Showing posts with label Evangelism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evangelism. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Knocking On Doors
Knocking on doors with gospel tracts in your hand. I do that.
Some of my friends reading this might say, 'I do that too.'
Other friends might think, 'That is just crazy. I would never do that.'
Still others used to do it long ago for a season.
I get it.
I was just sitting here thinking about families. They all are a combination of function and dysfunction. I think one of the reasons why people like sitcoms is because people want to peek inside the lives of other families or groups of friends.
"And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town." - Matthew 10:11-14 ESV
How do you 'find out who is worthy'?
I knock on their door. It is usually with someone who is very different from me. Some families have a person there who lets you 'in'. It might be the mother or the father or an adult son or daughter. Then you start talking and dysfunction can turn into function. Prayers get prayed. Jesus has a new home to live in. It is crazy really.
I knock on some doors and shake off the dust because no one there wants us in their home. It can happen for many reasons but it happens and i imagine there is some mockery sometimes going on after we leave the doorstep. The thing is... it really isn't us they don't want. They don't want HIM. Still He Is patient and merciful and loving. Others may come on some future date with gospel tracts in their back pockets. We might come back weeks later, or months, or years later and someone might want HIM on that future day.
He sends us... strange imperfect us... odd folks who are just crazy enough to care and go knowing we are mocked... knowing that we don't really know what we are doing and have clashing personalities at times.
"And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." - Mark 16:15-16 ESV
Hardcore.
If you never go you just won't see that miraculous dynamic where dysfunction turns into function. To bad for you really. It is worth a little mockery. It really is.
---
Last Saturday we went door knocking in a neighborhood and after 4 or 5 doors I just didn't feel well so I went and sat in my car with the AC on. It was just too hot for me. My partner sat with me for a few minutes and then he got out and kept going. Two other men were on the other side of the street knocking on doors also. We were all there together. I sat there praying for them a little and just thinking about being in the car with them out there. A few minutes later, maybe 15 or 20, they came back all excited with cold water bottles in their hands that someone had given them. A family had invited them all in.
For a moment I thought, 'If i would have just stuck it out I would have been in that house.' but it was just fleeting. I was just glad to be there in my air conditioned car talking to these great people who saw God move. I got to see God move.
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Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Are They A Soul Winner?
"As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." - 2 Timothy 4:5 ESV
I see a finger pointing right at me in this passage.
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." - 2 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV
A teacher who teaches but doesn't evangelize isn't worth very much. You may say, 'That isn't their ministry'... perhaps but if that is so I don't need to be their student. They may be able to teach you some things but they can't teach you the things that will allow you to 'fulfill your ministry'.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." - 1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV
The internet isn't the place to find this out. Going out on the street with the person is where you will see this. Watching them greet people at the door and loving them is where you will see this.
I often hear these quotes that sound good but I wonder... 'Is this person a soul winner or just a page turner?'... until I get that question answered I take it all 'with a grain of salt.'
I don't think any of us need two dozen teachers... just a few who win souls.
If I stop evangelizing stop listening to me. It will just be past tense and theoretical. I hope to win the nurse to Christ who is wiping the sweat off my brow on my deathbed. If that changes read someone else's posts that has that mindset.
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Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Sent Two By Two
"And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits." Mark 6:7 ESV
What does this passage say to you? I woke up thinking about this. I think that evangelism works this way today also. It is God pairing together two or more people, sometimes strangers or people who have little in common, and sending them out So that they can bring people back to Him after a witness of power on those two people's lives.
This isn't about me being a nice person at work. That's fine but it isn't necessarily evangelism. I see a structure. I see people going out that have a place... a place where a person is manifested... to bring people home to.
I have seen people leave the structure that allows them to evangelize and then that aspect of their life drys up. I have seasons like that. Let's face it not everyone has the make up to disciple people in faith one on one. Most people need a group or at least the support of a group. I was always taught that winning someone and then leaving them undiscipled is paramount to abandoning a child. You just don't do it and I see the logic of that. A person who believes in Jesus has become new. They have a new identity and they need someone as a guide or it would be very easy to get lost in the woods.
I'm very glad God used a group of people to come and get me. That imperfect team had the power of love. I saw that love and that imperfection. It was a group that could live as imperfect people made perfect in a thinking atmosphere of grace and truth. I go because that group went and I don't have to be perfect to do it. I do however need a place to bring people home to where they can meet Jesus.
I'm not saying that 'place' needs to have a name over the door and a cross on the wall but how else does this 'two by two' dynamic happen? What does that passage say to you? Can you afford to tear it out of your Bible or write it off as being written to some other group of people? There was a power placed on those two people. If we live outside that structure isn't it right to say that we might also be living without that power?
--
What does this passage say to you? I woke up thinking about this. I think that evangelism works this way today also. It is God pairing together two or more people, sometimes strangers or people who have little in common, and sending them out So that they can bring people back to Him after a witness of power on those two people's lives.
This isn't about me being a nice person at work. That's fine but it isn't necessarily evangelism. I see a structure. I see people going out that have a place... a place where a person is manifested... to bring people home to.
I have seen people leave the structure that allows them to evangelize and then that aspect of their life drys up. I have seasons like that. Let's face it not everyone has the make up to disciple people in faith one on one. Most people need a group or at least the support of a group. I was always taught that winning someone and then leaving them undiscipled is paramount to abandoning a child. You just don't do it and I see the logic of that. A person who believes in Jesus has become new. They have a new identity and they need someone as a guide or it would be very easy to get lost in the woods.
I'm very glad God used a group of people to come and get me. That imperfect team had the power of love. I saw that love and that imperfection. It was a group that could live as imperfect people made perfect in a thinking atmosphere of grace and truth. I go because that group went and I don't have to be perfect to do it. I do however need a place to bring people home to where they can meet Jesus.
I'm not saying that 'place' needs to have a name over the door and a cross on the wall but how else does this 'two by two' dynamic happen? What does that passage say to you? Can you afford to tear it out of your Bible or write it off as being written to some other group of people? There was a power placed on those two people. If we live outside that structure isn't it right to say that we might also be living without that power?
