Church Growth And Dog' Ears

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How should a pastor think through church growth. Did Jesus really show up in a dog' ear?

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2 verse 5 where the
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Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.�
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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you.
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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the
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Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King. Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.
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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and I�m a full -time pastor at Bethlehem Bible Church, bbcchurch .org,
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and, therefore, I try to just carve out part of one day to record three or four or five
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No Compromise Radio shows. So, today, in the real world, it�s Friday, and this is my third show, and so for 24 minutes times three, we just kind of carve it out, and so, if you�d like the show to be more professional, if you�d like the show to have cooler gadgets, you know, we were thinking actually about the app for the phone, except I think it�s like $1 ,500 or something like that, so we had to put that into research instead, so.
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Okay, listen, in between shows, I just recorded the top 25 Christian books sold in America for 2014.
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I�m so depressed, I thought I�d have to take a little walk, so I walked out to the Post mailbox and got some mail, and I got a couple things that were interesting, and I also got this
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January 2015 Pastor�s Info Packet, Products and Resources to Grow Your Church, Enter to Win iPhone 6 +,
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Try Media Marketing, Fort Worth, Texas, and it was to Mike Ebenruth, Senior Pastor, and it�s got a church on the front, and I thought it was interesting that it said, you know, no possessive apostrophes or anything like that, but I thought we�d give it a shot, and so I just opened it up, and there�s all kinds of fun things in here, so we�re going to have a little experiment today, a little experiment.
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I personally would like to have my church grow, so I�ll give it a shot.
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Of course, you know, on No Compromise Radio, the church growth we�re after is we want people to grow in the grace and knowledge of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. That�s what we�re after in 2 Peter 2. Something�s super loud outside.
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That was a jet. I thought somebody was coming through the parking lot, grinding the parking lot out, and that�s some kind of jet.
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Maybe something weird is happening out there. It does say in 2 Peter 3, last verse, interesting last verse.
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You know, little children, keep yourself from idols, 1 John, how that ends. The book before it, 2
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Peter, last verse, �But grow� now remember, this is written, you�ve got a bunch of false teachers, they�re saying
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Jesus isn�t going to come back, �but grow in the grace and knowledge of our
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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.
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Amen.� And so, we want growth. Of course, every pastor wants growth, and as the church matures, they�ll probably go evangelize more, and you�ll probably get more growth in numbers.
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But it�s never the heart of the pastor who�s thinking properly and biblically to, how do
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I get more seats in, you know, nickels and noses. No, we preach for the Lord, primarily.
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Secondarily, we preach to the pew seats that are filled, right? So, pews, pew seats, seats, what kind of seating do you have at your church?
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And so, these are all things designed to help me to get the church to grow.
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Okay, pastor�s info packet. Don�t you wish you were a pastor and could receive some of these things? Fundraise with the best.
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Ten fundraising highlights. By the way, these are all like little postcards. And so, you just place a stamp on them, there�s like 30 of these little packets in here, 30 little envelopes.
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I can�t talk. 30 postcards in this envelope packet without the apostrophes, possessives.
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And then you just put a phone call in or you put a stamp and send it off.
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So, this is how you grow the church. No compromise radio style. Fundraise. Now, first I thought it said fundraise, and then it says, �Fundraise
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U .S. kitchen products, Rada Cutlerly products are 100 % made in the U .S.,
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materials and workmanship.� And you know, here�s the good news. When you want to fundraise for some church growth, what does this have to do with church growth?
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I mean, getting more money from people? These things, by the way, sell themselves. So, why are you sending it to me?
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Number two, I�m not now, you know, you can obviously tell because the show is bombing so far, but I�m not making these up.
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I�m just reading them. I�m not even shuffling the deck. I�m not doing anything else. Here we just read one, then the next, then the next, and off we go.
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Number two, daltoncarpet .com. Yes, I want to start saving on high quality carpet today.
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Send me free samples, and you can have a gym floor, and you can have direct savings.
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Gym carpet, classrooms, sanctuary, residential. Now, what does this have to do with growing a church?
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Nothing. Next, Gold Medal products. Gold Medal�s Fun Food Machine, our carnival game, provides a great resource year after year for outreach.
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And so, you have one of those popcorn machines that kind of have glass. You get to see it pop and all that stuff. Or you have a little duck pond they also sell.
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Now, you see, these are related. Popcorn machines or duck ponds. And it shows a couple kids with some floating ducks there.
