Takin' It To the Home

Jeremy started this monthly “Taking It to the Streets” column (as printed in EBC monthly newsletter) as sort of a journal to share his successes and failures in taking the gospel outside the four walls of the church as to be an encouragement to each one of us to do the same. And I am sure many people who have read through it have felt discouraged because they don’t feel they have the right gift or enough opportunities to evangelize. So we are going to look at evangelism, this month, from a different perspective; perhaps helping you realize an opportunity right in front of you.

One day as I was relating an evangelism opportunity at work to Molly (my wife), our conversation led to how I am exposed to more unbelievers so I have more evangelism opportunities. It seemed somewhat discouraging at first, but as the discussion developed, we quickly learned that she has been given a much greater evangelism opportunity; the awesome privilege to be a full-time evangelist to our children. And I have a full-time secular job that supports the mission field right in our home.

Before we address an application for you, let’s go back in time a few-thousand years to the creation of the world and to the beginning of God’s revelation of Himself. In the book of Genesis we are told that God created Adam and Eve to rule over the earth and then He tells them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” We know that this is a more poetic way of saying, “make lots of babies.” But for what reason?

The reasoning becomes clearer as God’s revelation of His plan unfolds. The psalmist in Psalm 73:24-26 desired a good thing in finding his satisfaction in unity with God. Jesus prayed in John 17:22 that His people may be one with Him. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-18) tells us that our mission as Christians is to make disciples (Evangelism!); bring people into a relationship with the Savior. So as history progresses, we begin to see that God creating people and commanding them to “be fruitful and multiply” wasn’t simply to fill the earth with warm bodies, but it parallels the New Testament command to “make disciples of all nations.” The reason we have children is to make Christians!

For many of us, this will be our mission field. Some people are called to be foreign missionaries; some street evangelists; some full-time pastors; and most of us are called to be evangelists right in our own homes by bringing children up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). The call to be fruitful and multiply didn’t go away in the New Testament, it was magnified; even clarified.

What a great responsibility and opportunity we have been given. We often get discouraged when we think we can’t be as bold sharing the gospel, but we are missing such a great opportunity. God has provided many of us with the fantastic privilege of being full-time evangelists right in our own homes. What other evangelist has eighteen years to teach and to model the gospel to his hearers? What greater responsibility do we have than to teach the gospel to those whose lives are completely dependent on us?

We Christians have far too easily followed the cultural norms in pursuit of the “American Dream” instead of living like foreigners in this world (1 Peter 1:1). We pursue worldly entertainment, wealth, and comfort while neglecting our call to be a peculiar people (1 Corinthians 1:18-28), sold out to making worshippers of God. The world sees children as a burden on their personal pursuits, a commodity to be set aside when convenient, a symbol of pride, or simply the next thing to do. The world doesn’t want to have too many children because it might cost too much money or interrupt career pursuits. Some will say, “A boy for me and a girl for you, then praise the Lord, we’re finally through!” We joke with people who have many children by asking, “Haven’t you figured out how that works yet?” But we don’t celebrate the honor we have to bring life into this world and to be lifelong evangelists in our home. Keeping up with the culture too easily distracts us from such a wonderful calling.

We should recognize the great blessing that children are from God and seize the opportunity God has given us to be witnesses in our own home. It was God’s created order for a man and a woman to marry and spend their marriage modeling Christ’s love for the church and making children who will come to know Jesus Christ. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should have ten kids, but you should be asking, “How can I make it a priority for my marriage to fulfill the Great Commission in the lives of children?”

Here are a few ideas to spark your creativity:
If you are starting a family, consider what sacrifices may be required to make it a priority for creating worshippers of Christ in your home.
If you have children already, ask what efforts are needed to make the gospel the focus of your parenting.
If your children are gone, seek ways to support your children’s efforts in gospel-centered parenting and also encourage those in the church who still have children.
Everyone can be involved in children’s ministry. We are kidding ourselves if we believe all of the children in the church are believers. Become a gospel mentor to them. Children’s ministry is a mission field.
Seek ways to relieve the suffering caused by children being brought into this world outside of God’s design. Can you bring a child into your home through adoption? Can you provide support to a young mom who can’t afford a child?

