| Outdoor Truths: Aiming Outdoorsmen Toward Christ July7th |
Gary Miller ~ outdoortruths.org
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The idea in portaging between several lakes in northern Minnesota was to get to the most remote fishing areas. The hope is to go a little farther than most would go in order to catch the fish that see very little human activity. And even though we were not able to travel as far as originally planned, we did get to some areas where the fish were not privy to lures. In those locales, many times the fish would literally take the bait just before it was lifted from the water. There were several times that our line was broken right at the canoe.
Another interesting fact was how these fish seemed to be drawn to the flashiest lures. Most of them were caught on spoons. And again, the flashiest, brightest, and biggest, seemed to work the best. I could tell the difference in activity when I tried to offer them the more garden variety of tackle. And some of these were big fish. You would think they would be more wary of flash. But they too were drawn in by something that had sparkle but no substance. Much like many of us today.
It bothers me today how so many people are drawn in to spiritual flash. Some preachers (I use the word loosely) on TV offers them the flash of cash or the sparkle of success, and they are quick to take the lure at whatever cost. And it works so much that if you hear the same preacher the next week, he’s casting the same prosperity lure. Why should he change when he’s catching so many? My bother doesn’t come from these false prophets as much as it does from those who ought to know better – from those who you would think would be more wary of flash. But we so want our ears tickled and our pockets pooched that when someone casts the lure of luxury in front of us, we are quick to gobble it up. This unfortunately is how we have Americanized Christianity. Let me explain.
According to The Voice of the Martyrs, just recently the Iranian Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of a pastor convicted of apostasy and accused of evangelizing Muslims. And in Eritrea, persecution intensified after an Eritrean governor ordered a purge against Christians at the end of 2010. Hundreds of Eritrean Christians enter Egypt each month in hope of reaching Israel. Some of these refugees die while attempting the 900-mile journey through Egypt, and others are shot to death as they cross the Egypt-Israel border. And there are so many more stories of believers that are so different from much of what we see in America today.
Have you fallen prey to the lure of luxury? Has some slick talking religious huckster convinced you of Christ without cost? Has he made you believe that God’s only desire is your happiness and prosperity? If so, you can be sure that as long as you take the bait, he will continue to cast it. And as long as you live that way, you will never fully understand what it really means to be a follower of Christ.
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