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Free catalog. I�m glad that helps me grow the church. I�m going to have to start being more selective.
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I wanted to go in order, but I�m not sure it�s going to do good for the show. So, let�s do this one, okay?
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This is more interesting. This is a little more biblical. It�s a larger postcard. Two -foot by six -foot fabric banners.
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That�s the size of the banner, not the postcard. Buy one, get one free. And you can get these banners.
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Go into all the world, then the other side of the banner is, and preach the good news,
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Mark 16, 15. So, for $99, and you get one free, praisebanners .com,
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you can get a Bible verse that�s not in the Bible and put it up in church. That�ll help grow the church.
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Oh, these Bible -less Bible verses, they are so helpful.
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All right, what else? You know, I�m looking for church growth. So far,
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I�ve got duck ponds, and now buttons. Everybody needs a button.
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How do you grow your church? I thought you just faithfully proclaimed the Word and God and His sovereign wisdom and grace as He wants to freely bestow new life, that is regeneration, monergistically, that is
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His prerogative plan, and only He�s able to do it because the heart of man is so wicked. I thought
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God grew the church. I thought when I read the book of Acts, it seemed like the Lord was adding numbers through buttons to inspire everyone.
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Can you imagine on sale now? Save 60%, badge a minute, M -I -N -I -T.
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Well, see, it makes sense without the apostrophe possessive as well. Get the Word out with buttons.
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Now, see, in New England, lots of people here don�t say buttons. There�s two T�s, B -U -T -T -O -N -S.
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Customize, here�s how they�ll say it, buttons quickly and easily for your church, youth group, and Bible school projects.
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That will help you grow the church. I didn�t know it was a button. Now, maybe if I had an I found it button, maybe people would ask me, what did you find?
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And I would say, I found Jesus. How about you? We�ve got spirit. Yes, we do. We�ve got spirit. How about you?
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All right. So, here, church growth, there�s actually one that fits now. Maranatha Custom Churches Incorporated, they actually design churches.
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So, see, you want to grow, you need a bigger church. We tried that. All right, what else is here?
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Now, the world�s best folders are also the world�s fastest. You want to grow your church, you need a new music folder.
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See, I wouldn�t even know that for choirs, for bands, for orchestras. That�s what we need.
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Now, I�m not kidding you. I�ve got things in here about pew cushions and upholstery.
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We�ve got things here with discounted prices for what do you call those deals in one level, then the next, then the next, that choirs would stand on, little bleacher type of deals.
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I�ve got cenotaph flooring sources. I�ve got all kinds of things.
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And finally, and it�s the only one that I�ve seen so far, maybe there�s more down here underneath the fresh fruit fundraiser.
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It�s best proven to make $10 ,000. I don�t know how this has anything, what this has to do with growing your church cost per pound, though it is lower than stores.
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Here we have preachinglibrary .com. What are you preaching Sunday? Preachinglibrary .com has the resources you need to help you prepare fresh, innovative, biblical messages each week.
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600 plus sermons, so you just kind of get them there. 885 plus sermon series.
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I guess that would be on how to grow your church and fresh fruit fundraisers.
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That�s hard to say, you know, fresh fruit fundraisers. It�s just as hard to say that as it is teeny tykes tunes where you wiggle, giggle and learn about God.
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Oh, 500 plus, 5 ,000 plus illustrations, series graphics and PowerPoint presentations.
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There�s a new year special. Your first month is on us. Take our resources for a 30 -day test drive at no cost to you.
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And so, do you know what? If those were biblical and you preach biblical sermons,
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I think the Lord would grow your church, but I just don�t get it. You know, I think it�s actually deceptive advertising in the sense that, and maybe it�s just me, maybe it�s just my opinion, but, you know, how do you grow your church?
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And then I get this stuff. Now, if it said church resources, okay, fine. Maybe their other ones will.
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These are products and resources to grow your church. Now, maybe the rationale is if you have some of these neat things, people want to be there because, you know, if you wiggle, giggle and learn about God with the teeny tykes and tune program for infants, toddlers, caregivers, and families, you know, maybe they like those kind of faith -based music activities for infants.
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I mean, when I read things like this, it�s just got Fred Butler�s name all over it. Hey, Fred, how are you?
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Good to see you. How about this? Your church needs to grow. You need to get out of your old building to your other one.
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Okay, that seems to celebrate growth a little bit differently. Now, there�s another
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Bible thing here. You know, it�s not fruit. It�s not church management stuff.
