<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

UnScene Media Group

Dee Casper

Bad Religion (Devotional)

Have you ever been hurt by religious people?

As a result of this hurt, do you feel that religion is just this dead road that leads to nowhere, nothing but disappointment and discouragement and harm?

I have some good news for you today, and I hope that at the end of this video you're going to have a different view not only of God, but of religion in general.

And I think what you're about to hear may surprise you.

There's this interesting passage in the Old Testament, in Ezekiel 36, beginning around verse 22, where God literally says, I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.

And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations wherever you went.

And all the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am hallowed in you before their eyes." Basically, people will know that I'm the Lord when you start to look like me, because right now you don't.

And it's really frustrating to God that he's being misrepresented by people who claim to know him.

Paul picks up on this theme in Romans chapter 2 and verse 24 where he says that the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, church folk.

Now this should be good news for you because God seems to be distancing himself from instances in which religious people hurt folks and look nothing like him.

So if you've been hurt by people who claim to know God but look nothing like him, he wants you to know today that he has nothing to do with that.

In Acts chapter 26, the Apostle Paul is telling his testimony to King Agrippa.

This is basically what he says, I was on my way to Damascus to arrest people who were believing in Jesus.

He's a man who believes in God devoutly, zealously.

And because these people don't believe as he believes, he's persecuting them with everything that he has.

He wants to kill them, imprison them, and make their lives miserable.

But on his way to arrest these people on a dusty road just like this 1, he has a face-to-face encounter with Jesus Christ himself.

He says, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

Now, he did not have a warrant for the arrest of Jesus.

He had a warrant for the arrest of people who loved Jesus.

Jesus here is identifying with the people who were suffering in his name at the hands of bad religion.

To me that brings a lot of hope because Jesus has nothing to do with what's being done to his people here.

In fact, Jesus himself was killed by bad religion, by the conservatives and the liberals.

He's not responsible for it and that he wants something better for us.

First of all, if you've been hurt by bad religion, know that Jesus has nothing to do with that and that he was hurt with you.

2, our decisions need to be made based upon what Jesus says in His Word and how He treats us individually.

Don't let other people think for you or deprive you of that privilege.

3, we need to be praying for those people who've heard us in religion, that they would have a face-to-face encounter with Jesus Christ himself.

And lastly, as religious people, we need to pray for the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of humility, and that we would love people who don't see things the way that we do, just like Jesus would, to ensure that they can be reached too.

This is possible through the power of God, and bad religion need not be an issue anymore.

This media was brought to you by AudioVerse, a website dedicated to spreading God's Word through free sermon audio and much more.

If you would like to know more about AudioVerse, or if you would like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audioverse.org.

Back to Menu

Bad Religion (Devotional)

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

To be, not to do

9m

Being Adventist

The Terrifying Tyranny of Adventist Eschatology

1h 7m

Self Control

35m

Can You Keep Up

48m

Evening Plenaries

Lessons from the Soil

47m

Student Mentorship

20m

How’s the Ag “Pulse” in our Schools? Panel Discussion

40m

Identity Theft

5. Pioneer Stories

46m

Addiction & the Devil's Battleground

Addiction & the Devil’s Battleground: Knowledge is Power

42m

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

43m

Accountability and the Judgment

52m

Lessons from the Great Physician

Lifestyle Medical Ministry Today

59m

Sound Doctrine