Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

February 23
Tuesday


FOREIGN
WORSHIP

READ:
ACTS 17:16-31
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"[Paul] seems to be a
proclaimer of foreign
gods," because he
preached to them Jesus.
__Acts 17:18
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During a trip to the Far East, I visited an unusual shrine made up of hundreds of statues. According to our guide, worshipers would pick the statue that looked the most like an ancestor and pray to it.

A few years ago, I read about a student named Le Thai. An ancestor worshiper, he found great comfort in praying to his deceased grandmother. Because he was praying to someone he knew and loved, he found this to be personal and intimate.

But when he came from Vietnam to the US to study, Le Thai was introduced to Christianity. It sounded like a fairy tale based on American thinking. To him, it was the worship of a foreign God (see Acts 17:18).

Then a Christian friend invited him to visit his home on Christmas. He saw a Christian family in action and heard again the story of Jesus. Le Thai listened. He read John 3 about being "born again" and asked questions. He began to feel the pull of the Holy Spirit. Finally, he realized that Christianity was true. He trusted Jesus as his personal Savior.

When friends see Christianity as foreign worship, we need to respect their heritage while sharing the gospel graciously and giving them time to explore Christianity. And then trust the Spirit to do His work.
__Dave Branon
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``````````````Man gropes his way through life's dark maze,`````````
```````````````````To gods unknown he often prays,``````````````
``````````````````Until one day he meets God's Son--`````````````
````````````At last he's found the Living One! __D. De Haan`````````
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God is the only true God.

*************Today's Bible Reading __ Acts 17:16-31**************

16 Now... [Paul's] spirit
was provoked within him
when he saw that the city
was given over to idols....
And some said, "what does
this babbler want to say?"
Others said, "He seems to be
a proclaimer of foreign
gods," because he preached
to them Jesus and the
resurrection...

22 Then Paul stood in the
midst of the Areopagus and
said, "Men of Athens, I
perceive that in all things
you are very religious; 23 for
as I was passing through and
considering the objects of
your worship, I even found
an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
"Therefore, the One whom
you worship without
knowing, Him I proclaim to
you: 24 God, who made the
world and everything in it,
since He is Lord of heaven
and earth, does not dwell in
temples made with hands.

25 Nor is He worshiped with
men's hands, as though He
needed anything, since He
gives to all life, breath, and
all things. 26 And He has
made from one blood every
nation of men to dwell on all
the face of the earth, and has
determined their
preappointed times and the
boundaries of their
dwellings, 27 so that they
should seek the Lord, in the
hope that they might grope
for Him and find Him,
though He is not far from
each one of us; 28 for in Him
we live and move and have
our being, as also some of
your own poets have said,
'For we are also His
offspring.' 29 Therefore, since
we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the
Diving Nature is like gold or
silver or stone.... 30 Truly,
these times of ignorance
God overlooked, but now
commands all men
everywhere to repent,

31 because He has appointed
a day on which He will judge
the world in righteousness by
the Man whom He has
ordained. He has given
assurance of this to all by
raising Him from the dead."