This October, we’re challenging everyone at our church (First Assembly of God, Brookfield, CT.) to come on a thrilling, fulfilling, adventurous, dangerous, liberating campaign.  If you’re not a part of First Assembly, keep reading anyway because we challenge YOU to join us as well.  If you’re the leader of a church or other Christian group, why not bring your people along.

What’s it all about?

Every Christian knows that we have been commissioned by Jesus to go and preach the gospel as the main calling and priority of our lives (Matthew 28:18-20).  Jesus sent the Holy Spirit specifically to empower us for this one task (Acts 1:8).  And yet the percentage of professing Christians who actually share their faith on a regular basis is pitifully low.

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After a lengthy break we return to Dead Guy University. Sundays I post a short classic piece from someone signally used by God down through the history of the church. Today we’ll look to Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986).  

What follows is actually an extract from a longer, quite famous sermon Smith preached called “The Madhouse of the Universe”. It is a stunning read; an evangelistic sermon on the subject of hell. The imagery is vivid and compelling. If you enjoy the following insert, you can download the entire sermon from my download page.

Who Are the Insane?

by Oswald J. Smith

Now who are the insane? That is the important question; and I want to make four suggestions, if I may, so that you can decide whether or not you are insane:

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A lot of news coverage has been given to a church in Gainsville, Florida, that plans to publicly burn copies of the Qur’an on September 11th. The church’s leader, Pastor Terry Jones (Dove World Outreach Center), continues to defend this action against widespread criticism, saying that it will “send a message to radical Islam”.

Let’s put this in perspective for a moment, it was falsely reported that this is a “megachurch” when in reality Sunday morning attendance seems to be somewhere around 30 members. The truth is it’s a small independent church. 30 people should not be seen as being in any way reflecting the voice of 650 million Evangelical Christians worldwide. Again one has to question the media’s choices as to what is newsworthy.

Before I suggest why burning copies of the Qur’an is such a bad idea, let me make clear that this is not about Christians recognizing, or giving credence to, the Qur’an.

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On October 9th and 10th, Dr. Ravi Zacharias will be speaking at the annual Jonathan Edwards Forum in Wethersfield, CT, on the topic of “Christ, Christianity, and the Culture of our Time.” The sessions begin at 7:00 PM at the First Church of Christ.

This is a great opportunity for local friends to hear Dr. Zacharias. We’re planning on taking a group from our church down on the Saturday evening. Admission is free, but space is limited, so I’d like to call ahead and make sure we’ll be able to get seats.  If you’re interested in joining us, leave a comment here or give me a call / email.

Folks who were with us for Study Hall on Wednesday nights earlier this year will remember the excellent series “Deliver Us from Evil” which featured the teaching of Dr. Zacharias.

Phil

I’ve been reading Francis Chan’s book “Crazy Love”. In the opening chapter he directs readers to watch this short video on the web. Absolutely amazing.

Understand this – God created this Universe. He holds it in the palm of His hand.

As I watched the video I was reminded of some words of Charles Spurgeon. When he was just 21 years old he opened a sermon on the Immutability of God with the following words …

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