Millennial and Gen Z

Millennial and Gen Z

Thank you for opening our eyes to some serious needs to change. I know that may not be what you were expecting to hear. I know your generation has taken a beating in the media (and even in church). I am more than familiar with the Millennial stereotype. But the reality is, your generation has pointed out some things that past generations really need to hear. So I begin by offering my sincere thanks.

We really are not as different as you may think. We both want to spend eternity in heaven. We both believe in God and want to follow His commands. We both believe in Jesus Christ and want to serve Him.

Millennial Generation

Open hearts and minds willing to serve God, Glorify Him.

We both have grown up under the shadow of previous generations. In fact, I am convinced if you were to sit at our kitchen table or maybe spend some time with me on a weekend seminar or in my garden you would realize I and my generation are not the “bad guys.” We really have a lot in common.

I appreciate your zeal and your desire to serve. I can remember sitting in worship assemblies week after week and thinking to myself—“Wait, shouldn’t we be getting together to actually do this stuff we are talking about? Shouldn’t we be serving in soup lines, clothing the poor, helping those in need, taking His Word to the lost?” Instead, for far too many decades we sat in air-conditioned buildings and we checked off a worship list and believed we were doing enough. As a result we stopped influencing our communities—and instead the communities started influencing us.

So thank you for encouraging us to get out of our buildings and doing personal evangelism work. Thank you for encouraging us to stop building these multi-million dollar buildings, but instead use some of that money to reach out into our communities. Thank you for reminding us that traditions are just that—traditions, and not doctrine. Be patient with those who are older as we learn to get out of our comfort zone.

You are a generation that questions things, and I appreciate that. I believe if you ask questions then your faith can be much stronger than just accepting what previous generations have done. But be careful not to allow your questioning spirit to drive a wedge between you and past generations. Use that same spirit to prove to others that Christianity is real. Show those who are questioning the evidence of why we believe what we believe.

I grew up constantly hearing about the “Greatest Generation” and how awesome they were—but deep down I always questioned that. I wondered why if they were the greatest generation it was on their watch that church growth stopped and began to decline. It was on their watch that wives left the home and never came back. It was on their watch that home Bible devotionals became almost extinct. It was on their watch that love and affection were rarely shown between fathers and their children. Simply put, I grew up with this troubling belief that the “Greatest generation” was not really the greatest.

This is where you come in. It is my sincere hope and prayer that you will be. It is my dream that your generation will bring back:

  • Personal evangelism
  • Church growth—both spiritual and physical
  • Service to the community
  • Home devotionals
  • Wholesome marriages that reflect Christ and the church, and more

So I challenge you. Become the greatest generation. Not from the world’s perspective, but God’s. Understand that in order to do this you will need to continue to remain faithful to His doctrines and His Truths. You will have to accept and teach others there is such thing as absolute truth. You will have to share with the lost their sinful condition.

But I believe you can do it. I believe you can be a light to the world. I believe you can use your talents and make an incredible impact. And given our technological age, your generation may be the one that is able to effectively put God’s Word into the hands of every single soul on the planet!

Are you up to the challenge? Are you ready to be great? I stand ready to roll up my sleeves and serve with you. We are not on separate teams. We have a common goal. Let’s get busy together—for Him!

 

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Open Door Shut Door

Open Door Shut Door

Jesus’ words in the parable of the ten virgins have a great application in the way we live our lives. Those virgins who failed to bring enough oil for their lamps found themselves unprepared for the arrival of the bridegroom. When he came, the wedding celebration began, and they were not included. His words? “And the door was shut” (Matt. 25:10).

The door was shut. What a vivid description to emphasize that in our lives there are opportunities which come our way, and we must react immediately or that open door may be shut for us. This is especially true of those times when our hearts are being convicted to obey the gospel, and we fail to respond. Look at some of these events which come to us in the lives of almost every one of us.

open door

Salvation is free, but the door won’t always be open to receive it.

The Open Door When We Are Young

Solomon said, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth” (Ecc. 12:1). One of the most wonderful experiences is to watch the innocent faith of toddlers grow and grow until that time when they choose to become Christians. Timothy is a Biblical example of this. We should not be surprised that when, as a very young man, he was taught by Paul he became a Christian. This was because his mother and grandmother’s faith was seen by Timothy (even though his father was a pagan). The foundation of that faith was taught to him. Paul said that the knowledge of the Scriptures started when Timothy was a child (the Greek word used is infancy), and this resulted in Timothy obeying the gospel (2 Tim. 3:15).

