FEATURE ARTICLE: Bottles & Forks - by AGospelPreacha

Provided by Joined at the Hip Ministries www.jathministries.com

There is a generation of men & women that believe they know enough about God to get to heaven when that final trumpet sounds (see I Thessalonians 4:16). They regularly attend church. They can recite various scriptures from the Bible. They know how to regurgitate a few spiritual sounding statements when it comes time to pray. They even might sacrificially give of their time and treasure on occasion. But these same individuals are considered prime candidates for recruitment in the ever-increasing move toward agnosticism & atheism. What makes this group of people such an appealing target is this little secret: knowing a lot about God has very little to do with actually “knowing” God (see John 17:3). The 2 are completely unrelated. 

At this point, you’re probably expecting me to say something like, “In order to actually KNOW God, you should read your Bible daily, you should spend more time in prayer, you should seek out a godly mentor/accountability partner, you should get plugged into a Bible teaching church, etc.” All of these are very necessary elements to KNOWING God, but there’s something else: becoming a student of the faith. If you want to be successful as a lawyer, one of the first lessons taught in law school is that you must “know your opponents’ argument better than he does.” Many Christians cannot properly communicate the Gospel because they don’t know God beyond the occasional passing acquaintance. And if you don’t know why you believe what you believe, you run the risk of being convinced that what you believe is not true. Getting to know God from a scholarly approach equips and empowers us to successfully combat the deception that has influenced many a Christian to turn away from the faith. 

Most deception occurs when error is mixed with enough truth to make it believable, therefore, the counterfeit seems genuine. satan doesn’t care what you believe, as long as it is not the truth. He would like to convince you to piece together your own god in whatever form you choose. That way, life for you becomes a real-life Burger King slogan: You can have it your way! Throughout history, though, the reoccurring problem with those man-made gods is that their temporal nature eventually leaves us yearning for something greater (see Isaiah 44:1-11). 

My daughter is currently undergoing the painful process all babies must endure: teeth cutting through the gums. The exciting part for my wife and I, though, is that she’s progressing toward eventually dining on solid foods with us. As this year comes to a close and you’re thinking of things you’d like to do differently next year, I strongly urge you to consider the following: make getting to know God your highest priority. I sincerely believe that through this message, God is challenging many of you to put the bottle down and pick up a fork. 

Edifying, Encouraging & Enlightening,
AGospelPreacha

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