Review of some old ENGAGE talks

It was pleasant to read this review from my talks at ENGAGE 07.

Here were the talks:

• Talk 1: Tune my heart to sing thy grace (Psalm 63)
• Talk 2: Prone to Wander Lord I feel it (Jeremiah 2)
• Talk 3: Here’s my heart, now take and seal it (Hosea 14)

I based the titles from the Hymn: "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"

I look back with a sense of inadequacy, so it was refreshing to know that they are still useful.

Thanks Manny.

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Three Questions...

OK. This is an unexpected twist for me.

Has anyone every noticed that the word 'idol' never appears in the Gospels?

The word is never on Jesus' lips. Nor on anyone else's. Not even the narrator. No one accuses' Jesus explicitly of idolatry. And Jesus never condemns anyone for idol worship.

And yet the idea of 'idol worship' is right near the heart of the concept of sin in the Bible. It is the deep tragedy of the whole human story: That we find ourselves unfaithful to our maker, rather than love and serve God only. And to be rescued by Jesus from those idols to serve God is at the heart of the Gospel.

So Paul says to the Thessalonians:

They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Three questions then:

• Has anyone else noted this?
• Is the idea implicitly there in the gospels, and where?
• Are there any implications?

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Pic by nschaden.