Recently, Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow has received some attention from national media types not only for his great athleticism, but also for his bold faith. It seems that these columnists, while respecting Tebow's athletic ability and his charitible nature, can't stand the the quarterback is so "intolerant" to believe that people who don't turn from their sins and trust in Christ are going to find themselves to be found guilty on judgment day.
Albert Mohler has a nice article discussing the interesting contradiction that the authors find themselves in as they claim to represent a tolerant attitude while being intolerant of unashamed Christians. While I found this to be both frustrating and somewhat humorous, what struck me is the fantastic, faithful witness of Tim Tebow is a great example to all believers.
We often find ourselves in a struggle to be a good witness at work. We want to be peaceable and respectful in the places God has put us, but we also want to be courageous to share some hard truths with those around us. We want to be known for our kindness and our strong performances at work, but we are failing as Christians if we don't take it another step and proclaim Christ to be Lord and Savior. Some people may be on the opposite end of the spectrum, only being known for their constant disruption as they always talk about Jesus and fail to accomplish anything significant for their employer.
Tim Tebow has given us a great example that we can follow. We should be throwing those around us into a great contradiction as they wonder, "He is such a nice guy and a great worker, but I can't stand how unashamed he is in his faith."
Showing posts with label Encouragement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Encouragement. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
A Witness of the God of Pink
As one who has a passion to reach lost souls, I am often pretty hard on myself when I let an opportunity to share the gospel go by (it happens much more often that it should). I like to carry the books I am reading around with me, hoping to spark a conversation on the topic. Yesterday, just such an opportunity arose.
I have been digging through J.C. Ryle’s Holiness and two people asked me what I was reading. I was excited for the chance to explain the gospel and then quickly frustrated when I stumbled over my own words to the point where the askers were no longer interested. The exchanges lasted no more than 30 seconds and I felt like a failure. All I was able to do was state how awesome and holy God is, but not a thing beyond that. Then a new thought began to creep into my mind.
In my zeal to be faithful in evangelism I realized how many opportunities I had passed up because of my simple failure to be a Witness. Being a witness to me became the goal of explaining the entire gospel to every person I could. If I couldn’t get through sin, righteousness, judgment, heaven, hell, the cross and the resurrection, then it seemed to be a wasted opportunity. I then realized that perhaps I hadn’t failed so miserably; I did manage to voice my love for the powerful and holy Creator of the universe. So I began to formulate some definitions in my mind:
Witness: testifying to the work of God in your life in actions and words, crediting God for that work and being prepared to give an explanation for the hope that lies within (1 Peter 3:15). Webster says a witness is an “attestation of a fact or event” or “one who has personal knowledge of something.” So basically, to be a witness is to simply to serve in your life as an attestation of the fact of Christ’s work.
Evangelism: the term comes from the Greek word Evangelion; meaning “good news.” Therefore evangelism is intentionally explaining the command for all people to repent (Acts 17:30) and faith in Christ who died on the cross as payment for the sins of all who believe (John 3:16).
The distinction is where my frustration tends to occur. I treat every single mention of God as if it had to be a call to repentance. Situations worthy of God’s praise become challenging as I determine to turn it into a proclamation of the gospel. Quickly, a person like me with this outlook becomes perceived in a negative light.
Many people in my life know that I am crazy about my church and they just don’t get it. Whenever the topic comes up they quickly try to change the subject because they are uncomfortable with it. It is true that the gospel is a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:23 ) and the aroma of death (2 Corinthians 2:15,16) to those who don’t believe. The message is judgmental (John 3:18) and intolerant (Matthew 7:14), but I should be seen as a satisfied customer, no longer condemned and placed on the narrow way.
During a Q&A session at the 2009 Desiring God Pastors Conference, Matt Chandler discussed how we make Christ look appealing. We don’t water down or ignore the difficult demands of the gospel (sin, judgment, hell), but we also don’t forget to always proclaim the fantastic goodness of God. Chandler shared how his daughter loves the color pink, so he always tell her that God is the God of pink and they thank Him for that. How good, beautiful, and great is God that He gave us pink? He is the God of candy; the God of beautiful weather; the God who gives friends; the God of marital intimacy; the God who gives a giggling infant; the God of chocolate cake and whatever other simple pleasure we receive in life. Those we are trying to reach need to see our joy, the joy of our salvation (Psalm 20:5), and know what a pleasure it is for us to obey God’s commands (1 John 5:3). The more we display our joy in Christ as a witness to the world the more comfortable we will feel when we get the opportunity to explain that hope within by expounding on the details of the gospel. If you are afraid to be faithful in evangelism, simply start by proclaiming your joy in Christ more often.
I do not intend in differentiating the terms witness and evangelism to split any theological hairs, condemn those who don’t differentiate the terms, or start any programs based on the difference between the two. My goal is to encourage believers to live as a more bold witness, clearly living Christ-like lives while telling of His goodness in all things, which will lead to more evangelism opportunities, conversations with a clear unfolding of the gospel message. Too often we are afraid to obey the command to tell the gospel to every creature because we feel we aren’t articulate enough to explain the entire gospel. Instead of opening our mouths and simply testifying to the good work of Christ in our lives, we clam up and say nothing at all.
So here is a start; just try to be more deliberate to mention God and thank Him in front of others throughout the day. This may not be evangelism (by strict definition), but it lets the world know who you are and what you are about and may lead to an opportunity to explain yourself more. By then you will be more prepared for it; the gospel will be proclaimed more naturally as you have already established credibility and your joy in His power of transformation. You may be surprised that though you have been trying to reach a specific person for months, you may suddenly find yourself in a gospel conversation with a stranger on the bus simply because you expressed joy in God on a cloudy day.
I have been digging through J.C. Ryle’s Holiness and two people asked me what I was reading. I was excited for the chance to explain the gospel and then quickly frustrated when I stumbled over my own words to the point where the askers were no longer interested. The exchanges lasted no more than 30 seconds and I felt like a failure. All I was able to do was state how awesome and holy God is, but not a thing beyond that. Then a new thought began to creep into my mind.In my zeal to be faithful in evangelism I realized how many opportunities I had passed up because of my simple failure to be a Witness. Being a witness to me became the goal of explaining the entire gospel to every person I could. If I couldn’t get through sin, righteousness, judgment, heaven, hell, the cross and the resurrection, then it seemed to be a wasted opportunity. I then realized that perhaps I hadn’t failed so miserably; I did manage to voice my love for the powerful and holy Creator of the universe. So I began to formulate some definitions in my mind:
Witness: testifying to the work of God in your life in actions and words, crediting God for that work and being prepared to give an explanation for the hope that lies within (1 Peter 3:15). Webster says a witness is an “attestation of a fact or event” or “one who has personal knowledge of something.” So basically, to be a witness is to simply to serve in your life as an attestation of the fact of Christ’s work.
Evangelism: the term comes from the Greek word Evangelion; meaning “good news.” Therefore evangelism is intentionally explaining the command for all people to repent (Acts 17:30) and faith in Christ who died on the cross as payment for the sins of all who believe (John 3:16).
The distinction is where my frustration tends to occur. I treat every single mention of God as if it had to be a call to repentance. Situations worthy of God’s praise become challenging as I determine to turn it into a proclamation of the gospel. Quickly, a person like me with this outlook becomes perceived in a negative light.
Many people in my life know that I am crazy about my church and they just don’t get it. Whenever the topic comes up they quickly try to change the subject because they are uncomfortable with it. It is true that the gospel is a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:23 ) and the aroma of death (2 Corinthians 2:15,16) to those who don’t believe. The message is judgmental (John 3:18) and intolerant (Matthew 7:14), but I should be seen as a satisfied customer, no longer condemned and placed on the narrow way.
