A Tale of Two Reconciled Marriages and the Sufficiency of God's Word

Let me tell you about two stories of life change in Christ at NEHBC and then make a point:

Couple A is in their late 40s or early 50s. There was physical abuse. There was lots of dysfunction. There was extreme financial strain. There was stealing. There was separation. Today, through the teaching ministry of our church, the counseling ministry of our church, and buckets of unearned and undeserved love shown by our church family, there is repentance of sin, brokenness, a reconciled marriage, and steady progress down the road of recovery. Their personal testimony to me last night: "We have a long way to go, but because of the love of this church and the commitment to doing things how the bible says it should be done, we are back together and we are on the way to healing."

Couple B is in their 50s. There was alcoholism. There was unfaithfulness. There were lies and deceit. There was dysfunction. There were divorce proceedings. Today, they are back together through repentance and humility. Their testimony to me this past Monday: "We have work to do, but because this church never stopped loving us, but also never compromised what is right, we are back together."

All Scripture is God breathed and SUFFICIENT for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. (2 Tim. 3:16). Do you believe that? God's Word, given the opportunity, can conquer anything going on in someone's heart. We do not have to add to His Word. We do not have to take away from His Word. We do not have to soften the blow of His Word. We do not have to spice up His Word. God's Word is completely sufficient as is to bring life change to anybody.

I'm telling you, our Glory to God vision works. When we are a living community of God (love each other biblically) that exists to make disciples (evangelism, bible teaching, and prayer) life change happens. NEHBC is an incubator inside of which life change through Jesus Christ happens.

Glory to God.

A Tale of Two Men and the Sufficiency of God's Word

Let me tell you the story of two men that have come to faith through NEHBC over the last week and then make a point.

Man A is in his late 50s, married, has a high school diploma as his highest academic achievement, earns an hourly wage, has a very outgoing personality, and is a blast to be around. I would not describe him as intellectual. I would bet he has many friends. He started regularly attending NEHBC in June, 2007. On Tuesday of this week he told me he has confessed Jesus as Lord and frankly, there is no way to describe the man I spoke with Tuesday other than the fact that he is a brand new creation. His testimony to me: "For 4 years I have listened to you preach. I have disagreed with you and argued with you in my head over and over. But every week you get up there and just keep teaching the bible and it finally wore me down and I had to admit Jesus is Lord and He is now my Lord."

Man B is in his early 60s, married, highly educated, quotes poetry, cites foreign books in normal conversation, corporate executive, has been retired for sometime now. I would describe him as intellectual. I would bet he does not have a lot of friends, but nor do I think he minds. He started regularly attending NEHBC 18-24 months ago. Last week, he told me he has confessed Jesus is Lord and wants to be baptized. His testimony to me: "Every week you get up there and just logically explain what the bible says and I started noticing over time that all the pieces of the bible actually do fit together and there are no contradictions. I realized the bible is right and I needed to confess Jesus as Lord."

My point: God's Word is sufficient. Do you know how hard it is for an adult man to confess Jesus is Lord? Do you know how hard it is for an adult over 50 to confess Jesus as Lord that late in life? These men are nothing alike; they are from two totally different walks of life. Both had hearts made hard as steel from pride and self reliance. How hard? How about 4.5 years of sermons before one of them broke? How about 1.5 years of sermons before the other one broke? As the former told me, every sermon was like a wave of water that washed over his heart eroding the bad things in him until it softened him up. Two totally different kinds of people who both came to faith because of the power of God's Word.
All Scripture is God breathed and SUFFICIENT for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. (2 Tim. 3:16) We do not need to add to it, we do not need to take anything away from it, we do not need to spice it up, we do not need to soften its blow, nor do we need to apologize for what it says. Do you believe in the sufficiency of God's Word?