Evangelism

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I Want to Start Sharing the Gospel, But Now What?

If you have been reading my articles lately, you have probably noticed a very consistent theme, that being that Christians are commanded to share the gospel with the lost. I have been writing these articles for the very purpose of awakening the church to the desperate need in our world for the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached. It has been my sincere hope and prayer that these articles may have caused even a small number of Christians to stop and evaluate whether they have been obedient to the command of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you are one that has realized he or she has not been doing so, but realize you need to be, you may be asking, “What do I do now? Just how do I go about doing this?” It is my hope and prayer that over the next few articles I can answer these questions and help equip you to biblically share the great and glorious message that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Today, there are three things I want to encourage you to do as you go about preparing yourself to evangelize the lost.

First and foremost, before we ever wade out into the world to share the gospel, we need to be about the business of praying to God. A Christian must pray that God would give him wisdom, boldness and an unquenching thirst to preach the gospel to the lost. Christians must pray for humility, confessing their sins and repenting of them, and praying that they would not seek their own recognition and glory. Rather, Christians should pray that they would seek only to glorify the Lord by preaching His truth, not seeking to persuade with our own vain philosophies, but by speaking His revealed Word. Christians must pray for the Lord to break through the hardened, stony hearts of sinners and that He would reveal their need for Christ as their Savior. That He would cause the scales to fall from the eyes of the lost and cause them to see Christ in all His glory. Christians should also pray for steadfastness, an unwavering desire to preach the true gospel, no matter the opposition, or even persecution, that they may face. We must pray that we never become weary in doing good even when the world seeks to shut us up, when our friends and family tell us to stop being “so preachy” and even when our local churches refuse to support us because we are “judgmental.” We must pray that we would never stop sharing the gospel because we seek to please God alone and desire to bring a lost and dying world to Him. Prayer is one of our most potent and valuable weapons because it causes us to come to the throne of grace, seeking the power and equipping of our sovereign Lord. Never seek to accomplish the task of evangelism under your own “power.” Rather seek the power of God Himself to do the work.

Secondly, Christians need to become thoroughly equipped in the study of the scriptures. Human wisdom and philosophy can accomplish precious little when it comes to proclamation of the gospel. Remember that those who are lost are slaves to sin and are spiritually dead. Our words alone will never penetrate the rocky soil of an unregenerate heart. Only the Words of God Himself can break up that stone and make the heart into fertile soil. Therefore, we must be diligent to study the Bible daily, but not just to find scriptures that bolster our arguments. Such study accomplishes little because we are not seeking the actual context and application of God’s Word. If we fail to discern the true meaning of a passage, we may end up ripping scriptures out of context and doing damage to the message itself. Rather, we should study that we might grow in all wisdom and understanding. We should study so that our lives are so impacted by the Word, that every aspect of how we live changes to reflect the image of our Savior. In doing so, not only will we gain the words necessary to share with the lost, we will actually demonstrate that we believe them because our lives will reflect it. All the objections and obstacles that man can offer against God find their demise in the very words of our Lord. Study, memorize and learn to apply all of the scriptures on a daily basis.

Third, remember that you were once a lost and condemned sinner too. Remember that you had sinned against the very Creator who gave you life and breath through your wicked works. Remember that you had broken His laws, that you had been a liar, a thief, an idolator, a blashpember, one who lusted and fornicated, who harbored unjust anger in your heart, one who had sought only to please himself above all others. That in your sinned darkened stated, had you died and stood before God, who is perfectly righteous and holy, you would have been judged guilty and rightly condemned to an eternity it Hell. Yet, while you were still a sinner, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you on the cross. That Christ lived the life of perfect obedience to the law that you could not. That He willingly went to the cross to suffer a brutal and humiliating death, the one that you deserved. That three days later, He rose again, defeating death and giving you a promise of eternal life. Remember that one day, God sent someone to you to share this glorious message of salvation. That He opened your eyes and softened your heart. That God miraculously granted you repentance and faith and caused you to be born again. And as you remember these things, glorify the Lord through worship and praise. Remember that you were once dead and He made you alive. Rejoice that God took an unworthy sinner like you (and me) and adopted you as His child. Then, in your praise and adoration of Him, seek to obey His command to preach this glorious message to others.

