Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Dangers Of A Self Centered Gospel

I found this video on Purgatorio and had to share it. It is an emotional video to be sure but watch it and then read my comments afterward.



Notice what this man puts in each slide, "I did this,""I did that," every slide is about what he did never once is God and what He has done mentioned. This is very sad to have spent 33 years relying on oneself to save oneself must truly have been a lonely journey. No wonder he is bitter, nothing he did could save himself. I encourage everyone to pray for this man but I would like to point out one other thing. Why did this man grow up in a Christian home, attend college, join the ministry, read his Bible and never once see that salvation is of the Lord? Because the Holy Spirit never opened his eyes to the truth. So while we should continue in prayer for him do not forget the words of Paul in Romans 9:

"22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles."
New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update, Ro 9:22-24 (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

Please never forget the riches of His glory He has made known to us. The reason some never believe is for the benefit of the ones who do, so that we will all the more praise and worship the God who saved us and deserves all glory.

In Christ
Alan

5 comments:

BunGirl said...

GREAT post. I really couldn't agree with you more. This is what happens when our faith is about us and not about Him. It's impossible for us to sustain it. Kinda feel sorry for the guy though. And his wife and four kids. What a shame.

00 said...

Alan,

Thanks for the book recommend. I'm going to try to check it out. I've started back at school this week (though, praise the Lord, it's my final semester :-) ), so things are a little hectic right now. Hopefully they'll die down soon.

Eric said...

Alan,

This has little to do with this post, but I didn't know how else to contact you.

I am a Baptist, but I want to better understand infant baptism. When I hear discussions of infant baptism, it is usually by Baptists who paint a very negative picture of it. I rarely hear a defense/explanation of infant baptism from someone who actually supports it.

I have a request for you. I am asking you because I respect your desire to look at the scriptures in context. Would you please do a post (or a series of posts) explaining the belief and practice of infant baptism from a biblical perspective? I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks a lot,

Eric

Unknown said...

Wow... The rocky soil uses cameras and video editing software now... Chilling.

PS- He looked a lot different once he got to college (2:00).

Heart of Wisdom said...

This one really makes you think...about how important is is to be sure our children are rooted and grounded in love--relationships not ritual.

You're right--self centered, relying on self. I'll be praying for him. I'm sure others will be too. Wouldn't it be something to see another video one day with a testimony of a NEW life!

Thanks for posting. I have a new post on logic you may like. http://heartofwisdom.com/blog

Blessings,
Robin