Now suppose Timothy had not failed to remember his Creator. Listen to the rest of Solomon’s words. “…before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ’I have no pleasure in them.’” Those who do not remember Him when they are young may find that as they get older the time arrives when that door is shut.

The Open Door Later in Life

Youth is not the only time we can follow Him, but it is the easiest time. When Paul preached the door to the Roman governor, Felix trembled. There was an open door. How did he respond? “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you” (Acts 24:25). As far as we know, that time never came. Is it possible that you are close to becoming a Christian, but you think a better time will come? It may never come.

The Final Door Permanently Closed

Remember this. When you draw your last breath the door truly will be shut, never to be opened again. God says, “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Do not let the door close before you!

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Inspiración, Revelación e Interpretación

Inspiración, Revelación e Interpretación

La diferencia que existe entre Inspiración, Revelación e Interpretación y como distinguirla.

Es muy fácil poder opinar de un tema y caer en el error de hacerlo a la ligera. Nosotros deberíamos ser estudiantes diligentes de las santas escrituras, también aprender los factores que se encuentran alrededor de ella. Es importante informarse y documentarse  muy bien en fuentes confiables antes de hablar de cualquier traducción o especular con respecto al tema de la inspiración de la Biblia sin saber todos detalles.  Existen tres términos muy básicos dentro de este estudio que nos ayudarán a comprender en una mejor proporción lo relacionado a la comunicación de Dios al hombre, los medios y condiciones para hacerlo.

inspiración Biblia

Es importante informarse y documentarse  muy bien en fuentes confiables antes especular con respecto al tema de la inspiración de la Biblia.

Revelación.  Tiene que ver directamente con el origen y la entrega de la verdad (1Co.2:10). Este concepto debe de estar claro en el proceso de comunicación divina. La palabra hebrea para “revelación” es galah (descubrir o destapar), la palabra equivalente al idioma griego es apocalyptein, (quitar el velo) son idénticas en la esencia de su significado final. Entre los sinónimos de ambos, nuevo y antiguo testamento comunican la idea con claridad: “Remover un obstáculo a la percepción o extirpar aquello que se encuentra en medio y que detiene a alguien de ver un objeto tal cual es”. La noción está mejor contenida en el latín con la palabra  revelare de dónde se deriva la palabra en español revelar. Es decir, revelación implica remoción , en vez de, descubrimiento de algo nuevo.

Amado lector, usted sabe que hay muchas personas clamando tener “una palabra por parte de Dios” afirman que el Señor ¡les está revelando algo fresco y relevante del momento!. Tales declaraciones simple y llanamente no contienen verdad alguna. Dios ha revelado en el siglo primero  toda la verdad (Jn.16:13) y ésta a su vez a sido plasmada en un santo libro…la Biblia. Por tanto ya Dios no está revelando nada a nadie más de lo que ya se reveló en el siglo primero (Gal.1:6-9). El Espíritu Santo mismo no ha producido la verdad sino que El estuvo revelando la verdad ya que “él no hablará por su propia cuenta” (Jn.16:13-15). Todo está se encuentra en torno al término revelación y entre muchas otras razones combra vital importancia.

Inspiración. Tiene que ver con el récord o la preservación  de la verdad (2Pd.1:20-21). Dios reveló la verdad a hombres que la recibieron y la dejaron grabada para nosotros. Inspiración es pues el medio que Dios usa para preservar por los siglos la revelación de su mensaje al hombre. La inspiración envuelve al hombre en toda su forma activa, mientras que revelación es la sola e independiente actividad de Dios.  Es ahí cuando surge la pregunta; ¿Qué es inspirado, el escritor o el escrito?. Para responder a este cuestionamiento tan importante permítame sugerir que ambos son inspirados. Dentro la definición de inspiración uno debe comprender que el hombre inspirado es el que produce el escrito y que el E.S quien está guiando y moviendo ambas cosas (el hombre y su pluma). Es curioso notar que 2Tim 3:16-17 traduce teopneustos como inspirado y que significa, soplado de Dios, o de lo más profundo de su Ser, para referirse a “la escritura”, mientras que la escritura es producida el hombre quien escribe (es lógico). En este contexto Pablo se está refiriendo a las libros del antiguo testamento, ya que los del nuevo aún estaban en progreso, pero es fácil notar que en el proceso de inspiración los profetas estaban inspirados tanto como sus escritos y en ciertas ocaciones el Señor pidió que se escribiera y tal petición quedó en récord  como en el caso de Jeremías, Daniel o incluso en el N.T el mismo Juan en Apocalipsis.

