Guest Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 Mars Hill... Paul went to Mars Hill, called Areopagus... This was a hillside, near Athens, where the Stoics, Epicureans, and Sophists would often discuss their philosophies... it was a hill side, with book stalls, selling the latest books by the different philosophies, it had stone statues of the different gods of the heathen scattered about the hillside... olive trees grew to make the site have a peculiar beauty... for three evenings every month, court was held, and those deemed to be 'politically incorrect' could be sentenced to death... Paul bravely walked to this site, noticed a statue to the 'unknown god'.... and proceeded to lecture the philosophers present, that he knew this 'God'... and it was the only true God... and He told the story of Jesus... We in our day are faced with "Mars Hill" type places at Christmas and Easter (as they call it) times... with santa claus, elves, and reindeer, or with bunnies, easter baskets, and colored eggs... we find the world celebrating 'God'.. in ways that neglect the real truth of what we are to be celebrating.... If we are bold enough to speak about the incarnation or the resurrection, we are oft deemed to be fanatical, and politically incorrect to speak of such, when they would rather talk of easter bunnies and santa claus... but we should make them uncomfortable, bravely proclaim truth... Paul did not attack all their 'false gods' there, but he picked one that he could use as a starting point, and then preach Jesus.........should we avoid such places and days as these??? do we cease to worship on Resurrection day, due to a few who have replaced the empty tomb with candy baskets??? NOOOOO! Paul walked up bravely and though he could have been held for trial, and killed for his message, he proclaimed 'truth' to these philosophers... Why should we hide from the attempts of the devil to pervert the truth??? So what if they have an 'easter basket' or reindeer on a roof....... proclaim Jesus at these times... shout boldly... be politically incorrect and call it 'resurrection day'... or Jesus birthday (though it is not, it is just the day we celebrate it... not the actual day)... but proclaim anyhow that Jesus is raised from the dead... alive forever more, and 'hallelujah' coming back soooon. they rejected Paul's message, and derided him, and so shall we find our message in these days... yes... to celebrate Jesus' resurrection on 'easter bunny, and easter basket day' may seem 'politically incorrect' today... but Paul did not sit and argue their philosophies, nor celebrate their gods... He preached Jesus, he spoke truth, and endangered his life... doing so... for they could have... and did often have people killed there...Socrates faced charges there, some five hundred years before Paul..... and they were still killing people there for their 'incorrect' (as they called it) message... Paul knew this when he started to preach........quit hiding in your 'prayer closet'... Christianity is aided by prayer, but it takes some 'guts' to get out there and preach the gospel... and it is the preaching of this politically incorrect message that will win souls, start revivals, and shake up a 'dead' world... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted March 31, 2002 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 22 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 455 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 8 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/28/2002 Status: Offline Share Posted March 31, 2002 Start the Fire!! AMEN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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