When we hear of evangelism, we think of “Go, and make disciples of all nations” but for many of us it starts at home with “Be fruitful and multiply.”

"these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Book Review - The Potter's Freedom

Since the beginning of man’s existence we have tried to understand the relationship between the responsibility of man and the absolute sovereignty of God. On one hand we understand through Scripture that God is in complete control over every circumstance most notably in the death of Christ for the redemption of a sinful people. On the other hand we also see in the Bible that each person will be held personally responsible for his own actions. Harmonizing the two concepts in the human mind has been a challenge throughout history since right after the time of Christ with Augustine and up to the Reformation with John Calvin developing what today is a debate between Calvinism and Arminianism.

In 1999, Norman Geisler made an attempt to reconcile these challenging truths in his book Chosen But Free. He put forward his understanding of God’s sovereignty in what he labeled “moderate Calvinism.” A year later, James White responded to Geisler’s book with The Potter’s Freedom: A Defense of the Reformation and the Rebuttal of Norman Geisler’s Chosen But Free. White, and many who hold to Reformed theology, felt that Geisler misrepresented the Reformed viewpoint, thereby making it look foolish in order to make Geisler’s view appear to be more generous. White says Chosen But Free presents itself as “moderate Calvinism” but actually expresses itself as an Arminian attack on Reformed doctrine (pg. 336)

The Potter’s Freedom is very well written and easy to follow for casual readers. While discussing a very in-depth theological topic, it is written in a way that is simple to follow, especially if the reader keeps a Bible open along side. The chapters are organized to discuss four of the five points of Calvinism (Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Particular Redemption, and Irresistible Grace) and compare the viewpoints of Geisler’s and White’s in light of the verses that both men address. One chapter explains the Reformed view of the doctrine, then the following chapter answers the objections and questions many have with Calvinism. White does this with great detail in examining the debated verses by explaining the context and the meaning of the words in question. All of this detail is very understandable and helpful to most readers.

James White begins The Potter’s Freedom with an explanation of what he believes is the “vital issue”; who is the only being in the universe that is truly “free”? We like to believe that we have a “free will,” but White says God is the only one who is totally free to choose as he pleases. “God is the absolutely free Creator, the Potter, who has complete sovereignty over the pots, humans, who, as fallen creatures, find their wills enslaved to sin, in bondage and unable to ‘cooperate’ with any offered grace.” (pg. 36)

What does this matter to the Christian? Why should we care about such theological discussions? White says, “The Potter’s freedom is precious to the Christian, for it is the very basis of salvation itself. Our sovereign Creator is free to be the good, holy, merciful, loving God that He is.” (pg. 337) It is comforting to us to know that despite the wretchedness of our evil hearts which were at enmity with God, He freely chose to lavish us with goodness anyway. And since He changed our hearts from God-hating to God-loving we can be confident that it is His power that will keep us to the end and through eternity, where nobody can boast that the strength of their own faith is what saved them, but the absolutely free choice of a loving God who gave us what we did not deserve through the substitution of His Son paying our death penalty.

Book Review - The Gospel and Personal Evangelism

You may be thinking, “Oh great; another guilt trip coming from another book telling me how much I fail at evangelism.” There have been many books written on evangelism and every time we see it we are simply reminded how much we fail at the Great Commission. Books range from different styles of personal evangelism to church programs to supplement evangelism to how to make your church more appealing to “seekers.” The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever is different; and quite refreshing.