During a Q&A session at the 2009 Desiring God Pastors Conference, Matt Chandler discussed how we make Christ look appealing. We don’t water down or ignore the difficult demands of the gospel (sin, judgment, hell), but we also don’t forget to always proclaim the fantastic goodness of God. Chandler shared how his daughter loves the color pink, so he always tell her that God is the God of pink and they thank Him for that. How good, beautiful, and great is God that He gave us pink? He is the God of candy; the God of beautiful weather; the God who gives friends; the God of marital intimacy; the God who gives a giggling infant; the God of chocolate cake and whatever other simple pleasure we receive in life. Those we are trying to reach need to see our joy, the joy of our salvation (Psalm 20:5), and know what a pleasure it is for us to obey God’s commands (1 John 5:3). The more we display our joy in Christ as a witness to the world the more comfortable we will feel when we get the opportunity to explain that hope within by expounding on the details of the gospel. If you are afraid to be faithful in evangelism, simply start by proclaiming your joy in Christ more often.
I do not intend in differentiating the terms witness and evangelism to split any theological hairs, condemn those who don’t differentiate the terms, or start any programs based on the difference between the two. My goal is to encourage believers to live as a more bold witness, clearly living Christ-like lives while telling of His goodness in all things, which will lead to more evangelism opportunities, conversations with a clear unfolding of the gospel message. Too often we are afraid to obey the command to tell the gospel to every creature because we feel we aren’t articulate enough to explain the entire gospel. Instead of opening our mouths and simply testifying to the good work of Christ in our lives, we clam up and say nothing at all.
So here is a start; just try to be more deliberate to mention God and thank Him in front of others throughout the day. This may not be evangelism (by strict definition), but it lets the world know who you are and what you are about and may lead to an opportunity to explain yourself more. By then you will be more prepared for it; the gospel will be proclaimed more naturally as you have already established credibility and your joy in His power of transformation. You may be surprised that though you have been trying to reach a specific person for months, you may suddenly find yourself in a gospel conversation with a stranger on the bus simply because you expressed joy in God on a cloudy day.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Totally Unqualified
Having a newborn in the house has been very exciting and challenging; both at the same time. It is something I have dreamed of for years and now I am so thankful to God for such a wonderful gift. I have been planning for a while now what I want to accomplish as a parent while understanding my primary responsibility is to point my beautiful daughter to Christ to find righteousness.
Knowing that I certainly do not understand all there is to parenting I have undertaken much study on the subject. I have been reading books, magazines, and web articles and also comparing the methods of parents I see throughout the day. I have learned many principles to keep in mind and am reminded to keep Christ as the focus. There have also been many practical ideas discovered that will be very helpful in accomplishing our goals.
I must read to my children and teach them the importance of discerning truth while learning. I must bring alive the Scriptures to help them better understand its message. I must be a good example of godliness in their lives and not fall back on the attitude of “do what I say, not what I do.” I must admit my limitations and apologize when I fail. I must teach them how to respect others, how to be polite, how to properly handle money, how to be a good husband or wife, to be a diligent worker, to eat their vegetables, to respect the creation, to exercise enough, to be a safe driver, to study hard in school, to properly clean themselves and a thousand other things. On top of all that, they are born like us with a sinful heart that will rebel against authority and resist obedience, so it will take patient, loving consistency over a lifetime to teach only a few of these things.
I think of all that goes on in my life, what I have prioritized, what I believe to be important, what makes me happy, and I wonder where I am to find the time and resources to tackle this monumental task; especially in our culture where time is money and having a family, instead of being a blessing, is more of a burden on our career and entertainment goals. At one time moms were respected as the primary influence on the family and now they are chided for choosing to accept this God-given challenge as keeper of the home (Titus 2:3-5) instead of pursuing a career. I have much sympathy for the single parent who desires much more time to raise their children but cannot afford to. Even as one who’s wife is home caring for our baby, I am afraid we will come far short of addressing all that our child needs.
With this massive list of responsibilities laid in front of me the thing that weighs heavy on my mind is that despite all of this preparation and study, I am totally unqualified to be a godly father. I am not even capable of properly taking care of myself, let alone an entire family. Most of us have some history of personal sin (actions or thoughts) that, if widely publicized, would cast serious doubt on our ability to be a parent or likely even a functioning member of a civilized society.
But here I am with a daughter. Granted the authority by Almighty God to guide a human soul in the ways our Creator. Given the responsibility of caring for another sinful person.
As I learn more and more about my responsibilities, more and more about my own sin, more and more about the holiness of our God, I come to the realization that we are created to be wholly dependent upon Him. We can do nothing of ourselves, but we have been commanded to be perfect. That by no means implies that we have the ability to be so, but calls us to trust in Christ with our entire lives. Only He can accomplish in us that which we are called to do. Only He can uphold us, sustain us, preserve us to the end. I pray that He does exactly that in our home.
Praise God that He can do it all by the power of his voice!
Knowing that I certainly do not understand all there is to parenting I have undertaken much study on the subject. I have been reading books, magazines, and web articles and also comparing the methods of parents I see throughout the day. I have learned many principles to keep in mind and am reminded to keep Christ as the focus. There have also been many practical ideas discovered that will be very helpful in accomplishing our goals.
I must read to my children and teach them the importance of discerning truth while learning. I must bring alive the Scriptures to help them better understand its message. I must be a good example of godliness in their lives and not fall back on the attitude of “do what I say, not what I do.” I must admit my limitations and apologize when I fail. I must teach them how to respect others, how to be polite, how to properly handle money, how to be a good husband or wife, to be a diligent worker, to eat their vegetables, to respect the creation, to exercise enough, to be a safe driver, to study hard in school, to properly clean themselves and a thousand other things. On top of all that, they are born like us with a sinful heart that will rebel against authority and resist obedience, so it will take patient, loving consistency over a lifetime to teach only a few of these things.
I think of all that goes on in my life, what I have prioritized, what I believe to be important, what makes me happy, and I wonder where I am to find the time and resources to tackle this monumental task; especially in our culture where time is money and having a family, instead of being a blessing, is more of a burden on our career and entertainment goals. At one time moms were respected as the primary influence on the family and now they are chided for choosing to accept this God-given challenge as keeper of the home (Titus 2:3-5) instead of pursuing a career. I have much sympathy for the single parent who desires much more time to raise their children but cannot afford to. Even as one who’s wife is home caring for our baby, I am afraid we will come far short of addressing all that our child needs.
With this massive list of responsibilities laid in front of me the thing that weighs heavy on my mind is that despite all of this preparation and study, I am totally unqualified to be a godly father. I am not even capable of properly taking care of myself, let alone an entire family. Most of us have some history of personal sin (actions or thoughts) that, if widely publicized, would cast serious doubt on our ability to be a parent or likely even a functioning member of a civilized society.
But here I am with a daughter. Granted the authority by Almighty God to guide a human soul in the ways our Creator. Given the responsibility of caring for another sinful person.
As I learn more and more about my responsibilities, more and more about my own sin, more and more about the holiness of our God, I come to the realization that we are created to be wholly dependent upon Him. We can do nothing of ourselves, but we have been commanded to be perfect. That by no means implies that we have the ability to be so, but calls us to trust in Christ with our entire lives. Only He can accomplish in us that which we are called to do. Only He can uphold us, sustain us, preserve us to the end. I pray that He does exactly that in our home.
Praise God that He can do it all by the power of his voice!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
An Atheist on Evangelism
This man claims that he "knows" there is no God (not sure how that is possible), but he sure is right when it comes to sharing your faith. He says if you truly believe that people are going to hell, that eternal heaven is possible, and you don't tell them what you know, you must have some hatred for them. Doesn't he have a point? Isn't the best way we can love people to share the good news of forgiveness of sins with them.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Drive Carefully!
Well, it's official. Winter has begun in lovely Rochester, MN. No, it's not because of the weekend-long snowfall we've recently enjoyed (it's still early enough in the season that I actually enjoy it!). And, it's not the fact that my wife has switched out her extensive summer wardrobe for her "Man, it's still cold" winter wardrobe. The telltale sign that winter has officially come are the number of cars I see that have skidded off the road, or into the highway barricade.
That's right; Minnesotans sure know winter, but it takes a yearly reminder, it seems, to say, "Hey, you can't drive like that anymore" (and not for another six months, typically). Thankfully, I'm still new enough in town that I don't trust my instinct. I putter along like a nervous teenager, or an aging senior. But, I'm sure, like many of my Northern brethren, I will grow overconfident with each passing winter, and end up in a ditch somewhere.
