Category Archives: Video

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God loves atheists (2-minute video)

For those who prefer text, it appears below the video:

God loves atheists, and so do I. Jesus calls his followers to love our neighbors as ourselves. While some atheists are spiteful in denouncing the Lord we love, and all of us his followers, as simple-minded, Jesus also told us to love our enemies and even modeled this love for us by laying down his life and forgiving his executioners. He urges us to pray for those who persecute us. Moreover, some Christians on the internet have denounced atheists no less spitefully, though 2 Timothy urges us to be kind toward all, responding with patience and gentleness if we respond at all. If you’re an atheist, please forgive our people who have treated you with hostility. Not all atheists are hostile to believers; some simply do not find reason to believe, and they are sincere in their unbelief. I know, because I was once an unchurched atheist, and would never have known that there is good reason to believe had I not met the Lord for myself. Alister McGrath, William Lane Craig and some other Christian scholars who engage atheists most fruitfully were themselves once atheists, and therefore are able to care about engaging atheists in a way that some other Christians don’t. If you’re a Christian who doesn’t love atheists, I urge you to consider your heart. God loves atheists. If he hadn’t, I never would have come to know his love in Christ.

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Seek the common good (89-second video)

The video appears here; the text follows if you prefer to read it

https://youtu.be/X7o_IJe-GHM

Sometimes religious people, like some other people, have wanted to be in charge of society. Of course, in a democracy we’re all responsible for public welfare and should work for our society’s good, including in working for justice and truth in the public square. We should intelligent articulate and advocate for values that will help people, and the more people who share these values, the healthier society can be. But theocracy like existed at times in ancient Israel is not the model God has given us for our period in salvation history. Instead, Paul asks in 1 Cor 5:12, “What do I have to do with judging those outside?” Moreover, as many ethicists point out, New Testament writers speak of us as resident aliens, harking back to the Israelites’ experience in exile. God’s people in the Persian empire were a minority in a pluralistic society; although some hated them (consider the book of Esther), God often blessed them with favor and wisdom. As the Lord commanded his people in Jer 29:7, “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (NRSV).

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YOU’re a minister (77 seconds)

Ephesians 4:11-13

77-second video (or if you’d rather read, the text follows):

In Ephesians 4:11-13, the job of ministers of the Word is to equip the rest of Christ’s body for the work of the ministry. We believers are all Christ’s body, all called to ministry. We each have special gifts and special doors for ministry. It is you whom God positioned strategically to reach your neighborhood, your school, your place of employment, perhaps for local prisons, nursing homes or other venues. You are responsible for those God placed in your path. 95 percent of the work of Christ’s body will never get done if we are depending on just 5 percent of the members to do it. We can’t neglect work or family, but if we have to neglect some pastimes for ministry, we will be trading merely momentary pleasures for making an eternal difference. If you are Jesus’s follower, you are a member of Christ’s body. Ask God where you can make a greater difference around you. God can and will use you.