Ron Dunn Podcast - Resident Alien

Episode Date: July 16, 2014

You are listening to the Ron Dunn Podcast. Ron Dunn is a well-known author and was one of the most in-demand preachers during the latter part of the 20th century. He led Bible studies all over the United States, Europe, and South Africa. For more information and resources from Ron Dunn, please visit rondunn.com. Well, I want you to open your Bibles this morning to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1, I'm going to read just the first two verses. But before I read these verses, I want to read the first six verses of Psalm 137.

Because they form a kind of background or backdrop to what we're going to read in just a moment and the message that I want to share with you. The 137th Psalm is a psalm that recalls the period of time when the people of God were carried off into captivity in Babylon. By the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the willows we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs. Our tormentors demanded songs of joy. They said, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. And then in 1 Peter chapter 1, just the first two verses, the greetings that Peter brings as he writes these believers. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

to God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood

grace and peace be yours in abundance. My wife and I live in Irving, Texas. We have lived there since 1966, which is coming up close on 30 years. When we first moved to Irving, Irving is a suburb of Dallas, by the way. When we first moved to Irving, we lived on the edge of town, almost in the country. There was a pasture across the street from our house, and you could see horses and cows. And we liked where we lived because we had the advantages of the city just nearby, but yet it was kind of like living in the country. That was in 1966. there are no pastures there are no horses and cows there now all there is is a bunch of concrete and 7-elevens and wind dixies and service stations and fast food places and it's like living in downtown dallas because in the period of time

that we've lived there that place has boomed and grown so much. Well, we moved about three years ago trying to get back a little bit out of downtown, and you have to move in Dallas about every 10 years to escape being swallowed up by all the concrete. And so the city has changed in the time that we lived there, and it has changed fast. I remember a few years ago I had to run an errand across town, and as I started back, I decided to take a shortcut. I hadn't been this way in about three or four months, but it is a shortcut, and it cuts out a few stoplights, and it brings me up just behind the house, and so I took that shortcut. Now, when

you've lived in a place for nearly 30 years, you know your way around, don't you? You don't have to look at street signs and plot and plan. You just know where you are, and the car knows where you are, and you don't really think about it. It just sort of goes. And so I sort of went. And as I drove along, naturally, my thoughts were everywhere else. And finally, I came to a stoplight, and I gathered all of my thoughts and concentrated on the street that I was on, a street that I had never seen before, a street that's not supposed to be there. And I looked around and I thought,

my goodness, I'm lost. How could I be lost? I mean, I haven't turned or anything, but I know I'm lost because over there on that corner, there's supposed to be a little church surrounded by big oak trees. And now there's a Winn-Dixie supermarket over there. And over here on this corner, there's supposed to be four little white houses with trees around them, and now there's nothing there but office buildings. I am lost. Now, I don't mind being lost. I'm used to it. I've been lost in a lot of places. I've been lost in New York. It didn't bother me. I don't live in New York.

I've been lost in Houston, Texas. That doesn't bother me. I don't live in Houston, Texas. I've been lost in Boston. That doesn't bother me. Everybody's lost in Boston. But when you get lost three blocks from your own house, it's a little disconcerting, you know.

And I sat there and I thought, what in the world has happened? Now, it is a well-known fact among wives that husbands had rather drive lost for four hours than stop and ask directions. It is a lesser known fact that also we prefer not to look at street signs in our own hometown. It's sort of embarrassing. But after a

while, I decided I'd better check to see where I am because I'm truly lost. And I looked up at the street sign, and I was at once both relieved and surprised. Relieved because I was right where I was supposed to be. I wasn't lost at all, but surprised that in the three short months since I had been there, they had come in and leveled everything and built a whole new area. And I was lost three blocks from my own house. Lost in my own hometown. That's a strange feeling, isn't it? I felt that way lately about our country.

Have you? Sometimes I feel like Rip Van Winkle who went to sleep one night and woke up a generation later and looked around and everything had changed. And he was a stranger in his own country. For it seems that almost overnight, they have taken away all the old landmarks that I have been accustomed to. You know, the signpost that lets you know if you're on the right track or not. The old landmarks that we've always judged our lives by. And suddenly all those things have been taken down,

and you feel like you're lost in your own country. As far back as 1969, I remember Paul Harvey speaking at one of our denominational meetings, and he spoke on the subject of the old country. And he talked about how great the old country was, and all the virtues of the old country, and how much he missed the old country. He said, sometimes when I talk about the old country, people say, well, if you love the old country so much, why did you leave it? And he said, I answer, oh, I didn't leave it. It left me. The old country is America. Not long ago, a pastor friend called me and he said to me, you know, Ron,