This book is different in that while it does admit our failures, it doesn’t try to offer another program to throw in the arsenal. Dever simply takes a look at the basics of evangelism in chapters answering some simple questions: Why Don’t We Evangelize, What is the Gospel, Who Should Evangelize, How Should We Evangelize, What Isn’t Evangelism, What Should We Do After We Evangelize, and Why Should We Evangelize. The book simply explains what is so often ignored or at best assumed in most other evangelism books in order to “be an encouragement, a clarification, an instruction, a rebuke, and a challenge all rolled up into several short chapters.” (pg. 16)

The first chapter takes a look at the various excuses and complaints that keep us from evangelism. Instead of just offering a Bible verse to show where the excuse fails, Dever offers many practical steps to overcome our fears and move toward better obedience. It is not so much a rebuke as it is a gentle push in the right direction.

By far the best and most important chapter in The Gospel and Personal Evangelism is the second chapter detailing what the gospel is. Too often in evangelism discussions the gospel is assumed or lost in a sea of Christian clichés. After enough clichés are thrown around the message loses its meaning and ceases to be the gospel. Dever addresses many of these misunderstanding a paints a clear picture of the message, “our problems aren’t fundamentally that we have messed up our own lives, or have simply failed to reach our full potential, but that we have sinned against God. And so it begins to dawn on us that we are rightly the objects of God’s wrath and his judgment, and that we deserve death, separation from God, and spiritual alienation from him now and even forever.” (pg. 35)

“Christ isn’t just our friend. To call him supremely that is to damn him with faint praise. He is our friend, but he is so much more! By his death on the cross Christ has become the lamb that was slain for us, our redeemer, the one who has made peace between us and God, who has taken our guilt on himself, who has conquered our most deadly enemies and has assuaged the personal, just wrath of God.” (pg. 39)

And the response to this good news is often confused in our messages to the world. We like to tell people to “ask Jesus into your heart” or “accept Christ” while these are not the response commanded so often in Scripture. These may have elements of truth in them, but throughout the New Testament the response to the gospel message is to repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another helpful segment of the book is Dever’s chapter on How We Should Evangelize. Too often we get bogged down in discussions on which program is best or which method works for what personality style you have. Mark Dever explains here that it doesn’t matter as much which method you use but it is the message that must be clear, biblical and bathed in much prayer. We must strive to verbally (that means with words, no matter how much you try to state a falsely attributed St. Francis of Assisi quote) explain the gospel to all who will listen so that it provokes deep self-reflection.

Other chapters take a look at why evangelism is important, what should accompany evangelism, and how our witnessing attempts get distracted by things that aren’t evangelism; imposition, social action, public involvement, apologetics, and pragmatic numbers counting. In the end, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism simply encourages the believer to be faithful to tell the message no matter what the result: “The redemption of an eternal soul is one sale that we, in our own strength, cannot accomplish. And we need to know it, not so that we won’t preach the gospel, but so that we won’t allow the gospel that is preached to be molded by what finally gets a response!” (pg. 109)

“We do not fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to someone who is not subsequently converted; we fail only if we do not faithfully tell the gospel at all.” (pg. 112)

Book Review - Found: God's Will

Most believers, at some time or another, have wondered what direction God would like them to go. Which school should I go to? Which career should I pursue? Who should I marry? It gets even more confusing when all of the choices we are confronted with are actually good choices. When neither alternative is sinful and both would be godly decisions, which one will ensure that we are in God’s will. “Most of us acknowledge that God has a plan for the life of every believer, but often there seems to be some trouble in finding just which way this plan goes at a particular juncture.” (pg. 5)

In the book, Found: God’s Will, John MacArthur believes that everything we need to know about the will of God can be found in the pages of Scripture. The responsibility we have, then, is to pore over its pages to find out what it is. Through this book, MacArthur provides a short summary of his research into God’s will and encourages the believer in using it to help make the big decisions in life.

Found: God’s Will is more of a booklet as it is seven short chapters covered in about 60 small pages, but it offers simple guidance into making decisions and assurance that you can understand God’s will. It begins by sympathizing with the believer because every Christian truly wants to follow what God says is best for them. Nobody wants to be left outside of the will of God, so we often become stagnant as we wait for a “word from God” or a “nudging from the Spirit” to guide us in the right direction.