--
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Sent Ones
"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!'... The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me." - Luke 10:1-5, 16 ESV
The 'greet no one on the road' statement got me this morning. The disciples were to treat this like a business trip and not a vacation in that they weren't supposed to get sidetracked by social matters and not get around to talking about Christ.
They said this when they returned...
"The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!' " - Luke 10:17 ESV
There is power in this focus of being 'sent ahead of Him' like a plough is sent into the fallow ground to get it ready for seed.
--
The 'greet no one on the road' statement got me this morning. The disciples were to treat this like a business trip and not a vacation in that they weren't supposed to get sidetracked by social matters and not get around to talking about Christ.
They said this when they returned...
"The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!' " - Luke 10:17 ESV
There is power in this focus of being 'sent ahead of Him' like a plough is sent into the fallow ground to get it ready for seed.
--
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Persuading Others
"Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience." - 2 Corinthians 5:11 ESV
That word 'persuade' is the Greek word peitho (Strong's G3982) and it simply means 'to win one's favour', pacify or produce trust in someone.
I love that this is linked to God-consciousness in this passage. This reciprocal relationship a person has with God and that God has with a person is somehow on display and seen.
We say, 'That person knows God and somehow I sense God knows them.' when we are persuaded in the way that this passage is describing persuasion.
Sometimes I run across a religious person and think, 'Does that person even know what or who they are talking about?' because what they are saying is alienating in some way.
"For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer." - 2 Corinthians 5:13-16 ESV
I often don't know what to say or how to help. I want to help. God has inserted care into my heart. That care is linked to a 'fear' (or an awe) of God's way of knowing people.
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16 ESV
Thank you God. Give us places to shine. We want people to be persuaded absent from striving, effort and arguing. We want your light to shine in through some small gap into every hardened heart. We want truth to penetrate every lie. We want every drowning soul to be rescued from pain and isolation and brought into fellowship.
It can't be by words alone. It must be by love and by lifting up Jesus and his cross that has impacted every life in some way.
God, Make us people who display the love and impact of the cross.
--
That word 'persuade' is the Greek word peitho (Strong's G3982) and it simply means 'to win one's favour', pacify or produce trust in someone.
I love that this is linked to God-consciousness in this passage. This reciprocal relationship a person has with God and that God has with a person is somehow on display and seen.
We say, 'That person knows God and somehow I sense God knows them.' when we are persuaded in the way that this passage is describing persuasion.
Sometimes I run across a religious person and think, 'Does that person even know what or who they are talking about?' because what they are saying is alienating in some way.
"For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer." - 2 Corinthians 5:13-16 ESV
I often don't know what to say or how to help. I want to help. God has inserted care into my heart. That care is linked to a 'fear' (or an awe) of God's way of knowing people.
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16 ESV
Thank you God. Give us places to shine. We want people to be persuaded absent from striving, effort and arguing. We want your light to shine in through some small gap into every hardened heart. We want truth to penetrate every lie. We want every drowning soul to be rescued from pain and isolation and brought into fellowship.
It can't be by words alone. It must be by love and by lifting up Jesus and his cross that has impacted every life in some way.
God, Make us people who display the love and impact of the cross.
--
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Hospitality In Outreach
Lately, I have been coming back to the theme of hospitality more and more. It is love that is tangible.
"For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness - with good works." - 1 Timothy 2:7-10 ESV
If you look at this passage in context Paul is urging Timothy to know the people he is ministering to and promoting hospitality in this particular congregation. Paul isn't setting 'rules' for Christians everywhere to obey. He is urging the Timothy and the Church there (who would have had that letter read to them many times) to be loving to people.
Modesty dress wasn't non-revealing dress. It was beyond that. It was dress that wasn't going to intimidate visitors and make them feel like they could never measure up.
Paul encouraged men not to argue loudly over doctrine (which was and is very Jewish) not because it was 'bad' but because it doesn't edify the visitor. It can be very self-oriented and alienating.
One thing I love about outreach is that the groups I go with are hospitable. They love truth and they love people and there is no compromise about either of those things.
I find the Holy Spirit convicting me about this often.
God loves people. He sent His Son to love us. Love and objective truth is what is going to draw people out of whatever they are in. Love.
God, please help us. We can get lost in the forest of ideas sometimes and forget why we do what we do. We also can get so focused on people that we compromise what is true. We need you to give us the balance. We need You. We need to see Jesus. He Is the One who does this perfectly. Thank you God for sending Your Son. He Is our salvation. He can fill each place with hospitable love. Fill us and our homes with love. We want to bring that everywhere we go.
--
"For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness - with good works." - 1 Timothy 2:7-10 ESV
If you look at this passage in context Paul is urging Timothy to know the people he is ministering to and promoting hospitality in this particular congregation. Paul isn't setting 'rules' for Christians everywhere to obey. He is urging the Timothy and the Church there (who would have had that letter read to them many times) to be loving to people.
Modesty dress wasn't non-revealing dress. It was beyond that. It was dress that wasn't going to intimidate visitors and make them feel like they could never measure up.
Paul encouraged men not to argue loudly over doctrine (which was and is very Jewish) not because it was 'bad' but because it doesn't edify the visitor. It can be very self-oriented and alienating.
One thing I love about outreach is that the groups I go with are hospitable. They love truth and they love people and there is no compromise about either of those things.
I find the Holy Spirit convicting me about this often.
God loves people. He sent His Son to love us. Love and objective truth is what is going to draw people out of whatever they are in. Love.
God, please help us. We can get lost in the forest of ideas sometimes and forget why we do what we do. We also can get so focused on people that we compromise what is true. We need you to give us the balance. We need You. We need to see Jesus. He Is the One who does this perfectly. Thank you God for sending Your Son. He Is our salvation. He can fill each place with hospitable love. Fill us and our homes with love. We want to bring that everywhere we go.