things have changed so much. There are issues today that we didn't have to deal with when we were growing up, issues like abortion and homosexuality and things like that. And he said, you know, and he doesn't mean this in a derogatory way when he said it. He said, you know, I don't want to become a Jerry Falwell and just preach, you know, politically and be a social activist. But he said, I just, what is our responsibility as a church to talk about these things? And I said, well, let me just put it to you like this. As I said, we were the same age. I said, you know, when we were growing up,

mom and dad had a lot of help in raising us because the same virtues and the same moral standards that we were taught in the home were reinforced by the school and reinforced by the government and reinforced by society. And so even Hollywood in those days, even though they were not Christians, they made their movies according to the Christian

ethic. This nation was run actually by the Christian ethic, even though those who ran it may not be Christians. And so there were those landmarks, there were those guidelines, those signposts that let you know where you were. But I said, all of those are gone today. And I said, you can't expect any help from the public schools, unfortunately. You can't expect any help from the government. You can't expect any help from society. You certainly can't expect any help from television or the movies because none of these things are reinforcing these moral issues and values that we want. I said, the only place they're ever going to hear them is in church. And if we don't say anything about it, nobody's going to say anything about it. And I tell you, it breaks my heart and grieves me on Sunday morning

like this. And I look out and I see all the young people and the children that are here. And I realize that in the average church, we have about one or two hours a week to try to counteract everything they're being bombarded with throughout all the week in their schools and on television and among their friends and it's almost a losing proposition. And more than ever before I think the church needs to speak about these things

because we're not gonna say it, nobody else is. We're the last bastion of that hope. And shortly after the presidential election, and I want you to understand, I'm not talking politics this morning, but Chuck Colson was in Dallas and he was talking about the fact that the religious right had lost their effort.

But he made the point too that I thought was very good and I agree with, that the issue was not politics because the religious right had who they wanted in office for 12 years and it still didn't change the moral nature or status of our nation. It's not politics. And he made two good points and points that I agreed with. He said, this is teaching us, number one,

that the power of the church does not lie in the ballot box. The power of the church lies in the prayer room, not in the ballot box. I'm not saying we ought not to go with the ballot box. Don't anybody misunderstand. I believe we ought to do everything we can legislatively to try to make our country what it ought to be, but that's not where the church's power lies. Anytime you study history, every time the church has become politically powerful, it always becomes corrupt. And when the church tries to be politically correct, it always compromises its message and the Word of God. The second thing he said is what I've heard others say, and I've always been reluctant to adopt this phrase myself, but I think it's correct.

He said, we are now living in a post-Christian America. And when we say we live in a post-Christian age, what we mean by that is that the Christian values or the religious values, if you don't want to just say Christian, the moral values no longer are the standard by which the majority of the people live, if you don't want to just say Christian, the moral values no longer are the standard by which the majority of the people live, you see. There was a time when the Christian standards

of right and wrong, the Christian ethic, was the standard that everybody adopted and that was the guidelines. But the majority of the people no longer live by those guidelines. They no longer accept those things. I'm reading a very interesting book right now called The Culture of Disbelief written by Stephen Carter, who is a professor of law, an expert on constitutional law. As a matter of fact, he is a liberal when it comes to politics and religion, but he's making a very good statement

when he's talking about the fact that right now in our country, there is in the legal system and the political system, it is the effort and what's happening is that we're pushing religion out. And he makes statements like this, that it's all right for you to have a political opinion about homosexuality or abortion as long as it's not based on religious convictions, you see. If you come to your conclusion about these issues based on anything else, then

you have a right to your opinion. But if you say, I believe this is right or I believe this is wrong because of the Bible, then he says you have no right to believe that you're a bigot, you see. And what is happening is that nowadays, they'll only accept your opinion if you can justify it by secular reasons. And so no longer do we accept religious convictions or the Bible as a good reason to believe what you believe. Well, what are we to do about this?

