Stay Salt by Rebecca Manley Pippert

 STAY SALT

by Rebecca Manley Pippert

INTRODUCTION

These are the opening words of this book by Rebecca Manley Pippert ...

"The one thing that unites all Christians, now and throughout history, is our joyful assurance that the greatest thing that ever happened on our planet is the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The message of the gospel is quite simply the best news ever."

All I can say in response is Amen!

But why am I not sharing it? Or rather why am I reluctant to share it? Of course I am talking verbally sharing. I can only pray that my life is a living testimony to the gospel. So now I need to learn to do a but more. To be more confident of my faith and what it means, to pray and ask for an opportunity to share. Will you join me?

Rebecca makes the point that we all look for meaning and worth. We as Christians must live and tell the good news of what God has done for all in Christ. As the New Testament says, we are living epistles. People may not read a bible but they will read us!

Do you believe looking back on your life that you can trace the hand of God working in you, in the decisions you make, the plans that came to reality - that it all works for his purpose as Romans 8 verse 28 says?

CHAPTER 1

Rebecca points to a time in her high school when her teacher recognised through her writing that she was searching for God and advised her not to settle for cheap substitutes, to keep knocking until she had her answer.

That led her to search other religions. She never explored Christianity. It was through reading 2 books, 1 by C S Lewis that sparked an interest in the Christian faith and more importantly reading the bible. She began to read the gospels and was captivated by Jesus. She surrendered and committed her life to Jesus.

We all have different journeys in life but if you look back in your life and recognise such a similar experience can I ask you - what stopped you continuing to knock?

If anyone ever asks me about reading the bible and in particular which book would you start at, I always say John.

In her book Rebecca talks about the ways Jesus talked to others about faith.

I remember reading John's gospel myself for the first time and finding in each chapter tremendous accounts of individuals meeting Jesus. They are like testimonials in their own ways.

We have John the Baptist, a devoted follower of Jesus.

Then there is the first encounter of the disciples of Jesus.

There is the first miracle of water into wine with his mother, family and disciples.

There is the first encounter with the religious Jews.

Chapter 3 introduces us to a Pharisee who came by night, Nicodemus. A churchy man but not saved.

Then there is the woman at the well. Living with a man not her husband and she had already been married 5 times.

All of these stories are in the first 4 chapters of John and they say so much about Jesus, his manner of teaching, his compassion and how he led people to the truth.

CHAPTER 2

Reading the second chapter of this book the other night for my online book club I realised something that was mind blowing to me personally, something I never realised before.

Genesis 3 teaches us that evil was already present on earth. This source of evil is identified throughout the bible in the form of Satan. His desire is to blind people to God's truth. What I realised is that it doesn't matter if these people are believers of Christ or not. Satan blinds people to God's truth, all people.

Secondly when Satan tried to make Eve doubt God's goodness and love, he focused in on that one tree God said they were not to eat. There were possibly hundreds of trees but Satan zeroed in on that one tree. They had enough to survive without that tree but Eve fell for the lie that God isn't good and was actually depriving them.

The same thing happens today - it only takes one thing to make us focus on it and nothing else. Something is said or someone does something and we focus on the hurt caused rather that focus on the other multiple good things and blessings enjoyed. Let us realise that God only wants to give us the best and we should focus on his best not on mans. We have more in riches than any material possessions we could ever possess.

God would have to come from the outside and reveal who he is."

If you look into various religions you will find that there is great importance in following rules or engaging in spiritual practices to achieve acceptance. But not Christianity! God came to us.

Remember that little baby in the manger? That is how he came, that is how he revealed himself to us. He also took on our sin by dying on the cross.

Christ assumed human nature while still remaining his divine self so that he could communicate with us

Why did he come? Because we were in desperate trouble. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Love this paragraph in chapter 3 of this book Stay Salt.

Abraham was a moon worshipper from Ur - hardly a great qualification for becoming the father of Israel.

