The Good News Is, The Bad News Is Wrong!

THE GOOD NEWS IS THE BAD NEWS IS WRONG

Num. 13:26-33

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: The expert insurance agent

1. Gary has had a tremendous year selling life insurance policies and is asked by one of his colleagues for the secret to his success.

2. Gary replies, "After I outline the benefits of life assurance, I go into costs. And if the prospect then seems to be undecided, I say to him,

3. “OK, I understand that you might need some time to think it over, so why don’t you sleep on it. Then let me know what you think tomorrow morning - IF you wake up, that is."

B. TEXT

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there. Num. 13:26-33.

C. SCARY THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED

The devil is a master at making things look worse than they actually are. The world has its problems, and if we focus on the negative, we will lose our peace and our victory. Here are Examples of Eight Catastrophes that Never Happened:

1. NUCLEAR WAR. As an elementary school-kid in the 60’s, we had to do nuclear drills, crouching against the walls. There

was a high level of fear of imminent death. But here I am as a grandfather. All those fears were needless.

2. THE Y2K BUG. Because computers weren’t programmed to switch from 1999 to 2000, people predicted all heck might break loose. Planes could fall out of the sky, electric grids could crash, and the world banking system could collapse. There was media hysteria. But it passed with only a sigh.

3. THE IMPENDING ICE AGE. In 1975 Newsweek and Time Magazine ran articles about an impending Ice Age (based on 25 years of cooling temps). Media hype caused a stir of unease. Since then? No Ice Age.

4. THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER. Doomsday believers were sure that when the Large Hadron Collider powered up for the first time in 2008, it had the potential to open a black hole that would consume the entire world. Britain's Sun newspaper read "End of the World Due in 9 Days." It’s been 8 years and no black hole has opened nor has a new big bang destroyed the Earth.

5. WORLDWIDE FAMINE due to World Overpopulation

Remember Soylent Green? Since the 1960's, fears about population explosion have troubled social planners and spawned many apocalyptic books. But starvation has been caused more by corrupt leaders than by lack of food.

6. “OZONE HOLE SCARE.” There was a global scare about the Ozone layer, when a hole opened up over the North Pole. The Ozone layer protects us against cosmic radiation. Suddenly we were told to quit using all propellants with chlorofluorocarbons (CFC). So we rushed to throw away our hair sprays and deodorants, and we didn’t look or smell as good for a while. Now you rarely hear about it. The big talk now is about CO2.

7. VIRUS/ BACTERIAL EPIDEMICS. Swine flu, mad cow, SARS, bird flu, Ebola — take your pick about which disease was going to be the next global plague. At least for now, modern medicine and strong public health policy have been able to stave off the next great pandemic.

8. PLANETARY ALIGNMENT 2012. The public was whipped into real concern with books and movies as the year 2012 approached with its unusual alignment of planets. Tidal waves, earthquakes, disruption of the moon, etc., were predicted. Again it was a no-show.

D. THESIS

1. I’m talking to somebody tonight: You’ve been listening to an evil report, you’ve been listening to what your circumstances are saying, you’ve been listening to what your feelings are saying and what your enemies are saying, and what your friends are saying.