Are we to wring our hands and say we're lost? Just because we're out of office, does that mean God's out of business? You know, I have a sneaking suspicion that all of this may be one of the greatest blessings that's ever come to us. Because I think what is going to happen is God is going to force us

to become New Testament Christians all over again. Because you see, the church was born in a hostile environment. And when Constantine, the Roman emperor, adopted Christianity

as the official religion of the Roman empire, that's when the church began to lose its spiritual power and become politically correct. And ever since this country's been founded, it has had the favor and the support of the government, and we thank God for it. But what happens is we begin to think

the only way we can survive is if everybody likes us. But the truth of the matter is, history shows that the church has prospered in times of persecution greater than any other time. That's why I think 1 Peter is one of the most relevant books in the New Testament, because Peter is writing to people just like you and me, who are living in a hostile environment. And they're living in times of persecution. But most Bible scholars will agree that the persecution had not yet reached the physical stage where they were being thrown to the lions and burned to the stake.

Because as you read through 1 Peter, you'll find that most of the references there are to evil speaking or telling lies. In other words, the persecution that's going on right now at that moment was they were simply lying about Christians, taunting them, mocking them, maligning them, and that is what is happening in our world right now, is that Christians today are being laughed at and lied about, and we're no longer taken seriously, and our faith is no longer taken seriously. God has become a hobby and religion has become a hobby. It's all right to have that as a hobby. That's nice. That's fine. But don't take it all that seriously and don't start running your life by it. Of course, you don't expect us to live according to those things. That's just a

hobby anyway. And so Peter, as he writes to these believers surrounded in this kind of environment, is trying to establish him in the faith and encourage them to stay true to the Lord Jesus Christ. And in those opening verses, those opening two verses, he strikes a chord that will appear throughout this letter and is the chord that I would like to strike for us this morning. Notice how he describes them. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, now I'm reading from the NIV, which is the nearly infallible version, you understand. To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the

sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood. Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Now there are three words that I want you to pay close attention to. They are the words elect or chosen. Now in the King James Version, that only occurs in verse 2. But actually the word is in verse 1. All three of these words are in verse 1. They're clustered together.

God's elect strangers in the world scattered. These are the three words. Those who have been chosen, the elect, strangers, and scattered. And with those three words, Peter greets and describes his readers. Now these words, elect and strangers, can you be used either as a noun or an adjective and they do not have the definite article with them which indicates that Peter is not simply identifying them by name but rather he is describing them by their character, you see.

In other words, he's saying, the people that I'm writing to, their character is this. They are best described as people who have been elected by God, chosen by God, strangers in this world, and scattered throughout this world. So let's look at those three words

and see how they relate. What I'm talking about today is what is to be my relationship to this world. If the world is no longer friendly to the church, then what is the church's relationship? You see, the truth of the matter, folks, is that God has not called us necessarily to transform society. It's nice if we can do that. But what he's called us to do is to be the church of Jesus Christ. And as we are the distinctive church of Jesus Christ, the power of our witness will bring men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. So first of all, let's describe ourselves like this. We are strangers in this

world. That's the first thing we need to understand. And it may shock us, and it's a good shock to find out we're strangers in this world. The New American Standard, I love its translation to those who reside as aliens. We are resident aliens spiritually, strangers in this world. Now, that word stranger is the chief metaphor used in this epistle, and it sort of sounds the note for everything else. For instance, look in verse 17 of that same chapter. Peter says,

Since you call on a father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers. The King James uses the word sojourner. Chapter 2, verse 11, which is one of the main divisions of this letter, Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world. And then in chapter 5, verse 13, the church who is at Babylon chosen together with you sends her greetings.

Now, Peter's not writing from Babylon, of course, but he's using the word Babylon to remind these Christians that they are in exile, They are strangers, you see. And so that's the emphasis. Peter says the best way to approach this whole matter of being a Christian in this world is to recognize that you are an alien. You're not a native.

You're a resident alien. You're a stranger. You're a pilgrim. As a matter of fact, this is the theme of the whole Bible when it comes to God's people. Of course, Peter here is harking back to the Old Testament captivity. You remember I read from Psalm 137, by the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept. That's when the Israelites were carried off from the promised land

and they were carried off and made as exiles and strangers and aliens in a foreign land. And so Peter picks up that motif, which is the motif of the Christian life. Because you go back to Abraham, you remember in Genesis chapter 12, when God called Abraham, Abraham was a wealthy man living in the Ur of the Chaldees. And God said to Abraham, I want you to leave your country and go into a land that I will show you. I want you to live in tents, live as a pilgrim, live as a stranger, not a citizen. Now, we don't appreciate how significant that was. In that culture, people who lived in tents were transits, and they were what we might call gypsies today. They were people you tried to stay away from and didn't trust

because they had no permanent home. They had no permanent burial place for their family, which was very important, and they would just pitch their tent in an area for a while and then go around and steal and burglarize and then they'd move on to another area. And so they were despised. They were the outcast, you see. And here was Abraham, a well-respected man, living in the Ur of the Chaldees. And all of a sudden God was saying,

