I am still amazed of the fact that in this world there are still people who don’t know what to believe! They don’t know what the truth is! And more amazing than that, is the fact that it occurs frequently in THIS country. Go back 50 years or so to 1955. The average “nuclear family” consisted of a father & mother (go figure), and at least 3 children. Dad worked hard and was the main breadwinner. Mom held down the homefront and worked hard to keep it clean and in order. And little Jr. and Miss went to school where the pledge was stated, and prayer was allowed. And do you know what usually happened on Sunday? Prepare yourself for this: they went to CHURCH, probably WILLINGLY! Divorce rates were still down; abortions were virtually unheard of in the public eye; drugs were few and far between; crime rates were substantially lower; sexploitation was beginning to arise from the private sector to the big screen; children were more submissive and homes were more stable; in schools, “religious” views were encouraged and there was not much talk about evolution being a proven fact than a taught possible theory; and homosexuality was still unacceptable, for the most part! 2006 is here, and I don’t know about you, but NOW our country looks like a mixture between Sodom & Gomorrah and Laodicea!
In the midst of how far this World and country have run from God, is still the idea of doubt and skepticism. Have we “educated ourselves to imbicility” (Ravi Zacharias) so much to the extent that we no longer believe in God almighty? I know atheism and agnosticism have been around for close to all time, but why does it seem to be getting more popular? Well, God’s Holy Word tells that “professing themselves to be wise they became fools”. The reason I chose to discuss this today is become it still shocks me that this wicked generation of youth are denying God! I earnestly believe that the last “moral, ethical, untainted” generation are the Baby Boomers’ children. Have you noticed a patter of degeneration? Baby Boomers, generally speaking, were involved with some typed of spirituality, typically Christianity! And probably at least half of those raised their kids the same way! But notice the Baby Boomers’ grandkids and their kids; oh man it’s getting so much worse! The line is getting redrawn and in some cases, eradicated! What about the Baby Boomers who taught their kids to be ‘free thinkers’? Chances are those generation X’ers will teach their kids (generation Y) the same things; and on and on and on until they get so far from God they can’t see any light at all!
Yesterday at witnessing, Troy and I were able to start off the month of May right. I talked with a guy named Tim. Tim was very receptive and interested at first. But as I showed him his true self in the mirror of the Ten Commandments, he began to get quiet and seemingly convicted. So I took it to mean that, once again, the law was stopping his mouth and leaving him without excuse! And it was! Yet after pouring out my heart and trying to rely on God’s wisdom as much as my flesh would allow, Tim still was doubting and unsure of what to believe. You see, Tim is the type who views the world as a ‘melting pot of ideas and beliefs’, and it’s just a matter of finding the right one; or for some just simply choosing the right combo. Well, this isn’t a buffet of beliefs! I tried to convey to him that there is only ONE TRUTH: the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! But much to my expected dismay, he appreciated me sharing but still did not know. So I challenged him to continue to question what is right and what is not; I gave him a Pocket Testament (www.pocketpower.org); and told him that if he is so open, he has to be open to reading God’s word! It’s funny how this country of liberals claims to be so tolerant and open to all, except Christianity and Jesus Christ! Strange huh? Not really! The Bible told us that would happen. So I left Tim with an Appointment Card and told him to fill out his time and date of death and to call me right before he died so we could discuss eternity. He chuckled but understood my point.
Finally, Tim was convicted by his conscience through God’s Holy Law, and his mouth was stopped. So I pray that God will empower His word on the tract and Testament and use my vain words for His glory.
Finally I spoke with two professing Christians: Paul & Timothy. I don’t know when the last time Saul’s son spoke with the prince of preachers and his pal! Just like I do with every person God sends, I took these guys through the law of the Lord, which is indeed perfect converting the soul (Psalms 19:7). They were guilty but Paul knew the whole story and that we deserve Hell but don’t have to go there because Jesus paid the price for us. So I finished up and gave them each a copy of HBKS and told them they “needed to hear it”. Paul and Timothy were appreciative and seemingly convicted.
The most discouraged I ever get is when I talk to a professing Christian. Why? Well, usually they are the most self-righteous, unappreciative, rude, proud, tolerant, and bitter people to witness to. Ironic huh? Not really! Chances are they are offended by the fact that I am preaching the gospel to them because they claim to be saved!
Brothers and sisters!!!! This is how we should handle another “Christian” preaching
or witnessing to us:
- Listen to them
- Stay long enough to hear their message
- Encourage them in the Lord
- Ask questions
- Check their gospel message
- Learn; you might actually benefit if you can humble yourself (“iron sharpens iron”)
- Be courteous and loving
- Get contact info. from them and keep in touch
- Finally, pray for them, right then and there if not shortly after; they need it b/c they are on the battlefield and you probably aren’t!!