--
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Respectful Love
A friend and i were speaking to a young man this weekend about salvation and he said (i am paraphrasing), 'I have been saved my whole life. I was baptized as a baby.' and what popped out of my mouth was, 'Don't you think God has more respect for you than that? He wants you to choose Him.'
As I sit here this morning I am realizing how much that concept means to me. My God values each person and He has given us free will. He isn't a micromanager. He respects us.
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." - 1 John 4:7-11 ESV
God Is Love and His love is respectful. God sent His Son at a point in human history but i believe this has a personal application also. He sends Him to us at times in our lives to let us know that Jesus was a propitiation (that word is a legal term for satisfying the anger or grievance of another person). Jesus' work on the cross satisfied the anger of God.
People might not value your choices. What you do or don't do might make them angry but God isn't like that towards us. His anger is satisfied in Christ. He wants us free to choose and because He loves us He wants us to choose Him.
--
As I sit here this morning I am realizing how much that concept means to me. My God values each person and He has given us free will. He isn't a micromanager. He respects us.
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." - 1 John 4:7-11 ESV
God Is Love and His love is respectful. God sent His Son at a point in human history but i believe this has a personal application also. He sends Him to us at times in our lives to let us know that Jesus was a propitiation (that word is a legal term for satisfying the anger or grievance of another person). Jesus' work on the cross satisfied the anger of God.
People might not value your choices. What you do or don't do might make them angry but God isn't like that towards us. His anger is satisfied in Christ. He wants us free to choose and because He loves us He wants us to choose Him.
--
Monday, April 23, 2018
Comparing Two Sendings
"The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, 'Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town...' " - Matthew 10:2-14 ESV
"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe...' " - Mark 16:15-17 ESV
I am looking this morning at these two 'sendings'.
One takes place when the disciples are first chosen and the other happens years later after Christ's resurrection.
I am looking at the first sending like an internship. It is focused. It is within the culture. Jesus is going out also and doing the same thing.
The second sending is broad. These men are going to take what they learned in that focused time and bring it into all the world. Jesus is in Heaven now. They will now lead the mission.
Structured focus is very good for new people. People learn team dynamics. Just saying things like, 'We are all going to go out in small groups and then we will meet at the fountain at 1:15pm. Stay in your groups. Pray when someone else in your group is speaking to someone. Be led but be at the meeting place on time.' is so valuable.
People need this before they 'go into all the world' and leave their familiar culture and the relative safety of familiar surroundings.
"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin..." - Zechariah 4:10a NLT
Yes!
Not that the first sending was small. It was vital.
I'm praying that God would raise up leaders who have focused ministries so that others would be discipled and become leaders who want to go outside the walls and minister in far away lands.
--
"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe...' " - Mark 16:15-17 ESV
I am looking this morning at these two 'sendings'.
One takes place when the disciples are first chosen and the other happens years later after Christ's resurrection.
I am looking at the first sending like an internship. It is focused. It is within the culture. Jesus is going out also and doing the same thing.
The second sending is broad. These men are going to take what they learned in that focused time and bring it into all the world. Jesus is in Heaven now. They will now lead the mission.
Structured focus is very good for new people. People learn team dynamics. Just saying things like, 'We are all going to go out in small groups and then we will meet at the fountain at 1:15pm. Stay in your groups. Pray when someone else in your group is speaking to someone. Be led but be at the meeting place on time.' is so valuable.
People need this before they 'go into all the world' and leave their familiar culture and the relative safety of familiar surroundings.
"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin..." - Zechariah 4:10a NLT
Yes!
Not that the first sending was small. It was vital.
I'm praying that God would raise up leaders who have focused ministries so that others would be discipled and become leaders who want to go outside the walls and minister in far away lands.
--
Monday, March 12, 2018
The Place Where Martha Met Jesus
This morning I took notice of Jesus' position...
"So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house... " - John 11:20
Martha meets Jesus somewhere outside the village. Then he speaks to Martha but does not move from that spot.
"Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.' " - John 11:21-27 ESV
Then Martha leaves the place where she met Jesus and enters the village to speak to Mary.
"When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.' And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him." - John 11:28-30 ESV
Jesus has not moved. He has not come one inch closer to the village.
"Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' " - John 11:32 ESV
"And he said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept." - John 11:34-35 ESV
Jesus weeps right where He Is.
To me, this place outside the village is the incarnation. Jesus meets us in the book and in the place where the truth of His book is being revealed. Martha represents the writers of the new testament. They write and say to me, a person 2,000 years into the future, 'Jesus is here and He Is calling for you.'
You or I might be like Mary. We are stubborn or grieving or just distant because we are occupied in our own matters but it is true. Jesus is here and He Is calling for us. He is just outside the village.
We do what Martha did when we evangelize. We say 'Jesus is here.' and the people might say, 'Listen, It's just you and your ideas.' and we say, 'No, Come where I have been and you will find Him also.'
"Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it." - John 11:38 ESV
Jesus goes straight from that outside place to the tomb. Jesus asks His Father and Lazarus is alive again.
"Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples." - John 11:54 ESV
Jesus never goes into the village. If you missed all these events you would just see Lazarus alive again and grief turned into joy but you wouldn't be able to connect the dots. Jesus might just seem like a ghost or a myth. If asked they would say, 'Jesus never came here. I didn't see Him.' and they would be right to say that.
Is Jesus going with us to work or where ever it is we are going today? Yes and No. We say, 'Jesus is here and He Is calling for you.' but He is doing it from the incarnation. He Is calling from the throne in Heaven. He is just outside the village weeping over the same tragedies that affect the people in that place.
It is very possible that if something shuts our mouth people will miss His visitation. I don't want that to happen.
--
"So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house... " - John 11:20
Martha meets Jesus somewhere outside the village. Then he speaks to Martha but does not move from that spot.
"Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.' " - John 11:21-27 ESV
Then Martha leaves the place where she met Jesus and enters the village to speak to Mary.
"When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.' And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him." - John 11:28-30 ESV
Jesus has not moved. He has not come one inch closer to the village.
"Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' " - John 11:32 ESV
"And he said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept." - John 11:34-35 ESV
Jesus weeps right where He Is.
To me, this place outside the village is the incarnation. Jesus meets us in the book and in the place where the truth of His book is being revealed. Martha represents the writers of the new testament. They write and say to me, a person 2,000 years into the future, 'Jesus is here and He Is calling for you.'
You or I might be like Mary. We are stubborn or grieving or just distant because we are occupied in our own matters but it is true. Jesus is here and He Is calling for us. He is just outside the village.
We do what Martha did when we evangelize. We say 'Jesus is here.' and the people might say, 'Listen, It's just you and your ideas.' and we say, 'No, Come where I have been and you will find Him also.'
"Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it." - John 11:38 ESV
Jesus goes straight from that outside place to the tomb. Jesus asks His Father and Lazarus is alive again.
"Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples." - John 11:54 ESV
Jesus never goes into the village. If you missed all these events you would just see Lazarus alive again and grief turned into joy but you wouldn't be able to connect the dots. Jesus might just seem like a ghost or a myth. If asked they would say, 'Jesus never came here. I didn't see Him.' and they would be right to say that.
Is Jesus going with us to work or where ever it is we are going today? Yes and No. We say, 'Jesus is here and He Is calling for you.' but He is doing it from the incarnation. He Is calling from the throne in Heaven. He is just outside the village weeping over the same tragedies that affect the people in that place.
It is very possible that if something shuts our mouth people will miss His visitation. I don't want that to happen.
--
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Why Are You Baptizing?
"(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, 'Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?' John answered them, 'I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.' These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.' " - John 1:24-31 ESV
It's a good question coming from a self-centered point of view and John gives a good answer from a Christ-centered point of view.
John wasn't trying to make a name for himself. He was pointing to the One who could save. He was pointing to the One that was revealed to him to be Messiah.
"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.' " - Mark 16:15-16 ESV
--
It's a good question coming from a self-centered point of view and John gives a good answer from a Christ-centered point of view.
John wasn't trying to make a name for himself. He was pointing to the One who could save. He was pointing to the One that was revealed to him to be Messiah.
"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.' " - Mark 16:15-16 ESV
--
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
The Work Of An Evangelist
"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned...' " - Mark 16:15-16 ESV
Sometimes when we go out on Saturday (or other days) for evangelism and someone reacts to us telling them about Jesus I will pose this question, 'Do you know the difference between and preacher and an evangelist?' Then, if they care and don't just want us to go away, they will say, 'No. What is the difference?' then I say something like this, 'A preacher tells people the good news and an evangelist brings people to a place of decision. We are here to present the Gospel clearly so that you will make a decision, either 'Yes' or 'No' but we hope for your sake it will be 'Yes' '.
I would rather someone say, 'No!' than for them to smile and nod just to pacify me. It is better for them to look me in the eye and say, 'No!' because I believe God can use that as their life unfolds. 'No' today may become 'Yes' later.
The Gospel is good news. Sin has been dealt with by Jesus on the cross.
"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures," - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV
"...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9 ESV
I said 'No! several times. I just didn't trust that what people said about God, or Jesus, was true. People write history for their own reasons and I wasn't sure we could trust any account of history. Jesus, if He existed at all, could have been a good man that people turned into a god but the 'good news' worked on me. Sin paid for? Really? My sins paid for? I came to a point where I knew I needed a Saviour and this historical figure I was unsure of was available to me today through people. I eventually said 'Yes' and I got dunked in truth and stained by it's vivid colors.
"As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." - 2 Timothy 4:5 ESV
Yes. Let's fullfill our ministry. It is something we are sure not to regret later.
--
Sometimes when we go out on Saturday (or other days) for evangelism and someone reacts to us telling them about Jesus I will pose this question, 'Do you know the difference between and preacher and an evangelist?' Then, if they care and don't just want us to go away, they will say, 'No. What is the difference?' then I say something like this, 'A preacher tells people the good news and an evangelist brings people to a place of decision. We are here to present the Gospel clearly so that you will make a decision, either 'Yes' or 'No' but we hope for your sake it will be 'Yes' '.
I would rather someone say, 'No!' than for them to smile and nod just to pacify me. It is better for them to look me in the eye and say, 'No!' because I believe God can use that as their life unfolds. 'No' today may become 'Yes' later.
The Gospel is good news. Sin has been dealt with by Jesus on the cross.
"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures," - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV
"...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9 ESV
I said 'No! several times. I just didn't trust that what people said about God, or Jesus, was true. People write history for their own reasons and I wasn't sure we could trust any account of history. Jesus, if He existed at all, could have been a good man that people turned into a god but the 'good news' worked on me. Sin paid for? Really? My sins paid for? I came to a point where I knew I needed a Saviour and this historical figure I was unsure of was available to me today through people. I eventually said 'Yes' and I got dunked in truth and stained by it's vivid colors.
"As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." - 2 Timothy 4:5 ESV
Yes. Let's fullfill our ministry. It is something we are sure not to regret later.
--
Monday, November 27, 2017
Listen To The Commision
"And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff -no bread, no bag, no money in their belts - but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, 'Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.' So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them." - Mark 6:7-13 ESV
What happens to employees that stop hearing what their employer asks them to do? What happens to marriages when initiations from a spouse go on deaf ears. God wants us to hear Him even if it is something we think we do not have a capacity to do or accomplish.
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." - Romans 10:17 ESV
This morning I am listening to the great commision.
"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.' " - Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
God gave the Apostles authority. That authority is now on us in our generation.
Are you listening. I'm not asking if you are going. I'm just asking if you are listening.
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
If we look and listen our capacity will change. Doesn't matter if you or I are seven or seventy. Listening is key. Then we will see our moment and our feet will move as we choose by faith to move them.
--
What happens to employees that stop hearing what their employer asks them to do? What happens to marriages when initiations from a spouse go on deaf ears. God wants us to hear Him even if it is something we think we do not have a capacity to do or accomplish.