Abraham, I want you to leave your highly respected position and all of your security and your identity, and I want you to live as one despised in the world. Live as a stranger. Live as a pilgrim in tents. Well, the amazing thing is that when you get over to Hebrews chapter 11, it tells us that when Abraham finally arrived at the promised land, his own land, what would you expect him to do? Well, you'd expect him to throw away the tent and build a house,

take up permanent residence. But the Bible says that when they got to the promised land, they continued to live as aliens in the promised land. Why? Because, you see, you're not just an exile in Egypt, you're an exile in the earth. Because promised land or no,

this world is not our home, we're just passing through. And so what God is constantly trying to say through the Word of God is you and I need to understand this is the starting point that we can never live in a right relationship to God or this world until we understand, first of all, that we

don't belong here, that we are pilgrims, that we are strangers. And so Peter says in chapter 4, don't think it's strange when people persecute you. You say, we think it's strange now that things have turned against the Christians. Boy, we're shocked. We just can't believe this, how things have changed. Peter says, what are you surprised about? The world's just been the world. The world hasn't changed. The world never has gotten any better. The world is still not a friend of God to help us. He said, don't be surprised concerning the trial that's come upon you, as though some strange thing has happened to you. This is normal, he says.

Actually, you see, what was the problem with Babylon is that Babylon was a different culture, an ungodly culture. And the problem was that the Jews, as they were plopped down in the middle of that the Jews, as they were plopped down in the middle of that other culture, the task was somehow to maintain their distinctiveness. This is why it says that Daniel purposed in his heart that he wasn't going to live like the rest of the people because he did not want to defile himself. There was tremendous pressure on the Jews to adopt the

laws of Babylon. There was tremendous pressure on them to intermarry with the pagans. There was tremendous pressure on them to abandon their particular God and follow the gods of the world. You see, they were one culture plopped down in the middle of another culture, and they had to somehow keep themselves from being absorbed into this other culture and lose their distinctiveness. That's why they said in Psalm 137, how are we going to sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

How are we going to survive? Oh, this is the only way you'll survive. Lord, if I forget Zion, if I fail to forget Jerusalem, where my real citizenship is, may my right hand lose its skill, and may the tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if Jerusalem refuses to be my highest joy. Well, how are you and I to survive in this world? Remember that our citizenship, as Paul says, is in heaven. And if I forget heaven, if I forget my heavenly citizenship, may my right hand lose its skill

and may the tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. If Jerusalem, if God does not remain my highest joy, you see. Can you see me all right? I mean, is the light good? This is my best side, really, I think. Can you tell by looking at me that I've got some American Indian blood in me? Can you? I was born in Oklahoma, of course. Most people born in Oklahoma, I guess, have. But if you get me in the right light, well, you can tell. You know, I've

got the high cheekbones. I've got the high forehead. I've got the olive skin, I'm fleet of foot, and things like that. Matter of fact, one of my ancestors, one of my great-great-grandfathers, I don't know how much Indian blood I have in me, I know I don't have enough to get government checks, and so after that, you know, what's the use of it? I checked it out that far. But one of my great-great-grandfathers was a lesser chief of the Cherokee Nation, and his name was Billy Yellow Horse. He married a French woman,

and when an Indian married a white woman, he had to take a white man's last name. So his name was Billy Yellow Horse, and so he changed his last name to Dunn, which, if you know anything about horses, is a yellow horse, D-U-N. Look it up in your dictionary. D-U-N, that's a yellow horse. That's the color of the horse. And somewhere along the way, they added another N,

and so that's how I've got to be Ronald Dunn. I don't know if that story's true or not, but it sure sounds good, doesn't it? But if you look real hard, you can see some Indian blood in me. I can't see a bit of it in my two children. If you'd ever seen my dad, you wouldn't have had to look twice

to know there's Indian blood in that man. And my grandfather, boy, my grandfather, I mean, it was so obvious. I never met my great-grandfather, but I've seen pictures of him. And my goodness, I mean, you know, you can really tell. That man was an Indian. But you know what's happened?

Down through the generations, we have become absorbed in the greater culture, and so generation after generation, we lose a little bit of our distinctiveness so that it's pretty hard to see any of it in me, and I can't see any of it in my children. I'll bet you five bucks that your convictions are not nearly as strong

as your grandparents' convictions were. And I'll bet you a hundred dollars your children's convictions are not as strong as yours. You know what's happening? We are allowing ourselves to be absorbed by the culture around us and we are gradually losing our distinctiveness and the first thing we need to do is to recapture the attitude that we are strangers in this world and

so if you sometimes feel all alone in school or all alone in the office, think it not strange because you are in that sense. But not only are we strangers in this world, we are strangers in this world because God has selected us out of this world. He has chosen us out of this world.

