What will this babbler say?
Acts 17:18b
It is always a challenge to share my faith in Jesus with those who do not believe in Him...
Acts 17:18b
It is always a challenge to share my faith in Jesus with those who do not believe in Him...
And such has been the case with a Jewish man who's a journalist as well as an intellectual. He writes for a secular magazine that's based in New York City.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to him, because, at the time, he was hoping to write an article about me; it was published this week.
Although I did not want to do an interview, regrettably, I allowed two well-meaning friends to talk me into meeting with the writer. And I did eventually decide to try to make the best of the situation, especially since these friends had already granted him lengthy interviews without my knowledge. Through their actions, unfortunately, he already obtained enough material and information to do a story anyway. So, at this point, I reasoned within myself that I should do my part to honor the Lord by sharing with him my story of redemption and hope.
Yet, when a person speaks to another individual about spiritual matters and about one's personal belief in God, it is very easy to be misunderstood. The apostle Paul had this problem. Now so do I.
In the book of Acts, for example, when Paul, as an evangelist, entered the huge city of Athens, which is now the Capital city of Greece, and when he saw the citizens of this region giving themselves over to all kinds of idols and pagan superstitions, he became "stirred" in his heart. And he responded to the idolatry by preaching to them the gospel.
Paul gave the populace the story about Jesus' birth, death and resurrection, and Christ's payment for their sins with His own blood.
Meanwhile, the highly educated crowd of philosophers and Stoics, the latter who believed that human beings should be free from passion and should calmly accept all occurrences in life as products of the divine will, did what proud people often do when they hear the gospel for the first time and refuse to believe it. They mocked him. They called Paul a "babbler" and a teller of "strange tales." In other words, they labeled the apostle a "babbling idiot" and they laughed in his face.
Of no surprise, of course, if I could fast-forward two thousand years to the present, after having read what has been written about me, the writer of the article has placed me into the same category. Praise the Lord!
While I am only a servant of the Lord Jesus and not an apostle, it is encouraging, however, to have something in common with one of the greatest characters from the New Testament. I'm honored!
D.B.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to him, because, at the time, he was hoping to write an article about me; it was published this week.
Although I did not want to do an interview, regrettably, I allowed two well-meaning friends to talk me into meeting with the writer. And I did eventually decide to try to make the best of the situation, especially since these friends had already granted him lengthy interviews without my knowledge. Through their actions, unfortunately, he already obtained enough material and information to do a story anyway. So, at this point, I reasoned within myself that I should do my part to honor the Lord by sharing with him my story of redemption and hope.
Yet, when a person speaks to another individual about spiritual matters and about one's personal belief in God, it is very easy to be misunderstood. The apostle Paul had this problem. Now so do I.
In the book of Acts, for example, when Paul, as an evangelist, entered the huge city of Athens, which is now the Capital city of Greece, and when he saw the citizens of this region giving themselves over to all kinds of idols and pagan superstitions, he became "stirred" in his heart. And he responded to the idolatry by preaching to them the gospel.
Paul gave the populace the story about Jesus' birth, death and resurrection, and Christ's payment for their sins with His own blood.
Meanwhile, the highly educated crowd of philosophers and Stoics, the latter who believed that human beings should be free from passion and should calmly accept all occurrences in life as products of the divine will, did what proud people often do when they hear the gospel for the first time and refuse to believe it. They mocked him. They called Paul a "babbler" and a teller of "strange tales." In other words, they labeled the apostle a "babbling idiot" and they laughed in his face.
Of no surprise, of course, if I could fast-forward two thousand years to the present, after having read what has been written about me, the writer of the article has placed me into the same category. Praise the Lord!
While I am only a servant of the Lord Jesus and not an apostle, it is encouraging, however, to have something in common with one of the greatest characters from the New Testament. I'm honored!
D.B.
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