Josh Benner

Tag: sermon illustrations

  • What a scar can teach us

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    A couple weeks ago, I noticed a scar on my right hand.

    I had no idea how it got there. I’m sure we’ve all had that happen at some point. You get a little scratch and you don’t know what caused it. But I feel like they don’t usually last so long. I can still faintly see the outline of this scar.

    It made me think about the struggles we have in life, the emotional wounds we receive. We might not always know what caused those scars as well, but we still have to deal with them.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • GoFraudMe – Viral story of homeless man using his last $20 to buy gas was an elaborate scam

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    This story is a fantastic illustration of the power of greed.

    If they had just split the money, no one would have ever known!

    I remember hearing about this when it happened. A nice story of a woman running out of gas in a dangerous part of Philadelphia. A kind hearted, homeless veteran saw her plight and went to get gas for her, spending the last $20 he had to buy gas for the lady.

    And so the lady setup a GoFundMe account to raise money in order to help get this selfless veteran back on his feet.

    And so people donated to the GoFundMe. A lot of people donated! 14,000 people donated. More than $400,000 was raised to help this man get back on his feet.

    But things took a turn earlier this year.

    The homeless man (Johnny Bobbitt) sued the woman and her boyfriend (Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico) for not giving him the proceeds of the GoFundMe campaign.

    At the time, people had mixed opinions. “You can’t just give a drug addict hundreds of thousands of dollars,” to “it’s his money.” There were allegations of the couple using some of the funds for themselves. GoFundMe promised to make it right.

    And then today, the couple AND Bobbitt are being charged with theft by deception. After an investigation, the authorities claim that the whole thing was made up! If convicted, they face up to 5-10 years in prison, according to CNN.

    GoFundMe has said they’ll refund the money that people donated. While the average person spent just $28 in this scam, I feel that what these people did is just as bad as robbing someone. They took people’s money by creating a ruse that preyed upon the good nature of people.

    GoFundMe is not above reproach. It’s not a perfect site. And there are certainly frivolous things which raise money on that site. But it’s also been a life changing blessing to many people in need. And this scam hurts the credibility of GoFundMe.

    It’s poetic justice that people who scammed others also tried to scam each other. Like I said in the beginning, had they just split the money amongst themselves, no one would have known!

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. His hobbies include working out, watching sports, and photography. Josh and his wife Kari live in Minnesota.

    Let’s connect!
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    Twitter
    Instagram

  • If you want to be a runner, run. If you want to be a Christian, run to God.

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    Let’s say you say you’re going to start running. And so you buy running shoes, you subscribe to runner’s magazines, you start wearing spandex, like all the time. And then six months goes by, and you still haven’t taken your shoes out of the box…
    You’re not a runner.
    Having all of the things a runner has doesn’t make you a runner. RUNNING makes you a runner!
    Just because you’re in church, or know all of the right Bible answers, or listen to Christian music doesn’t mean that you’re walking in faith.
    Just knowing a lot about the Bible and following all the rules doesn’t mean you have faith. In the Bible, Jesus constantly has run-ins with the Pharisees. They were experts in the Old Testament Law. The Pharisees knew the scriptures like the back of their hand but were ultimately clueless about God.
    They might have been good at following the rules, but the key to acceptance with God is faith. True faith, results in obedience. Faithless obedience is worthless because at the heart of the gospel is Jesus dying for those who have faith in him. Earning salvation through obedience makes Christ’s death meaningless.
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.