By equipping ourselves in these three areas – prayer, study and worship – we prepare ourselves for the spiritual warfare of saving souls. We are equipped with God’s power rather than our own and we are using His weapons in this battle. The preaching of the gospel is not an effort to improve lives, change minds or rescue the culture. The preaching of the gospel is two things: first, it is the glorification of our great God and Savior; second, it is a rescue mission to save souls on a path to Hell. Therefore, we dare not treat this lightly. Let us be fully prepared, with all God has to offer us, before we step foot onto the battlefied.

In my next article, I intend to speak on the biblical presentation of the gospel and to point out the errors of modern evangelical “evangelism.”

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Tony Miano: “Don’t Give Up on Society”

This last Sunday on Cross Encounters Radio, Tony Miano and I shared a recent sermon he preached in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, entitled “Don’t Give Up on Society.” The main points of the message are: 1) Christians must remember who they were before they came to faith in Christ; 2) Christians must remember who they are in Christ; and 3) Christians must remember what God has commanded them to do. This was a powerful sermon that I believe Christians should take the time to listen to.

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This Girl Desperately Needs the Gospel, Will You Give it to Her?

This is the picture of a young fourteen year old girl. Most of us would look at her and think she was probably a normal kid without a care in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, she has been charged as having murdered her newborn son shortly after his birth. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, this young girl (I am leaving out her name for obvious reasons) became pregnant, lied about it to her parents, concealed the pregnancy by wearing loosed clothes, then gave birth in her bathroom. Once the 9-1/2 pound baby boy was born, she choked the life out of him and hid him in a shoe box underneath soiled laundry in her room. After a series of events, the child’s body was discovered and the young girl was arrested.

Christians, it might be easy to dismiss this tragic event as one of a handful of terrible events in our country. It might be easy to say that this is not representative of our youth as a whole. Or it might be even easier to lay this at the hands of liberalism in our country, claiming that they have been indoctrinated to believe promiscuity is the norm and that they should never be burdened with the results. A thought made all the easier to believe when one realizes had she gone to an abortionist, she would have never been arrested. But I have to ask you, do we not bear some responsibility here? Haven’t we, as the church, as the salt and light in a dark and dying world, failed young girls like this because we have failed to affect the culture through the preaching of the gospel?

Before this post gets assaulted with the obvious theological implications of personal responsibility for sin, sovereignty of God, and such, please understand I am not saying that the Church is personally responsible for this young girl’s sin. It is her’s and she will be held accountable for it. But what I am referring to here, what I have been getting at for several articles now, is that the Church has a duty to preach the pure and unadulterated gospel throughout the world, including our own back yards. Yet, for some time now, Christians have failed to do this in numerous ways. We have claimed evangelism is a gift instead of a command, thus denying our need to do it. We have shuffled the responsibility to the preacher instead of doing it ourselves. We have settled for seeker-friendlyism, allowing churches to dilute or change scripture to attract the unsaved masses into what is supposed to be gathering of the saints. Or when we attempt to evangelize, we settle for a “God has a wonderful plan for your life” model which is unbiblical and an adulteration of the true gospel. Or worse, have even tried to shut down the true preaching of the gospel as if it is something to be apologized for (as in this picture where a student is apologizing for Pastor Emilio Ramos’ message).

With such obvious efforts to avoid the command to preach the gospel, the church has lost it’s influence over the culture, and the post-modern, secular humanist mindset has filled that void. A mindset that denies that humanity has been made in the image and likeness of God. That denies life is created by God in the womb, but rather is an amalgamation of proteins that washed up on the beach. That exalts personal enjoyment and fulfillment as the highest human achievement, and teaches that any obstacle to that achievement should be done away with. That denies the sinfulness of man and denies that a judgment will one day be applied.

With such a loss of church influence, is it any wonder that the youth in our culture show little restraint in their sinful behavior? They have been told that they are inherently good and that whatever they choose to believe is true. Yet, amazingly, the culture acts shocked and horrified when someone like this young girl takes that mindset to its logical conclusion. In a culture that exalts personal fulfillment, kids are getting a mixed message when they actually take it to it’s full extent.

Christians, we are the ones who have the real answers! We are the ones with the words of God who declares good from evil, right from wrong. We are the ones who can point our culture to the Scriptures and show that people are not good, but wicked from birth. We can declare to them that they are trapped in their sinfulness, bound only to their sins which make them rebels against the Lord. Then, and only then, does the actions that this young girl committed make sense. She is not a good kid that somehow society failed, she is a wicked sinner following her base desires. And, thanks to a sinful culture that celebrates sin, she was able to justify what she did by what she had been taught.

