Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
“If I do not do the works of the Father, do not believe Me, but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (Jn 10:37-38).
Jesus did not try to win people by impressing them with the brilliance of His logic. He didn't try to argue people to faith. He simply performed a miracle that was so solid, so unavoidably real, that it spoke for itself. Any honest person, after examining the evidence would have to admit that God must be the One who did it. Then Jesus would explain who He was and why He had come. There was an order to the way He approached people. First He performed an undeniable miracle, then He spoke truth. Whenever someone questioned the truth that He proclaimed, all He had to do was point to the miracle and say, “There's the proof that God is at work through Me, so listen to what I have to say.”
When we read the Book of Acts we see His disciples following this same pattern: First God would perform a miracle, then they explained the gospel (Ac 2:12-16; 3:1-16; 5:12-20; 8:5-8; 9:1-18; 10:1-8; 13:4-12; 14:8-18; 16:16-33; 19:10-12; etc). But at some point during the course of church history we stopped following this pattern, probably because there were fewer and fewer miracles. We replaced Jesus' pattern with logical arguments, and that approach is still with us today. And we've been doing this now for so long, arguing without miracles to prove that God is with us, that many segments of the human population have grown tired of listening to us. In their minds we are just one more voice among many voices, one more religion among many religions. Particularly in our own western culture we're rapidly losing influence, which is why it's time to go back and do what Jesus (and our forefathers and mothers) did: First God does a miracle, and then we proclaim the truth about Him.
22 - The Little Book
21 - The Three Woes
20 - Drying Every Tear
19 - Seven Trumpets
18 - The Rapture
17 - The Wrath of the Lamb
16 - Casting Crowns
15 - A New Song
14 - The Lion and the Lamb
13 - The Sealed Book
12 - The Ancient of Days
11 - Recognizing False Prophets
10 - If Your Brother Sins
9 - Overcoming Strongholds
8 - The Second Death
7 - Deadly Religion
5 - Letters To the Seven Churches
4 - The Seven Lampstands
3 - The Seven Spirits
2 - God's Time Table
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