Interpretación. El término griego es hermeneuein  (interpretar) que es aplicado a la interpretación de la inspiración. El énfasis de la interpretación se basa en la comprensión y la apreciación de la verdad como Dios la dispuso en primera instancia. En la revelación Dios “desenvuelve” la verdad, por la  interpretación, el hombre entiende esa verdad.

Se convierte en un problema real cuando se opina en relación a estos tres conceptos sin comprenderlos correctamente o peor aún sin hacer distinción. Permítame presentarle este ejemplo. Alguien dice “la versión de la Biblia Reina Valera 1960 está mal, contiene errores, y existen mejores versiones que esa”. Bien para empezar, no es una versión sino más bien una revisión, de las más de 5 revisiones que ha tenido en la historia RV, entonces  la designación de “versión” está incorrecta. Segundo, estimar que hay versiones mucho mejor que la RV60 es un tanto perjuicioso ya que todas las traducciones contiene el factor del error humano, y ninguna está exenta de eso. Podemos decir con más confianza que existen traducciones más precisas como la Biblia de las Américas, mientras que por otra parte también existen parafraseos de la Biblia que no son ni siquiera consideradas como una traducción seria tales (PDT, BAD, DHH etc), y bueno no pueden faltar las perverciones que deliberadamente han cambiado el sentido del mensaje para acomodar sus doctrinas (NVI, TNM). La  revelación y la inspiración son las que no contienen errores pero las traducciones sí contienen, eso no altera en lo absoluto el mensaje de Dios y minimiza la inerrancia de la Biblia.  Tercero, hay mucho más que debe de ser considerado como lo es la composición de tal versión, los manuscritos base, el contexto del idioma español en el momento en el que se publicó, las variantes textuales, como se pesaron esas variantes y porque se optó el método de traducción que se usó, el comité de traducción y sus credenciales …etc no es tan fácil como el hecho de solamente opinar y dar el criterio personal sobre el asunto.

Aún cuando los 3 conceptos están ínter-relacionados en el completo proceso de  la comunicación de Dios al hombre los 3 deberían ser bien distinguidos por nosotros: 1)Revelación, es el hecho de la comunicación divina. 2) Inspiración, es el medio de la comunicación divina y 3) interpretación, es el proceso para comprender la comunicación divina. 

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Preachers Fishing for Sinners

Preachers Fishing for Sinners

When you are in a foreign country, there are always language mistakes you are going to make.  I made a fairly humorous one this year in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Myself and a team of others are here as fishers of men.  We are here to preach the Word of God to all who will listen.  Jesus said in Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”  We too preach repentance to those walking in the darkness of sin. In pursuit of these objectives there are joyful moments, sad moments, and as I will now share with you, humorous moments.

fisherman

Pescadors!

In Spanish there is a word “pescador”.  This word means “fisherman”.  This certainly applies to our work in Costa Rica.  There is also a word “precador”.  This is the word for preacher.  I attempted to be a pescador  precador by talking about religion with our taxi driver during the ride from the airport to the hotel where we were staying.  During the conversation I mentioned that I was a “pecador” as well as were my fellow brothers in Christ.  Notice there is one letter different from the previous words mentioned.  A pecador is a sinner.  I had been telling our taxi driver that we were sinners.  Great start to the work in Costa Rica!  First day in Costa Rica and I became a pescador precador proclaiming to be a pecador!

Language is a funny thing.  When we study the gospel we need to be careful to study the Word we share (2 Timothy 2:15).  We must preach only that Word which has been established in heaven (Matthew 16:19, Galatians 1:8, Revelation 22:18-19).  We must strive to do only that which Christ has provided in obedience to the Father (John 8:28, Colossians 3:17).  If we do these things with love in our hearts for Christ (John 14:15), then we will avoid the pitfall of living a life as a pecador.

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New Year Notes – Cost Rica & More

New Year Notes – Cost Rica & More

2020!  A New Year lies before us.  Nine years down, one more until we hit the decade mark! Wow!  Thank you all so much for the years of sharing the Word of God with us.  It has been such a joy to read the scriptural examinations of all the good brothers who have provided articles to this website.  Right at 3000 different articles are available on so many different Bible topics.    There is much more to come.

2020 New Year

Mat 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

It’s also that time of year where we head down to Costa Rica to share the gospel.  Will try to keep up on posting articles each day, but you never know what is going to happen when you travel abroad.   Thank you to all those folks who have aided us this year in making this trip possible, we will do our best to glorify God and share the love of the Church.  A report will be coming shortly after our return on the 18th of January.  Please keep us in your prayers!

Happy New year to all!

Travis Main

 

 

 

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