This is why we cannot and must not abdicate the command of our Lord to preach the gospel and to make disciples, because young people like this girl are trapped in their sins and the only answers that they have are given to them by a sin burdened culture. They are the blind leading the blind (Matthew 15:14). Only Christ can remove the scales from their eyes and make them see the ditch they are headed for. Only Christ can expose their hearts for the sin hardened stones that they are. Only Christ can break down the walls of sin and recreate a heart of flesh. Only Christ can make people a new creation. And it is we who were once one of them that Christ has commanded to preach this life saving gospel. What else is there to give this world that can do more? What else should we occupy our time with that has more value that saving young girls like this from hearts that lead to murder of newborn children? Can you honestly look back during the last year and tell yourself you have spent time in pursuits that brought more honor and glory to God than the preaching of the gospel?

I implore my Christian brethren to look at the picture of this young girl again. Might she be the girl you saw standing next to you at the store? Maybe she is a friend of your daughter’s? Or maybe even your own child? Knowing what you know now, would you have taken that extra five minutes to share the gospel with her? Knowing that one day she would murder her child, would you plead with her to repent of the life of sin she was living? Would you pray earnestly for her salvation? Now, I ask you this, what about those whose futures you do not know? You do not know if they will murder a child or if they will become a successful CEO. But you do know this, they are sinners just like you were, and they are bound for Hell, just as you once were. Isn’t that reason enough?

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It’s Not About the Government, It’s About the Gospel

Yes, this is going to be another article about how Christians should view their involvement in politics. But please, bear with me through this as I attempt to make a few points that I hope may cause you to stop and think a little harder on the issue. I will start off by saying I am not looking to cause you to think about who you should vote for, whether or not you can vote for a person in a theological cult, or whether you should even bother voting at all. It is my sincere hope that by the end of this article, you will have a slightly different perspective on this matter altogether.

The first point I want to make is this: I do not believe Christians are called to “rescue America.” Now before you drag me out into the square and put me in front of a firing squad, I want you to consider some things. In Romans chapter 13, Paul calls Christians to “…be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God,” (Romans 13:1 ESV). Note that Paul does not say that Christians are to rescue Rome by appointing Senators and getting laws passed that are in keeping with the Scriptures. He does not call for Christians to appeal to Caesar to make laws more favorable to religious liberties. Rather he calls Christians to obedience to the governing authorities appointed over them. Also note that Paul does not make a distinction as to whether the government is conservative or liberal, honest or corrupt. He only states that the governments have been established by God who is the one true authority.

And before you tell me that means all governments must therefore submit to biblical principles, I must remind you that it was God who raised up Pharaoh in Egypt for the express purpose of oppressing the Jews so that He would be glorified when He delivered them from Pharaoh’s hand. God raises up good and bad governments for His express purposes. Christians are not called to overturn bad governments, but to obey them. We are called to do this so, “…that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” (1 Peter 2:15, 16 ESV). In other words, when the world sees us obedient to government, it is a testimony to our faith in God. Our obedience indicates our willingness to be obedient to the ultimate authority, God alone.

Now, there are several of you right now who are probably pretty irritated with me. “So you’re saying that we should let the the wicked, sinful government roll right over us, is that it??” Not in the least. I do believe that we are given liberty to stand up for ourselves within the government, which is my second point. In Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas are wrongly arrested and beaten by the magistrates in Phillipi. When they were to be released the next day, Paul announces that he and Silas are Roman citizens and called upon the magistrates to be held accountable for their actions. Additionally, Paul appeals to have his case heard by Caesar in Acts 25 after false charges are brought against him.

I believe this is clearly a biblical principle which demonstrates that Christians can, and should, work within the legal confines of the government for the express purpose of defending one’s self against unjust government intrusion and false arrests. However, what I do not believe is that is sets a precedent that Christians are called to rescue a broken system and set it right by forcing it to comply to biblical principles. In both cases, Paul legally defended himself against injustice. What he did not do was call upon the Christians to organize the ousting of unjust magistrates or make mass appeals to Caesar to change the judicial system so that false charges could not be made. What I mean is that Christians have the liberty to act within the laws of government to defend themselves against injustice and persecution. But we are not necessarily called to rescue an unjust system. Does that mean I am advocating we should never, ever fight to establish godly laws. No, not at all! But I am saying that the proper biblical, perspective must be maintained. Government is established by God for our benefit, to protect its citizens and punish evildoers. It is not the means by which God will establish His kingdom. That being the case, Christians should not be seeking to win government to God as the sole means of establishing God’s rule on Earth. In fact, there is really but one means by which God has commanded that His kingdom would be established, which brings me to third and final point.

