God's Marketing Campaign

"God also testified to (the Good News) by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will" (Heb. 2:4).

For a few years, I worked part-time for a small advertising company while I continued to pastor my church in Walnut, CA. I learned how to place advertising in newspapers, magazines and other publications. But I also placed billboards, radio spots and even television ads. At one point, I wrote a paper for our clients on beginning to use the internet to place ads on their sites and on other search engines. We began to develop online components to just about every ad campaign. This area has continued to grow significantly in recent years.

Did you know that God has a marketing strategy for the Gospel? It is described in the text quoted above from Hebrews. God advertised the incredibly Good News about Jesus through "signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit." And I think His strategy has been phenomenally successful. The 500 or so people who would have called themselves disciples when Jesus ascended into heaven has become 2.5 billion (out of about 7.5 billion total world population) in 2020.

Instead of internet ads, TV commercials, radio spots or newspaper ads, God has used incredibly powerful tools that are all empowered by the Holy Spirit:

•  Signs: which are supernatural interventions of God that point to the reality of His presence.

•  Wonders: which is another way of looking at miracles from the human perspective. That is, when God intervenes and His presence is made known, it causes the sense of "wonder or awe" in the observer. You could say that the miracle has a stunning effect and creates an "Aha!" moment in the recipient.

•  Miracles: is just a way of saying that God's intervention breaks our understanding of how nature is supposed to act. Wayne Gruden says, "A miracle is a less common kind of God's activity in which he arouses people's awe and wonder and bears witness to himself" (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, ch. 52). 

•  Gifts of the Holy Spirit: from our perspective, the nine "manifestation gifts" of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Cor. 12:7-11. The unique thing about these charismata is that they are purely works done through the believer by the Holy Spirit, not by human cleverness or skill.

This last Sunday, I was standing in the back of the sanctuary as Pastor Alan was leading us into a time of ministry. I felt God speaking to me about a woman who was with two others, here for the first time. I went over to them and asked if I could pray for the middle women because I had a word for her. I can't describe it here because it is too close to the event. Suffice it to say that it was specific enough that she began to cry and her two friends were agreeing to the accuracy of what God had given me. What they didn't know is that, because I'm a chicken sometimes, I was holding another more specific part of my word to her. 

After the Service was over, they came to talk to me and I gave the rest of my Word of Knowledge. One of the women exclaimed, "How did you know that?!" I told her it was not me, it was God. He wanted her to know that He not only saw what she was dealing with, but that He cared and that, indeed, He loved her.

You see, God used the revelation gift as a way making His presence real. This got her attention like no billboard could. The Gospel got through.

In 1 Cor. 14, Paul says, "If an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he/she will be convinced by all that he/she is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his/her heart will be laid bare. So he/she will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'" (1 Cor. 14:24-25).

The Church has largely lost it's zeal to see the Holy Spirit move. Instead, we have sought out the "experts" to tell us how to market our church, how to grow through advertising or better "outreach" campaigns. What would happen if we got back to the basics of letting the Holy Spirit distribute His gifts according to His will? What would happen if we started to risk moving out in faith and letting His presence be known through us? What would happen if He took over our marketing campaign through signs, wonders, miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit?

What Is the Gospel?

The word "gospel" comes from the Greek word euangelion which literally means "good news."

We call the first four books of the New Testament "The Gospels." That is, they are the Good News that  Jesus announced and that his followers have sought to continue to announce to the rest of the world ever since he passed the baton to his disciples.

Just what is the content of the Good News?

In Mark's account, Jesus begins his public ministry this way:
"After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" (Mark 1: 14-15).

Many theologians agree that the crux of Jesus' message is that something he called "The Kingdom of God" (or "Kingdom of Heaven" in Matthew's Gospel) had somehow arrived and was now present and available to anyone who would respond to it. 

Jesus communicated the in-breaking of the Kingdom through both his words and his actions. When he performed miracles like healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and casting out demons, he was demonstrating and illustrating the reality of his message.

"But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you" (Luke 11:20).

The term "Kingdom of God" needs to be understood in order to grasp just what Jesus was saying. We tend to think of a kingdom as a geographical location. But the New Testament uses the term to describe a condition more than a location. The Kingdom of God is the condition where God's rulership is acknowledged, where His dominion holds sway. Thus, when we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." we are asking God's dominion to come and be made manifest on earth where we live in the same way and to the same degree that it is manifested in heaven, the place where God's Kingdom rule is fully manifested.

Jesus Himself is the One who brought the Kingdom to earth. His favorite term for himself was "Son of Man." This is probably an allusion to Daniel's prophecy:
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed" (Dan. 7: 13-14).

So, Jesus is the One who brings the Kingdom to us, the One who is to receive our worship. His message ends with, "Repent and believe the Good News!"

To repent literally means "turn around." That is, the only response to the Good News is to turn away from whatever direction you are going and turn towards the Son of Man himself. Jesus brings the very presence of God and God's rulership to us. In order to enter into the Kingdom of God, we turn to Jesus and place our trust in him. 

Jesus, himself, is the content of the Good News. In him the Kingdom of God has arrived. Have you turned the direction of your life towards him and placed your trust in him? 

I'll write more on the Good News in my next blog.

The Redemption of Scrooge

I absolutely love Charles Dickens' famous novella, A Christmas Carol. Besides owning several versions on DVD, I've re-read the book on my Kindle the last couple of Christmases. Perhaps my favorite is the TNT version with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge (although Michael Caine with the Muppets and songs by Paul Williams--and the made-for-TV George C. Scott--and the classic Alastair Sim versions are contenders).

Ebenezer Scrooge is ubiquitous at this time of year. And with all the versions out there, including derivations like Scrooged, it is evident that our society is in love with it as well.

What is it about this story that gives it such a pervasive appeal?

I believe that the key lies in the underlying theme of redemption. Most of us know hopelessly antagonistic materialists who seem impervious to the Gospel. For those who are most resistant to the message of God's love, deep in our hearts, we yearn to see them come to repentance.

J. R. R. Tolkein and C. S. Lewis tell us that the power of such fiction comes from the power of the true story it reveals. The truth is that the Gospel has power to save even the most hardened skeptic. That's why Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..." (Rom. 1: 16).

At this time of year, our society is especially open to the wonder of God's love, expressed through his incarnation as a tiny baby, destined to die for the sins of the world. As Christians, let us not be ashamed of the Gospel.

And one more thing. If Scrooge can be redeemed, then I have hope for myself as well. Living in this world can begin to harden my naturally materialistic heart. If the Christmas message can melt Ebenezer's heart, then perhaps I am a candidate as well. Why not let yourself melt a little this Christmas?