Adaptation

Have you ever experienced being really skilled at something and then over time that activity changed and all of the sudden you were not so good because of changes that had taken place? I never really had a great voice as a kid but as I started to hit those magical years in which my voice started changing, I had a hard time trying to sing in the children's choir and I had a bad audition one year. I tried so hard and could not figure out what I was doing and I eventually gave up. I am not one to judge but it seems like back in the 90s, revival conferences were brought to cities in effort to change America for Christ. They seemed rather effective but they have since died off and I have not seen anything take the place of these conferences. It is almost as if in the aspect of mass revival in America, Christians have given up in a sense. There has been an increase in pastors on TV programs on Sunday mornings and such, but how effective is it for non-christians to watch a program and be led to the Lord without having someone there to pray for them and to hear them out? What type of follow up can be done for people who do come to Christ this way? Most people would be too intimidated to call in and talk to someone they cannot see and tell them that they just accepted Christ. The point I am trying to make here is as technology changes and our nation moves more towards evil and further away from Christ, how can we convey the message effectively? Just as sports change over time, generations have changed the face of this nation and has led us into dark times. If you remember my post from several weeks ago, probably early December, it said that the Porn industry is greater then the top technological companies COMBINED. This includes: Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Yahoo, Ebay, Earthlink, Google, and Netflix. I am sure there are more but this is just to name a few. Having had a personal experience being lured in by the industry, it is an epidemic that is changing our nation and destroying marriages and lives all across this nation. This is only a fast growing problem because the internet is fairly new in the aspect of being able to access certain things (25 years or so). I am not saying we should only focus on this area because there are many problem areas but we need to adapt to the way our society is changing and make sure that our message is pertinent to what people are going through. Most of what I hear from people and students alike is that God is not for them and they just do not see the point, they would not attend a rally because they simply just do not care, so we need to being the message to them.

1st Corinthians 9:19 states, "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible." The question is not really what are we doing to change the world for Christ, but how far are we willing to go? Can we be persistent with people when it comes to sharing the love of God in a subtle way, just as we need to be in our prayer life? Our efforts will not be dismissed as long as we work with God and trust his plan and let him guide us as we start to minister to others. We have so many opportunities everyday to minister and share what God has done in our lives, but I know that I let those opportunities slide. The change that I believe needs to be made in the way Christianity is presented is that we need to be less in the face of people and explain why we believe what we believe. People believe we are arrogant to believe what we believe because they think we are misconstruing what God has said and making it our own so that we can stop abortion, gay movements, etc. However, we have scripture that backs us up and that is where the real power is. In Chi Alpha on Wednesday night, my college pastor used a verse from my Bible Quiz days. We see in Hebrews 4:12 it is noted, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." What powerful imagery used by the author of Hebrews. Even though the bible was written thousands of years ago, it is still, "Living and Active." All that we need to do is let God guide us so that we can figure out how to convey this message to those who need to hear it. I am not saying I have solutions, I am just saying that as Christians, something needs to be done. It is a collective transformation, the church has to work together to reach people because no one person (short of God) is going to be able to do it all on their own because we would end up having conflicting methodology.  

I throughly enjoyed today, though I did not do much, I did a lot of thinking and I think my mindset has progressed from where I was yesterday. I feel refreshed and I am ready to keep holding on to what God has for me. I know that I have a long way to go and I am ready to let him take ahold.

Hope you all had a great day and if you need prayer, feel free to text or call me. My number is 480-292-1754. I know most people are afraid to post because they do not want people to see what they are going through and that is fine, that is what my number is for. I will not talk to anyone about what you are going through because I know that confidentiality is a big deal to some people. Do not be hesitant to ask about something you do not understand or if you want to discuss something in more detail, please call me or post. I want to discuss this stuff! I like to hear people's thoughts. Have a great night!

God Bless

Joseph Robinson