If Christians are called to obey governments and to act within a certain context when it comes to injustice of laws, or the application thereof, then just what are we supposed to do about the mess our country is in? “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'” (Mark 16:15 ESV) That is our command from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To preach the gospel. Why? “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16 ESV) When the gospel is preached, people get saved. When people get saved, the Holy Spirit makes them a new creation (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). People who are new creations, who are led by the Spirit, who desire to obey the commands of God willingly because they love their Savior, do not have to be convinced to change laws and appoint representatives that are in line with biblical truths. They do so of their own accord.

Stop and think about this. Just how much time, energy and effort have Christians poured into the political system in the last several decades? Every election cycle, we are inundated with calls for churches to mobilize and get into the voting booth. Organizations pour countless man hours into tracking voting records, courting candidates and sending out mailers with recommendations on who to vote for. In the end, we end up with two candidates that just about everyone agrees are terrible, but nevertheless, we are encouraged, guilted and practically ordered to vote for the “lesser evil” because at least he’s not as bad as the other guy. And even when the “right guy” wins, or the right measure is voted into law, it doesn’t take long before all that hard work is reversed when the next guy takes office, or when the right lawsuit gets filed. For all our victories, we are left with very little to celebrate. I’m not advocating that Christians not vote, don’t get me wrong. I believe we are blessed with an amazing privilege to have a voice in our government, but like I said before, it has to be in the right context.

Imagine something different now. Imagine if every single, truly born again Christian got as excited and driven about the souls of those in Washington, in their legislatures, in their city councils, or even about their neighbors, as they do about who is going to get elected. Imagine if we spent nearly the amount of time praying, studying and sharing the gospel with them as we do watching news reports, complaining to our co-workers about candidates and attending political rallies. Just imagine if the souls of those who were going to Hell got us as incensed as the increase in our taxes, or the next failed social program being announced. What if, instead of calling our representatives to complain or demand action on an issue, we took the time to care about their eternal destiny and shared the gospel with them. If the amount of time, effort and energy we spent fighting political battles was spent in preaching the gospel to a lost and dying world, what might the end result look like? I’m not advocating that we preach the gospel to get a better country. I am saying that rather than caring more about rescuing the country, we should care more about rescuing souls. And if souls are rescued and captured for Jesus Christ, then all these other issues might not be as big a deal as there are now.

Christians, we are not a political party, though we may align ourselves with one when we get into the voting booth. We were once wretched, vile, God hating sinners who God condescended to save through the perfect life and sacrificial death of His Son. We were the ones who lied, cheated, stole, lusted, hated and blasphemed. We were the ones who deserved nothing but the fires of Hell. We deserved no good thing, especially not a good government and a free society. Yet, God, in His mercy, sent His Son to take on human flesh, to live a perfect life free from sin, to die a bloody death on the cross in our place, and to be risen again to give us a promise of eternal life. He did this so that our old man might be crucified and that we might be created as a new life. He granted that through repentance, the turning away from our sins, and through faith in the Savior alone we might be granted eternal life with Him. What on earth could possibly convince us that “rescuing America” has more value than that? What could possess us to believe that political maneuverings and machinations could do more for the lives of our countrymen than the preaching of the gospel? It simply boggles the mind that we could ever want to do more in the realm of politics than in the proclamation of the greatest news ever told.

Election time is coming and I encourage you to vote. It is your right as a citizen and a liberty as a Christian. But let’s keep it in perspective. Let’s stop pouring so much energy into a world system that can only produce temporal results and let us be driven to share the gospel which has eternal results.

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Wake Up Church!

Have you been watching the news this week? If you have, like the rest of us, you are probably aghast at the sight of American embassies in the Middle East overrun by Muslims and our ambassadors being hurt or killed. And, like the rest of us, you may be wondering why on Earth our government isn’t doing something about it. You might be wondering how our government, or the media, or people in general, can be so blind to the fact that Islam is in fact a religion of subjugation and violence, and how they can pretend it is not what we see being played out in front of the cameras on the evening news. You might just see this as the reason you need to get far more politically involved than ever before, because, after all, if this administration cannot see the threat, then it is time for someone else to take the reigns, right? Yeah, I imagine a lot of people are thinking that right now.

