A Charge to Discipleship - Week 1

Turn to the Gospel according to Mark. Go ahead and turn to chapter 1 with me this morning.

! We are going to take a break from our verse-by-verse working through the Gospel of Mark.

I can't tell you exactly how many weeks that's going to be at this point, likely for the month of February, we're going to do this.

And we're doing so because I think there's an issue in the American church, which is true of our church as well, that needs to be addressed.

And we need to take some time to sit and to consider and to really search our hearts concerning the matter.

Let me first give you a hug before I step on our toes.

As a church, we do so much right.

I'm immensely grateful for all of you, and I don't know all of you in the room.

Some of you are guests with us here this morning.

This church is a wonderful church.

There's so much that's good and healthy about what we're doing.

In fact, as I meet with pastors in the area to be encouraged and to press one another on,

I always leave those meetings so happy to be the pastor of Christ Family Church.

Because I don't deal with nearly the messes that they're dealing with in their churches.

I found myself being a little bit mean about it.

Like, hey, you want to meet with me so I can hear all your trouble so I can be really happy about my life and my church and the things that are happening in our congregation.

But there's more, and there's better work that we can be doing.

And there's a danger that we always look at the good things, which we should certainly look at.

We should certainly give God much praise for those things that are happening in the life of our church.

But that we, in doing that, we ignore those things that need to be worked on.

And I don't think that I would be a good leader to you if knowing those things are true and not telling you about them and not pushing you beyond them,

not looking for a greater degree of growth in your life.

It would be unloving for me to withhold that from you.

There's a school of thought that says if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

It's a very American way of thinking about business, for an example.

But I say there's always more.

Jesus comes back today, we're done.

But until that time, we're not perfected.

And we have much work to do.

And that's why I want to take some time to address this issue.

And I will say that as we get into it, that there are many of you who do this well.

That the Lord is pleased with the work that you're doing.

And my charge to you would be, help me give leadership in surmounting this problem for us.

So what is that?

The Gospel of Mark, the great labor of it was to give evidence that Jesus is the Christ.

Mark does this at great pains.

He establishes Jesus' power over demons, over sickness.

His power over Satan, religion itself, the traditions of men.

His power over nature and his power over sin.

So Mark really wants his readers to see Jesus is the Christ.

And as such, he wants his readers to see what it means to follow Jesus Christ.

That if Jesus is Lord, what does his Lordship look like?

And how does it bring bearing in our lives?

How then should we live if we're to be disciples of Jesus Christ?

And if we're to say that we're disciples of Jesus Christ, this means that we follow him.

That we walk in his ways.

And if this is true of us, we as believers must be about the work of making disciples.

We must be.

And I think that this is a fairly large failure on our part.

Certainly to say that there are various giftings in our church.

There are those with a particular evangelistic gifting that do such a wonderful job of opening the door and inviting people in.

There are those who are really gifted teachers and can explain things with such clarity to help people understand.

And a shame is that in our American churches, we have so segregated and so specialized the ministry that we have left that work in the hands of few,

while the many do very, very little.

I want this to be untrue of our congregation.

And I hope that in these coming weeks, it will begin to be the case for us.

But let me take you through Mark and just help establish what Jesus is trying to do in his ministry and the way in which Mark, led by the Spirit, records it for us.

Look first in chapter 1.

Almost every chapter.

Chapter 1, verse 14 and 15.

Now after John, that's John the Baptist, was arrested,

Jesus came into Galilee, the place where he ministered primarily in his earthly ministry,

proclaiming the gospel of God, the good news of God, and saying,

the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel, in the good news.

The very thing that Jesus came to do, even as he's establishing his power on the earth,

was coming to preach.

Just after this, he calls the first disciples.

Chapter 1, verse 17.

He says to Simon and Andrew,

follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

If you were to follow me,

the thing you're going to be about doing is not fishing for fish any longer,

but fishing for men.

Chapter 1, verse 38.

After some people, a crowd is looking for him,

Jesus says,

let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also.

For this is why I came out.

Chapter 2, verse 17.

Those who are well have no need of a physician,

but those who are sick,

I came not to call the righteous,

but sinners.

Jesus didn't come to hang out with those who thought they all had it figured out,

who thought they were already righteous,

but rather those who were humble and who were broken and knew they needed a Savior.

Chapter 3, verses 33-35.

Jesus' family has come to take him back.