Isn't that the way God works in our lives? We get a little overzealous, start to think we've got this thing figured out, and He allows circumstances to remind us, "Hey, this is My show." And, I don't know about you, but I'd much rather He pilot my life than keep bouncing against the guardrail!
My prayer is that you and I will "trust in the Lord with all our hearts, not relying on our own understanding," but, rather "think about Him in all of our ways, that He may guide us on the right paths;" that we "not consider ourselves to be wise, but fear the Lord and shun evil" (Proverbs 3:5-7). My prayer is that you and I will be so grateful for His care and providence over our lives (1 Peter 5:7-8) that we would never turn to the right or to the left (Joshua 1:7), but would follow faithfully His Word. The true disciple is the one who follows His Lord, even when he can't see through the snow.
The storms will come, whether you're in wintry Minnesota, or tropical Florida. The question is, will we confront them "sober and alert," ever vigilant to keep the faith, or will we succumb to that danger ahead, and all around?
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Just Be Patient!
I'm scared. I"m scared for the number of Christian girls I know, or have known, who are mixed up in relationships with unbelieving guys. What gives? Why does this seem so prevalent and reoccurring? I'm sure I'll come off as an old dote in this, and will probably garner more negative feedback than anything, but, some things beg to be said, in the hopes that my true concern shines through, and defenses aren't automatically put up.
And, I'm not preaching here, people; far from it. I've just seen too often, and too close to home, what such relationships can do for a great Christian girl. My heart breaks at the prospect of such long-term relationships getting started on such unequal footing. I suppose it's easily enough done; guy shows girl interest, girl enjoys said interest, girl gives guy a chance. Guy may even make assurances of a walk with Christ, but, if there's one thing I know about being a man, it's that we'll do anything to "get the girl." We'll say stupid things, do stupid things, make up things; whatever it takes.
I'll never forget what my father-in-law said to me when he officiated my wedding. He said, in so many words, that guys enjoy "the hunt." And, it's so true; we are validated when we win someone's heart. And, girls--I'm no expert here, but...--girls seem to find validation in being accepted. In a way, both guys and girls are seeking approval, and we'll jump at the first "nice" guy or girl who will give it.
All I'm saying is this: I'm tired of watching people I care about settle. I don't know if we grow impatient for affection, or that we want to believe someone knows the Lord so badly that we convince ourselves that they do; I don't know. What I do know is that it's a recipe for disaster, and the Lord truly does have our best intentions at heart when He says not to be "unequally yoked." Our faith is tested when we decide whether we'll "seek first His kingdom," and if we'll truly believe that "all of these (other) things (joy, happiness, companionship) will be added" to our lives. The truth is, "He will supply all of our needs," including relationships, "according to His riches in glory."
For anyone who's reading this, know that I write this with all love and affection. With a daughter now of my own, I can think of little else that is more heartbreaking than the prospect that, one, she wouldn't know the Lord, and, two, that she wouldn't trust Him for providing the perfect mate.
You're worth waiting for, and so is he (whoever he is).
And, I'm not preaching here, people; far from it. I've just seen too often, and too close to home, what such relationships can do for a great Christian girl. My heart breaks at the prospect of such long-term relationships getting started on such unequal footing. I suppose it's easily enough done; guy shows girl interest, girl enjoys said interest, girl gives guy a chance. Guy may even make assurances of a walk with Christ, but, if there's one thing I know about being a man, it's that we'll do anything to "get the girl." We'll say stupid things, do stupid things, make up things; whatever it takes.
I'll never forget what my father-in-law said to me when he officiated my wedding. He said, in so many words, that guys enjoy "the hunt." And, it's so true; we are validated when we win someone's heart. And, girls--I'm no expert here, but...--girls seem to find validation in being accepted. In a way, both guys and girls are seeking approval, and we'll jump at the first "nice" guy or girl who will give it.
All I'm saying is this: I'm tired of watching people I care about settle. I don't know if we grow impatient for affection, or that we want to believe someone knows the Lord so badly that we convince ourselves that they do; I don't know. What I do know is that it's a recipe for disaster, and the Lord truly does have our best intentions at heart when He says not to be "unequally yoked." Our faith is tested when we decide whether we'll "seek first His kingdom," and if we'll truly believe that "all of these (other) things (joy, happiness, companionship) will be added" to our lives. The truth is, "He will supply all of our needs," including relationships, "according to His riches in glory."
For anyone who's reading this, know that I write this with all love and affection. With a daughter now of my own, I can think of little else that is more heartbreaking than the prospect that, one, she wouldn't know the Lord, and, two, that she wouldn't trust Him for providing the perfect mate.
You're worth waiting for, and so is he (whoever he is).
Monday, September 8, 2008
Hilary Watson
Hilary Watson, a 24-year old Californian, recently performed at our church, and, I must say, I was impressed. Coming to the Lord at age 11, and consequently committing to the daily reading of the Word, it was made evident in her concert. Each song was Biblically-based, and bathed in Scripture. Quoting verses at length, I realized this up-and-coming artist's truest pursuit was honoring her Lord.
Having performed in Germany, Africa, and the states, she is often found leading worship in various churches on any given Sunday. That being said, she made it clear that she is actively pursuing body life, as she is in a vibrant home bible study, which recently just finished a 5-week Mission Trip to Tanzania, all of their own making, by the way.
Having played guitar for as long as she's known the Lord, it is equally evident. Great picking style, with beautifully crisp and enjoyable chord progressions, she is a joy to hear play, on that merit alone. Interestingly, she shared that she hasn't always been gifted with the tremendous voice she evidences now. While I'm not sure I even believe that, she is certainly over it. Her soaring lyrics coincide well with her songwriting, which dispenses with trite lyrics, opting instead for refreshing word imagery that leaves no response but heartfelt worship towards our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
An all-around joy to hear, and meet, Hilary Watson is best enjoyed live, in my opinion, as her recorded work doesn't seem to do her justice. Nevertheless, I would encourage you to sample it, and then book her, ASAP. You'll be personally encouraged in your walk, and challenged in your faith.
Having performed in Germany, Africa, and the states, she is often found leading worship in various churches on any given Sunday. That being said, she made it clear that she is actively pursuing body life, as she is in a vibrant home bible study, which recently just finished a 5-week Mission Trip to Tanzania, all of their own making, by the way.
Having played guitar for as long as she's known the Lord, it is equally evident. Great picking style, with beautifully crisp and enjoyable chord progressions, she is a joy to hear play, on that merit alone. Interestingly, she shared that she hasn't always been gifted with the tremendous voice she evidences now. While I'm not sure I even believe that, she is certainly over it. Her soaring lyrics coincide well with her songwriting, which dispenses with trite lyrics, opting instead for refreshing word imagery that leaves no response but heartfelt worship towards our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
An all-around joy to hear, and meet, Hilary Watson is best enjoyed live, in my opinion, as her recorded work doesn't seem to do her justice. Nevertheless, I would encourage you to sample it, and then book her, ASAP. You'll be personally encouraged in your walk, and challenged in your faith.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Slow Progress for this Pilgrim
As our Tuesday night Bible study finished up going through 1 Peter and I start preparing to study Philippians, I am really being convicted about my worldliness. In 1 Peter, he is writing to Christians in Rome who are being severely persecuted (read: burned, imprisoned, beaten) for their faith and Peter is writing to them to encourage them to stay faithful. Right in the beginning of the letter he encourages them by reminding them that they are strangers of the world (aliens, pilgrims, sojourners, exiles, foreigners), meaning that they may live under the authority of the Roman government, but they are merely strangers in the land; citizens of a different world.
Paul similarly displays this attitude in his letter to the Philippians; describing how he is willing to give up all that seems good in the world so that the gospel can be proclaimed. He takes Jesus call to deny himself very seriously and says he counts all the seemingly great things he has as "rubbish."
