined. Whether your light is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or tulip bulb. Church wide lighting service is planned for Sunday. Bring bulb of your choice and a covered dish.

HOW MANY NAZARENE does it take to change a light bulb?

Six. One woman to replace the bulb while five men review church lighting policy.

HOW MANY LUTHERANS does it take to change a light bulb?

None. Lutherans don't believe in change.

HOW MANY QUAKERS does it take to change a light bulb?

None: the Inner Light is enough.

HOW MANY PRESBYTERIANS does it take to change a light bulb?

None. Lights will go on and off at predestined times.

HOW MANY AMISH does it take to change a light bulb?

What's a light bulb?

*

Because he pulled back from the edge of disaster, worship leader Dennis Jernigan wants others to know they can be free in Christ.

That message comes forth in his concerts -- including a recent appearance at the Baptist General Convention of Texas' evangelism conference -- and his new book and album, "This Is My Destiny."

"It can all be summed up in the title," said Jernigan, a lifelong Southern Baptist. "I believe that's one of the highest forms of praise to God" -- "to declare who I am in Christ because of what he's done."

A graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, he has been nominated for two Dove awards and written a number of popular praise songs, including "Great Is the Lord Almighty," "Thank You," "I Belong to Jesus" and "You Are My All in All." In addition to singing at the Texas conference in Fort Worth, Jernigan last year led a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary chapel service. The seminary appearance generated an invitation to return and more than a dozen letters. The correspondents told him the service helped free them from bondage to sin and find new joy through faith in Christ.

However, there is a crucial element to his testimony that tends to upset some, he said -- his homosexual activity as a teen and college student. While he can't offer any statistics, he said a "network" of men and women were involved in this sin at his college in the late 1970s and early '80s. Several of his acquaintances, among them two close friends, died of AIDS in the past decade.

In a poignant story that appears in the book, Jernigan tells of finally confessing his problem to a Christian leader. But the man, who was married, responded with an invitation to become intimate. After their encounter, Jernigan went home, turned on a space heater and lay down next to the fumes. But the thought of dying scared him so badly he turned off the gas.

Soon after at a Christian concert, the lead singer said, "There's someone here who has done something; you're afraid if anyone knew, it would be awful. God wants you to know he sees and loves you anyway." "I had the deep impression she was talking to me," he said. That night, he said he placed this habit on God's shoulders, put the old self in the grave and began a journey toward wholeness.

Despite years of same-sex relationships, the Oklahoma native maintains he was born again at age 9 when accepted Christ as Savior but didn't know all that meant. Some church members dispute the claim, saying he couldn't have been a Christian and engaged in homosexuality. Others question why he must talk about the past when it is so distasteful. The singer also generates occasional picketing by homosexual rights groups, some declaring that he "spreads hate." But Jernigan insists the only way others will know about his triumph is if he talks about it. Had he known there was hope for those dealing with homosexuality, he said he would have sought help long before he did.

"So much healing has happened in my life, I feel like I was never homosexual," said the father of nine children, who range in age from 4 to 14. "I'm totally heterosexual. I've been born again. The book is about the process of what I've gone through personally. I'm more free than I ever thought I could be. I hope to help somebody else escape bondage."

While Southern Baptists correctly take the stand that homosexuality is wrong, Jernigan said they need to be more sensitive to those who struggle with it. As a sensitive child, he faced classmates' taunts and often heard crude remarks about "gays" at church. Members' condemnation of homosexuals convinced him, somehow, this sin was too vile for God to forgive, he said.

Jernigan said it doesn't take experience with this lifestyle to help someone overcome it, just a willingness to encourage and help the individual. "I finally confided in a friend who said, 'I'll walk through it with you, whatever it takes,'" he recalled. "It was the love of God and this friend's lovingkindness that led me to repent and help soften my heart."

And while he isn't proud of what he did in the past, the songwriter said he wants to let others know that their setbacks shouldn't prevent them from serving God, either. "When you get set free from prison, all you want to do is praise the one who got you out," Jernigan said. "That's why I do what I do. I know what it's like to be bound up, so I want to praise the one who set me free."

*

Twenty-three years ago, a spate of random murders paralyzed New York City. The killer left police a note, which read, "I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam." When the police finally captured the killer, David Berkowitz, he stretched his face into a macabre smile.

But two weeks ago, on Larry King Live, we saw a different Berkowitz. King was interviewing him from a New York prison, and those who tuned in saw the former Son of Sam boldly witnessing to King about his faith in Christ, and even leading viewers in a prayer.

The interview took place because of a new movie about Berkowitz, called Summer of Sam, which dredges up the whole nightmare again. But the film leaves out one of the most remarkable parts of Berkowitz's story -- one he did not miss the opportunity to share with Larry King. About ten years ago, Berkowitz turned his life over to Jesus Christ. Berkowitz says he now wants nothing more than to lead others to Christ, and he's made two videos for that very purpose.

The companies that produced the videos say Berkowitz doesn't get a penny from them. And they didn't produce them until they were sure the videos could not be used to help Berkowitz's chances of parole.

In a video called "Son of Sam, Son of Hope," Berkowitz lifts his hands and says, "At one time, these hands were being used by the devil to destroy. But I thank God today for His great mercy that these hands are being used to touch lives."

And they HAVE touched lives. The producers of the videos say they know of "dozens and dozens" of people converted to Christ after watching them.

It's a tremendous conversion story -- one every bit as dramatic as that of another murderer, Paul of Tarsus. But whenever the news media talks about Berkowitz's changed life, it's with a cynical tone. Many reporters don't hide the fact that they think his conversion is phony, something he's putting on to improve his chances of parole.

Why so much skepticism?

The answer has to do with the way many of our elites view reality. Many of them believe in the philosophy of naturalism -- the idea that nature is all there is, that there is no supernatural agent at work in the world. According to this view, miracles simply can't happen.

Of course the greatest miracle is the miracle of a genuinely changed life. So when a Satanist like Berkowitz repents and follows God, there is no natural explanation. That's why such conversion stories rankle non-believers.

Twenty-five years ago, the media couldn't believe it when the Nixon hatchet man became a repentant follower of Jesus. But Scripture affirms a God Who created the universe and everything in it -- and Who therefore stands outside it. So when He intervenes -- in my life, or in the life of a murderer -- it is, well, miraculous.

If your friends saw the Larry King interview with Berkowitz, or watched the new movie about his life, help them understand how it came about that the Son of Sam became a child of God. And tell them, as well, about the God Who exists outside of His creation, and Who is able to do things that are truly controversial -- and truly out of this world.

___________________________

[David Berkowitz's testimony is available online at http://www.inetworld.net/hutrcc/davidb.htm]

Copyright (c) 1999 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

*

There's a story of a monastery perched high on a cliff. The only way to reach the monastery is in a basket suspended from a rope. Visitors are pulled up by several monks, who pulled and tugged with all their strength. The ride up the cliff in that basket must be terrifying.

One tourist became very nervous about half-way up after noticing the rope was frayed. In a trembling voice he asked a monk in the basket with him, "How often is the rope changed?" The monk thought for a moment and answered brusquely, "Every time it breaks."

Many approach their next life in the same way these monks approach rope maintenance - don't fix it till you've used up all the life left in the first one! But then it's too late!

________

[Adapted from "Old Rope"; © 1999 Jokes EveryDay - www.jokeseveryday.com; message ID: 2448568.]

Source/Attribution: John Gillmartin