But, if you are a Christian, I have to ask you a serious question, one that might make you a little uncomfortable. If you see Islam as a threat, if you see the danger that a satanic religion represents, if you see the harm it has caused to so many people, what are you doing about it? I’m not talking about taking up arms here. I’m not talking about some sort of militant activism either. And yes, I recognize there are hundreds, and thousands of muslims who have never so much as looked cross eyed at another person. I recognize there are many who would never even dream of committing acts of physical violence, so please do not misconstrue what I am saying here. I’m talking about what are you doing about the lost souls who bow to Mecca five times a day trying with all their might to please Allah. What are you doing to break them out of the works based, man centered religion that drives them to these acts. If you recognize that this religion, which is at the heart of so many problems in the Middle East, is truly a false and dangerous religion, what are you doing to change it?

Let me put it another way. When you go to church this week, why will you go? To be built up and strengthened so you may go forth and preach the gospel? Or will you go to be entertained and have your self esteem boosted? Will you walk out of church so in love with the Savior that you cannot help but to preach the gospel? Or will you walk out happy that God has made your life so comfortable? See, the point of church is not to make us feel better about ourselves and our lives. It is to make us love Jesus all the more and to drive us into the world, into spiritual battle, so that we might take the gospel to the ends of the earth. However, I fear that a great many people who attend church this Sunday might go there shaking their heads about the terrible things that have happened this week, but will come out feeling so nice and comfy about how much God has a wonderful plan for their lives. It will not even cross their minds that God has commanded them to preach the gospel, and that the answer to the violence in the Middle East is not in governments, political sanctions or military actions, it is in that very gospel they are commanded to preach!

The violence and tragedy in the Middle East this week needs to be a wake up call, not so much for the government, but for the church. For far too long, we have sat by and watched as church growth programs, self esteem seminars and entertainment industries have corrupted the church. We have been too satisfied to see the undershepherds who have been called to equip us for battle lay down that duty to entertain and amuse us. Yes, numbers in the churches grew, but those numbers represented nothing more than false converts because they never once heard the call to repent of their self centered sinfulness and cling to the cross seeking the mercy of the Savior. Church, we must repent of this! We have been commanded by our Savior to preach His gospel unto every nation! And can there be any further evidence that this world needs the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ than what we are seeing happen right now?

Those in the Middle East who have perpetrated these atrocities are sinners like you and me! They need Jesus Christ to wash away their sinfulness through His shed blood alone! They are trapped in a works righteous religion that calls them to appease their “god” through works, through man centered efforts, which will never atone for their sin. If we want see change in the Middle East, it can ONLY come through the gospel! It is the only thing which can change the heart of wicked and sinful man. No government plan, no sanction, no political overhaul can change man’s heart, only the power of the Holy Spirit can accomplish that. And God has ordained that it is through His gospel message that it will be accomplished.

Christians, wake up! When you go to church this Sunday, don’t be satisfied to sit back and be entertained. Weep over sin, starting first with your own. Glorify God that He sent His Son to die for sinners and to save them from the fires of Hell. And then be moved to preach the gospel in every way possible. Obviously, not all of us are called to be foreign missionaries, but maybe God has equipped you to support them. Maybe you can even start your own ministry here in America that will send missionaries over seas. You can even be a missionary here in your own hometown. Start preaching the gospel now, where you live. Share it with someone today. Let the turmoil in our world be the wake up call that makes you realize that God has called you to share the only thing that can change the hearts of men. The only thing that can bring them out of the treadmill of work righteousness. The only thing that can bring them from death to life. Preach the gospel today!

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Will You Support the Proclamation of the Gospel?

20120911-202149.jpg “Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.” (3 John 1:5-8 ESV)

Anyone who has read my articles knows that I consider the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ of paramount importance. In the American evangelical church, there are literally thousands of ideas that are promoted for church growth, very few of them are biblical. In fact, the one truly biblical church growth method – prayer, bible study, preaching the gospel and trusting solely in the work of the Holy Spirit – is often, if not almost exclusively, ignored in the modern church. We have covered a lot pragmatic, seeker sensitive, unbiblical efforts leveled at “church growth” here on Defending Contending, and why those efforts are not actual evangelism, so I will not belabor the point here. What I really want to talk about today are those dedicated evangelists here in America who are giving their all to preach the gospel to everyone they meet.