In my own life I have found myself too busy to really get serious about proclaiming the gospel to the world and personally investing more time in discipling those who are young in the faith. My personal prayer and study time has been diminishing as I find too many excuses to ignore such vital components of the Christian life. This summer, I thought, would be a season of great growth for me and the ministries I am involved in. But I have found myself along for the ride as every single weekend is planned out for me doing something different and I am sacrificing my prayer time, Bible study, personal reading, and ministry opportunities.
The difficult thing is that the things that are taking up my time aren’t necessarily sinful. Going to cousins weddings, visiting aunts and uncles, family reunions, playing baseball with unsaved neighbors and attending graduations aren’t bad things and are actually good things because I get opportunities to discuss the gospel with many different people. But it comes at a cost of my first ministries; my own sanctification, my wife (and soon my first child), and serving in my own church.
During the week it is so easy to go through the routine of life that I forget that I am a pilgrim simply passing through this world. I think that too often we justify our worldly behavior by pointing out that it isn’t specifically defined as a sin. However, anything that takes time away from what we have been called to do is also a sin and that is where I find myself battling right now. We are called to deny our personal desires and to gain holy desires to serve the King who is coming soon to take us home.
Imagine how much time we would have to read our Bibles if we got rid of our televisions. I know, I know. Watching TV isn’t in itself a sin. But it is so easy to be distracted by it. It consumes an hour of your life before you realize what happened. How much more time would we have to serve in a church ministry if we spent less time surfing the internet for no reason or being entertained by some game.
Often times in our efforts to be relevant to the world by “becoming all things to all men” we lose focus on the fact that we are not of this world. Even though we live in America, our citizenship is of another world. We work daily at our jobs and live in an entertainment culture and it is too easy to end up going through life like people who are of this world.
I pray that we can all be reminded more often that Christians are not of this world. We are called to deny ourselves and take up the cross daily. Being a Christian isn’t about doing the same things as everyone else while wearing a name tag that says “Christian.” It isn’t an easy life that involves being everyone’s friend so they might like Jesus too. It often involves losing friends, sacrificing some of our favorite things, and delaying gratification until Christ returns. We are foreigners to this land. People should recognize us as foreigners by how we talk, what we are entertained by, what consumes our free time. I pray that I can become a much better example of the pilgrim life.
"If it doesn't matter the day you die, it doesn't matter." -Mark Cahill
Paul similarly displays this attitude in his letter to the Philippians; describing how he is willing to give up all that seems good in the world so that the gospel can be proclaimed. He takes Jesus call to deny himself very seriously and says he counts all the seemingly great things he has as "rubbish."
In my own life I have found myself too busy to really get serious about proclaiming the gospel to the world and personally investing more time in discipling those who are young in the faith. My personal prayer and study time has been diminishing as I find too many excuses to ignore such vital components of the Christian life. This summer, I thought, would be a season of great growth for me and the ministries I am involved in. But I have found myself along for the ride as every single weekend is planned out for me doing something different and I am sacrificing my prayer time, Bible study, personal reading, and ministry opportunities.
The difficult thing is that the things that are taking up my time aren’t necessarily sinful. Going to cousins weddings, visiting aunts and uncles, family reunions, playing baseball with unsaved neighbors and attending graduations aren’t bad things and are actually good things because I get opportunities to discuss the gospel with many different people. But it comes at a cost of my first ministries; my own sanctification, my wife (and soon my first child), and serving in my own church.
During the week it is so easy to go through the routine of life that I forget that I am a pilgrim simply passing through this world. I think that too often we justify our worldly behavior by pointing out that it isn’t specifically defined as a sin. However, anything that takes time away from what we have been called to do is also a sin and that is where I find myself battling right now. We are called to deny our personal desires and to gain holy desires to serve the King who is coming soon to take us home.
Imagine how much time we would have to read our Bibles if we got rid of our televisions. I know, I know. Watching TV isn’t in itself a sin. But it is so easy to be distracted by it. It consumes an hour of your life before you realize what happened. How much more time would we have to serve in a church ministry if we spent less time surfing the internet for no reason or being entertained by some game.Often times in our efforts to be relevant to the world by “becoming all things to all men” we lose focus on the fact that we are not of this world. Even though we live in America, our citizenship is of another world. We work daily at our jobs and live in an entertainment culture and it is too easy to end up going through life like people who are of this world.
I pray that we can all be reminded more often that Christians are not of this world. We are called to deny ourselves and take up the cross daily. Being a Christian isn’t about doing the same things as everyone else while wearing a name tag that says “Christian.” It isn’t an easy life that involves being everyone’s friend so they might like Jesus too. It often involves losing friends, sacrificing some of our favorite things, and delaying gratification until Christ returns. We are foreigners to this land. People should recognize us as foreigners by how we talk, what we are entertained by, what consumes our free time. I pray that I can become a much better example of the pilgrim life.
"If it doesn't matter the day you die, it doesn't matter." -Mark Cahill
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Junk Mail Evangelism
I often hear from Christians that they just are too introverted to share the gospel. In their minds they have a fear of knocking on doors or standing on a street corner preaching the gospel to the masses and think, “I can’t do that so I can’t do evangelism.” There are so many easy ways for us in this country to get the good news out that we have no legitimate reason to be disobedient.
I hope to be able to provide here many fun and simple ways to get the gospel out so we can all be faithful evangelists. Keep checking back here for more and let us know if you tried any or if you came up with one of your own.
If you own a mailbox, you no doubt receive more mail that you throw away than mail that is important. As frustrating as it can be, some of this unsolicited mail can be used for evangelism. If you hate that you have to fill your garbage can (which you pay to empty) so quickly with all of that junk mail you could do this.
Or you could eat the cost trash removal and take advantage of the free postage to get the gospel out. A couple months ago we purchased a bunch of gospel tracts and spent a day giving them out around town. We still have many tracts left over and if you think silently handing a piece of paper to someone is still to
scary, junk mail evangelism provides the easiest evangelism opportunity for the shyest person of all.
From now on, instead of throwing away all of that junk mail, keep that postage-paid return envelope, put a couple of tracts in there and send it on back. It’s not that often that people give you such and easy opportunity to get the gospel into their hands.
What a great chance this is to get your children excited about the sharing the gospel too. Get excited about junk mail and get a collection of postage-paid envelopes awaiting their gospel proclaiming destiny. Next time you are at church, stop into the office and pick up your own collection of tracts and get stuffing envelopes.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A Gospel that atTracts
My yard and I are in a grand battle of the ages. It's me vs. the weeds, and it's to the death (preferably theirs)! And, like any other Christian person, I started wondering how that related to my walk with Christ. So, here goes:
In sharing the Gospel, we must first sow the seed. We will never reap a harvest if we don't first sow the seed of the Gospel. It's a very simple truth, but we all so often fall into the routine of expecting that, if we do the right programs, if we're nice enough, etc., that people will be attracted to the Gospel. They can only be attracted to that which we clearly and verbally demonstrate to them.
And, you have to know the Gospel before you can throw, or sow, the Gospel, right? So, stay in the Word; commit it to memory; allow it to inform your witness. And, know something about your soil, too, which would be the person with which you're sharing. Find a point of common interest with even a total stranger, even something as simple as the weather, or the insanely high gas prices. And, if you know the person, there's all the more context from which to share.
Now, if someone has gone before you and sown the Gospel into someone's life, then you may have the opportunity to hoe that Gospel, nurturing it and stirring it deeper into the person's life. You may even be graced with the privilege of bringing that person to the Lord. Either way, both "the sower and the reaper may be glad together" (John 4:36-37). Never discount the role of the sower, as they are afforded equal honor to that of the reaper (compliments of Dr. Roy Fish).
We must be mindful, however, of the role that merits no honor whatsoever, which is the role of the mower. These are those of us, and we've all done it at some point(s), who in some way have ruined our witness and disgraced the glorious name of Christ. We may have spoken wrongfully, or with mal intent. Perhaps we grew impatient or hostile or angry. Whatever it is, we must be careful never to mow down the seeds that have been planted for the Gospel.