It’s such a blessing and honor to be able to be used by God Almighty! Why me? Good question. Not me, but Christ that lives within me! God wouldn’t use me for me; only if His Holy Spirit resides in me. So Brethren, I encourage you to continue to not only live out your testimony and be a Christlike example, but also testify to the world that Jesus saves and that He saved you, a wicked Hell-bound sinner! CAUTION!!!!! HARD PREACHING AHEAD: Remember, if you are a Christian, that means you are of Christ, and God’s Holy Spirit lives in you! Therefore, you are to attempt to live like Christ, which believe it or not, involves speaking like Christ and saying things He said!! I know it’s hard to mention words like: Hell, Judgement, Repent, Wrath, Justice, Righteousness, Sin, Fire, Eternal Damnation…. But if you love God, then you will want to honor Him by living like His son! Don’t just do as He did, say as He said! God bless you today and this week, I love you all!
May 2, 2006 at 2:21 pm |
You’re absolutely right, Honey. The generations are getting farther and farther away from God. As sad as it is, though, it just means that He’s coming back soon! We should try to reach out and help these people as much as possible, but never get discouraged, because our redemption draweth nigh! What a wonderful and horrible day that will be. But God’s plan is perfect and He will come back at EXACTLY the right time! Praise the Lord!!! Thanks for being bold and going out there to meet the people where they are. Not for your glory, but for His. And thanks for sharing about your witnessing experiences. I always love to hear about them.
Allie
May 2, 2006 at 2:54 pm |
Nicely spoken there JC.
We need to remember that we are seed planters and that tho our planting efforts may not seem to be in effective at times. God gives the increase. I appreciate you good attitude and also your efforts for the cause of Christ. Lets plant seed and watch God bring forth the fruit. Of all the people I know,
you are one of them ;o)
May 2, 2006 at 5:31 pm |
What’s up with the zodiac and astrology thing in your profile? Seems inconsistent with the blog you posted. Inconsistency is one of the greatest challenges in confronting a lost world with the claims of Christ and His ability to change the whole life.
May 2, 2006 at 6:43 pm |
Hey Dave. Don’t take this the wrong way, perhaps my views are affected by the culture here in the north. I am definately getting the message when I read your blog (great work on your first) but I feel like I am missing the love in your words. Ephesians 4:15 says we are to speak the truth in love and 1 Corinthians 13:13 speaks faith, hope and love, but the greatest being love. This, no offense, upon first reading, seems like a right wing rant. I hope I am not over stepping my bounds with this, but hopefully it will yield some fun conversation.
Love you buddy. Peace.
-Art (yes, this is a psuedonym)
May 2, 2006 at 6:43 pm |
In response to the last comment about the zodiac sign….
I apologize for my inconsistency. I can’t remember whether it required me to list those to get this blogspot or whether I chose to list it! I will take it off, if I can, ASAP when I finish this comment.
Leaving behind that unimportant topic, let me ask you another question. What are your intentions in writing your comment? And, what did you think of the blog God inspired me to write? I will face Him for my inconsistency. But I do appreciate you hopefully “attempting” to keep me in check. I just can’t tell moods or emotions from typed words; so did you write your comment out of loving judgement or to simply attack my integrity; what little that I do have? Just curious.
May 2, 2006 at 7:04 pm |
In response to artimus jones(aka shaun)…..
Fair enough question buddy! And thanks for being man enough to ask me directly! After all, the bible says “Come now let us reason together”-Isaiah 1:18.
Okay, first of all you may miss the love in my words, but that’s Mistake #1. For example, Jesus used the word Hell approximately 17 times or so in the KJV of the bible. Now as strong of a word that Hell is, would Jesus ever use it not in love? Of course not. Now, I am not Jesus by a long shot. Can I get a hallelujah? But, Jesus often made the religious leaders and people he talked to angry and upset; probably leaving wondering where the love is in that guy? So, because I may sound a little “confrontational” or what I consider “biblical”, don’t let your personal interpretation of the reasoning behind my word usage overshadow the message behind those words! Whenever “I” use these words, believe me to the core of my being, I use them out of sincere love and compassion to warn sinners of the price they’ll pay if they die in their sins.
Mistake #2: We can’t as Christians assume that because we don’t use phrases or words like “God is Love”, “Jesus Loves You”, “Jesus Died for You”, “God sent His son to die for You b/c He loves You”,”Don’t you want to have a better life?”, “Don’t you want to be truly happy and complete and never feel alone ever again?, well give your heart to Jesus”, etc. etc. Those messages are great! But not when you are using them to share with a Lost person in telling them WHY they NEED Jesus Christ!
You see that’s the problem. Mistake #2 is assuming that you have to use mushy lovey-dovey sayings and soft whispers of gentleness to tell wicked rebellious sinners that God loves them! Jesus loved us and still does very much, but God is a God of wrath and righteous holy judgement! Does that sound mean? Yes! Is it mean? NO way! Do you think a judge is mean by upholding the law by punishing rapists, murderers, liars, and thieves? Of course not! If he is a good, moral, upstanding law abiding judge, he must punish crime! God is a perfect holy judge who must punish sin by “sending” people to Hell. (actually, we send ourselves to Hell) He loves us and must punish us for doing wrong! But if we accept His payment (Jesus Christ) for our sins of lying, stealing, lusting, etc., then Christ takes our place and we escape the fires of Hell and flame and eternal damnation.