Earlier in the chapter, we see that they thought that he was insane,

that he totally lost his mind.

So they're standing outside,

and the disciples tell them that they're standing outside.

In verse 33, he says,

Who are my mother and my brothers?

And looking about those who sat around him, he said,

Here are my mother and my brothers.

For whoever does the will of God,

he is my brother and sister and mother.

We're to be part of the family of God.

We are to do the very will of God.

Chapter 4, verse 8.

He tells the parable of the sower.

He says,

And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain,

growing up and increasing and yielding 30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold.

Some soil receives the good news of the gospel,

the seed planted in them,

and grows up and produces more gospel,

growth in the kingdom.

And he gives explanation of that in verse 20 of chapter 4.

But those that were sown on the good soil

are the ones who hear the word

and accept it and bear fruit,

30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold.

It doesn't make this a conditional thing.

If you are in fact found in Christ,

if you have accepted the word,

you will produce fruit.

Chapter 5, verse 19.

Jesus heals the man

with the subtitle in my copy.

It says,

A Demon,

but we find out that it's actually a legion of demons

cast them into a group of pigs

who run off into the sea.

This man wants to follow him,

but rather Jesus says to him in verse 19,

Go home to your friends

and tell them how much the Lord has done for you

and how he has had mercy on you.

This man wanted to devote his life

because he had been delivered from these demons to Jesus.

The way Jesus has him do that

is to go back to his family,

back to his friends,

and to share about the mercy of God on his behalf.

Chapter 6, verses 10-12.

Jesus sends out the twelve apostles

and says to them,

When you enter a house,

stay there until you depart from there.

And if any place will not receive you,

and they will not listen to you,

there's a proclamation happening.

When you leave, shake off the dust

that is on your feet as a testimony against them.

So, they went out and proclaimed

that people should repent.

Jesus sets them in motion

to do the very thing that he intends for them to do

when he departs from them,

gathers them back together,

and teaches them lessons

because of their experience.

Skip over chapter 7.

It's a great chapter.

Verse 34.

I'm sorry.

Chapter 8, verse 34.

I'm going to come back to this in a moment.

But just the statement of verse 34.

And I will tell you that this is the statement

that has just been resonating in my heart

as we've been preaching through Mark,

as I've been seeing thematic this development.

Not that this is a strange concept to us, right?

Like, we know this, right?

Like, as Christians,

we're meant to share our faith.

We're meant to preach the gospel, right?

I think we get it here,

but it needs to work down in

and work around inside of us.

So, this is the major statement of Christ

that's been working in my heart.

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me.

Let him set aside his self-determination,

his self-worship,

and let him die and follow me.

Death and the pain that comes with death

to pursue Jesus.

chapter 9, verse 35.

There's a debate amongst the apostles

about who is greatest,

who will be the best of apostles.

Jesus says in verse 35,

if anyone would be first,

he must be last of all

and servant of all.

Chapter 10,

verses 44 and 45.

Once again,

we have some debate.

James and John want to sit at his right hand

in the kingdom of God.

And he says,

whoever will be first among you

must be slave of all.

For even the Son of Man came

not to be served,

but to serve

and to give his life a ransom

for many.

Chapter 11, verse 17.

Jesus goes into the temple

and he cleanses it.

He flips over all of the tables

and he runs out the money changers.

He stops people from cutting through

the court of Gentiles.

And he says,

is it not written,

and this is from Isaiah 56, 7,

my house shall be called

a house of prayer

for all the nations,

but you have made it

a den of robbers.

The very temple of God

was meant to serve

as a place

to ask God's blessing

for all peoples.

We see this in Isaiah.

We see it other places

in the Old Testament.

Jesus confirms it for us here

in Mark chapter 11.

Mark 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 12, verse 29.

Jesus asks a question

to test him

by a scribe,

kind of a modern day version

of a lawyer slash theologian.

And Jesus answers,

the most important is,

hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

And you shall love

the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your mind

and with all your strength.

The second is this.

You shall love your neighbor

as yourself.

There is no other commandment

greater than these.

Chapter 13, verse 10.

We're almost done.

Jesus is telling the apostles

things that will come to pass

at the end of the age.

In verse 10, he says,

and the gospel,

the good news of Jesus Christ

must first be proclaimed

to all nations.

We saw in chapter 14,

Jesus' arrest,

and that's where we are

now taking a break.

In chapter 15 and 16,

we're going to see his trial,

his death,

and his resurrection.

