S05E066, Faith and Crutches, Andy B 2 Minute Video
Have you ever witnessed somebody become a Christian? I’ve been privileged to see this quite a few times. Each occasion was utterly different from the next. But the one thing that always followed that moment of saying ‘yes’ to Jesus Christ was an inescapable, infectious, impossible to miss joy!
When I was at school I vividly remember someone trying to ask me a question. I say trying, as it was more accusatory than inquisitive. Their conclusion, simply, was that I was weak because I only used my faith as a crutch. When I told them that they were quite correct, that evidently was not the answer they had hoped for, as they were left just a little surprised.
Life can be pretty tough. There is so much that can cause us to feel anxious and to hide away from danger! But since there will never be enough cotton wool for that, what is the solution for those of us who know Jesus Christ?
That’s where Joy comes in. Fun is great, but joy is everlasting and doesn’t depend on our circumstances.
I’m not naïve enough to think that things don’t come along that make us feel as though we can’t breathe because of what is happening around us, or to us – I survived the largest mainland bomb in British history so I know life can be suddenly, dramatically, life defining and terrifying.
But I also know that, with Jesus Christ, there is always a tomorrow, and that is just as exciting as the joy we can experience today.
Just a thought...
Andy B
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Transcript
[00:00:00] So another Andy B Two Minute Video. And I'm thinking about crutches and I'm thinking about faith.
[00:00:14] Now that might take you to Christianity is a crutch. It's a crutch to get you through life. Someone accused me of that in the most unpleasant of ways. You're only a Christian 'cos it helps you with your life. And I remember saying to them, Yeah, you're dead right it does. 'Cos without Jesus Christ, this life is, is really hard and horrible. Yeah, Jesus is my crutch. What's yours? Alcohol, girls, clubbing. We've all got a crutch.
[00:00:40] Now I remember being a an event where the Holy Spirit was moving. Now, if you're thinking, what's that all about? The Holy Spirit's always moving. God's always there. But this was a bit of a thing of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. People were, were speaking in tongues, Words of Knowledge. There was healing, there was laughter. It was an amazing experience of the [00:01:00] Holy Spirit at work in people's.
[00:01:02] And that room was filled with all sorts of people. We had teachers and we had lorry drivers, and we had office workers, and we had parents, we had children, everyone was there and it was amazing. And there was one person there that was really quite critical of somebody who had just met Jesus that weekend, and had just experienced the Holy Spirit for the first time. And they were jumping, and they were hooping, and they were laughing, and they were crying, the joy, the release. It was amazing! And this other person was saying, that's a bit stupid, isn't it? You should learn to control yourself.
[00:01:34] At which point they fell on their knees in tears that were not joyful.
[00:01:40] And the message that God spoke in to that person's life at that time was very clear. Don't mock people who love me. Don't make fun of people who are loving me. Don't criticize how they love me.
[00:01:53] You ever done that? I have. I'll admit it.
[00:01:57] Jonah, you've heard of Jonah. He went to Ninevah. Tried to [00:02:00] avoid it. Went in a fish, got chucked up. They went to Ninevah. Didn't want the city to be, to be saved by God, which is the whole point in the first place.
[00:02:07] So what happens? It gets a bit of a strop.
[00:02:09] There's a point in the story when Jonah goes up onto a hill looking over Ninevah, and God sets a plant above him to shield him from the burning sun. The plant then shrivels up and Jonah gets angry at God. And God said, I made the plant. How can you be angry that something I gave you has been taken away?
[00:02:28] In essence, God gives us a crutch. He gave Jonah a crutch to suffer to, to cope with the the sun. But Jonah's bitterness, anger, and hatred meant that God took that away from him.
[00:02:39] Be really careful in your life that God doesn't take away the crutch of you, by you criticizing somebody else.
[00:02:46] Just a thought.
Andy B, 05/04/2023