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." - Romans 10:17 ESV
This morning I am listening to the great commision.
"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.' " - Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
God gave the Apostles authority. That authority is now on us in our generation.
Are you listening. I'm not asking if you are going. I'm just asking if you are listening.
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
If we look and listen our capacity will change. Doesn't matter if you or I are seven or seventy. Listening is key. Then we will see our moment and our feet will move as we choose by faith to move them.
--
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Circulating Movement
Many thoughts this morning.
There is one conversation I participated in on outreach this weekend that sticks out in my mind. We were talking briefly about the human lymphatic system. Our heart pumps red blood cells throughout our body but our lymphatic system has no pump. It works primarily on muscle movement bringing white blood cells to where they are needed in the body.
"...for we walk by faith, not by sight." - 2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV
God has accomplished a great salvation for mankind.
At rest, my heart will still keep pumping oxygen and nutrients all through my body but my body wasn't made to be idle. We need to keep moving by faith in a purpose. That walking movement is needed.
Perhaps we tend to focus on goals and results and that has a place in our life but what about just moving by faith in the moment?
I need outreach. I am there for others but at the same time outreach provides a focused area to operate by faith in God's declared will.
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." - Luke 19:10 ESV
It might be a neighborhood or even this generation of young people that are being raised up in front of our faces that become our focus but we can move with God and all that we have is circulating in our proactive endeavors.
"As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." - 2 Timothy 1:4-7 ESV
I plan to keep moving this week. I don't want to do it in vanity. I want to have God move me as I move by faith.
God, Please stir us up in love and motivate us to move in a redemptive vision. No striving but we want to progress in a progression that blesses You as we walk by faith.
--
There is one conversation I participated in on outreach this weekend that sticks out in my mind. We were talking briefly about the human lymphatic system. Our heart pumps red blood cells throughout our body but our lymphatic system has no pump. It works primarily on muscle movement bringing white blood cells to where they are needed in the body.
"...for we walk by faith, not by sight." - 2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV
God has accomplished a great salvation for mankind.
At rest, my heart will still keep pumping oxygen and nutrients all through my body but my body wasn't made to be idle. We need to keep moving by faith in a purpose. That walking movement is needed.
Perhaps we tend to focus on goals and results and that has a place in our life but what about just moving by faith in the moment?
I need outreach. I am there for others but at the same time outreach provides a focused area to operate by faith in God's declared will.
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." - Luke 19:10 ESV
It might be a neighborhood or even this generation of young people that are being raised up in front of our faces that become our focus but we can move with God and all that we have is circulating in our proactive endeavors.
"As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." - 2 Timothy 1:4-7 ESV
I plan to keep moving this week. I don't want to do it in vanity. I want to have God move me as I move by faith.
God, Please stir us up in love and motivate us to move in a redemptive vision. No striving but we want to progress in a progression that blesses You as we walk by faith.
--
Monday, August 28, 2017
Dunked Into The Name
I'm old enough to remember VCR tapes, cassette tapes and even fax lists as methods people used to spread ideas. The internet and social media have replaced those methods.
Someone would give you a tape and say listen (and/or) watch this and then say, 'Tell me what you think.' or you would get a fax from an unknown number and somewhere on it there would be a statement something like, 'Please send this to everyone you know.'
I don't know about you but my mailbox is still full of junk I have to sort through.
I love Jesus' prescribed method of spreading information to the masses...
"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.' " - Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
I like this translation very much the only thing I would change is that it says, 'baptizing them IN the name' but a better translation would be. 'baptizing them INTO the name'.
Jesus said dunk them into the culture of my name (which carries the idea of character and nature). People get the information but they get it with a simultaneous dose of fellowship that has the Savior who will never leave right there in the middle of it all.
I remember hearing the Gospel and thinking that the people who gave me the information were just well-meaning simpletons. My culture and even my ethnicity excluded me from buying what they were selling. My ancestors had been killed 'in the name of Jesus' but as a group, they had something that fascinated me. Then one day as they sung their songs at the start of Church I sensed something more... a purity... a holiness... a love. As vessels of clay, they had a treasure. It was God's name on display and I was dunked in it subjectively during the song service and then objectively in the clear message of redemption.
Later, still before my rational acceptance of the message, a man who came to Church with us began mocking the Pastor by imitating him and I remember getting so angry that I confronted Him in a brutal way that shut his mouth. Even as a heathen I instinctively knew that mocking God's man was wrong. I didn't yet have The Spirit making my spirit alive in a continual quickening.
There are many causes out there begging for our attention. Many are good and many are not what they seem to be. Nothing has changed my life like the Gospel of Grace has. Jesus' cause has become intertwined in my life. He took someone who was disqualified and baptized him into the name above all names.
Perhaps this blog is my VCR tape and you are my fax list but this is no impersonal communication to get you to change your mind and funnel resources my way. This is just me talking in awareness of the great 'I AM' hoping your day will be touched by holiness from above. My God wants 'whosoever will' to taste and see that He Is good so that He can be a covering.
"...Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by." - Psalm 57:1b ESV
The 'shadow of His wings' is a refuge for you in your personal storm. May you be safe under them today and all of this week.
--
Someone would give you a tape and say listen (and/or) watch this and then say, 'Tell me what you think.' or you would get a fax from an unknown number and somewhere on it there would be a statement something like, 'Please send this to everyone you know.'
I don't know about you but my mailbox is still full of junk I have to sort through.
I love Jesus' prescribed method of spreading information to the masses...
"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.' " - Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
I like this translation very much the only thing I would change is that it says, 'baptizing them IN the name' but a better translation would be. 'baptizing them INTO the name'.
Jesus said dunk them into the culture of my name (which carries the idea of character and nature). People get the information but they get it with a simultaneous dose of fellowship that has the Savior who will never leave right there in the middle of it all.