And intentionally,

I think this is such a good place

for us to stop

because we're about to really reflect

upon the sacrifice

of Jesus Christ.

He's now been taken captive.

The motion is going now.

There's going to be

this final thing,

his death on the cross.

And we're going to be

really considering that

in the coming months.

But to stop and think

about the cost

for us to follow him.

Recall that he's made predictions.

Chapter 8,

chapter 9,

chapter 10,

in all of these places,

he's made predictions

about what he's going to suffer

when they finally make

their final trip to Jerusalem.

There's some objection to that.

And even if there's not

outward objection

in some of those cases,

they have objections

in their hearts

because they begin to debate

about who's going to be

greatest in the kingdom.

Right?

And the correction

he brings to them

is that the first

will be last

and the last

will be first.

That if we're to follow Jesus,

we're going to follow him

into his death.

And upon his resurrection,

he gives a command

in chapter 16,

verse 15,

go into all the world

and proclaim the gospel

to the whole creation.

Whoever believes

and is baptized

will be saved,

but whoever does not believe

will be condemned.

And there's a more

famous record

of Jesus' great commission

found in Matthew 28,

Matthew 28:18–20

verses 18-20,

where Jesus says,

So it is the great

call on the Christian life.

There's much conversation

about calling in our society,

what God has called you to.

And the New Testament

is only clear on two things

that you've been called to,

all believers.

We've been called to believe.

We've done that thing,

I hope,

for everybody in this room

that's true.

And the second thing

is that you're called

to make disciples.

To be about the work

of having others believe.

These are the two things

that you can be very sure of.

The particulars

of how you'll do that,

I don't know.

But you could be about

that activity,

not simply making converts,

but disciples.

disciples.

Teaching them to observe.

Not just teaching,

but teaching them to observe

all the things

that Jesus has commanded us

to do.

Now go back,

if you will,

with me.

Turn back a few pages

back to Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

And I want to just expand

our text a bit.

I think that verse 34,

what Jesus says here

is kind of this axiomatic statement.

This statement on which

many things hinge.

And to look at the context

is so massively important for us.

As we see what he begins to do,

verse 31,

he begins to teach them

that the Son of Man

must suffer many things

and be rejected by the elders

and the chief priests

and the scribes

and be killed.

The suffering that he's going

to experience

is told to them

and after three days

he will rise again.

He even gives to the apostles

in this prediction of his death

the hope that he will again rise.

And he said this plainly,

verse 32 says.

Right?

He says it plainly to them.

He doesn't speak in any kind of parable.

He doesn't try to confuse

in any way whatsoever.

He says this to them plainly.

This thing will come to pass.

And Peter misses the point altogether.

He takes him aside

and he begins to rebuke him.

And I believe that Peter does so

out of a love for Jesus.

Don't say such things, Jesus.

Don't say that this is the way

the kingdom is going to come to pass.

That you're going to have to suffer

and you're going to have to die.

That's not the way I envisioned

this happening.

And in so doing,

he's formed Jesus

the way he wants him to be.

Here is the Son of Man,

the predicted one,

the Christ,

the Lord of all.

Recall some of the things

that Jesus has accomplished

up to this point

that Peter has been witness to.

Phenomenal things.

The one that continually blows my mind

because I love nature

and being outside

and I did so much study

on the Sea of Galilee.

Was he calling that storm?

Storm.

Phenomenal thing.

This period of the year,

storms kick up on the Sea of Galilee.

Ten foot waves

on a body of water

about the size of Lake Lanier.

Can you imagine

being on Lake Lanier

in like a fishing boat

and ten foot waves begin?

And Jesus just says,

be still.

And it all stops.

Dead.

He's seen these kinds of things happen.

And then he tells them

what will come to pass.

And Peter still says,

oh no.

No, no.

This is not the way

that Christ comes to reign.

And I'm afraid in many ways

we do the same thing.

We fashion Jesus

the way we want Him to look.

Right?

We in this church

certainly shun the gospel

of prosperity.

I'm not sure

that we shun the gospel

of comfort.

We think that if we add

Jesus to our life,

life will get better

by our terms.

And when it doesn't,

many people reject it

altogether.

We're apathetic

because we know

that being obedient

will lead us

into uncomfortable discomfort

and we don't want it.

We make Jesus

into our own fashion.

That Jesus would come

and sit amongst us

and chill out with us

wouldn't be the case

if He were to visit.