David was a shepherd boy who was so undervalued that it didn't even occur to his father to present him to the prophet Samuel - yet he became the greatest king that Israel ever had.

The Samaritan woman in John 4 had a checkered past and present, yet she became the first Christian convert and almost immediately the first evangelist in her community.

God wants to use us now - where we are, as we are.

I have been challenged by how to win people for Christ by a number of specific ways given in this book. One of these is walking in the power of the Spirit through prayer. That has prompted me this morning to pray for the women who will attend tonight's Women's Fellowship meeting in our church. And my prayer - open my eyes. What to? There may be women who don't know Christ as their Savour, others who may know Christ but need to grow in their faith. Others might be going through difficult times with hard decisions to be made while others could be lonely or depressed. Just committing these women to God in prayer has revealed so much to me already - what a challenge!

Is there a story that is big enough to build our lives upon - a story that gives our lives ultimate meaning and purpose?

The good news of Jesus enables us to discover the meaning of our individual stories by understanding the big story: The greatest story ever told.

The gospel, rooted in historical fact, ushers in a whole new way of understanding God, our human experience (of our neighbours and ourselves) and the world.

"People today think that being a Christian is having an experience. The experiential is important, but the Christian faith is based on core beliefs that all Christians must understand and believe, and then communicate to non-Christians: creation, the fall, redemption (through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus) and new creation (when Jesus returns and restores all things)."

J R R Tolkien

Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true and then show that it is."

Braise Pascal

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" Genesis 1 verse 1

The creation story tells us a great deal about God:

God is eternal - he is before all things and without beginning or end. He has no competitor or peer. He commands and it is accomplished.

God is the Creator - through him all things came into being because God is the cause and source of life. God created out of nothing: he needs no help, which means God is above and beyond all that he has made and distinct from it.

God is good - God's character is righteous and holy, loving and merciful, trustworthy and faithful.

God is personal and communicative - God is not some distant impersonal power or an energy field. He is a loving, personal God who delights and shows parental, nurturing concern over what he has created.

God created humans as the apex of his entire physical creation and gave his highest accolade to them. Only humans were created in the image of God. They were given language, creativity, love, holiness, immortality and freedom (within divine limits) to choose their actions.

Following on from this idea of disconnection, one big problem that needs a remedy is sin. We don't have the ability to change ourselves. Any self-help programme cannot help us. We need to be forgiven, have a new start and a new nature. That can only be met by a power and love we do not possess.

Help has already come for us. God in his mercy sent his son from heaven on a rescue mission, in order to redeem a people for himself and to restore everything under Christ.

That is why the death and resurrection of Jesus lie at the very heart of my faith and has been the turning point in my life.

Rebecca Manley Pippert has 3 simple methods to use to try and engage people in conversation about faith.

Think of an interest question - something they are interested in and why they find it so interesting.

Secondly an issue question that genuinely relates to their interests.

Finally a God question.

These may not necessarily happen all in one conversation. Interests can take place over a long period of time. Sometimes it's about building a relationship or friendship or even credibility.

I love Peter when he says to be prepared to give an answer for the reason for the hope within us but then he goes on to say "but do this with gentleness and respect."

Just finished the last few pages of this book. I would love everyone I know to read this book because it is a real challenge to our faith. I loved the real life experiences the author included particularly the story of her brother at the end. I am in a similar situation to her and find it difficult at times to ever feel that individuals in my family will come to know the Lord personally. God knows the situation and his timing is perfect but that doesn't mean we give up, we keep on praying and believing it will happen one day!

Our problem is sitting back and saying we cannot do anything by way of evangelism. Rebecca shows that this is not true. It is our responsibility (not duty!) to spread the good news of the gospel to everyone we meet. Who knows what can be used in God's plan! What a challenge. So fitting with what I was reading and studying yesterday from Romans 12 verse 1. Our whole bodies need to be offered to God - that's body mind soul and spirit!