You'll notice the word elect there and the word chosen there. Now don't let that word scare you. What that word simply means is that the reason I'm a stranger in this world is because God has chosen me out of this world. That's why I'm a stranger. For to be chosen by God is to be rejected by the world. Listen to the words of Jesus in John chapter 15, verses 18 and 19. He says to his disciples, if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you, same word that Peter uses, I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Oh, that's, you know, I meet a lot of people who worry about verses they don't understand.

I worry about verses I do understand. And I understand this one if you belonged to the world it would love you as its own you know sometimes I so desperately want to be loved by the world don't you sometimes I want to be accepted by the world

I don't want the world to think of me as some religious fanatic. I don't want the world and the people that I work with and go to school with and my neighbors think that I'm some weird religious right fanatic. I'd sort of like to feel like I'm accepted by the world and I belong. And yet Jesus said,

if you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. I guess that means if the world is starting to love me as its own and treat me as its own, there may be something wrong with my distinctiveness as a believer. But he said, as it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you belong to the world,

but I have chosen you out of the world. Why are we strangers in the world? Because God has put his mark on us. God has set his heart on us. He has chosen us to be his. And you can't be his and belong to the world at the same time. And the more we show evidences of our election, if you please, the more we show evidences of our salvation, the more you and I live like Jesus Christ. Listen, I'm not saying that a Christian ought to go around looking for persecution. I'm not saying you and I ought to act weird,

or we ought not to act obnoxious or do things like that. Listen, if you just live like Jesus, it'll take care of itself. Paul said to Timothy, all they who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. When he says they that will live godly,

it means when they have a settled determination that they are going to live godly they will suffer persecution and again the persecution is not necessarily being burned at the stake it is being laughed about lied about maligned

rejected by the world shut out ostracized now those are hard words if you determine that you're going to live godly in Christ Jesus, you may as well get ready that the world is not going to accept you on those conditions. Why? Because God has chosen you. But listen, don't feel left out.

And that's the reason Christians are compromising because they feel left out. Were you ever chosen last for the softball team when you were a kid? Boy, that's embarrassing. Wouldn't have been chosen at all if it hadn't been my bat. I hated those things because I'm not athletic regardless of how it looks I'm not athletic

I'm clumsy I'm just not coordinated and we'd play you know, choose sides and guess who's always chosen last? me and you oh, it feels terrible No, choose sides. And guess who's always chosen last? Me. And you.

Oh, it feels terrible. And so you do things to ingratiate yourself with people. I remember one time, I was feeling so left out by my friends, and I so wanted to be accepted by them and I so wanted to ingratiate myself do you know what I did I did the dumbest thing I ought not to even tell this it's so dumb but I jump I took some of my best things toys and things and sold them for bottle cap lids, which are not worth a penny.

And all the neighborhood kids came and took everything I had and gave me these stupid bottle cap lids that were worth nothing. But you know what? I did it because I wanted to be chosen. I wanted to feel like part of the group. And so I was willing to do something stupid because I felt left out. And that's why Peter says,

hey, listen, you may be strangers in this world, but you're no stranger to God. He has chosen you. Before the foundation of the world, those whom he did foreknow. Now that word, when it says those whom he did foreknow, that word foreknow doesn't mean he knew facts about them. It doesn't mean that.

Jeremiah, he said to Jeremiah, I knew thee in the womb. He's not saying, I knew you were in the womb. You don't have to be God to know that Jeremiah's mother was pregnant, you see. He's not saying that. The word for know there is almost synonymous with the word love. For instance, Adam knew his wife. That's the same idea. Joseph did not know Mary until after Jesus was born. It's the same idea. What it means is, it means to set your affection on somebody. It means to get to know them, to become acquainted

with them. What God is saying is, listen, even before the world was ever created, I took a liking to you and I drew a circle around you and I set my heart on you and I chose you and I said, you're mine, I love you. Why?

Listen, you feel left out because the world is ignoring you? I have news for you, friend. The God of heaven and earth selected you and chose you and set his heart on you before the world was ever created. And this world is not run by the makers of this, by the power brokers in politics. It is God who is the Lord of history and he has chosen us

and we are his people. So he says, the reason you're strangers in this world is because God has chosen you out of this world. You're special. Rejected by the world? It's okay.

