A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! A couple of years ago, a young Christian, Jefferson Bethke, made a video that went viral on YouTube, entitled “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus.” It sounds good, doesn’t it? Jefferson professes to love Jesus, and it is a good thing to love Jesus. Not only that, but as you watch the video you can tell he really does love Jesus, and he is zealous for his faith. He wants to share his love for Jesus, and he’s been very successful: his video has been viewed over 28 million times. I have to say, there is much in the video that is good. Unlike many of today’s popular preachers who teach what one critic has called “moralistic, therapeutic deism,” Bethke does share the real Gospel. He proclaims salvation by grace through faith apart from works and he confesses Christ crucified for sinners. His criticism of the church is also not far off the mark… if only he had been more careful

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Recently, Jefferson Bethke, a young Christian man, made a video that went viral on YouTube, entitled “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus.”   It sounds good, doesn’t it?   Jefferson professes to love Jesus, and it is a good thing to love Jesus.   Not only that, but as you watch the video you can tell he really does love Jesus, and he is zealous for his faith.   He wants to share his love for Jesus, and just judging by the numbers alone, he has been very successful at that.   To date his video has been viewed over 12 million times.   I have to say, there is much in the video that is good.   Unlike many of today’s popular preachers who teach what one critic has called “moralist, therapeutic deism, Bethke does share the real Gospel.   He proclaims salvation by grace through faith apart from works.   He confesses Christ crucified for sinners.   He also comes close to the truth in much of his crit