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Mike Slaughter  |
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I. God Is Good I have a lot of pre-Christian friends. I hope we all have a lot of pre-Christian friends. When they get to know me and we get comfortable together and have come to a certain level of trust, they often ask this question (for some it comes later than others but generally we get around to this question) that concerns what I do -- you know, "Why do you do what you do?" "Well,
what do you mean?""You
know -- the church thing. I mean, you really seem like a
normal person and it’s kind of surprising why you do
what you do. You don't seem like someone who would do the
church thing."Now,
I answer a question with a question. Did your Mom tell
you that you should never do that? I kind of just act
surprised and go, "Why don't you?"I
hear all kind of excuses, but generally two of them fall
in there somewhere like this. Have you ever heard these? |
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| Psalm 100:5 5: For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations. |
 "Well,
my parents made me when I was a child." Do you ever
hear that one? Well, what's that have to do with now? Or,
"Well it’s my only day to sleep in." This
is when I give my response. OK, here is why I do what I
do and it comes from Psalms 100: "I enter his gates
with thanksgiving and his courts with praise!" For
this reason -- I do what I do. (Verse 5) "For the
Lord is GOOD! and his steadfast love endures
forever." That's why I do what I do. "For the
Lord is Good and his steadfast love endures forever and
his faithfulness continues to every generation."
That is why I do what I do -- because God is good. The
Lord is good!Disillusionment When you were a kid and first heard that God was good, didn’t that provoke a certain sense of awe in you? Do you remember looking up at the stars or lying in the bed and thinking, "God is GOOD! Wow!" But as we get older we kind of make that word "good" into a trivial word. In
my household, as a kid growing up, about one night a
week, we had to eat liver. (I have not had liver in my
adult life!) "Mom, why do I....?" "You eat
this. It's good for you." She gave this anemia story
and leukemia and all this kind of stuff! It is good for
you, right? You grow up and you discover what a liver
really is. It is a filtration system for all kind of
poisons and so forth. When we're little, the word
"good" provokes -- but as we grow up it becomes
a trivial kind of word. Advertising! Look what advertising
has done to that word "good." How many of you
remember this one? "If you don't have time to brush,
chew Dentyne. Recommended by dentists." So now, not
only are your teeth dirty -- they're sticky, sugar dirty,
right? Like -- sugar gum is like brushing your teeth!
"Well, why brush Mom? I just want to chew gum."Tobacco
companies! Have you seen the latest Winston ads? Winston
is now telling us to "get naked." What they are
saying is, "No additives, pure tobacco." No
addictive additives -- pure tobacco! Like tobacco is not
addictive. They have been telling us, "NO, tobacco
is not addictive." These cigarette executives have
died of cancer, but it is not addictive! It's good for
you. You know, when you're nervous, it gives you a
certain sense of comfort and relaxation. |
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