That brings us finally to growing. Let us not make the mistake of thinking that evangelism and discipleship are two mutually exclusive things. No, we must constantly be reminded as Christians of the Gospel, and the change it has wrought in our life, as we are so prone to otherwise give in to sin. The Spirit is at work in both the unbeliever and the believer to woo them to repentance and application. We must work, then, to make disciples, be disciples, and grow disciples.
I pray this is an encouragement to you all. May God commend our efforts, unto His glory alone.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Real Worship
Worship is Life. We as Christians can so often confuse worship for that which we do corporately as a Body each Sunday, and that, of course, is true, but only in part. Long before church buildings were erected, or Worship Pastors were employed, followers of Christ were worshiping Him, and doing so with their lives. So, how exactly do we do that?
Well, we “live a life worthy of the calling” (Ephesians 4:1), that “God may count us worthy” of it, “fulfilling our every good purpose and every act prompted by our faith” (2 Thess. 1:11). Now, of course, this faith is not of ourselves; no, it is the gift of God. But, our “every good purpose and act” is God’s workmanship, “prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:8-10).
Remember, God has given us “everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3, emphasis mine). So, a life of worship is that one which is lived in the knowledge of Him. And, how do we gain that knowledge? Well, some of it is gained on Sunday. That is true. But, I firmly believe we grow all the more in our personal walks with Him; in the quiet of the morning, in our prayer time during our commute to work, in the godly witness of our families. In so doing, Sunday becomes but a culmination of celebration, as God’s people truly fellowship over all that He has done, and led us to do, in the week preceding.
And, for those of us who fear to share our faith, consider 2 Corinthians 2:14, which says: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.” It is a beautiful portrayal of a life of worship lending itself ever so naturally to the spreading of the Word. May we do likewise, knowing that, with but one life to live, we must need expend it on His glory alone, that we’ll not have wasted one minute, but have been found indeed to be both good and faithful.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Cosmic Abuse?
I am currently reading John Piper’s book The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World. In his chapter on Joy and the Supremacy of Christ, he quotes a postmodern church leader as saying the way we interpret the cross is “cosmic child abuse.”
The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse – a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed. Understandably, both people inside and outside of the Church have found this twisted version of events morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith. Deeper than that, however, is that such a concept stands in total contradiction to the statement: ‘God is love.’ If the cross is a personal act of violence penetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and to refuse to repay evil with evil.
(Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 182-83).
Piper does a nice job defending the essential doctrine of the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ, but another thing came to mind as I was reading the scriptures he presented. If we are going to view everything in the Bible through the lens of the one sentence “God is love” we must be sure we interpret that one sentence exactly as it was meant.
It seems to me that this leader has a misunderstanding of what love is. He seems to also ignore the fact that God is holy; He is angry at sin, righteous, and just. Grace and mercy do not mean anything if we don’t understand the wrath of God. God’s love does not mean He overlooks our sins, it means He showed us favor despite them because of what Christ did on the cross.
Here I just wanted to post the verses that Piper responded to this quote with and the verses that came to mind. Quite contradictory to the quote from this leader is the fact that when the Bible refers to the love of God, it ties it directly to the cross.
We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…. It was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. (Isaiah 53:4-6,10)
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’ (Galatians 3:13)
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. (Romans 8:3)
I found it interesting that this author claims that penal substitionary atonement is actually a barrier to faith. Our Bible study last night revealed another verse very applicable to this very statement.
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ (1 Peter 2:7,8)
Here are the verses tying the love of God to the cross.
For God so loved the world (i.e. He loved the world in this way) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:2)
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9,10)
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood… (Revelation 1:5)
I give these verses as a study, not simply to point out a false teacher, but to encourage believers to dig deeper into the word. The death on the cross and the resurrection are foundational to our faith. Without them we are still in our sins and are to be pitied above all men (1 Corinthians 15:12-18)
The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse – a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed. Understandably, both people inside and outside of the Church have found this twisted version of events morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith. Deeper than that, however, is that such a concept stands in total contradiction to the statement: ‘God is love.’ If the cross is a personal act of violence penetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and to refuse to repay evil with evil.
(Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 182-83).
Piper does a nice job defending the essential doctrine of the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ, but another thing came to mind as I was reading the scriptures he presented. If we are going to view everything in the Bible through the lens of the one sentence “God is love” we must be sure we interpret that one sentence exactly as it was meant.
It seems to me that this leader has a misunderstanding of what love is. He seems to also ignore the fact that God is holy; He is angry at sin, righteous, and just. Grace and mercy do not mean anything if we don’t understand the wrath of God. God’s love does not mean He overlooks our sins, it means He showed us favor despite them because of what Christ did on the cross.
Here I just wanted to post the verses that Piper responded to this quote with and the verses that came to mind. Quite contradictory to the quote from this leader is the fact that when the Bible refers to the love of God, it ties it directly to the cross.
We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…. It was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. (Isaiah 53:4-6,10)
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’ (Galatians 3:13)
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. (Romans 8:3)
I found it interesting that this author claims that penal substitionary atonement is actually a barrier to faith. Our Bible study last night revealed another verse very applicable to this very statement.
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ (1 Peter 2:7,8)
Here are the verses tying the love of God to the cross.For God so loved the world (i.e. He loved the world in this way) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:2)
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9,10)
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood… (Revelation 1:5)
I give these verses as a study, not simply to point out a false teacher, but to encourage believers to dig deeper into the word. The death on the cross and the resurrection are foundational to our faith. Without them we are still in our sins and are to be pitied above all men (1 Corinthians 15:12-18)
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The Truth About Prayer
Prayer malfunctions in the hands of Christians when we seek selfish desires instead of fruit-bearing in the mission of advancing the Gospel. John 15:7 tells us that if the words of Jesus abide in us, we will pray with power and effectiveness, both for our good and God’s glory. Four truths about prayer come from meditating on this Scripture in its wider context.
Fruit Bearing
God designed prayer to give His disciples the joy of bearing fruit while God Himself gets the glory. Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8).In verse 16. Jesus says to His disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give to you.”
The logical connection between the two parts of this verse is important. Jesus says, in effect, “I have given you a fruit-bearing mission in order that your prayers might be answered! ”You would expect His words to be just the reverse: God will give you what you ask in order that you might have a fruit-bearing mission. But Jesus says it the other way around: I give you a fruit-bearing mission in order that the Father might answer your prayers. The point: Prayer malfunctions when it is not used in fruit-bearing. Therefore, since I want you to pray and to get answers to your prayers, I chose you and I appointed you to go and bear fruit. If you are not devoted to fruit-bearing, you have no warrant for expecting answers to prayer.
Kingdom Desires
Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And what could be more natural than the desire to eat? There are dozens of instances in the Bible of people praying for desires—for protection from enemies, escape from danger, success in vocation, fertility in marriage, recovery from sickness. It’s not that those desires are wrong, but they should always be subordinate to spiritual desires; Kingdom desires; fruit-bearing desires; Gospel-spreading, God-centered desires; Christ-exalting, God-glorifying desires. And when our natural desires are felt as a means to these greater desires, then they become the proper subject of prayer. Just before Jesus said to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” He said, “Make it your heart’s desire that God would hallow His name and that the Kingdom would come and that the will of God would be done on earth.” When your heart is caught up with these great desires, then having something to eat is not merely a natural desire, but a means to some great God-centered end. And then it is the proper subject of prayer.
Used for His Ends
If prayer is not for gratifying natural desires but for bearing fruit for God, the major challenge of prayer is to become the kind of people who are not dominated by natural desires, the kind of people who do not use God for their own ends but are utterly devoted to being used for His ends.
This is why Jesus says, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.” The words of Jesus abiding in us make us those kind of people.
Here are a few examples that show this in John’s writings:
In 1 John 1:10 he says, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” If the words of Jesus were abiding in us, we would have known ourselves better—that we have sinned. The words of Jesus abiding in us is the key to a true and humble assessment of ourselves that keeps us in line with God’s purposes.
In 1 John 2:14 John says, “I write to you, young men, because … the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” So the words of Jesus abiding in us triumph over Satan and free us from the deceptions that would put us at odds with God and make natural desires dominate our lives.