It would be clear

He won't visit again

until He's ready to vindicate

and wipe the slate clean

once again.

But if He were

just to come and hang out,

He might pop by

and just say what's up.

To our crowd.

Sitting together

in our comfort,

doing our comfortable things.

I'm convinced

He would be someplace dangerous.

Someplace working.

Getting in the face

of those leading people astray.

Laying out His life

for the sake of the kingdom

of God.

Verse 35 says,

For whoever would save his life

will lose it,

but whoever loses his life

for my sake

and the gospels

will save it.

Look at the promise there.

If we're willing

to sacrifice ourselves

for the sake of the kingdom,

this promise that our life

will be saved.

For what does it profit

a man to gain the whole world

and to forfeit his soul?

Nothing.

It profits him nothing.

For what can a man

give in return for a soul?

Absolutely nothing.

And then verse 38.

For whoever is ashamed of me

and of my words

in this adulterous

and sinful generation,

of him will the Son of Man

also be ashamed

when he comes in the glory

of his Father

with the holy angels.

And I think that those words

need to sink

into our hearts.

And I think that we need

to think about the times

in our lives

when we have been given

opportunity

to be obedient

to the call of Christ.

when we know full well

we can proclaim the gospel

in a situation

and we shrink back

and we're ashamed.

Certainly at the core

of all of this

is an issue of heart.

If our hearts were

properly aligned,

if we love God

the way we're meant

to love God,

overflowing from us

would be proper response

and obedience.

So it's an issue of heart

and therefore

it needs treatment

in that way.

Like not by some new program

or some new model

but we need

to really examine

our hearts.

And the very best way

I know to do that

is by the scriptures.

The scriptures are

a two-edged sword

in this case.

I think maybe a scalpel

to really get at

and to do some surgery

on our hearts.

And so I want to give to you

eight cuts.

I hope that they're

fine cuts.

I hope that they hurt

a little bit.

Eight things I think

we may believe

or believe improperly.

I'm sure there are more.

But things that we can

begin to think about

and to look at

and to process

and to pray through

and consider

if this is why

there's not a greater

movement of God

amongst us.

If this is why

we're content

with addition

and not excited

and looking toward

multiplication.

God bringing people

into His kingdom

in droves.

So eight cuts.

Number one.

We may not.

It is possible

that we do not

understand

the heart

of our Father.

We do not understand

the heart

of our Father.

For His great name's sake,

He is building

a family.

He is adopting

those

into His family

that have

no right

to be part of His family,

who have sinned

grievously against Him,

have in every way

said to Him,

I do not want you

to be

my Father.

And yet,

He does a work in us

and He calls us

into His family.

He is not

exclusive.

But the God of Scripture

seems to be

so very inclusive,

drawing people

of all variety

to Himself.

Revelation 7,

9 and 10

gives us

a peek at this.

John's vision,

he says,

after this I looked

and behold

a great multitude

that no one

could number

from every nation,

from all tribes

and peoples

and languages,

standing before the throne

and before the Lamb,

clothed in white robes

with palm branches

in their hands

and crying out

with a loud voice,

salvation belongs

to our God

who sits on the throne

and to the Lamb.

a multitude

that no one

can number,

a vast,

vast number.

Do you sometimes

think that those

in heaven

are going to be

the minority

of humankind?

I can't say for sure,

but it seems to me

that as God wins

this great redemptive

battle,

it's a sure thing,

that maybe He wins

in numbers too.

Maybe those

who will one day

be glorified

will outnumber

those

who will be damned.

Either way,

we certainly know

that He loves

and He loves immensely

and He's building

a family

for the praise

of His name.

I find sometimes

that we seem

to operate

under the assumption

that God does not

want to save people

rather than

under the assumption

that He does

and that He fully

intends to

and that He's powerful

to accomplish this

and that because

He loves us,

He wants us

to get involved

in that.

That He just

is waiting,

just go share,

just go be the friend

you know you're

supposed to be.

Open your mouth

and give gospel

proclamation

and I'll change

their heart

and you'll both

be immensely blessed

and I'll be glorified

in this.

Do you find that

you do that

with your friends

assuming that

they're so far gone?

They're so dark

in their understanding

that God can't

change their hearts?

He changed yours.

You're no further,

you're no better off

than they are.

Secondly,

God's love for us

may too often

be stale

in our minds

and hearts.

Not fresh,

stale,

like it's a forgotten

thing how incredibly

God has loved us.

