Our study today offers three brief interactions, three dialogues, about discipleship.

"In the beginning, God." That is how the Bible starts. And at the end, "Even so, come Lord Jesus." Where are we in the flow of time? Not at some random place. There have been developments. We understand from Bible prophecy that the final movements will be rapid ones. In the Book of Revelation, we learn especially about these closing prophetic sequences. It is at the Bible's conclusion that its message is summed and concentrated, outlined and clarified for us.

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5 ).

Today a message from heaven about destiny and divine purpose. Destiny, because God has a plan for every life. And divine purpose, because He does not force us into His plan; He guides us to his plan. Then He lets us choose. He does not take away the free will He has given us. He seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23, 24). God seeks you, but does not compel you.

Every Person Knows There is a God

Every person knows there is a God. In the Bible God tells us the truth about Himself: "Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made" (Romans 1:20). Every person knows there is a God. His power made the earth and the stars. We see them; we cannot not see them. We know there is a Creator. More than this, we all have in ourselves a built-in moral compass, a knowledge that right is right and wrong is wrong. And we know when we violate that code. To know right and wrong is written on our heart. It is a gift to us from Jesus.

Does Christianity change people? The world wants to know. Does being a Christian make any difference at all? If God forgives our sins but we keep doing the same things we did before we embraced Truth, then don't non-Christians have a right to ask how Jesus makes any difference?

Christians claim that the Bible is a communication from God to man. We claim to live our lives by God's Book. Then how can the non-Christian know if we are doing that? Is there any outward sign that might point to the inward reality? Something that would show people whether or not the Christian is doing what God in the Bible calls him to do?

The answer is, Yes, Christianity actually changes people; yes, there are Christians who live their lives by God's Book; and yes, there is an outwardly visible repeating sign. The Bible will tell us in this hour exactly what that sign is!

argumentation-patterns-anti-lgt.pdf

When we review the theological raids made against Last Generation Theology in recent years, we observe a repeating pattern:

1. MISREPRESENTATION. What Last Generation Theology is, is misrepresented
2. TAKE DOWN. The misrepresentation is next knocked down
3. REPLACEMENT. A mistaken gospel is offered in replacement

This is a general pattern. Let’s consider concrete cases and provide correction.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21).

There are 100,000 causes out there, many of which we might spend our energies on and which would add something positive to the world. How do we choose what we do? How do we choose where we spend time and emotional energy?