I saw this news story with the headline “Pet parrot saves man from house fire in Australia.” Thought it was fascinating.
Here’s the news story:
A man’s pet parrot has saved him from a fire that gutted his house. The man’s house in Brisbane, Australia, was well alight when firefighters arrived just after 2am but Anton Nguyen had escaped without injury.
Mr Nguyen said his pet parrot, named Eric, had woken him up before the smoke detectors raised the alarm.
“I heard a bang and Eric – my parrot – he started to yell so I woke up and I smelled a bit of smoke,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“I grabbed Eric, opened the door and looked to the back of the house and saw some flames.
“And so I’ve grabbed my bag and took off and bolted downstairs.
“I’m in shock but I’m fine,” he said.
I thought of how this is an analogy of the Christian in our world today.
There’s no doubt that those who are suppose to be the “alarm” for the church, society, and family today are not doing their job or are not functioning the way they are suppose to.
Yet there’s so much at stake. One can’t wait for the “alarm” to kick in as we watch the emergency in our world today.
Like the Parrot we need to be warning those we love about the danger.
What’s the danger floating around today? Sin. Tolerance of evil. Approval of evil. Wicked and dangerous ideology. Unbiblical ethics. False theology. Lawlessness.
Let us be like the Parrot, sounding the warning and the danger.
Before looking at others’ sin, will you be innocent or guilty of breaking God’s law when it comes time to stand before Christ and be judged by Him for our eternity destiny? Have you ever lied? Have you stolen? Have you hated, gossip, put other things before God first in your life? Have you had sex outside of marriage? Have you use His name in vain? If you searched your heart and know you have sin from the list that’s based upon God’s law, you need to know the consequences of sin is hell.
Yet we don’t only declare the bad news. We have the Good News. Jesus came to earth two thousand years ago to life a sinless life even as He lived a life tested by Satan and the World. He came to be our substitute: He died for our sins, and if we trust in Jesus today, If you confess Jesus is Savior and He was raised from the dead, you shall be saved (Romans 10:9).
Thanks for the analogy and the exhortation! We have the bad news and the Good News and we are to warn and invite.
I love how you said it:we are to warn and invite. It’s not just warning but also inviting! Sadly a lot of evangelism method today downplay warning! Warning isn’t just warning about sin but also false doctrine and I know you know and live out the importance of that amen?
Amen! Thanks, brother. Yes, today’s church sees it as distasteful/repugnant for anyone to warn about false churches and their doctrines.
Certainly our world is hurtling the wrong way down the highway of life, or is it us who are fighting against the current flowing towards Hell?
If we are believers we are fighting against the current flowing quickly to hell. This year is the year I haven’t been able to do much campus evangelism in a nearby college so I pray what I do online would be used by God evangelistically with the lost. I guess I want to share the Gospel so much writing this in 2 in the morning I end up writing the last part of this post as an evangelistic appeal to the readers, something I noticed this morning when I reviewed this post! Do you pray for your posts to be used evangelistically? Somehow I think I know the answer to that.
I can relate to your yearning for your writing to be used evangelistically. I once wrote a series of gospel tracts and shared them widely. Indeed they touched a brother in Kentucky who asked me to write a gospel tract in remembrance of his father. I often think of these tracts and pray about them. Even though I do not know where they have went or who has read them I trust God with them. I often wonder whether I will be blessed by meeting folks in Heaven someday brought to the Saviour by them? Thus, in view writing for God is like raising a bird from an egg. Then one day you watch it fly out the window into the wide world, you pray for the best trusting God to multiply your little bird.
May we continue to be loyal to GOD and be merciful to people just like the heroic parrot. We continue to be persistent in sharing GOD’s Word and in raising the red flag that the end times will come like a thief (in this case, fire) in the night.
Amen may we continue to warn and also share the Good News as we get closer to the Day. Satan I think is working overtime along with his kingdom of darkness and so should we in the Kingdom of Light, empowered by the grace of our Triune God amen? This reminds me I need to pick up my Devotional series on Matthew again, which I have forgotten about lately. Have a blessed new day tomorrow when you wake up! Hope the weather is as nice as yesterday!
I have no forgotten this series, hahahahaha!!! I appreciate the time and effort that series takes/requires!!
Amen! Thus far, it is a bright 6:36AM. Same as yesterday indeed.
Very well said. Jesus came and proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom of God. We must do the same and make disciples.
Thanks for your commitment to the truth of the word of God.
Amen! I’ve long thought of sharing the gospel (the Good News, including the bad news) as like warning people that the building is on fire. Too many of us think, “If I wake them up, they’ll be mad at me. They’re sleeping so peacefully, I’ll just slip out and let them sleep…” Ridiculous, huh?
It is indeed ridiculous. We need to cultivate a fear of God and also a love for non believers’ well being more than fearing man and merely want to please them. I often use fire and building in my analogy with my evangelism and it sounds like you do the same? Have you read this analogy I use with regards to the objection others have of why only one way and that this is narrow? https://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/apologetic-sermon-illustration-23-why-one-way-and-the-firefighter/
Good analogy! I’ll remember that one.
Great example! Made me feel kind of bad for always yelling at the dogs to stop barking in the middle of the night 😅 they need to warn me about everything that the wind blows by our windows.
Amen and Amen.
And amen! May God use us online evangelistically in these days to warn and to invite others to Christ amen? Thanks for doing your part! Happy to hear you reading the Bible with commentaries!
I wish I could learn under you in person. So many questions when seeking God’s Wisdom.
Good illustration, thanks for sharing brother!
Thanks for this, Jim! Sometimes it does seem like the world is burning down around us.
Indeed sometimes it seems the world is burning down around us. Gotta continue sharing the truth and be loving yet uncompromising, amen?
Amen!
agree the world is burning but please do not lose hope tomorrow will be better thanks slimjim for this illustration
May the Body of Christ be faithful to our calling to share the bad news and the good news with those lost in sin. But first we must look at our own life and not be found lacking. Our heart needs to be right with God through prayer, His Word and constantly seeking His will .
Thank you for this post brother .
Indeed Crissy we must search our hearts and make sure we are not hypocrites as we warn others! Amen! Going to teach Bible study tonight will be able to pray for the teaching to go well?
Counted done. Prying right now
Good analogy man I love the internet sometimes