Truth Encounter: 1 Corinthians

Love is what makes the world go round. Socrates, Shakespeare, Jane Austin -these genius all wrote about it, but where can we find the most succinct and sublime revelation of what love is and how it acts?

Your child is in the hospital dying. You desperately pray for the Lord to heal them. Why does God apparently say “yes” to some parents and “no” to others? When Jesus was here on earth there were times when the sick in an entire town were brought to Jesus and he healed them all. Today there are recorded cases of miraculous healings, but many are left still languishing in their illness. Does this mean their faith is not strong enough? Is God simply not powerful enough to meet all of these desperate needs?

Should the contemporary church exhibit the same spiritual gifts as the Corinthian church of the first century? The issue has divided churches and friends. Can we get by all the emotion and take another careful look at exactly what was going on in the Corinthian church?

Too old, too old, too old. Some of you have heard this refrain and it has sucked away your meaning in life. Well I’ve got encouraging news for you. There is a group where no one becomes too old to play a vital role.

If a movie producer wants to make a horror film he fills the screen with all kinds of weird visuals: bodies covered with eyes, creatures with gigantic ears, or noses, or skeletons without skin or internal organs. Why do our churches at times look more like horror films than beautiful love stories?

The military creates unity by dressing everyone in the same uniform and making sure everyone has the same haircut. For most of us unity equals sameness, but is this the way that God looks at unity?

It is called holy. Often only a select priesthood is able to serve it; and entire denominations have been formed over disagreement about it. It is called Communion and the breaking of the bread, and sometimes this table which is supposed to remind believers of Christ’s death, resurrection and return initiates great fear or unworthiness. Who has the right to partake of the communion? What does it mean?

I’m sure you have heard the talk about removing the so-called chauvinistic language from our culture. In new translations of the Bible, it means that we replace “our Father in heaven” with “our almighty divine being in heaven.” How do you feel about these trendy changes or better yet, how does God feel?

Think back over this week and consider some of the opportunities you have had to rub shoulders with someone who doesn’t even consider that Jesus might want to be part of their daily routine? What steps are you taking to make contact with these individuals, begin to develop friendships, and to pray for meaningful opportunities to share Christ?

From those on the outside, "born againers" are a bunch of uptight people who can’t have a good time and live enslaved to a bunch of outdated biblical rules. The truth is that there is a no more liberated, free people on planet earth than those who have invited Jesus Christ into their lives. What is true freedom anyway?

If it’s time to plant a garden, we need a good book on gardening. If it’s time to build a building, we would be wise to find ourselves a good architect. Gardens and buildings demand wise planning, skillful implementation and careful nurturing. Weeds wage war against the legitimate plants in the garden, and sloppy workmanship or wrong design can lead to deadly results in the construction business. What in the world do gardens and buildings have in common with our churches?

Moral decay, brutal violence, cynicism, political infighting -things have gotten so bad that many are tempted to give up all hope. Less than 6 % of households fit into the Ozzie and Harriet style traditional family. Old fashioned biblical standards are mocked as at best culturally irrelevant and at worst puritanically bigoted. How does a follower of Christ stand against this tide of moral relativism with its “Let’s take a vote about what is right and what is wrong for us?”

Does the breaking of bread and the drinking of the cup mean anything to you as a follower of Christ? In the first century the way they disciplined a believer who had fallen into unrepentant sin was to deny them access to the Lord’s Table. For many in the church today this would hardly be much of a punishment.

Ritual abuse, occult paraphernalia, a fascination with the dark side, 666 and Satan has once again come out of the closet. If Satan is real and if his demons can harm humans, what steps should we take to protect ourselves from this destructive attack?

It’s a Thursday and you almost have another week under your belt. What are your big plans for the weekend? Do your expectations run more like the “life is good" beer ads? Where does your heart point for a good time

Five o’clock alarms, ten and twenty mile runs, weight training, regimented diet, video analysis--the Olympian who hopes to win must dedicate everything to this objective. How does your discipline in seeking to win a heavenly medal- the commendation of your Savior- compare to the Olympian running for the gold?

Chuck Swindoll’s book sounded a trumpet call for a grace awakening, but many of God’s children continue to confuse culture and content and truth and tradition. Take a careful look at First Corinthians chapter nine. How could the Paul act like a Jew one minute and a Gentile the next?

No one can deliver freedom like Jesus Christ! If this is true, then why are so many of us some of the most uptight people you could ever meet? Worried about what we eat and drink. Worried about what we listen to. Worried about who we associate with and what we do!

A preacher who steals money from his church or hypocritically sells religious teaching for a quick buck robs far more than the congregation he serves.The Apostle Paul faced the con artists and the disillusioned congregations back in the first century, but he didn’t quit the ministry because of the lack of funds.