Acts 17
Today will be my last blog entry. I would like to thank each of you for allowing me to speak into your lives over the past years. Your willingness to give me a few minutes of your time has been a precious gift to me. My prayer for each of you is that you would continue to give daily Bible reading top priority in your life.
If you want to know what a nation believes about God, listen to their music, watch their movies and read their poetry. Their view of God will be revealed in these cultural art forms. Paul understood this principle and engaged it when he debated the scholars on Mars Hill. He recognized that to reach the Athenians he had to use their culture, their language and their history. So he quoted one of their poets. This was absolutely brilliant.
"For in him we live and move and have our being." As some of your own poets have said, "We are his offspring." Acts 17:28
By boldly using this quote he shattered their philosophy that God was impersonal and distant from his creation. Paul reasoned that since we are his offspring, and since we are personal, then God must be a personal God. Therefore, every person on earth is ultimately subject to His rule and sovereignty.
The lesson for us in 2020 is that for us to effectively reach our post Christian generation we must use current cultural issues to open conversations about Jesus. We must be familiar with current poems, songs, movies, TV shows, and newspaper articles to open the door to spiritual conversations. This requires us to do double the homework. We must study the Word of God as well as the cultural trends of our day.
So, I leave you with a great mission, to reach the greater Stamford area with the gospel. Blessed will be the person who brings God's truth to bear on the significant issues in our day. May God help you to bring his truth and light to our dark and lost world.
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