As you read through the book, it becomes clear that the will of God has less to do about making right decisions and more to do with becoming the right person. “I’ll tell you what [God’s will] is. First, that you know Christ and then that your neighbors hear about Christ.” (pg. 15) MacArthur develops the theme from the first step of actually being a Christian and then becoming more Christ-like.

Becoming more Christ-like starts with becoming a Christian and being Spirit-filled. A Spirit-filled believer is a Christian whose mind is saturated with God and His word. The more you fill your mind with the word of God, the more you grow in your faith and wisdom and your decisions become more godly. A consistent biblical lifestyle is then created in you as you pursue purity, control your flesh, act mercifully toward others, and develop a submissive, servant-like attitude. A Spirit-filled, Bible-saturated believer grows tremendously in faith that is willing and able to confront the world and withstand the resulting persecution. “Are you willing to suffer for Him who suffered for you? Are you willing to confront the world? That is the will of God.” (pg. 53)

Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” In Found: God’s Will, John MacArthur explains that God’s will isn’t about revealing the right decisions to you, but about who you are to become. This is done by studying Scripture passionately and obeying what He clearly commands. That is what it means to “delight yourself in the LORD.” Then, when you find your joy in Christ through His word you are already being led by God and you can choose the path you desire, trusting that He is the one who placed the desire in you. “The will of God is not, first of all, for you to go there or work here. The will of God concerns you as a person. If you are the right you, you can follow your desires and you will fulfill His will.” (pg. 60)

Book Review - One Thing You Can't Do In Heaven

“Why is it that when we are in church or in a good worship time, God is so big and Satan is so small; but when we go out witnessing, Satan is so big and God seems so small?” (pg. 185) Mark Cahill, in his book One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, encourages believers with personal testimonies and motivating anecdotes to be more confident in sharing the gospel. We often find ourselves caught up in a wave of excuses when we don’t boldly stand up for Christ. Cahill tackles our excuses and replaces them with great excitement to be bold in our witness.

Each chapter contains a short lesson given to change the reader’s perspective on evangelism. Many times we convince ourselves that God would simply prefer us to sing praises to Him and have fellowship with other believers while we ignore obedience to the Great Commission. “I can guarantee that there is one thing you cannot do in heaven that you can do on earth. You can worship God in heaven. You can praise God in heaven. You can sing songs to God in heaven. You can learn God’s Word in heaven. But one thing you cannot do in heaven is share your faith with a nonbeliever. Why? Because everyone in heaven is a believer.” (pg. 17)

We often see evangelism as a duty that we must grit our teeth and bear through until we get to Heaven. Cahill encourages us with a story changing our attitudes from duty to privilege. He says that we must see evangelism not as something we have GOT to do, but something we GET to do. And when we understand that when we are persecuted for the name of Christ we earn crowns in Heaven. This helps us to realize that every time we share the gospel it is a win-win situation. No matter the response of our hearers, God is glorified by our obedience and we will be rewarded in heaven.

Not only does Cahill teach on evangelism, but he lives it. He has made it a personal goal to witness to every person he talks to. At a restaurant, on a plane, in the mall, Cahill sees the need for Jesus in every soul and he shares dozens of his personal experiences in the book including former basketball stars Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan. “How do you see people? Everyone around you is either dying and going to heaven or dying and going to hell. That is biblically true. What do you want to do about it?” (pg. 197)

Cahill says that the Apostle Paul tells Timothy “that there are only two times to share the gospel with people: in season and out of season. Any other time would be wrong.” (pg. 20). Every church member knows it is their responsibility to share Christ with the world, but we too often get distracted or afraid and convince ourselves that the time just is not right to witness. One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven is a very motivating book to help you take your next step in being more obedient in evangelism. “Every breathing person you will ever meet needs Jesus. Those who are believers already realize how much they need Him in their life. Those who are nonbelievers most definitely need Him, for the rest of this life and for the eternal life to come. Since all these breathing people need Jesus, and you know Him personally…just go ahead and tell everyone you meet about the Son of God until you draw your last breath!” (pg. 90)

“In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’…Remember that if you are not fishing, you are not following.” (pg. 174)