I remember hearing the Gospel and thinking that the people who gave me the information were just well-meaning simpletons. My culture and even my ethnicity excluded me from buying what they were selling. My ancestors had been killed 'in the name of Jesus' but as a group, they had something that fascinated me. Then one day as they sung their songs at the start of Church I sensed something more... a purity... a holiness... a love. As vessels of clay, they had a treasure. It was God's name on display and I was dunked in it subjectively during the song service and then objectively in the clear message of redemption.
Later, still before my rational acceptance of the message, a man who came to Church with us began mocking the Pastor by imitating him and I remember getting so angry that I confronted Him in a brutal way that shut his mouth. Even as a heathen I instinctively knew that mocking God's man was wrong. I didn't yet have The Spirit making my spirit alive in a continual quickening.
There are many causes out there begging for our attention. Many are good and many are not what they seem to be. Nothing has changed my life like the Gospel of Grace has. Jesus' cause has become intertwined in my life. He took someone who was disqualified and baptized him into the name above all names.
Perhaps this blog is my VCR tape and you are my fax list but this is no impersonal communication to get you to change your mind and funnel resources my way. This is just me talking in awareness of the great 'I AM' hoping your day will be touched by holiness from above. My God wants 'whosoever will' to taste and see that He Is good so that He can be a covering.
"...Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by." - Psalm 57:1b ESV
The 'shadow of His wings' is a refuge for you in your personal storm. May you be safe under them today and all of this week.
--
Friday, August 4, 2017
Two Things That The Gospel Of Grace Gives
"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again... And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified... You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship." - Acts 20:24-25, 32, 34-38 ESV
Paul is sure that God's grace is able to give us two things. It is able to build us up and it is able to give us a joint inheritance. Now and Later are covered.
Paul knew He wasn't coming back but He also knew that the words He had spoken to these people had been about Christ. The Gospel of Grace had been given. He had explained thoroughly about Jesus in the Hebrew scriptures and about the cross. He had explained the free gift of salvation dozens of ways. He wasn't like other teachers that demanded tribute. He wasn't securing a following for himself for security or financial gain so that if he came back this way as he traveled some scholarly teaching circuit he would have connections in this city. He wasn't networking. He was loving God and working with his hands as he labored in the word.
There may be people who are only in your life for a short season. I feel that way on Saturdays when we talk to people about life, death, Heaven and Hell. I may never see them again but in a moment I (we) can give them something eternal. We don't offer a momentary smile like an entertainer does... smiles are great but they are like flowers that fade. We offer a Savior who saves and sticks closer than a brother long after we leave the scene.
Are people just in our lives so we can get something from them or is it an opportunity to give something eternal away?
Grace is able to build up. Grace is able to give an 'inheritance among all those who are sanctified' and that is precious beyond imagining.
--
Paul is sure that God's grace is able to give us two things. It is able to build us up and it is able to give us a joint inheritance. Now and Later are covered.
Paul knew He wasn't coming back but He also knew that the words He had spoken to these people had been about Christ. The Gospel of Grace had been given. He had explained thoroughly about Jesus in the Hebrew scriptures and about the cross. He had explained the free gift of salvation dozens of ways. He wasn't like other teachers that demanded tribute. He wasn't securing a following for himself for security or financial gain so that if he came back this way as he traveled some scholarly teaching circuit he would have connections in this city. He wasn't networking. He was loving God and working with his hands as he labored in the word.
There may be people who are only in your life for a short season. I feel that way on Saturdays when we talk to people about life, death, Heaven and Hell. I may never see them again but in a moment I (we) can give them something eternal. We don't offer a momentary smile like an entertainer does... smiles are great but they are like flowers that fade. We offer a Savior who saves and sticks closer than a brother long after we leave the scene.
Are people just in our lives so we can get something from them or is it an opportunity to give something eternal away?
Grace is able to build up. Grace is able to give an 'inheritance among all those who are sanctified' and that is precious beyond imagining.
--
Friday, June 9, 2017
Fan The Holy Flame
Fan into flame the gift of God. He hasn't given you the spirit of fear. His Holy Spirit came with the gift of salvation and His Spirit is clean and full of love.
"As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." - 2 Timothy 1:4-7 ESV
Most of us don't 'fan' things today. When you fan something you are directing air on it. The Greek word pneuma (Strong's G4151) is the word for Spirit and for wind. Pneuma is moving air.
Think with God and be alive today. Fan the flame of faith. Fear freezes us or causes a reaction of fight or flight. God instructs us to fan the flame of faith and live in power, love and self-control. New life is a gift and there is power that came with that life. We have God's Holy Spirit intermingling with our human spirit.
I plan to go into this weekend stirring up love and directing spiritual life so that holy fires are ignited and enlarged.
Others (like Lois and Eunice mentioned in the scripture quoted above) have believed before us. Now it is our turn. We have been given new life because of what Jesus did on the cross. Now we can fan the flame of that good news in our hearts, in our circles of influence and beyond.
--
"As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." - 2 Timothy 1:4-7 ESV
Most of us don't 'fan' things today. When you fan something you are directing air on it. The Greek word pneuma (Strong's G4151) is the word for Spirit and for wind. Pneuma is moving air.
Think with God and be alive today. Fan the flame of faith. Fear freezes us or causes a reaction of fight or flight. God instructs us to fan the flame of faith and live in power, love and self-control. New life is a gift and there is power that came with that life. We have God's Holy Spirit intermingling with our human spirit.
I plan to go into this weekend stirring up love and directing spiritual life so that holy fires are ignited and enlarged.
Others (like Lois and Eunice mentioned in the scripture quoted above) have believed before us. Now it is our turn. We have been given new life because of what Jesus did on the cross. Now we can fan the flame of that good news in our hearts, in our circles of influence and beyond.
--
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
We Have Toiled All Night But At Your Word
This is a passage that was spoken about at the men's getaway just a few days ago and it stuck with me...
"On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' And Simon answered, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.' And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking." - Luke 5:1-6 ESV
If you have been fishing all night and have caught nothing the last thing you want to do is go back out.
This brings many things to mind but at the moment I am thinking about Godly leadership. Jesus asks to speak from their boat. He asks them to go out again. He doesn't demand it but He Is believing His Father in Heaven and speaking about divine things.