In John 14:24 Jesus says, “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” So if we keep the words of Jesus—if they abide in us—they will define for us the path of love, precisely the path where prayer was designed to bear fruit.
The abiding Word of Jesus puts us in tune with the fruit-bearing purposes of God to glorify Himself.
Saturated by His Words
So the fourth and final truth about prayer is that the more we are saturated by the words of Jesus, the more our prayers will be answered.
The challenge of prayer in the year ahead is the challenge to become the kind of people who do not live at the level of mere natural desire, but who live to bear fruit for God—to hallow His Name, seek His Kingdom and do His will.
The key to becoming that kind of person is letting the words of Jesus—the Word of God (John 3:34, 14:10, 17:8) —abide in us. Being filled and saturated by the words of Scripture brings us so close to the mind of God that we pray in tune with His purposes and receive whatever we ask.
John Piper is pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn.All Scripture quotations are taken by permission from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Adapted from the sermon “Ask Whatever You Wish.” ©John Piper
from the January 2008 issue of “Decision” magazine
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Get on Tract!
I just returned home from spending the morning with a faithful few at Emmanuel giving out tracts around town. What an amazing time it was! It seems like the best times doing evangelism are the small events where we just get together and go out and meet people. We try to set up large events, fun events, at church events, and all kinds of things to create opportunities for members to share the gospel with the lost. But it seems the most successful (read: faithful) times are when we keep it simple and just get the gospel to people with little extra fanfare. Today was
definitely one of those.
We started this morning meeting together to discuss some places we could go and share ideas on how to hand out tracts. Excitement spread around the room as people thought of great ways to get the gospel into the hands of the people. With a table full of tracts, everyone was armed with an entire arsenal of gospel ammunition.
After some time in prayer for courage and faithfulness from our team and soft hearts readied for the gospel, our team parted ways throughout town to plant gospel seeds. Rev Kev spent the morning visiting contacts he had previously made in shopping for tractors. He was able to give away small booklets on heaven while getting the chance to share the gospel with a broken hearted acquaintance. Kevin also found out by sharing tracts that one person already professed to be a Christian and even had the privilege of leading his son to Christ the previous night. Kevin was able to rejoice with him in that.
Jeremy and Jake went downtown to start some conversation at the international food store. They tried to mingle with the locals a bit, but found some difficulty when they didn't understand the language they were using. The left some tracts anyway. The two of them also went to the library to leave some tracts and got the opportunity to share a little with the piano teacher when they returned to church.
Molly and I scoured the Galleria downtown and also the Apache Mall. We placed a few dozen tracts around the area and even thought of a few more clever places (ATMs, books, newspapers, public chairs). We hit up a local bookstore and placed a few gospel tracts in the religion books. 
The Murrays went to some stores to do some shopping this morning and they loaded up on over 50 tracts. The boys put tracts in boxes and handed out tracts while their parents did the shopping. As they checked out of the stores, the cashiers were invited to church and given the gospel on a tract. The boys were so excited about telling people about Jesus that they had to be told to slow down a bit. But they just had to keep going. They put some 10 Commandment coins in and under vending machines where kids just love to look for spare change.
David also had a fruitful morning as he was able to have conversations with 4 different people at the mall food court.
He did a survey asking some questions of people to get some information for his dissertation and was able to share some gospel tracts during the conversations. He was extremely excited about being able to walk through the gospel so easily with these people. Everyone was so friendly and not even close to antagonistic to the message. David said the time flew by so fast because the conversations went so well.
At noon, we all met back at the fellowship hall for a fantastic taco lunch prepared by Julie and Lexi. We shared our battle stories and rejoiced together for God's power in working through us. The Murray boys filled their pockets with more tracts and begged to be able to go back out and share more about Jesus so others could go to heaven too. Praise God for the faith of children!
Please pray for those who heard the gospel today. Pray that God's Word convicts and brings repentance to softened hearts. Pray also for the gospel tracts that are still out there. Many people have given testimonies of being saved by stumbling across gospel tracts. And finally pray for faithfulness in all of our lives to be more obedient to God's Great Commission. Praise God for using such simple things and broken people to bring glory to Himself!
definitely one of those.We started this morning meeting together to discuss some places we could go and share ideas on how to hand out tracts. Excitement spread around the room as people thought of great ways to get the gospel into the hands of the people. With a table full of tracts, everyone was armed with an entire arsenal of gospel ammunition.
After some time in prayer for courage and faithfulness from our team and soft hearts readied for the gospel, our team parted ways throughout town to plant gospel seeds. Rev Kev spent the morning visiting contacts he had previously made in shopping for tractors. He was able to give away small booklets on heaven while getting the chance to share the gospel with a broken hearted acquaintance. Kevin also found out by sharing tracts that one person already professed to be a Christian and even had the privilege of leading his son to Christ the previous night. Kevin was able to rejoice with him in that.
Jeremy and Jake went downtown to start some conversation at the international food store. They tried to mingle with the locals a bit, but found some difficulty when they didn't understand the language they were using. The left some tracts anyway. The two of them also went to the library to leave some tracts and got the opportunity to share a little with the piano teacher when they returned to church.
Molly and I scoured the Galleria downtown and also the Apache Mall. We placed a few dozen tracts around the area and even thought of a few more clever places (ATMs, books, newspapers, public chairs). We hit up a local bookstore and placed a few gospel tracts in the religion books. 
The Murrays went to some stores to do some shopping this morning and they loaded up on over 50 tracts. The boys put tracts in boxes and handed out tracts while their parents did the shopping. As they checked out of the stores, the cashiers were invited to church and given the gospel on a tract. The boys were so excited about telling people about Jesus that they had to be told to slow down a bit. But they just had to keep going. They put some 10 Commandment coins in and under vending machines where kids just love to look for spare change.
David also had a fruitful morning as he was able to have conversations with 4 different people at the mall food court.
He did a survey asking some questions of people to get some information for his dissertation and was able to share some gospel tracts during the conversations. He was extremely excited about being able to walk through the gospel so easily with these people. Everyone was so friendly and not even close to antagonistic to the message. David said the time flew by so fast because the conversations went so well.At noon, we all met back at the fellowship hall for a fantastic taco lunch prepared by Julie and Lexi. We shared our battle stories and rejoiced together for God's power in working through us. The Murray boys filled their pockets with more tracts and begged to be able to go back out and share more about Jesus so others could go to heaven too. Praise God for the faith of children!
Please pray for those who heard the gospel today. Pray that God's Word convicts and brings repentance to softened hearts. Pray also for the gospel tracts that are still out there. Many people have given testimonies of being saved by stumbling across gospel tracts. And finally pray for faithfulness in all of our lives to be more obedient to God's Great Commission. Praise God for using such simple things and broken people to bring glory to Himself!
