A couple days ago I mentioned the 'Romans Road' way to share the Gospel. In case you wondered, here's an image of that method:
I learned something kinda similar from my college ministry, The Navigators. 'The Bridge' was a quick and conversational way to share the Gospel that I could (and very often would) share while out at a restaurant or coffee shop with someone:
Which can be done in a one-verse way with Romans 6:23:
Or done in a multi-verse way (ha). Whatever fits the situation.
I got chills watching this next video. During a sermon, David Platt recited Romans 1-8 by heart. It's not merely impressive for the memory feat -- after all, my brother is an actor, I know people can devote large passages to memory -- but it's impressive because it's heartfelt. You can tell Platt meditates upon this passage and is trying to internalize it. Good stuff.
We start Romans today! If someone has never read the Bible before then there's two places I send them: for an emphasis on relationships, turn to John. And for an emphasis on philosophy, turn to Romans. Romans is a systematic overview of Christianity.
For that reason, it's not surprising that so many Gospel demonstrations are built upon verses in Romans. The one-verse presentation uses Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." That one verse contains the entire story of the Bible.
Other popular verses included Romans 3:23 and 5:8. The 'Romans Road' way of evangelizing is so popular that parody band ApologetiX even made a song about it:
Everyone knows the song 'Stand By Me' by Ben E. King. In fact, warning, if you click the video below then you may just have the song stuck in your head all day. But did you also know that the song is based on Psalm 46:2-3? It's true! And now you know. :-D
In today's passage, Paul is shipwrecked, which is crazy. Paul endured so much to share the Gospel. The question is, after we've been beaten and battered, and thrown up on shore, can we still see God's goodness?
And if you're a U2 fan then check out the songs below. This performance took place in Chicago in 2005, and includes the songs 'Yahweh' and '40,' which is based on Psalm 40.
When I was a teenager I loved seeing bands live, with the screaming guitars and pounding drums, and that bass line reverberating your whole body. Good times.
I still remember one of those bands, 2 Penny Sparrow, who impressed me by switching instruments every couple of songs -- so the drummer came up to sing lead vocals, the guitarist went to drums, etc. And every combination sounded great.
They must not have continued because I can't find any information about them online. Hmm. But to this day, their CD is one of my favorites. The following song is probably the most stretched lyrically but come on, it's also a song giving the whole story of Paul going to Rome, which is awesome. Check it out here.
In Acts we read of Paul defending his faith. There are many ways to testify to the truth. When I was in college I had a Jewish roommate who would blast Matisyahu. I'm so glad he did. Matisyahu's lyrics always passionately share about his relationship with God.
Here is a song by P.O.D. and featuring Matisyahu that connects back to Psalm 27:3.
Today we read Psalm 23, which is probably the most famous Psalm in the world today. There is no shortage of great art inspired by this poem, so let me share two of my personal favorites:
I served in a church where we had recovering addicts from Teen Challenge come lead worship each year. The song 'You Never Let Go' by Matt Redman was one of their staples. I will never hear the lyrics the same way after hearing such powerful testimonies from those guys. God never lets go, He is so faithful.
For funsies let's jump now to a video from the Jewish tradition. In the video below, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi gives an explanation of Psalm 23's meaning.
For the last few days I've been posting about the Psalms. Today let's go back to Paul's journey in Acts. Here's a simple video but very helpful. It's a map overview of Paul's third missionary trip:
Blessed Be Your Name is one of my favorite praise songs of all time and it connects back to Psalm 9. I want it played at my funeral including the bridge part, "He gives and takes away..." Here it is from the original artist, Matt Redman, along with guitar chords:
This image helps to show how Mars Hill was a great lookout point. It gave a 360 degree view of the city. And from that hill a person could see all the major temples of the Roman/Greek gods. No wonder Paul takes this opportunity to share about the true God.
We're starting Psalms today! If Leviticus is the most difficult book in the Bible then perhaps Psalms is the easiest? Because its poetry reflects the ups and downs of our own experiences. Whatever we're feeling, whatever we're going through, the psalmists have written our thoughts down into these desperate prayers.
In Job 38:3, God tells Job to "gird up your loins." Have you ever wondered what that means? The team at Art of Manliness put this helpful image together:
For our reading in Acts I'm sharing a song by ApologetiX. It's a parody of a Simon and Garfunkel classic, and it's titled 'Sound of Silas'
I apologize if the image below is a little too intense for some viewers. I include it because my goal for this Reading Plan was to discover art that had been inspired by the Bible. I'm fascinated by the various ways Scripture impacts and inspires readers.
When this artist read Job 31:5, she had a strong reaction. She saw how the Old Testament passage connected to a modern setting. You can find this art at this link here
Happy Independence Day! What does it meant to have true freedom? Wouldn't you say it's when a person's sense of wholeness transcends circumstances? That's what I would call real freedom.
The image above was made by a Christian artist out of Southern California with the username EmberBlue. She describes her reason for making art like this: "My desire is to glorify my God and Savior Jesus through visual images by using the talent He has given me." Yeah-ah.
You can link over to this art on deviantart here. The artist includes a long, Job-focused quote from Max Lucado in the image description.
Children's Ministry videos can be insane. Truly, insane. For example, in the video below, the narrator Sir Reginald Dufus Esquire III introduces the passage in Acts which is then delivered by a bunch of talking fingers. And it's fun, and strange, but well produced. Enjoy.
The painting below is incredible but also uncomfortable to look at. It's a powerful image for Job's suffering. It was painted by Léon Bonnat, a French painter who lived 1833-1922.
The following video is the passage in Acts read aloud with some computer animation. Technology is making it increasingly simple to animate to Bible passages. Enjoy.