Turn to Psalm 103.

For our ministry

apprenticeship,

we're reading

through the Bible

in a year,

this chronological

Bible reading plan

we're doing

and Psalm 103

was part of that reading

a couple of weeks ago

and God just really

arrested my attention

and I've been meditating

on verses 8-12

and it is good.

Let me read it to you.

I hope it'll have

some of the same effect

it's had on me.

Psalm 103

Psalms 103:8–12

verses 8-12

The Lord is merciful

and gracious,

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love.

He will not always chide

nor will He keep

His anger forever.

He does not deal with us

according to our sins

nor repay us

according to our iniquities.

Praise Him.

For as high

as the heavens are

above the earth

Anybody know?

Infinite.

That's what is trying

to be communicated here.

I'm sure there's a measure

but it's infinite

is what is being

communicated here.

As high as the heavens

are above the earth

so great

is His steadfast love

toward those

who fear Him.

Just stare up at the sky

when you walk out

of this building today.

Verse 12

As far as the east

is from the west

so far does He remove

our transgressions from us.

Do you know how far

the east is from the west?

It's infinite.

No matter where you go

no matter where you travel

in the circumference

of this planet

the east and the west

will always be

infinitely far

from one another.

This is God's

great love

for us.

It is infinite

in its nature.

It is good.

1 John 4.19

says that we love

because He first

loved us.

that the reason

in which we can

reach out

and we can love

others

that we can have

affection for other

people is because

of God's great love

for us.

Luke 6.45

Jesus says

the good person

out of the good

treasure of his heart

produces good

and the evil person

out of his evil

treasure produces

evil.

For out of the

abundance

of the heart

his mouth

speaks.

beloved

what do you

speak about?

What do you

get excited

about talking

about?

