A Striking Conversation

I had a very interesting conversation with a man this past weekend. He was a car salesman and while we were waiting on some paper work, he and I struck up a conversation. I told him that I was currently in school at Tusculum and that I planned to attend Southern Baptist Theological Seminary after I received my BA.
After I mentioned this he told me that his parents had taken him to visit a seminary in Kennebunkport, Maine. Personally, I had no idea that car salesmen could be accepted into seminary given their dark past. But nonetheless, he did go. While there he and his family went through the usual tour of the campus and of the prospective dorms that he would potentially be staying in.
The unuaual part of the story came as he and his family were about to leave and head back home. At this time of the day there was a storm that errupted on the horizon. A black cloud descended on the seminary. And about 15 feet from this man's car was an oak tree that had been at this seminary for years. He was told that it was over 100 years old. That means that this tree would have been HUGE. As his family was about to leave a bolt of lightning pierced through the clouds and struck the enormous tree, splitting it completely in half. Somewhat stunned and paralyzed by the potential sign that this could have been this man turned to his parents and said "I don't believe this is the place for me."
I have my opinon on this but, my question to you, my fellow blog mates, is who do you think this sign came from? We know that Satan is "The prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2) and we also know that God is the creator and sustainer of the universe. So which of these two did this sign come from? Is it possible for us to know? Was it really even a sign to begin with? I would love to hear your comments.

But will either share the Gospel?

While I don't mind fun and amusement parks, I find this to be sheer commercialism and not a positive for the cause of Christ.

The below is a link to an article:


http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/16/Nashville_could_have_two_bible-theme_parks/UPI-33431213642434/


My hope is that they are doing this for the right reasons - to share the Gospel of Christ. However, I have my doubts. It brings to mind the current "entertainment" culture that many churches have adopted. Watering down the true meaning of sin, repentance, and obedience to the faith seems to be a growing trend in some Christian circles.

This seems like the next logical step...be entertained at church on Sunday morning by a "health and wealth gospel" and turn around and spend Sunday afternoon riding "Jonah and the Big Fish" roller coaster.

The Great Commission at Bonnaroo

Here is an interesting article I found about Bonnaroo and the outreach of certain churches:

http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=11472

The most intriguing section of the article to me was:

If they are willing, the volunteers will share their message of salvation and pray with those who visit their tent.“Our ultimate goal is to have people come to know Christ,” Walker said.Few people have accepted Christ during the festival, he said, but he believes they are planting seeds that could bear fruit in the months and years to come.“Our goal is to love people and in doing so have the right to tell them the truth,” Walker said.Others groups near the festival grounds wear or carry signs telling festival goers they are going to hell. “What they are saying is correct,” Walker said. “What I tell them (volunteers) is speak what the Bible says in love.“We don’t condemn them (attendees) for what they do,” he said later.

The distinction between to ministry of these two groups reminds me of Matthew 9:11-13:

11And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
12But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
13But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

I for one am glad there were Christians who shared the good news of Christ at Bonnaroo. By ministering to the needs and offering "weird" stuff, they did more to fulfill the Great Commission than the others who just held signs.

Matthew 28:18-20:

18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Evangelism v. Fossilization--Who said it?

"The church that does not evangelize will fossilize." A lot of you may have heard that quote. It's a funny little saying, and even I must admit-I have it in my book of neat little quotes.

Who said it though?

I had always seen it referenced to Oswald J. Smith.

Smith was a Canadian evangelist and pastor who lived from 1889 to 1986. It is indeed a fitting quote to have come from an evangelist, especially from one known to make similar pithy sayings. And no, if you're wondering, that is not a picture of Oswald J. Smith.

It is a picture of Bible teacher Arthur W. Pink. I have been reading through Iain Murray's Life of Arthur W. Pink. Like every other book of Murray's I've read, it is amazing. However, I learned that in 1927, Pink was forced to resign from a pastorate in Australia, for being too Arminian!

In all of Pink's writings, I had come to know him as something closer to a hyper-Calvinist than an Arminian. Pink was neither. He was strait up biblical. He preached a sermon at a Particular Baptist church in which he made a call for human responsibility to be preached. He criticized the denomination for being afraid of certain texts of the Bible, just like Arminians. Needless to say, it didn't go over very well.

The interesting thing that ties together this whole post follows. In Pink's sermon (and subsequent article in his magazine Studies in the Scriptures) Pink makes the following comment: "...I want to tell you frankly that if a church does not evangelize it will fossilize: and, if I am not mistaken, that is what has happened in some of the Strict Baptist Churches in Australia." (Pink went on to say it again a few lines down.)

This comment was printed in 1927. So, here's my question: who said it first? Oswald J. Smith was old enough and in the evangelistic ministry at the time, so it is within reason that Pink heard it from Smith and took the line from him. However, Smith's ministry extended long after Pink was dead (Pink died in 1952), and it even went on for several decades after Pink made this comment, So it is almost more reasonable for Smith to have taken the line from Pink. Who said it? I don't have the answer, as I could not find a reference as to when Smith said the statement. I'm posting this to see your comments. Do you know who said it?

More importantly, does it convict you? Do you get the real point of Pink's use? Do you emphasize God's sovereignty to the point of neglecting human responsibility to repent and believe the gospel? Do you emphasize man's responsibility to the point that you leave out any work of God himself in our salvation?