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It�s not renovating buildings. It�s not publish your own book. Hey, maybe I should try that.
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Jesus Calling, Part 15. It�s not acoustics first. It�s not sign quality.
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Well, maybe if you got a good sign, maybe some people would come. Maybe your own cookbook. You know, you could raise money.
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You could make a church cookbook and you could see old Nellie Holmes.
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That�s what I was going to say, but I thought I shouldn�t. Out of all the stuff, we�ve got the second thing in here that could be legit.
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Now, the first one I don�t think is legit. You don�t need to order your own sermons, but at least it has something to do with the Bible. It has something to do with, you know,
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Lord�s Supper, Bible, baptism. Know what you believe and why it matters.
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Grounded in Scripture, believe it�s a book. It�s a unique spiritual growth experience, helping
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Christians become more like Jesus in their beliefs, actions, and character. Equip your whole church, from the little ones to the most seasoned members, to believe the core truths of the
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Bible, not just in their heads, but deep into their hearts, or deep in their hearts, and to become more like Jesus every day.
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Believethestory .com forward slash pastors info. So, I guess
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I could get one of those if I wanted one. So, at least that has something to do with Jesus and being transformed by Jesus� word is what
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I�m hoping that�s going to be for. What else do I have here? My name is Mike Amedroth.
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You can tell, these kind of shows, these ad hoc, anecdotal, pro tem, what are some other words?
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I don�t know. I have to say this, though, on a serious note. A lot happens between Sundays at your church.
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And so, it might help your church growth if you let pastors by, neighbors in the community know what�s happening at the church.
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And so, you could get Amber Alerts and other things for community deeds and good works and awards and recognitions.
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You could post those on your church site, Iwana Clubs, you know, that kind of thing.
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Signsplussigns .com, because a lot happens between Sundays at your church. You know, as I was just reading that,
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I thought, well, maybe people could pay me and I would do ads for them, and we could play it on things, right?
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We could, you know, Alpha and Omega, you know, on the dividing line, I could run like my own ad. You pay me and we run it.
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That'll cause church growth. Stuart Signs, make your own cookbook.
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I'm just going through the last few of these. Publish your own book. Visitor packets. You know what? Visitor packets aren't a bad thing.
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Put a little statement of faith in there. Wad it up 1689 or Westminster Confession, something like that.
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Raise thousands of dollars for your church with a fundraising cruise. So, you know, something like that might be good.
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And so, here's how they're saying grow your church. Many of these things are not spiritual growth.
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It's how to get more money into your church. You can have cookbooks. You can have other things.
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Praise banners, you know, those are all help. Cruises, you know, those might be good. But here's something that's interesting.
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This might be a demotivating church shrinkage movement. Consumer alert.
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Formaldehyde is found in imported church chairs. There's a health risk notice and constant exposure increases the chance of developing certain kinds of cancer.
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Make sure you get the Bertolini sanctuary seats and not those cheap ones from overseas.
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I mean, we've got a PU cushion industry found here at No Compromise Radio.
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So, I'm not reading any more. Not going to do it. Can't. So, let's go into something serious here on No Compromise Radio.
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Dog owner, January 20th, 2015 by agency staff. Dog owner spots
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Jesus in her puppy's ear while giving him a bath. Rachel Evans said she was a bit freaked out, to be honest, when she saw the
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Messiah's image in her Yorkshire Terrier, Dave's ear. Dave the
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Terrier with the face in his ear. And it shows a picture of the Terrier in a sink, a bathroom sink.
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Rachel Evans was washing her Terrier. She decided to take some photos. What she saw left her, quote, a bit freaked out, end quote.
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And of course, with this professional writing here by agency staff, we get the period outside of the quotation marks.
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When Rachel showed the pictures to her boyfriend, James Williams, 28, she spotted the face of the Son of God in her pet's soggy ear.
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I was a bit freaked out, to be honest, who works in the DVLA in Swansea. I think this is the
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UK. I'm hoping so. An hour later, I showed my partner and he said, can you see that face?
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We looked a bit closer and realized it looked like Jesus. It's a bit strange. Dog lover
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Rachel shares eight -month -old Dave with her housemate, Louis Evans, 24, and a seven -month -old
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Chihuahua named Gilbert and Whippet Flo, who's one. I mean, this is just the worst grammar here.
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The pair hope the divine appearance is a good omen. And she added, we've not long moved into the house, so that would be good.
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Jesus's face has previously been spotted in a drainpipe and on a half -eaten tattoo.