Who will talk about grace? Who will introduce God into the conversation? Who will say, 'Let us go out into the deep? I know it isn't convenient right now but I'm going let's go together'?
My outreach leader makes phone calls to the team every week on Saturday morning and if people are doing something else he just encourages them in what they are doing but that call means something. He is a man willing to stand in the boat and preach. He is willing to say, 'Let's launch out into the deep and fish.'
"They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken..." - Luke 5:7-9 ESV
Peter said that then but he later became the man who stood up to preach when no one else would. Church history tells us that Peter died a martyr with great dignity as a man of faith and leadership.
Thank God for the men and women who are willing to talk about Jesus and say His name when everyone else just speaks in bland generalities of goodness and morality. Thank God for the people who will say, 'Let's go and see what fish the Father has waiting for us' just past our comfort zone.
--
"On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' And Simon answered, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.' And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking." - Luke 5:1-6 ESV
If you have been fishing all night and have caught nothing the last thing you want to do is go back out.
This brings many things to mind but at the moment I am thinking about Godly leadership. Jesus asks to speak from their boat. He asks them to go out again. He doesn't demand it but He Is believing His Father in Heaven and speaking about divine things.
Who will talk about grace? Who will introduce God into the conversation? Who will say, 'Let us go out into the deep? I know it isn't convenient right now but I'm going let's go together'?
My outreach leader makes phone calls to the team every week on Saturday morning and if people are doing something else he just encourages them in what they are doing but that call means something. He is a man willing to stand in the boat and preach. He is willing to say, 'Let's launch out into the deep and fish.'
"They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken..." - Luke 5:7-9 ESV
Peter said that then but he later became the man who stood up to preach when no one else would. Church history tells us that Peter died a martyr with great dignity as a man of faith and leadership.
Thank God for the men and women who are willing to talk about Jesus and say His name when everyone else just speaks in bland generalities of goodness and morality. Thank God for the people who will say, 'Let's go and see what fish the Father has waiting for us' just past our comfort zone.
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Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Those Who Turn Many
Those who are wise shall shine...
"At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." - Daniel 12:1-3 ESV
'Those who turn many' is one word in Hebrew. It is 'rab' (Strong's H7227) and as an adjective, it means many, abounding in or 'more numerous than.' but it can also be used as a noun and as a noun it means Captain or leader.
Here is a different translation...
"And those teaching do shine as the brightness of the expanse, and those justifying the multitude as stars to the age and for ever." - Daniel 12:3 YLT
In other words... We provide leadership in presenting divine viewpoint and many turn to God. The term 'soul winner' sounds antiquated or religious to some but it is a good fit for what Daniel is proclaiming here. A person who has made it their mission to provide leadership in seeing many people turn to God and His righteousness. It isn't a person who pounds people over the head about their sin. It is the person who points to the graveyard and says, 'All those people are going to stand before God. Some will 'wake' to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting contempt. Believe in Jesus, the righteous One, and you won't be ashamed.'
This isn't about a natural leadership gift. This brightness will be determined by a decision to live a life that gives others exposure to divine viewpoint. Anyone can shine. Shy people and outgoing ones... quiet and loud... intellectual and plain speaking people. We provide leadership through imparting wisdom and God does the turning.
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"At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." - Daniel 12:1-3 ESV
'Those who turn many' is one word in Hebrew. It is 'rab' (Strong's H7227) and as an adjective, it means many, abounding in or 'more numerous than.' but it can also be used as a noun and as a noun it means Captain or leader.
Here is a different translation...
"And those teaching do shine as the brightness of the expanse, and those justifying the multitude as stars to the age and for ever." - Daniel 12:3 YLT
In other words... We provide leadership in presenting divine viewpoint and many turn to God. The term 'soul winner' sounds antiquated or religious to some but it is a good fit for what Daniel is proclaiming here. A person who has made it their mission to provide leadership in seeing many people turn to God and His righteousness. It isn't a person who pounds people over the head about their sin. It is the person who points to the graveyard and says, 'All those people are going to stand before God. Some will 'wake' to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting contempt. Believe in Jesus, the righteous One, and you won't be ashamed.'
This isn't about a natural leadership gift. This brightness will be determined by a decision to live a life that gives others exposure to divine viewpoint. Anyone can shine. Shy people and outgoing ones... quiet and loud... intellectual and plain speaking people. We provide leadership through imparting wisdom and God does the turning.
--
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Believing Caleb / Winning The Wolf
March 17th, 2017
Today is going to be the best day of my life. I have chosen to believe Caleb about the promised land and skip Numbers chapter 14 and all of the rest of the wanderings of that book. The Gospel gives me (us) a land overflowing with milk and honey and giants that will make a big thud when they fall.
A Rhema (divinely inspired word) for me today... We can agree with Caleb this morning when the day is fresh and new and skip to Joshua 1:2 or we can deal with Korah and Balaam for the rest of our lives.
There may be no wedding today... no babies born... no graduation planned... just the Gospel makes this potentially the best day of our lives.
------
March 18th, 2017
"But David said to Saul, 'Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears...' " - 1 Samuel 17:34-36a ESV
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." - Isaiah 11:6 KJV
"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD." - Isaiah 65:25 KJV
Is nature normal? Seems like an odd question. Secular science says, 'Yes, Of course it is.' but the Bible says that what we see now is not what we will see later.
Wolves don't live with lambs but they will.
Dogs are canines but they live with us they are close to wolves.
I heard an account a while back on radio about an area that had a large number of dogs go missing. One wolf would appear near a dogs yard and play with him or her. Then one day the dog would just disappear. One dog can play with one wolf but then the pack shows up and that dog has no place there. It becomes food for the pack.
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." - Luke 11:21-23 ESV
Jesus is the stronger man in this picture. He enters the broken natural world that is influenced by fallen angels and He binds the strong man in his own fortress. He pulls the wild man out of the pack and makes him into something else. That man gets saved not eaten. He is transformed. He or she is made into a family member.