Friday, March 28, 2008
When People Are Big and God is Small - Review
Rightfully, Edward Welch begins and spends much of the book describing the amazing attributes of God explaining, "The most radical treatment for the fear of man is the fear of the Lord" (pg. 19). God is a lot bigger than we can even begin to imagine. "Scripture speaks of unimaginable love alongside holy anger. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love, but he also does not leave the guilty unpunished" (pg. 103) We need to understand all sides of God's holiness; His grace, love, and mercy, balanced with justice, anger, and wrath. God is awesome, powerful, beautiful and His handiwork is displayed everywhere. Many of today's sermons in America feed into self-centered thinking by providing self-help sermons. "The result [of too many application sermons] is that our goal can be self-improvement rather than the glory of the Holy God. We need more sermons that leave us trembling." (pg. 96) "A growing knowledge of God displaces the fear of people, and it casts out our tendency to be casual with our secret sins." (pg. 107)
Another step in overcoming the fear of man is having a biblical understanding of ourselves and others. It is important for us to realize how sinful we are and that our dependency is on God not on others. Welch says we ascribe too often God's attributes to other people, "People are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God. We worship them as ones who have God-like exposing gazes or God-like ability to "fill" us with esteem, love, admiration, acceptance, respect, and other psychological desires" (pg. 45). He states that too often we worry that other people will think we are fanatics, that we are stupid, or that they won't respond to us the way we want (fear of people), instead of being more concerned about our own sin and obeying God (fear of God). We then begin to make excuses for our fear of man, calling our sins "shortcomings," saying we are only human, or appealing to the majority for decisions. Instead of living godly we give in because we fear others. In reference to this, Edward Welch makes this convicting statement, "Sometimes we would prefer to die for Jesus than to live for Him." (pg. 39) He declares that "what we fear shows our allegiances. It shows where we put our trust. It shows who is big in our lives." (pg. 47)
When People Are Big and God is Small is a great book that dives into the excuses we make for the fear of man and the remedies for them. The heart of the book is the gospel message, which Welch digs deep into and reveals a better understanding of the gospel than a basic 'Romans Road' presentation describes. He says, "The good news of Jesus is not intended to make us feel good about ourselves. Instead, the good news humbles us" (pg. 146). Throughout the book we find out that we are more sinful than "all fall short" leads us to believe. We take every second of blessing from God and lace it with sin (boasting, self-pity, lies, fear, worry, lust, coveting, etc.). We are idol factories, exaggerating the power of people over us and ascribing them the ability to fulfill our desires. We "stretch the truth" to make ourselves more comfortable in a situation and justify it by saying we are only human or others just don't understand the situation. We create a perceived need in our eyes (more accurately a lust), and make justifications for desiring something God hasn't granted us. When discussing the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the good news of Christ's death and resurrections the author states, "When the fear of the Lord matures in you, Christ becomes irresistible" (pg. 123).
In the book, Welch gets right to the root of these issues, lays out God's wonderful news of His love and transforming power, and offers practical advice on steadily overcoming the fear of others. "THE problem is clear: People are too big in our lives and God is too small. The answer is straightforward: We must learn to know that our God is more loving and more powerful than we ever imagined." (pg. 113)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Firefighter
Our Tuesday night Bible study has just started an eight-week study on evangelism and the gospel. The first week was very convicting and had wonderful discussion. Many people weren't able to make it this last week so if you missed out, watch this video to get an idea of what we discussed.
Feel free to leave some comments about the video or join us next Tuesday to discuss more.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
A Practice, Not a Program
Below is a great article from sfpulpit.com (the "Magazine" of the Shepherds Fellowship) on how evangelism should work in the church. As one of the "evangelists" of our church, I think this is one of the most important emphases I could make on evangelism at Emmanuel. We are all called to rely on God to share the gospel with everyone we meet. Some are more gifted than others, but they are to teach and encourage the rest. Sometimes I find it frustrating when people are apathetic towards evangelism. They see the team doing the work through various events and programs and feel they don't need to participate or step out in their own lives. The most effective "method" of evangelism is when individuals in the church get involved in the lives of non-Christians and share the message of God's judgment on sin, repentance, and faith in Christ who died in our place and now reigns in Heaven. Our team is only here to support, encourage, and celebrate the individual efforts of everyone in the church. May we all be less complacent about the lost souls in our lives.
(By Jesse Johnson)
The following is an article Jesse wrote for our church’s weekly bulletin, Grace Today. “What does your church do for evangelism?”
I was meeting with a group of outreach pastors from other large churches in our nation. The topic was what our churches do to transform our communities. When the question about what we “do for evangelism” came my way, I knew the expected answer would look like a list of programs. People around the table—many of them from some of the most program-driven, seeker-sensitive churches in the country—turned to me. They were curious about what Pastor MacArthur’s church does to impact our community.
The man repeated, “What does your church do for evangelism?”
“We evangelize,” I answered. As the group laughed, thinking I was joking, it occurred to me that my answer was more profound that I had intended.
At Grace Church, our philosophy of evangelism hinges on the idea that evangelism is not a program. A church does not transform a community through activities and events. In fact, church-sponsored evangelism programs generally do not produce results. Rather, a church impacts its community through the lives of its members. The kingdom is expanded as believers are faithful in evangelism in their individual lives.
All believers are to be active in evangelism. In fact, all four Gospels end with Jesus commanding believers to bring salvation to the lost (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 20:21). Jesus’ last earthly words were another repetition of this same command, to bear witness to the gospel (Acts 1:8). It is not an overstatement to say that all Christians should be driven by a love for evangelism. After all, it is our mission in life.
But while all Christians are called to be active in evangelism, not all Christians are equally gifted at this particular calling. Acts 21:8 and Ephesians 4:11 both imply that some have the gift of evangelism and some do not. But God in His wisdom has still called all Christians to evangelize.
Thus, one of the marks of a Christian is a love for evangelism. If you are fearful, evangelism gives you the opportunity to trust God for courage. If you are timid, evangelism gives you an opportunity to trust God for confidence. Christians are slaves to Christ, soldiers in His service, and sons of God. Our master, our general, and our Father has given us our orders: to reach the lost with the hope of the gospel.
As Christians, we love what God loves, and God loves the lost. As we become more and more sanctified, we become more and more like Christ. This growth causes us to grow in our love for those who are still God’s enemies.
Grace Church impacts our community because our members love those in our community. This love results in us reaching out to the lost, presenting the gospel to them, and seeing some of them saved. As we do this, our church grows, and our evangelism results in changed lives. In fact, 2 Corinthians 4:15 says “that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” In other words, the more we evangelize, the more God’s grace extends to our community. And the more His grace extends, the more He is glorified.
Don’t get me wrong—we do have evangelistic programs and outreaches, and we do have structured events. But what has consistently produced more fruit than any program is the faithfulness of individuals who express their love for their neighbors through evangelism.
So the next time someone asks you what our church does for evangelism, the answer is simple. We evangelize.
(By Jesse Johnson)
The following is an article Jesse wrote for our church’s weekly bulletin, Grace Today. “What does your church do for evangelism?”
I was meeting with a group of outreach pastors from other large churches in our nation. The topic was what our churches do to transform our communities. When the question about what we “do for evangelism” came my way, I knew the expected answer would look like a list of programs. People around the table—many of them from some of the most program-driven, seeker-sensitive churches in the country—turned to me. They were curious about what Pastor MacArthur’s church does to impact our community.
The man repeated, “What does your church do for evangelism?”
“We evangelize,” I answered. As the group laughed, thinking I was joking, it occurred to me that my answer was more profound that I had intended.
At Grace Church, our philosophy of evangelism hinges on the idea that evangelism is not a program. A church does not transform a community through activities and events. In fact, church-sponsored evangelism programs generally do not produce results. Rather, a church impacts its community through the lives of its members. The kingdom is expanded as believers are faithful in evangelism in their individual lives.
All believers are to be active in evangelism. In fact, all four Gospels end with Jesus commanding believers to bring salvation to the lost (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 20:21). Jesus’ last earthly words were another repetition of this same command, to bear witness to the gospel (Acts 1:8). It is not an overstatement to say that all Christians should be driven by a love for evangelism. After all, it is our mission in life.
But while all Christians are called to be active in evangelism, not all Christians are equally gifted at this particular calling. Acts 21:8 and Ephesians 4:11 both imply that some have the gift of evangelism and some do not. But God in His wisdom has still called all Christians to evangelize.
Thus, one of the marks of a Christian is a love for evangelism. If you are fearful, evangelism gives you the opportunity to trust God for courage. If you are timid, evangelism gives you an opportunity to trust God for confidence. Christians are slaves to Christ, soldiers in His service, and sons of God. Our master, our general, and our Father has given us our orders: to reach the lost with the hope of the gospel.
As Christians, we love what God loves, and God loves the lost. As we become more and more sanctified, we become more and more like Christ. This growth causes us to grow in our love for those who are still God’s enemies.
Grace Church impacts our community because our members love those in our community. This love results in us reaching out to the lost, presenting the gospel to them, and seeing some of them saved. As we do this, our church grows, and our evangelism results in changed lives. In fact, 2 Corinthians 4:15 says “that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” In other words, the more we evangelize, the more God’s grace extends to our community. And the more His grace extends, the more He is glorified.
Don’t get me wrong—we do have evangelistic programs and outreaches, and we do have structured events. But what has consistently produced more fruit than any program is the faithfulness of individuals who express their love for their neighbors through evangelism.
