8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."
9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'
10 "Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed."
We have been entrusted with a message, and our lives have been readied for service. Isaiah experienced an angel touching his mouth with a hot coal and saying his sin had been taken away. We can rejoice that we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and His holy fire can purify our hearts, our lips, and our actions. When we are surrendered to Jesus, we can rejoice in that right relationship and reflect His inner work to those around us.
The practice of Christianity, according to the Word of God, can have an amazing impact on our individual lives, our families, our communities, and even our nation - this has actually been seen throughout history. Scripture encourages us in 2nd Timothy 1:
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel...
He refers to himself as a "rationalist and skeptic," but he is not blind to the contributions that Christianity has made. He has been a featured actor in some of the biggest movies of all time, such as the Lord of the Rings series and Raiders of the Lost Ark. He has also been involved in faith-based projects, such as Beyond the Mask and an upcoming release centered on the life of St. Patrick.
In an age of hostility and unbelief, it is refreshing to see a big-name Hollywood actor who is not afraid to say positive things about Christianity.
His name is John Rhys-Davies, and at the recent Movieguide Awards, he spoke with Jeannie Law of The Christian Post. On the red carpet for that event, he said, "I count myself a rationalist and a skeptic, and I find myself constantly defending Christians and Christianity,” and added, "We seem to forget that Christian civilization has made the world a better place than it ever was..."
In fact, the actor waxed historical in the conversation - the article quotes him as saying:
Rhys-Davies will be one of the actors playing Patrick throughout the stages of his life in the film, I Am Patrick: The Patron Saint of Ireland, which will be released on St. Patrick’s Day through Fathom Events.
Yesterday on The Meeting House, long-time Nashville area pastor Robert Morgan highlighted some material from his new book, 100 Bible Verses That Made America. In it, he makes a strong and clear case that the teachings of Scripture have been influential on the history of our nation. He decried the attempts by secularists to erase the effect of the Scripture on our nation. John Rhys-Davies is apparently not numbered among them, although his own personal faith perspective is not readily seen.
But there are many who lack the eyes to see and the ears to hear and reject out of hand the teachings of the Lord and how He has worked in our nation. We as a nation should ideally wake up and turn to Him. We also can take the opportunity to tell the story of how God has worked in our own lives. If there are those with whom we interact who are skeptical about the things of God, perhaps the supernatural flow of the love of God through committed believers can help them to draw closer to Him. We can testify to our personal experience of God's love and power.
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The practice of Christianity, according to the Word of God, can have an amazing impact on our individual lives, our families, our communities, and even our nation - this has actually been seen throughout history. Scripture encourages us in 2nd Timothy 1:
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel...
He refers to himself as a "rationalist and skeptic," but he is not blind to the contributions that Christianity has made. He has been a featured actor in some of the biggest movies of all time, such as the Lord of the Rings series and Raiders of the Lost Ark. He has also been involved in faith-based projects, such as Beyond the Mask and an upcoming release centered on the life of St. Patrick.
In an age of hostility and unbelief, it is refreshing to see a big-name Hollywood actor who is not afraid to say positive things about Christianity.
His name is John Rhys-Davies, and at the recent Movieguide Awards, he spoke with Jeannie Law of The Christian Post. On the red carpet for that event, he said, "I count myself a rationalist and a skeptic, and I find myself constantly defending Christians and Christianity,” and added, "We seem to forget that Christian civilization has made the world a better place than it ever was..."
In fact, the actor waxed historical in the conversation - the article quotes him as saying:
“All the things that we value, the right of free speech, the right of the individual conscience, these evolved in first and second century Roman Christendom, where the individual Christian said, 'I have a right to believe, what I believe and not what the Emperor tells me.' From that our whole idea of democracy and the equality that we have has developed,” Rhys-Davies said.In typical Rhys-Davies eloquence, he stated: "We owe Christianity the greatest debt of thanks that a generation can ever have and to slight it and to dismiss it as being irrelevant is the detritus of rather ill read minds, I think..." The piece also states, "The U.K. native said one of Christianity's greatest 'glories, was the abolition of slavery' but maintained that slavery still exists and it makes him mad."
Rhys-Davies will be one of the actors playing Patrick throughout the stages of his life in the film, I Am Patrick: The Patron Saint of Ireland, which will be released on St. Patrick’s Day through Fathom Events.
Yesterday on The Meeting House, long-time Nashville area pastor Robert Morgan highlighted some material from his new book, 100 Bible Verses That Made America. In it, he makes a strong and clear case that the teachings of Scripture have been influential on the history of our nation. He decried the attempts by secularists to erase the effect of the Scripture on our nation. John Rhys-Davies is apparently not numbered among them, although his own personal faith perspective is not readily seen.
But there are many who lack the eyes to see and the ears to hear and reject out of hand the teachings of the Lord and how He has worked in our nation. We as a nation should ideally wake up and turn to Him. We also can take the opportunity to tell the story of how God has worked in our own lives. If there are those with whom we interact who are skeptical about the things of God, perhaps the supernatural flow of the love of God through committed believers can help them to draw closer to Him. We can testify to our personal experience of God's love and power.
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