Fitting in (if it is even possible) only makes us vulnerable to a vicious nature. God wants to restore normality. Being with Him is normal and right. This world has been wrong for a long long time. It has been wrong for as long as anyone can remember.
Win a soul today and make it right again.
In this age this restoration is done one person at a time. Walk with the stronger man who isn't lying in wait to shed blood. He is a king who has taken on the role of a servant. He Is the royal lion uncorrupted by the world and the lamb who is no one's victim. He is the Savior and He has come into this world to seek and save the lost. He washes feet and wins hearts and minds with his gracious kindness. We can be 'about' His Father's business.
--
Today is going to be the best day of my life. I have chosen to believe Caleb about the promised land and skip Numbers chapter 14 and all of the rest of the wanderings of that book. The Gospel gives me (us) a land overflowing with milk and honey and giants that will make a big thud when they fall.
A Rhema (divinely inspired word) for me today... We can agree with Caleb this morning when the day is fresh and new and skip to Joshua 1:2 or we can deal with Korah and Balaam for the rest of our lives.
There may be no wedding today... no babies born... no graduation planned... just the Gospel makes this potentially the best day of our lives.
March 18th, 2017
"But David said to Saul, 'Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears...' " - 1 Samuel 17:34-36a ESV
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." - Isaiah 11:6 KJV
"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD." - Isaiah 65:25 KJV
Is nature normal? Seems like an odd question. Secular science says, 'Yes, Of course it is.' but the Bible says that what we see now is not what we will see later.
Wolves don't live with lambs but they will.
Dogs are canines but they live with us they are close to wolves.
I heard an account a while back on radio about an area that had a large number of dogs go missing. One wolf would appear near a dogs yard and play with him or her. Then one day the dog would just disappear. One dog can play with one wolf but then the pack shows up and that dog has no place there. It becomes food for the pack.
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." - Luke 11:21-23 ESV
Jesus is the stronger man in this picture. He enters the broken natural world that is influenced by fallen angels and He binds the strong man in his own fortress. He pulls the wild man out of the pack and makes him into something else. That man gets saved not eaten. He is transformed. He or she is made into a family member.
Fitting in (if it is even possible) only makes us vulnerable to a vicious nature. God wants to restore normality. Being with Him is normal and right. This world has been wrong for a long long time. It has been wrong for as long as anyone can remember.
In this age this restoration is done one person at a time. Walk with the stronger man who isn't lying in wait to shed blood. He is a king who has taken on the role of a servant. He Is the royal lion uncorrupted by the world and the lamb who is no one's victim. He is the Savior and He has come into this world to seek and save the lost. He washes feet and wins hearts and minds with his gracious kindness. We can be 'about' His Father's business.
--
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Embracing Rejection
When you want something very badly and get rejected it hurts but when you don't want something and it is denied you it isn't so bad. It might even be a relief.
I don't think Jesus came to Earth wanting people to like him. I think He came knowing most people would reject Him but came anyway.
" He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; Saying,
The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God." - Luke 9:20-27 KJV
At that point, Jesus didn't want the disciples to talk about Him being the Messiah because He wanted to be rejected on the right terms. He wanted his enemies to hear His words echoing in their heads so that after the cross there would be conversions... and there were... some of the people that cried out for His death at the cross got converted when Peter preached at Pentecost.
Evil should reject God and the things of God. Evil isn't sin. Evil is a kingdom opposed to God that gives alternative provisions. This kind of rejection is right. It shows a person to be on a clear side... the wrong side.
I think confrontational evangelism is healthy because of the rejection not in spite of it. It is very good for those who have been rejected or have a fear of rejection. The only way to effectively deal with fear is to face and master it... not once... many times.
It is also potentially good for the hard-hearted people who do the face-to-face rejecting. When you reject someone just for loving you it haunts you and may make you susceptible to changing influences.
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2 KJV
I think the shame Jesus despised wasn't the world's rejection... It was the Father's rejection... He had the shame of the whole world on His body, mind and soul.
When someone you love rejects you that is very very painful. Jesus endured that ultimate pain so we wouldn't have to. He went to a hell we as believers will never face.
We think we need acceptance, love and support from everyone around us but maybe that isn't what we need at all. Jesus had a few close friends and a world that wanted to kill Him and He wouldn't have it any other way. That is an aspect of the the 'mind of Christ' we can have and embrace.
That is a lesson we can all learn from.
--
I don't think Jesus came to Earth wanting people to like him. I think He came knowing most people would reject Him but came anyway.
" He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; Saying,
The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God." - Luke 9:20-27 KJV
At that point, Jesus didn't want the disciples to talk about Him being the Messiah because He wanted to be rejected on the right terms. He wanted his enemies to hear His words echoing in their heads so that after the cross there would be conversions... and there were... some of the people that cried out for His death at the cross got converted when Peter preached at Pentecost.
Evil should reject God and the things of God. Evil isn't sin. Evil is a kingdom opposed to God that gives alternative provisions. This kind of rejection is right. It shows a person to be on a clear side... the wrong side.
I think confrontational evangelism is healthy because of the rejection not in spite of it. It is very good for those who have been rejected or have a fear of rejection. The only way to effectively deal with fear is to face and master it... not once... many times.
It is also potentially good for the hard-hearted people who do the face-to-face rejecting. When you reject someone just for loving you it haunts you and may make you susceptible to changing influences.
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2 KJV
I think the shame Jesus despised wasn't the world's rejection... It was the Father's rejection... He had the shame of the whole world on His body, mind and soul.
When someone you love rejects you that is very very painful. Jesus endured that ultimate pain so we wouldn't have to. He went to a hell we as believers will never face.
We think we need acceptance, love and support from everyone around us but maybe that isn't what we need at all. Jesus had a few close friends and a world that wanted to kill Him and He wouldn't have it any other way. That is an aspect of the the 'mind of Christ' we can have and embrace.
That is a lesson we can all learn from.
--
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