The Cross is Moronic to Unbelievers () - May 20, 2011
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Mike Abendroth Mike’s passion is preaching the Bible in a verse-by-verse fashion and training other men to do the same. He graduated from The Master’s Seminary in 1996 (M. Div.), received his doctorate in Expository Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in May 2006 (D. Min.), and is an adjunct professor at EBTC (European Bible Training Center) and The Master’s Seminary (Doctoral Mentor). Pastor Mike is also the author of Jesus Christ: The Prince of Preachers (DayOne, 2007), The Sovereignty and Supremacy of King Jesus (DayOne, 2011), Things that Go Bump in the Church (Harvest House, 2014), Discovering Romans (Zondervan, 2014), Sexual Fidelity (NoCo Media, 2015) and Evangelical White Lies (NoCo Media, 2016). He is overwhelmed at God’s grace in his salvation and for his family (Kim, Hayley, Luke, Maddie and Grace). Mike has been the Senior Pastor at Bethlehem Bible Church (BBC) in West Boylston, MA since April 1997. When not enjoying his family, Mike is often seen on this.
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Why are we shocked when people are offended at the Gospel? or when people think we are freaks for saying that this Jew, Jesus Christ, is the only way to get to heaven?
Hollywood, the Ivy League, etc all think we need a crutch or something just to get through the night, and they think our belief is utterly moronic.
1 Corinthians 1 addresses how we can handle when this is the type of response we get when we share the Gospel.
Pastor Mike opens this text to help us out when we evangelize and in general to help us understand more fully the nature of the Gospel. Verse 18 puts it pretty succinctly: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
Why do unbelievers think the cross is foolish? Mike lists a few reasons and discusses them:
1) the cross was designed to kill miscreants - it was a cruel and horrible form of capital punishment
2) because Jesus the savior couldn't even save himself
3) you're saying my eternal destiny is based on my belief or unbelief in one man from 2000 years ago?
4) this symbol of a religion is nothing like any other religion's symbols
5) if they really know what you're saying by intellectual means... they understand that the cross isn't just for Jesus but for believers (pick up your cross and follow Jesus)
6) the death penalty can't even be stomached by most people, and for it to be the center of a religion is unacceptable to them
7) it implies that they are sinful
Warning! If you are a Christian and you are preaching to someone and you say that:
- God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life
- God wins in the end (ala Rob Bell)
- it's all relative - this is what I believe and you can believe what you want
... you are not preaching the whole Gospel, or worse, you are preaching against the Gospel. Study what the Word of God actually says the good news is, repent, and preach the actual Gospel.
To those that do preach the good news properly, Don't worry when people think you're crazy or a moron because of what you're preaching.
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