God's Greatest Gift (15)
Series: Life Verses?
Tony Thomas?
John 3:16
Matthew Engelke tells a great story in his book titled, A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in the African Church. Gaylord Kambarami was the General Secretary of the Bible Society in Zimbabwe, Africa. Zimbabwe's Bible Society is like our Gideons in America: they exist to distribute Bibles. Kambarami was trying to give a New Testament to a very crotchety, hot-tempered man.
That man, however, wasn't interested in reading the Bible! But then he noticed that the size and composition of the paper in that New Testament was perfect for rolling cigarettes. Kambarami said, ''You can smoke my New Testament, but promise me that you'll read the pages first.''
That African man agreed, and Kambarami figured he'd never see that man again - or his New Testament again. Fifteen years later, the two men met again, this time at a Methodist convention. That Scripture-smoking agnostic had become a Christian! He explained, ''I smoked Matthew, Mark and Luke - but when I got to John 3:16 I couldn't smoke anymore!''
Most of us are familiar with John 3:16 because of its prominence. Rollen Stewart is the guy who wears the multi-colored wig at sporting events while holding up a John 3:16 sign. Stewart has received more air time than Lebron James, Victor Oladipo, or Bryce Harper combined!
Tim Tebow was the Heisman Trophy winner from Florida who unashamedly wore that verse on his face. It's popular graffiti in America's inner cities, it's posted along our backwoods highways, and weightlifters tattoo the passage to their biceps. Most of us have it memorized by heart:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
We're in a sermon series called Life Verses, and we're covering your favorite Bible passages. I am enjoying it because the verses are your favorites, not necessarily mine. For the most part, the ...
Series: Life Verses?
Tony Thomas?
John 3:16
Matthew Engelke tells a great story in his book titled, A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in the African Church. Gaylord Kambarami was the General Secretary of the Bible Society in Zimbabwe, Africa. Zimbabwe's Bible Society is like our Gideons in America: they exist to distribute Bibles. Kambarami was trying to give a New Testament to a very crotchety, hot-tempered man.
That man, however, wasn't interested in reading the Bible! But then he noticed that the size and composition of the paper in that New Testament was perfect for rolling cigarettes. Kambarami said, ''You can smoke my New Testament, but promise me that you'll read the pages first.''
That African man agreed, and Kambarami figured he'd never see that man again - or his New Testament again. Fifteen years later, the two men met again, this time at a Methodist convention. That Scripture-smoking agnostic had become a Christian! He explained, ''I smoked Matthew, Mark and Luke - but when I got to John 3:16 I couldn't smoke anymore!''
Most of us are familiar with John 3:16 because of its prominence. Rollen Stewart is the guy who wears the multi-colored wig at sporting events while holding up a John 3:16 sign. Stewart has received more air time than Lebron James, Victor Oladipo, or Bryce Harper combined!
Tim Tebow was the Heisman Trophy winner from Florida who unashamedly wore that verse on his face. It's popular graffiti in America's inner cities, it's posted along our backwoods highways, and weightlifters tattoo the passage to their biceps. Most of us have it memorized by heart:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
We're in a sermon series called Life Verses, and we're covering your favorite Bible passages. I am enjoying it because the verses are your favorites, not necessarily mine. For the most part, the ...
There are 17098 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
