Out is In, Cool is Hot, Evel is Good

I'm working on writing a book, and one of the challenges of publishing is coming up with a catchy title to get readers to pick the book up at the bookstores and flip through the pages. Perhaps this title would catch the eye of a reader? The first saying above caught my eye this week. It is displayed in large letters across a highway billboard off of I-85 in Atlanta, GA.

At the first reading of my lesson title you may think, "Robby, this title doesn't make good sense, and by the way, you misspelled evil."  You're right; those phrases don't make sense, but don't jump the gun on my spelling just yet. Sometimes the things we hear and read don't make sense, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are not true. The advertisement for "Out is In" is promoting eating out at Atlanta dining facilities. Like, "Eating out is the 'in' thing to do." Kinda catchy to me...

I still use the word "cool" when speaking. It's like saying "that's great" but much shorter. The word "hot" has recently become more popular than "cool". The funny thing is, it pretty much is used to describe the same meaning, so "cool is hot." You may say, "OK, Robby, I understand the first two phrases, but what about the last phrase, evel is good?" I ask you, do you have any clue to its meaning? I will share it later with you.

After I drove by the billboard this week, my mind started working, which is a good thing while driving at high speed on the interstate, and I came up with the phrases that seem to make no sense.  This thinking made me understand a little better about the thinking of a non-believer who recently started sending me e-mails which demonstrated his anger toward God and religion. The writer wrote to me and said, "Religion is the largest collection of hypocrites the world will ever experience. How sad that civilization stands by and allows this myth, this poorly written fairy tale, continue to be responsible for the inhumane slaughter of women and children." My correspondent has questioned me about all the bad things, like 9-11, that have happened in the name of religion.

Now I must confess at my first reading of the writer's message, I got a little offended and wanted to fire back scripture about hell and condemnation. But praise the Lord, Jesus showed up and reminded me that condemnation was not the proper way to reach out in love. Perhaps others have used the fire and brimstone approach on this person, and that would only confirm that he wouldn't want to be like "one of us". Again, my first reaction was to be offended, and then defend my position of belief. Then I was internally reminded by God that, "I don't need to be defended. If I created this person, I can certainly handle any of his thoughts. You just be the Light in this guy's dark world." Boy, did that thought change the tone of my e-mails.

The Bible says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18) NIV  What this is saying is, to this guy, the Bible makes about as much sense as the title to my lesson. It's seems as foolishness to him, and as a result, he is perishing to eternal separation from God. But just like there is true meaning behind my title, there is true meaning in the Word of God. The passage of scripture goes on to say, "...God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21) This is where you and I come in. We desire to please God, so we share what may seem as foolishness to the non-believer. That's our part - to share. Not to judge, not to condemn, not to alienate, not to force our beliefs, but to share. We just turn it over to God after we share. Now I've heard folks tell me, "Robby, I'm just not good about this 'sharing my faith' thing. Especially to people that are much more educated than I am. Sometimes they know more about 'religion' than I do." I say that I understand, but it's not about you. If God wants us to share, and He does, He will do His part. You just share.

The Apostle Paul writes to us about this same feeling. Here is the greatest evangelist of all time saying the same thing, "I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." (1 Corinthians 2: 4-5) I think about this verse all of the time. Each time that I speak to a large group, my mind is thinking, "There are many people in here much wiser than I am. What can I possibly say that can teach them?" When I stand up, I am trembling inside, but I just wait for God's power to show up, and it does.

So as I write to the non-believer, I don't worry about writing wise and persuasive words. That's not the way God works. I just shared what the Lord has done in my life. I also asked him to read my lesson, I Don't Play Lotto. If you've not read it yet, or lately, click on the link in the blue column to the left. I pray that the "foolishness" of my lesson shed Light in his dark world. I encourage you to look for open doors to share your faith. It's not easy I know, but you know when a door is opened. If you do nothing but say, "I understand how you feel. But I do have a relationship with the Lord. Check out my friend's website at www.agoodword.org and read some of the lessons," you will be sharing your faith. I'm proud of my son Josh. He may be the best advertiser of my web ministry that I have going.

Now you may be thinking, "What about this "evel" thing that you misspelled. How can "evel be good?" I'm glad that you remembered. You see, Evel was bad, but now Evel is good. When I was young, I only rode my bicycle before I started getting motorcycles. Often, all of my friends and I would get together and build a bicycle ramp to jump over. We wanted to be Evel Knievel. Evel is an American icon of bravery. He made long jumps on his motorcycle in front of large crowds and TV audiences. (Long before the X-Games.) I can remember as a boy watching him attempt jumping over the fountains in front of the Las Vegas Caesar's Palace Casino. He made the jump but crashed and ended up breaking several bones and staying in the hospital for weeks.

Evel was a man's man. He did teach in his travels about kids staying away from drugs, but Evel was an atheist. He didn't need that "sissy nonsense religion stuff". In a recent article published in Christian Living magazine dated July/August 2007, Evel states, "I told people at my events that I didn't believe in organized religion, and they shouldn't support it." (Sounds kind of like my e-mailing non-believer.) Evel goes on to say, "Yet, I was still reading the Bible and books about Christ because I wanted to believe. I just couldn't make that leap of faith." In other words, the words he was reading seemed as foolishness to him. The Bible says this about God, "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end."  (Ecclesiastes 3: 11) Even though Evel was speaking out against organized religion, something in his heart was calling out for peace. But his family didn't give up on him. They kept praying for Evel's salvation. Evel says, "Entire churches started praying for me. My first wife, Linda, and my daughter, who has worked with Youth with a Mission, were especially diligent in their prayers. My grandkids would say, 'Grandpa, when are you going to give your heart to Jesus?"

Now, it's funny to me that Evel would use the wording, "I couldn't make that leap of faith." Here's a guy that tried to leap over Snake Canyon in front of millions of viewers on TV, but he couldn't leap just far enough of what just seemed as foolishness to him. But he goes on to say, "So, one month ago, God wrapped His arms around me. He said, 'I've taken care of you long enough, and I died to save you. You just have to believe the truth. You must believe in my Son.' I was so overcome with the love of God that I sat up in my bed, called the devil a name and committed the rest of my life to Christ."

So if Evel became good, so can my new e-mail correspondent. So can any of your friends or family. Your job is to share and plant the seed. Jesus tells us what the seed is, "The seed is the word of God." (Luke 8: 11) You are the planter; let God do the harvesting. Jesus also tells us, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9: 37-38) Ask the Lord to help you be a better worker. That would be cool...or hot...it would definitely be great!

Robby

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