"The Cross and Marketing 101"

Proverbs 16:6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

From a business perspective, when you have a product you are trying to sell or market there are certain fundamental principles that you must follow if you are going to have any measure of success. One of the key principles would be, as you market your product to the public make sure you take out anything that the target audience would find verbally or visually offensive. Therefore, great care is given to, choosing the right colors on the packaging, finding a jingle that people can relate to etc. Overall the goal is to make sure the product is visually appealing to as large an audience as possible so they will at least stop and consider the product as it sits on the shelf. The bottom line is if you are going to market a product successfully it must appeal to the masses and not be offensive.

It is precisely for this reason that the church is not in the marketing business. We must never make the grave and tragic error of trying to market the cross.
The reality is that the cross is offensive. Paul in Galatians talks about the offense of the cross.

In Corinthians Paul says 1Co 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God

When we try to market the cross and make it more appealing we destroy it’s power.

1Co 1:17 = For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Paul was not willing to compromise the message of the cross to accommodate his audience. Yes, you may get a bigger crowd, one that is not offended but you have a powerless message. People embrace a cross that is powerless to save them. They think they are saved but are still lost and under the judgment of God. Why because the cross has been stripped of it’s power. How did that happen. It was stripped of that which makes it offensive, foolish. .
The cross repels men at first.

• The Cross says all have sinned
• The Cross calls men to repentance,
• The Cross brings men and women face to face with the truth that all our good deeds are as filthy rags in God’s eyes.
• The Cross is a message that says for God so loved He gave his only begotton son Jesus Christ to die in my place, to bear God’s wrath for my sin.
  
• The Cross is a message that slays man’s pride.

And for many this is offensive. But this is the message and for those who will embrace it through faith, it is the power of God unto salvation..

George Bernard said it so well – “IN THAT OLD RUGGED CROSS, STAINED WITH BLOOD SO DIVINE, A WONDROUS BEAUTY I SEE; FOR TWAS ON THAT OLD CROSS JESUS SUFFERED AND DIED TO PARDON AN SANCTIFY ME.”

Do we want to see lives changed? It is going to be through the message of the cross powerfully and truthfully preached, In our pulpits and through our lives. Paul gloried in the cross, he boasted only in the cross. May we do likewise. We were not left here to market the cross, we were left here to proclaim the message of the cross . A message that offends many but transforms and saves those who believe. Remember - Whatever obscures the cross deprives it if it’s power.
By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for. These are found at the Cross of Jesus Christ.

"1-800-Pray"

“Jesus did not teach his disciples how to preach –
he taught them how to pray.” DL Moody

HEB 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

What an invitation given to us in this verse! What an opportunity! What a privilege!

A song writer once asked the question, "who am I that a King would bleed and die for . . .? May I add this, who am I that this same King would invite me to come to His throne to obtain mercy and find help...? I sometimes wonder if we as Christians realize the tremendous blessing and far reaching implications this has for us as believers to have access personally to The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I have accented the word personally for a reason.

There is a trend especially in some TV churches and ministries, to spend an enormous amount of time talking about God's power to answer prayer. The Christian is repeatedly told that God hears and answers the prayers of His people, which is true. The problem is, that having been told this the believer is not urged to come boldly to the throne himself but to call a 1-800 number where he will reach people who "know how to pray" and they will go to God on his behalf with his prayer requests.

There is nothing wrong with calling in and asking people to pray for you and with you - but I wonder how many of these people who call in realize they have just as much access and right to enter the Holy of Holies through prayer as the people they are talking to on the phone.

When Christ was crucified it says the veil in the temple was rent in two, and it was not replaced by an 800 number. It was not opened to allow certain "super" Christians to have access to God on behalf of the rest of us. It was opened for all believers young and old, those who are hurting, or struggling, those who need forgiveness, comfort, strength, or a friend. You have a Savior who can be touched , who can be approached, a Savior who invites you to come boldly to His throne to find mercy and grace to help in your time of need, and strengthen you in your daily walk with Him. "He's as close as the mention of His name", not the nearest phone.

Access to God is not knowing a number, it's knowing a person - JESUS CHRIST.

"We are His Sheep"

“As life in general becomes more and more complex, so religion tends to be affected in the same way. It seems to be assumed that if the affairs of men are so difficult and complicated, the affairs of God should be still more complicated, because they are still greater…The fact is, that as we get further away from God life becomes more complicated and involved. ..The truly religious life is always the simple life.”

When we think about peace and simplicity our minds imagine, quiet pastures and gentle streams. We have such a picture given to us in one of the most famous chapters in the bible. Psalm 23 is written by a shepherd, however it is not written from a shepherd’s perspective but is written from the perspective of a sheep. “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” We dare not ever forget this. The life of a sheep is pretty simple. Sheep only get into trouble when they forget they are sheep
The Key Phrase in this Psalm is “The Lord”
The LORD - (Yahweh)(“I AM”) is My Shepherd. The LORD is...

• My Savior - My Deliverer
• My Substitute - My Sin bearer
• My Shelter - My harbor of hope
• My Strength -
• My Shield - my defender
• The LORD is my shepherd – he is all of these and more

As we consider this statement something should be obvious, obvious that is to sheep.
The most important knowledge a sheep can have is knowledge about the shepherd.

• Sheep do not need to know a lot about how to build fences
• Sheep do not need to know a lot about how grass grows
• Sheep do not need to know a lot about waters sources
• Sheep do not need to know a lot about bears, wolves etc.

The survival of sheep is dependent upon one thing - do they have the courage to trust the shepherd?! That courage comes from knowing the Shepherd

It is true that the Lord is a shepherd.
It is true that the Lord is the Good Shepherd.
It is because I trust in the Lord as MY shepherd that I can experience the rest of Psalm 23.

We need to have a personal relationship with the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. That relationship comes through faith in His finished work upon the Cross where the good shepherd gave his life for the sheep and paid the penalty for their sins. The most important question you can ever ask yourself is , do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

The rest of Psalm 23 outlines the multitude of blessings flowing out of this personal relationship with the Lord my Shepherd. Read it again today. Follow the Good Shepherd, have the courage to trust The Good shepherd who gave his life for you. “Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee.” Perfect peace comes when we have the courage to trust the perfect shepherd.

This Shepherd says to us in Proverbs 8: 34-35 “Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.” Wisdom, don’t leave home “the sheepfold” without it. Listen, watch and wait for wisdom and blessings (the blessings of simplicity) will find their way into your life.

"Borrowed Time"

Here are some sobering words for two of the greatest countries in the world celebrating their independence this past week.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.

It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage. [Source Unknown]

"if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chro 7:14