Many of you

know that

kind of

sort of

in a past

life of mine

some

oh a decade

ago

I used to do

a lot of

white water

paddling

very into that

Wes and I

part of our

friendship was

formed around

paddling

together

in fact

Wes has

most of my

gear

and just

uses it

you are

welcome

I used to

be a

white water

kayak

instructor

and still

to this

day

if somebody

talks about

white water

my ears

perk up

and I want

to go over

and hear

what's going

on

like what

river

they were

on

and what

they

experienced

it

even if

from

rafting

class 2

to paddling

class 5

I want

to know

what's

going on

that

excites

me

I want

to be

around

it

do

we

do

the

same

thing

with

the

good

news

of

Jesus

Christ

do

we

find

ways

it

not

because

there's

some

duty

to

share

it

but

because

the

love

of

God

overflows

out of

our

hearts

and

into

our

speech

this

is

what

Jesus

is

saying

will

happen

the

good

treasure

of

your

heart

the

thing

you

care

most

about

is

the

thing

you

will

talk

about

most

so

what

does

it

say

about

us

when

we

don't

when

we

find

ourselves

in

situations

where

we

would

rather

fit

in

and

be

cool

and

share

the

thing

that

we

love

the

most

double

minded

acts

8

1

through

4

this

is

after

the

stoning

of

Stephen

it

says

and

Saul

approved

of

his

execution

and

there

arose

on

that

day

a

great

persecution

against

the

church

in

Jerusalem

and

they

were

all

scattered

throughout

the

regions

of

Judea

and

Samaria

except

the

apostles

devout

men

buried

Stephen

made

great

lamentation

over

him

but

Saul

was

ravaging

the

church

and

entering

house

after

house

he

dragged

off

men

and

women

and

committed

them

to

prison

and

so

there's

this

great

deal

the

early

days

of

the

church

that

formed

in

Jerusalem

after

the

days

of

Pentecost

there's

this

great

deal

of

persecution

at

the

hands

of

Saul

and

look

at

the

way

that

God

is

even

now

using

Saul

to

and

a

better

word

that's

translated

here

into

our

English

preaching

would be

and

gossiped

the

word

but

we

think

of

gossip

as

a

bad

thing

so

we

got to

be

careful

about

our

translation

but

it

literally

means

they

went

about

just

talking

about

what

had

happened

in

Jerusalem

and

what

Jesus

had

done

for

them

they

went

about

sharing

that

with

everyone

they

encountered

we

see

this

great

massive

advance

of the

gospel

because

of

the

persecution

because

of

the

work

of

the

apostles

out

and

beyond

because

it

overflowed

out

of

their

hearts

and

I'm

afraid

for

many

of

us

too

often

that

truth

is

stale

in

us

forgotten

it

just

doesn't

have

effect

any

longer

the

way

you

renew

that

in

yourself

as

you

get

into

the

word

of

God

and

you

let

the

gospel

speak

to

you

and

speak

to

you

get

around

the

church

and

let

people

preach

the

gospel

to

you

you

come

and

you

sing

gospel

songs

the

reason

we

keep

the

volume

low

so

you

can

hear

everybody

in

this

room

reminding

you

that

the

gospel

is

good

and

precious

and

has

effect

in

our

lives

number

three

I

should

move

faster

than

I

am

right

now

we

may

not

understand

the

nature

of

the

enemy

or

the

accomplishments

of

our

victor

we

may

not

understand

the

reality

that

the

power

of

Satan

has

been

destroyed

in

a

similar

account

chapter

8

Peter

confesses

Jesus

as

the

Christ

in

Matthew

we

get

a bit

more

detail

beginning

of

verse

13

now

when

Jesus

came

into

the

district

of

Caesaro

Philippi

he

asked

his

disciples

who

do

people

say

that

the

son

of

man

is

and

they

said

some

say

John

the

Baptist

others

say

Simon

Peter

replied

you

are

the

Christ

the

son

of

the

living

God

and

Jesus

answered

him

blessed

are

you

Simon

Barjona

for

flesh

and

blood

has

not

revealed

this

to

you

but

my

father

who

is

in

heaven

and

I

tell

you

you

are

Peter

and

on

this

rock

that

truth

I

will

build

my

church

and

the

gates

of

hell

shall

not

prevail

against

it

there's

a

sure

promise

in

scripture

that

the

work

of

the

church

by

the

grace

of

God

will

advance

upon

the

gates

of

hell

don't

hear

we

have

gates

and

we

hold

out

hell

many

churches

function

in

this

way

many

individuals

function

in

this

way

keeping

at

a

distance

the

evil

of

the

world

but

rather

we

advance

on

it

and

the

gates

of

hell

will

not

prevail

against

the

advance

!

It's

a

military

idea

that

we

will

make

this

accomplish

this

war

by the

grace

of

God

Jesus'

final

words

it

is

finished

on

the

cross

has

such

far

reaching

implications

and

he's

certainly

saying

when

he

dies

that

the

death

blow

has

been

delivered

to

the

dragon

he

has

plunged

his

sword

deep

into

his

heart

and

the

things

that

we're

experiencing

now

that

are

carried

!

by

Satan

are

just

his

writhing

and

seething

as

he's

dying

he

has

been

defeated

and

in fact

Jesus

has

his

foot

on

his

neck

he

lets

him

act

only

under

his

authority

it's

been

subjected

to

him

this

is

our

God

the

darkness

of the

world

seems

so

overbearing

at

times

if

you're

in

the

Lord's

army

God

is

for

us

who

can

be

against

us

so

we

may

not

understand

the

nature

of

the

enemy

or

the

accomplishments

of

our

victor

it

is

finished

he

will

accomplish

his

will

we

are

part

of

that

we're

part

of

that

army

marching

behind

him

number

four

we

may

not

consider

the

condition

of

the

world

or

the

nature

of

hell

hell

we

may

not

consider

the

condition

of

the

world

or

the

nature

of

hell

I

find

this

to

be

true

in

me

often

I

become

kind

of

numb

and

I

don't

tend

to

look

at

people

through

spiritual

eyes

so

there's

that

agitation

about

the

guy

that

pulls

out

in

front

of

you

on

the

road

that's

an

eternal

soul

the

one

that

you're

so

frustrated

with

because

he

inconvenienced

me

30

seconds

on

my

commute

from

Gainesville

to

this

building

who

cares

really

the

world

is

broken

it's

falling

apart

because

of

this

writhing

and

seething

of

the

enemy

having

its

effect

pay

attention

to

the

news

put

on

talk

radio

and

just

hear

about

all

the

tragic

things

that

are

happening

in the

world

about

us

the

effects

of

sin

it

is

having

its

way

here

and

now

beyond

that

these

people

will be

delivered

to

eternal

damnation

does that

have

any

effect

in

your

heart

at

all

do

you

remember

what

you've

been

saved

from

or

has

Christianity

just

always

been

like

this

happy

hunky

dory

thing

that

!

Have you

ever

actually

really

considered

what

your