Let's Talk about Jesus
Jerry Watts
John 2:13-22
When you hear the name ''Jesus'', what picture comes to your mind? What is YOUR image of Jesus as a man? One man said, ''I see Him like a Mr. Rogers with a beard.'' Another man said, ''The picture I have of Him is a gentle guy with children all around, sort of like Mother Teresa.''
Let me build a case with bad news. In the modern day Americanized church, we are given only one type of picture of this man Jesus. He is a gentle man, nice, meek, nice, well-groomed, nice, tidy, and did I say, nice. In paintings (like these) we see very little of the 'masculine' side of Jesus. I read that Jesuit Priest Patrick Arnold laments that Christ is often depicted as a bearded lady.
While you may not like this characterization, consider the evidence. Dr. Woody Davis ask 100 men why they didn't go to church. The #1 response was ''Church is for women, children, and wimps.'' There is a book out which over the past 10 years has grown into a movement. It is entitled, ''Why Men Hate Going to Church.'' A common fear among men is that Christianity will turn them into a nerd or a nut. Lee Strobel is a former atheist (and now an outstanding Christian apologist) put it this way, ''Before I was saved I would look at the church and think, 'Boy, I never want to end like that.' Back then I saw Christianity as being out of touch and living a vanilla lifestyle devoid of challenge, excitement, or plain fun.'' By the way, one Poll identified the average church goer in these terms, ''A 50 year old, married, well-educated, employed female while another poll found the average worship to be an older black female who live in the south. (ABC).
Of all the religions in the world, Christianity is the one who has a huge shortage of men. While at the same time, MEN are leaving house and home to join ISLAM. Why? It appeals to their masculinity. You have heard me say, many times, that the Americanized church (tmc) is just that.
While I believe TM ...
Jerry Watts
John 2:13-22
When you hear the name ''Jesus'', what picture comes to your mind? What is YOUR image of Jesus as a man? One man said, ''I see Him like a Mr. Rogers with a beard.'' Another man said, ''The picture I have of Him is a gentle guy with children all around, sort of like Mother Teresa.''
Let me build a case with bad news. In the modern day Americanized church, we are given only one type of picture of this man Jesus. He is a gentle man, nice, meek, nice, well-groomed, nice, tidy, and did I say, nice. In paintings (like these) we see very little of the 'masculine' side of Jesus. I read that Jesuit Priest Patrick Arnold laments that Christ is often depicted as a bearded lady.
While you may not like this characterization, consider the evidence. Dr. Woody Davis ask 100 men why they didn't go to church. The #1 response was ''Church is for women, children, and wimps.'' There is a book out which over the past 10 years has grown into a movement. It is entitled, ''Why Men Hate Going to Church.'' A common fear among men is that Christianity will turn them into a nerd or a nut. Lee Strobel is a former atheist (and now an outstanding Christian apologist) put it this way, ''Before I was saved I would look at the church and think, 'Boy, I never want to end like that.' Back then I saw Christianity as being out of touch and living a vanilla lifestyle devoid of challenge, excitement, or plain fun.'' By the way, one Poll identified the average church goer in these terms, ''A 50 year old, married, well-educated, employed female while another poll found the average worship to be an older black female who live in the south. (ABC).
Of all the religions in the world, Christianity is the one who has a huge shortage of men. While at the same time, MEN are leaving house and home to join ISLAM. Why? It appeals to their masculinity. You have heard me say, many times, that the Americanized church (tmc) is just that.
While I believe TM ...
There are 10807 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
