{"id":4305,"date":"2016-11-21T05:39:39","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T05:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erikfish.com\/?p=4305"},"modified":"2019-09-19T18:26:26","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T18:26:26","slug":"so-this-happened-last-night-in-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erikfish.com\/2016\/11\/21\/so-this-happened-last-night-in-england\/","title":{"rendered":"So, this happened last night in England"},"content":{"rendered":"

So this happened last night in England.<\/h3>\n

I was eating a burger in a restaurant in Birmingham, UK with a friend from Budapest.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

I was just relaxing. Ready\u00a0to head back to the States after speaking for three days at a NewForms Gathering<\/a>\u00a0for leaders around Europe.<\/p>\n

The restaurant was pretty full. We were packed into a small table about 18 inches from the people\u00a0to our left. Music was playing. I was enjoying\u00a0the sights and sounds of the multiethnic atmosphere typical of a European setting.<\/p>\n

We ate our meal and were ready to head back to our hotel. After a quick stop in the bathroom, I walked out to see\u00a0my friend talking to our waitress, Kizzy.<\/p>\n

I heard him ask,<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you could ask God for something, what would you ask him for?\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n

Kizzy\u00a0reflected on the possibility of actually talking to an invisible God. A spiritual conversation started. She was quite curious and friendly.<\/p>\n

After some back and forth, I asked her,<\/p>\n

“Has anyone ever told you why the story of Jesus is called good news?”<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

She said, “No”.<\/p>\n

“Can I tell you?”<\/p>\n

“Sure!”<\/p>\n

“Well, the story goes like this…”<\/p>\n

In the beginning, God made everything. The world, the galaxies, people. Everything.<\/em><\/p>\n

God and people had a close relationship. And there was no evil in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

But one of God\u2019s created beings rebelled against God. He was called satan.<\/em><\/p>\n

He tricked the first people into turning from God and aligning their will with his.<\/em><\/p>\n

As a result, people\u2019s close connection with God was severed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Evil started increasing\u00a0in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

What are some examples of evil you see in the world today?<\/em><\/p>\n

Kizzy: “Killing, stealing, adultery\u2026”<\/p>\n

Yeah, totally. It\u2019s not hard to find examples of evil. That\u2019s not the kind of world God envisioned when He created it. Anyway\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

People retained a distant memory of the existence of God, but we lost our close connection to him.<\/em><\/p>\n

But God didn\u2019t give up on people. He still loved us. God loved the world so much, that at just the right time in history, God visited us. He became a human being in the form of Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

He was a very special\u00a0baby because he didn’t have any\u00a0influence of evil within him. He was born supernaturally from a woman named Mary who was a virgin. So he was literally called the \u201cSon of God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

When Jesus was on the earth, he loved unlike anyone had ever loved. <\/em><\/p>\n

He spoke unlike anyone had ever spoke. <\/em><\/p>\n

He healed the sick. He cast out demons. <\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus\u00a0told us that\u00a0God was building an eternal kingdom. It’s starting on the earth and would grow to last for all eternity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus showed us\u00a0what God was really like \u2013 a loving Father who wanted to bring people back into a loving, close connection with himself.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

But evil people rejected Jesus.\u00a0Though he had done nothing wrong, they killed him.<\/em><\/p>\n

He told his followers before he died exactly what would happen. He told them he was actually sacrificing his life to show people how much God loved them. But Jesus was SO powerful, that even death couldn\u2019t stop him. After three days, Jesus came back to life!<\/em><\/p>\n

He then went\u00a0up to heaven, promising that one day he would return. Right before he left,\u00a0he told his followers to go into all the world \u2013 to every single family and ethnic group and tell this story. For everyone who believes this story, Jesus promises them three amazing gifts.<\/em><\/p>\n