{"id":1906,"date":"2011-07-12T14:02:57","date_gmt":"2011-07-12T18:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shieldsgroup.com\/?p=1906"},"modified":"2011-07-12T14:08:08","modified_gmt":"2011-07-12T18:08:08","slug":"the-struggle-religious-people-have-with-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shieldsgroup.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/12\/the-struggle-religious-people-have-with-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"The Struggle Religious People Have with Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read the New Testament through for the first time when<\/strong> I was in college. My favorite sections were the parts with Jesus in them. Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2014 I loved the writings of Paul. I enjoyed the Revelation. Hebrews was great. I enjoyed Peter, James, and John. But my favorite parts were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John \u2014 the books that told the story of Jesus.<\/p>\n

What I liked best was how Jesus spoke. He told it like it was \u2014 cutting through the fat, addressing issues with clarity. He silenced his critics. No one could stand up to him.<\/p>\n

When I graduated and went into pastoral ministry, I couldn\u2019t wait<\/strong> to preach on the life of Jesus. But through the years, I\u2019ve noticed that preachers don\u2019t do that a lot.<\/p>\n

There are many reasons for this, but one is that Jesus is tough. Jesus says tough things. He is offensive. The most troubles I\u2019ve had in ministry have been times I have been telling the people what Jesus says. Jesus speaks of something that lives deep inside our hearts. Something called sin. And religious people hate to be told about their sin.<\/p>\n

This podcast explains some reasons that people resist Jesus and practical counsel on how to avoid doing so.<\/strong><\/p>\n