Chosen by God. And then the last word is the word scattered. We're scattered throughout this world. We're strangers in this world, and we're strangers in this world because God has selected us out of this world, but he has also taken us and then scattered us throughout the world.

He names five Roman provinces here that cover an area of 300,000 square miles through over which these Christians have been scattered. It's a very interesting word, the word scattered. It's the same word that James uses in first chapter verse one when he addresses his readers. It's the word diaspora, the dispersion. Again, it harks back to the Old Testament when the Jews were taken away from their land and they were dispersed throughout the earth you see and so they became known as the diaspora

those who've been scattered it's the same word that is used in Acts chapter 8 when the first persecution arose you remember and the Bible says that they were scattered abroad and those who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. Now, you remember that Jesus had said to these disciples, I want you to start here in Jerusalem, but then I want you to go to Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth and witness. Well, they weren't moving at all. I mean, they were all

still right there in Jerusalem. So I believe that God allowed the devil to stir up the persecution. Why? To get the church on the move. And so they were scattered abroad. Some of them went down to Antioch and there was a great revival down there. Now, the interesting thing about that word scattered

is that it means to sow as seed. And it's the picture of someone scattering seed. Scattering seed. That's what you are, your seed. And God has scattered you. He scattered those in Acts chapter 8. Why? He wanted a harvest down in Antioch, and so he took some of his seed

and scattered it down there in Antioch and before long, my goodness, there was a rich harvest of believers there in Antioch. You and I need to see ourselves as seed that God has sown and scattered so that he might have a harvest. Why do you live in Albany, Georgia?

You may say I've been asking myself the same question. Well, you say well I live here because my job, my company transferred me here. Well, that's true, sort of. But you ought to see yourself maybe as the reason you have moved to Albany, Georgia, maybe just the company transferring you was the instrument that God used, but the reason you're here is because God wanted some seeds sown in this town, and so that's why you're here.

Why do you live in the house that you live in on the street that you live on? Oh, well, we live there because we got a good deal. It was a repo. Well, I don't doubt that, but that may just be the instrument that God used. Do you suppose that maybe it is this, that God wanted to see a crop there on that street

in that neighborhood, and so he took some of his seed and sowed it there? You see, you ought to see our, we need to see ourselves as seed. Why do you sit where you sit in class? You ought to see yourself as seed, that God has planted there,

because he wants a harvest. Why do you work in the office, that you work in, that particular office, at that particular desk, your seed that God has sown? Well, let me change the metaphor and close a few years ago I went to Fort Collins Colorado for a conference and well I got off late and I forgot take any money with me I didn't

have any money I mean not a dime not dime, not a penny, not a dollar. Well, somebody gave me a $100 bill. Don't remember who it was, but somebody gave me a $100 bill. And I'd forgotten a few other things too. So I went to the department store and picked up about $10 worth of stuff. And I laid my purchases down on the counter and then whipped out that $100 bill

and laid it down there. And the clerk looked at that and said, don't you have anything smaller? And I said, no, that's the smallest bill I'm carrying right now. And so, thus impressed, he picked up that $100 bill and held it up and pulled it tight, held it up to the light, you know, and looked this way, and that way he turned it over. And I knew what he was doing. I figured he was looking for something that might indicate that it was a counterfeit bill because it's a $100 bill.

Well, then he did something I wasn't prepared for. He picked up a piece of white paper, crumpled that $100 bill up real good, and began rubbing it real picked up a piece of white paper, crumpled that $100 bill up real good, and began rubbing it real hard against that piece of white paper. What in the world is that guy doing? Just rubbing it hard, just rubbing it hard, hard, hard. Well, I watched, and as he rubbed, I noticed that that piece of white paper began to take on sort of a green tint to it. And I thought, my goodness, that bill is fading. The ink is coming off. That's a counterfeit. That's a phony. Who gave me that? Who gave that to me? Oh, they'll never believe me. I'm a stranger from out of town, and this is the classic way to

pass funny money. You buy about 10 bucks worth of stuff and give them a hundred dollar bill and walk out with $90 in real money. Where did I get that? I don't remember that guy's name that gave me that. And I just rub it like that. After a while, he stops and he looks up and he smiles. And he says, well, it's good. I said, it is? And he said, yes, the real thing always rubs off. And that's true of Christians. The real thing always rubs off. You rubbed off on anybody lately? You ever feel like a stranger in your own hometown. materials, sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from his study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.