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It was also spotted on Google Earth in a field in Hungary in 2010.
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Now, can you see how far just the world has gone regarding all this stuff?
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Now, of course, I don't know if, you know, they could just be roommates, what's partners and all that. But if, for the sake of argument, if this couple is living together like a man and woman might,
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I don't think Jesus is going to show up in the dog's ear. Jesus, by the way, we don't know what he looks like outside of descriptions of him in Isaiah, Revelation 1, but we're not getting facial features, of course, in these passages.
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And so, Jesus isn't going to show up in a dog's ear. I mean, really, it's almost unthinkable how we talk about things these days.
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And so, if I were to talk to them, I would say, well, I'm glad you know the name of Jesus. Who is
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Jesus to you? And then I would say, do you know this basic truth about Jesus?
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Jesus owns heaven, and Jesus is the only way to heaven. And the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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Did you know that? And I would say, don't be deceived. You know, it's easy to be deceived. We can all laugh and joke about all the dog stuff and the dog ear and everything else.
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But don't be deceived. Why? Because sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy drunkards, revilers, swindlers, you know what?
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They're not going to inherit the kingdom of God. And so, since you're bringing up Jesus, and, you know, your dog's quite cute and all that,
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I just want to bring it to your attention that the Jesus of the dog's ear, the
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Jesus of your own imagination, the Jesus that somehow you think you know, I want you to really know, because it's a fearful thing to stand in the presence of a holy
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God. And one day you're going to die, and then what? And then we're going to be no joking about, you know, the pictures of Jesus in your dog's ear.
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This is the Holy One whose eyes are like flames of fire, right? This is the one when we want a description of Jesus, right?
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When you take a look at Revelation chapter 1, this is no kind of pet God. He is an awesome
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God. He is described as Son of Man clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest,
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Revelation 1. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.
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His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace.
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And his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars.
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From his mouth came a sharp two -edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
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And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. I mean,
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I just see this little cute little picture of Jesus in my doggy's ear. He laid his right hand on me saying, fear not,
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I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive evermore, forevermore.
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And I have the keys of death and Hades. And then he said to John, write therefore.
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And so I would try to figure out a way to talk to them about who the real Jesus is. And then I would say, you know, here's the good news.
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Jesus Christ's death is so magnificent that it can cleanse you.
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And again, assuming they're living together, I mean, they're living in the same place, what if they have different bedrooms? I mean, so this is just all hypothetical.
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You are sanctified, you are washed, you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our
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God. And so flee sexual immorality. Trust on the
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Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. This is a Jesus. When we think about Jesus in the, you know, the flapjack and Jesus in the sap of the tree and Jesus in the taco and Jesus in the grilled cheese and Jesus in the
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Google Earth. I mean, they don't even know who Jesus is.
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They don't even know what he looks like. They're looking for some Semitic looking man with a beard and longer hair.
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And that's Jesus to people, right? I guess if you're, you know, if you're
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German, he's got blue eyes or something. You know, depending on where you are, his hair is darker or lighter.
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Jesus was a Jew and I'm sure he had Semitic features. And frankly, we don't need to know what he looks like in terms of his face.
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We're not told. We're not told for lots of reasons, but we don't need to know. Here's what we need to know.
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There's one mediator between a holy God and sinful man, one go -between, one arbitrator, one mediator, one referee, one umpire, and it's the man
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Christ Jesus. Paul doesn't say to Timothy, it's the Jew Christ Jesus. He says, it's the man because for Jew and for Gentiles, we are men.
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We are of one human race and we are in Adam and Adam's sin is credited to our account and we consequently are sinful by nature and we need a mediator.
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And the mediator is not found on a dog's ear. It's not found in any place in the world.
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It's not found in nature. Jesus' description is found in the
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Bible and you're to understand that he's like the son of God. He's the son of man and he heals and he fulfills messianic prophecies and he walks on water and can still the sea.
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Only God can do that, the Old Testament would say. Only God can heal a leper. Only God can cast out demons.
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Only God can forgive sins. Only God can be called the first and the last. And when you read about this
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Jesus, you're supposed to submit to him and humble yourself and kiss the sun lest you perish in the ways.
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And so for people who want to have these little stories about Jesus as some kind of little dog treat, they don't know what they're doing.
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And so we need to pray for them so that they can believe on the real Jesus Christ, the Lord of scripture, the
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Lord of glory, so they can be forgiven from their sins. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.
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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston.
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You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.
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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.