So the next time someone asks you what our church does for evangelism, the answer is simple. We evangelize.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
What are areas in your life in which you struggle to be obedient to God because you have weaknesses there?
Being a more courageous witness of the gospel
Committing to study the Bible daily
Leading a Bible study
Saying no to sin under pressure from others
Submitting to an authority you disagree with
Turning the other cheek when someone wrongs you, leaving justice to God
Missing worship because you are busy or tired
Giving money to the church when your finances are tight
Praying in front of others for fear of sounding silly
Often we hear a multitude of excuses for disobedience:
Knowing we should be better at evangelism we say, “Well, I’m just not a very good speaker…I’m scared I will be thought of as a fanatic…I don’t know what to say.”
People tell me they don’t study their Bibles because they are good at reading.
We lash out at people when we feel we have been wronged, and we say that they had it coming, or they deserved retribution.
When we wake up Sunday morning feeling like a truck ran over us, we think that its not a big deal if we miss church this one time.
There are always good reasons why we shouldn’t do something. The priest and the Levite who passed by the beaten traveler in the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) probably had great excuses for not helping the man. The question is, are we being obedient to the call of God’s commands, whether we feel equipped or not.
Take a look at some examples of people in the Bible who were afraid to obey.
Moses – Exodus 3 and 4
o Moses said he couldn’t speak very well
o God said He will give him the strength to lead Israel out of Egypt
Gideon – Judges 6
o Gideon said he was the weakest in his house, from the weakest clan in Manasseh and couldn’t lead Israel into battle.
o God said He will be with him to defeat the Midianites.
Esther
o This unknown Jewish girl was made queen and was called by God to save the Jews from annihilation.
Jeremiah – Jeremiah 1:5-10
o Jeremiah said he was too young to take God’s word to the nations.
o God said He would put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth.
Jesus’ Disciples – Matthew 26:56, 26:69-75
o The disciples fled in fear when Jesus was arrested and Peter even denied knowing Jesus.
o God gave His Holy Spirit to them and they were bold preachers to their deaths.
Paul – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
o Paul was a poor speaker. He looked like a bum. He was weak, fearful, and trembling when he preached the gospel.
o Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin, and a respected Jewish leader. He had seen Christ himself and had seen into heaven. But he refused to try and convince people of his message by using his own accomplishments. He rejoiced in his weaknesses (2 Corinthians 4:7, 11:30, 12:5-9) so that God’s power and glory would be magnified.
We were promised persecution. It is natural to fear it, but we should be overcoming it, fearing God more than man (Matthew 10:28). Allow your fear to drive you to trust more in Him who will strengthen you and accomplish His will through you. You will begin to see amazing things happening when you trust God in your weaknesses instead of using them as excuses. Prayer will become MUCH more important. Studying the Word becomes increasingly vital to ministry. Thoughts are less often focused on what will happen to you and more on seeing God’s will be done. After the fear is gone and the task is accomplished, you will step back and praise God for doing such a mighty work through you. You suddenly realize that most of the fears were sinful exaggerations of the power of other people. God becomes more real to you because you were trusting in His strength to obey in something you otherwise never would have been able to carry out.
Can you recall any time you experienced great fear, but relying on God, stepped forward in faith to obey? Were you still thinking about yourself or thanking God for His greatness? Did you experience the same fears the next time you were called to obey?
“The weaker the human instrument, there more clearly God’s grace shines forth.” – John MacArthur
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” - Nelson Mandela
What are areas in your life in which you struggle to be obedient to God because you have weaknesses there?
Being a more courageous witness of the gospel
Committing to study the Bible daily
Leading a Bible study
Saying no to sin under pressure from others
Submitting to an authority you disagree with
Turning the other cheek when someone wrongs you, leaving justice to God
Missing worship because you are busy or tired
Giving money to the church when your finances are tight
Praying in front of others for fear of sounding silly
Often we hear a multitude of excuses for disobedience:
Knowing we should be better at evangelism we say, “Well, I’m just not a very good speaker…I’m scared I will be thought of as a fanatic…I don’t know what to say.”
People tell me they don’t study their Bibles because they are good at reading.
We lash out at people when we feel we have been wronged, and we say that they had it coming, or they deserved retribution.
When we wake up Sunday morning feeling like a truck ran over us, we think that its not a big deal if we miss church this one time.
There are always good reasons why we shouldn’t do something. The priest and the Levite who passed by the beaten traveler in the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) probably had great excuses for not helping the man. The question is, are we being obedient to the call of God’s commands, whether we feel equipped or not.
Take a look at some examples of people in the Bible who were afraid to obey.
Moses – Exodus 3 and 4
o Moses said he couldn’t speak very well
o God said He will give him the strength to lead Israel out of Egypt
Gideon – Judges 6
o Gideon said he was the weakest in his house, from the weakest clan in Manasseh and couldn’t lead Israel into battle.
o God said He will be with him to defeat the Midianites.
Esther
o This unknown Jewish girl was made queen and was called by God to save the Jews from annihilation.
Jeremiah – Jeremiah 1:5-10
o Jeremiah said he was too young to take God’s word to the nations.
o God said He would put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth.
Jesus’ Disciples – Matthew 26:56, 26:69-75
o The disciples fled in fear when Jesus was arrested and Peter even denied knowing Jesus.
o God gave His Holy Spirit to them and they were bold preachers to their deaths.
Paul – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
o Paul was a poor speaker. He looked like a bum. He was weak, fearful, and trembling when he preached the gospel.
o Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin, and a respected Jewish leader. He had seen Christ himself and had seen into heaven. But he refused to try and convince people of his message by using his own accomplishments. He rejoiced in his weaknesses (2 Corinthians 4:7, 11:30, 12:5-9) so that God’s power and glory would be magnified.
We were promised persecution. It is natural to fear it, but we should be overcoming it, fearing God more than man (Matthew 10:28). Allow your fear to drive you to trust more in Him who will strengthen you and accomplish His will through you. You will begin to see amazing things happening when you trust God in your weaknesses instead of using them as excuses. Prayer will become MUCH more important. Studying the Word becomes increasingly vital to ministry. Thoughts are less often focused on what will happen to you and more on seeing God’s will be done. After the fear is gone and the task is accomplished, you will step back and praise God for doing such a mighty work through you. You suddenly realize that most of the fears were sinful exaggerations of the power of other people. God becomes more real to you because you were trusting in His strength to obey in something you otherwise never would have been able to carry out.
Can you recall any time you experienced great fear, but relying on God, stepped forward in faith to obey? Were you still thinking about yourself or thanking God for His greatness? Did you experience the same fears the next time you were called to obey?
“The weaker the human instrument, there more clearly God’s grace shines forth.” – John MacArthur
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” - Nelson Mandela
Thursday, October 25, 2007
One Man's Trash...
Check out this article from Tim Challies. He talks about the show Antiques Roadshow where things that were apparently junk often are revealed to be great treasure. What an awesome picture of how we used to think of Jesus as unimportant and then God opens our eyes and reveals Him as the greatest treasure of all.
For a little extra conviction. Consider if you were on the show and found out that your junk was worth $1,000,000. Would that bring you to tears? Would you jump for joy? Would you run to tell everybody you know? What was your reaction when you realized that Christ is your infinite treasure? Or haven't you realized that yet?
For a little extra conviction. Consider if you were on the show and found out that your junk was worth $1,000,000. Would that bring you to tears? Would you jump for joy? Would you run to tell everybody you know? What was your reaction when you realized that Christ is your infinite treasure? Or haven't you realized that yet?
Friday, October 12, 2007
Recovering a Bold Vision for Biblical Preaching
Here is a link to a great article from Albert Mohler discussing the trend of preaching heading away from biblical exposition towards a self-help form of psychological discourse in the modern church. In order to "meet people where they are at" preachers have tended to preach on the "felt needs" of their listeners, shying away from the deeper and more imminent truths revealed in the Word. I thank God for our pastor who takes time to dive into every verse of Scripture and share with us verse by verse the meaning of the text.
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