Don’t those once a year theologians on T.V. just get under your skin? It’s this time of the year that brings out the once a year theologian!
Top 10 once a year sayings of the once a year theologian:
10. “The Bible really isn’t reliable”
9. “Peace on earth, good will towards men”
8. “The man up stairs has been good to me”
7. “Do I really have to get dressed up?”
6. “God knows my heart is really pretty good.”
5. “There’s no such thing as a miracle – it never happens”
4. “We don’t even know the day Jesus was born”
3. “Don’t forget separation of church and state”
2. I gave at the office”
1. How sturdy is the church’s roof?”
A teacher was doing her best to discount miracles in the Bible. She said to her class, “Take for instance the crossing of the Red Sea. We know this body of water was only about 6 inches deep.” Immediately from the back of the room came a remark, “Praise God for the miracle”! Then the teacher shot back, “What miracle?” The student said, “The Lord must have drowned the whole Egyptian army in just 6 inches of water.”
The best way to describe a once a year theologian is by this person…
“Grinch”
Here’s a sure sign of a once a year theologian…
· He always has a good opinion of himself.
· He always has a bad opinion of God.
Jesus stepped into humanities history to change that attitude completely.
· “Blessed are they that are poor in spirit.”
· Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
· “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen!”
Many years ago, during the Christmas season of 1879, an unbelieving newspaper reporter in Boston saw 3 little girls standing in front of a store window full of toys. One of the girls was blind. As the reporter walked by the girls; he heard two of the girls trying to describe the toys in the window to the blind girl. He thought to himself that it would be hard to explain a toy to someone who had never seen one before. In fact, he was so impressed that the incident became the basis for a news story that appeared in the paper several days later.
Two weeks later, the same agnostic reporter was covering an evangelistic crusade of D.L. Moody. In his sermon, D.L Moody used the article about the girls at the toy store window.
Mr. Moody said in his sermon, “Just as the blind girl could not visualize those toys in the window, so it’s the same for the unsaved man who can’t see Christ in all his glory. The grace of God opens the spiritually blind eyes of anyone who realizes his sin and by faith receives Christ as Savoir.”
That night during the invitation; that reporter got saved and discovered the truth in Moody’s sermon!
John 1:12, 13, 17
Has it ever occurred to you that Christians have a faith based on facts and not on fiction or fantasy? It’s not a leap in the dark but a leap into the light!
The problem with once a year theologians is that they are an academic disgrace!!
LifePoint: A theological truth is based on historical truth! It is far more reasonable to put trust in the gospels – which pass the test of historical scrutiny with flying colors – than to put hope in some non-sense religion!
I like what Dr. Gregory Boyd says in “The Case for Christ”. He says, “I believe in both a Jesus of history and a Jesus of faith. It’s like this: if you love a person, your love goes beyond the facts of that person, but it’s rooted in those facts of that person. For example, you love your wife because she’s gorgeous, nice, sweet and kind. All those are facts about her, and therefore you love her. But your love goes beyond that. So the decision goes beyond the evidence, yet it is there also on the basis of the evidence. So it is with falling in love with Jesus. To have a relationship with Jesus Christ goes beyond just knowing the historical facts about Him. I believe in Jesus on the historical evidence, but my relationship with Jesus goes beyond the evidence. I have to put my trust in Him and walk with Him on a daily basis.”
5 Reasons Why Jesus Stepped into Humanities History:
1. To Fulfill The Law.
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the law and the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”
2. To Witness of the Father.
John 5:36 “I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish - the very works that I do - bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.”
3. To Witness of the Scriptures.
John 5:39 “You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of Me.”
4. To Seek That Which Was Lost.
Matthew 18:11 “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”
5. To Give Us a Ministry.
2 Corinthians 5:18 “Now all things are of God, who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”
This ministry is based on 2 facts:
· The expression of transformation in one’s own life.
· The expression of restoration in someone else’s life.
John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, to kill and to destroy. I have come that you might have life and that you may have it abundantly.”
We can have a life of depletion, death and destruction or a life overflowing with peace because of the presence of Jesus! We can have a life marked by Satan’s thievery or a life marked by God’s transformation!
Get this…Jesus is teaching a very important principle: our spiritual life dictates our natural life. But many people have it backwards or out of balance – their natural life dictates their spiritual life!
Jesus came to rescue us from the bondage or the clutches of the old nature - Giving us His power for everyday life!
I ask…where do we get our abundance? His abundance is our abundance! That’s radical!!!!
I say to the once a year theologian: Jesus Christ did not come to a mangy crib to end up on a mangled cross so we could have theology, but rather Jesus Christ came to a measly crib to end up experiencing the misery of the cross so we could know the God of all theology!
Because of Christmas salvation is only a breath away!