NOW!!! I don’t know about you, but that is the ultimate love story! And I thank God that someone finally told me that I need to be soundly saved by Christ or I will go to Hell forever!! That’s the message of love!
May 3, 2006 at 1:02 pm |
I agree w/ A Jones. Not so much that love is absent- as there is an absence of grace. “For by GRACE are you saved THROUGH FAITH!” Not matter of keeping the law and rules and regs. Thank God for His grace – without it- no cross, without the cross- no salvation.
Jesus first and only
May 3, 2006 at 2:09 pm |
Well, God’s Grace is always present. As a matter of fact, it is by God’s grace that we are saved: “….not of works lest any man should boast.” I never said you could work your way into heaven. That’s absurd and simply unbiblical. And it destroys God’s grace, and Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection to vanity! So you are exactly right, you can’t keep the law and rules and regs and be “OKAY”!
The bible says that “He that keeps the whole law, yet offends in one point, he is guilty of all” (James2:10) So you could keep 9 of the 10 commandments and on your death bed, tell one lie, God sees you as breaking all of them; therefore you are guilty of all. The bible also says “there is none good, but God in heaven” (Mat.19:17,Mark10:18). And Psalm14:3 says “there is none that doeth good.” So my point is noone can keep the law no matter how hard they try. And noone is perfect or near it; or even good according to Jesus.
So yes, thank God for His unending grace and mercy; without it and His love, we’d be doomed. Because there is nothing we can do to gain our salvation or earn Heaven: “our righteousness are as filthy rags…” Isaiah64:6
Please understand me when I attempt to convey “my” (hopefully spirit-led) thoughts to you saints: I am motivated by love and love alone. Not hate or anger or malice. Anger at sin, but not the sinner.
Finally I’ll leave this verse: “for God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble” (James4:6,1Peter5:5)
May 3, 2006 at 7:05 pm |
Jonathan
Dear friend I have missed you and your wife. It has been quite a while since our last conversation so I just wanted to tell you and to stay focused on Christ.
Now down to business.
Jonathan you are exactly right when you say that Jesus offended a lot of people. He offended people to the point that they wanted to kill Him. The Word of God still offends people even to this day. Unfortunately Christians pick and choose what they want to believe and then decide the rest is not for them. (This is a very dangerous thing to do).
I do not find Jonathan’s words abrasive or without love at all. In fact they are filled with passion and compassion for a generation that was falling deeper and deeper away from God.
Do not become consumed with judgmental thoughts due solely to the fact that someone handles things in a different way than you would. It may not appear that Jonathan wrote with much grace or love but what are you looking at to determine the seemingly harsh manner of His words. While it may have seemed to some of you as harsh to other Christians like myself it was well wrote and I consider it as a wake up call to our generation of believers.
What I want you to see is the difference between your line of thinking and mine. All that means is that we are two different people so how do we judge what He wrote if I think one way and you think another. Simple we don’t. When it comes to anything that is written about the Word of God you look for the truth of the matter because you have no way of determining the heart of the person behind the words, unless you know them personally. You may be able to take an educated guess but that is all you can do. They may be passionate about the topic and you misjudge their passion as anger or wrath. You may see compassion and misjudge that compassion as someone who is too soft on people; it could go either way.
We each have our own style and way of doing things. In some cases it takes a man or woman with a very sincere personality to reach some people. In other cases it takes a person that is so gentle that He does not offend the person he or she is talking to. The idea is to be spirit led, in which case you could never go wrong. Jonathan I will give you the benefit of the doubt to say that what you wrote was the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
May 3, 2006 at 7:14 pm |
Jonathan this is personally for you.
Do not be alarmed at the condition of this world. The Bible promises that the World will continuously get worse and worse. The Bible says that the world is blinded from the truth of the Word of God by the devil. That is why Jesus taught the Word with a lot of parables.
Do not fear though because the Church is to prosperous and successful while all of the world is getting worse and worse all around us. The world will run to Christians for an answer to there problems and we will tell them of Jesus. Those who are converted will come into the Body of Christ and go tell others of how they were transformed for the better.
However take heeds to these Words, the world will never get better until it is all said and done. The Bible doesn’t promise the world will get better, the Bible promises that that the Body of Christ will get better and become more unified until we all come to the unity of the faith. This is what you works towards.
This includes sharing the message of Christ with all the people that you can before it is too late for them. This is what true love is.
Submitted with Love
The Writer
May 3, 2006 at 8:36 pm |
Dear The Writer,
I appreciate your kind and encouraging words and more than that, your honesty! I don’t thank you, but I thank God for you and for your passion to glorify God in all that you do. I hope to update these blogs 3-4 times a week and will send you a personal email to update you on how God has truly been blessing us in our marriage and walk with Him. His grace is awesome! Thanks again, and due to time and me getting off of work, I will respond to your comments tomorrow! Love you and all of my comment makers. (don’t mean that sarcastically)