So often, we get so tied up in identifying the false teachers and heretical teachings that we can sometimes feel like Elijah, thinking that we are the only ones left who truly worship God. Then God reveals that he has a remnant of brethren who have not bowed the knee at the altar of the modern evangelical gospel. And when He has done so, I believe it is a good thing for us to dwell on what God has accomplished through these brethren, to be encouraged by the work they have done and to partner with them in the proclamation of the gospel.

Most often when we think of partnering and support those preaching in the field, we think of foreign missions. And trust me when I say those those ministries sorely need the financial assistance and prayers that Christians regularly provide. But there are also missionaries in our own backyards. Brethren who have committed the entirety of their lives to the daily preaching of the gospel here on the streets of America. They have left the American dream of making their livelihood and wealth in the daily grind of business and entrusted the entirety of their existence to God through His provision so that they might daily preach the gospel any and everywhere they go. And these are not brethren who are out in the field, “Lone Ranger” style, who are accountable only to themselves. I am speaking of committed brethren who are under the authority of their local churches, ready and willing to be held accountable for all they say and do in the name of the Lord. It is my hope and desire that by highlighting just a few of these ministries that the readers of this blog might considering partnering with them, just as John spoke of in the passage above.

Tony Miano is a committed evangelist, a mentor and a dear friend. Some might think I am playing favorites by mentioning him in this article, but trust me I am not. I truly believe that his daily efforts to preach the gospel in California are a direct result of his deep commitment to the Lord and his intense desire to see the lost come to repentance and faith. From 2008 to mid-2012, Tony served as Living Waters’ Director of the Ambassadors’Alliance, as well as the Director of Conferences and Special Projects. Tony’s service with Living Waters included the supervision of 20 Ambassador’s Academies (the ministry’s 3 1/2-day evangelism training program), conferences, State Representative system, and large-scale evangelism projects. Tony also wrote and co-hosted almost 400 episodes of Living Waters’ live, web-based program, “On the Box, with Ray Comfort.” Tony is the author of the book, “Take Up The Shield” (Genesis Publishing Group, 2005). Further information on him can be found at www.tmiano.com.

Bobby McCreery is a fellow graduate of the Living Waters based training program, the Ambassadors Academy. Around October 2008, Bobby was going through the motions of “church” when God shocked him by calling to go on a mission trip to Bolivia. He wondered why God would send him anywhere for His name when he was living the life of a hypocrite. By God’s providence, the mission team leader used a training method for the team that was not endorsed by the church. The Way of the Master training and teachings such as “True and False Conversion” were used by God to reveal to Bobby that he was unrepentant and hell bound, living in a perpetual state of sin. In January 2009, just days before leaving for Bolivia, God granted him the gift of repentance and faith in Christ alone. Bobby is also grateful to God for the mentoring he has received from experienced evangelists in the Atlanta area. Bobby is the veteran of three Super Bowl Outreaches, including two as a team leader and speaker. He is the founder of To the End of the Earth ministries and left his secular job to respond to the Lord’s call to full-time evangelism in January 2011. Further information on Bobby and his ministry can be found at www.totheendoftheearth.org.

Mike Stockwell and Robert Gray are full time evangelists and the founders of Cross Country Evangelism. Mike originally began the ministry after he felt the call of God to begin preaching the gospel full time. He literally packed his belongings in a car and drove from one state to the next, assisted by fellow evangelists who opened their home to him. Today, Mike and Robert are committed to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with people throughout America, Europe, Jamaica and wherever the Lord leads. Open air preaching and one to one conversations are the means by which Mike and Robert proclaim and explain salvation through Christ. Their ministry efforts can located at www.crosscountryevangelism.com.

These are but a few ministries manned by committed brethren who desire nothing more than to preach the gospel to the lost and to bring glory to their Lord and Savior. All I ask is that our readers look into these ministries and prayerfully consider if, and how, they might partner with them. Please understand, none of these ministries has asked Defending Contending for help. This is not an article written at their request. This is a plea from one meager blogger and evangelist to my readers to consider how they might help local ministries preach the gospel to the lost in our own nation. I am not asking you to give out of what you do not have, nor am I asking you to “sow a seed in faith.” I am only asking you as John did to his readers, to see how God might use you with these ministries to further the proclamation of the gospel. Thanks much for your time and patience with me in reading this. May God bless you and may His gospel continued to be preached till He returns.

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Burning Man Reminds Us to Preach the Gospel

This week marks the pagan festival held in northern Nevada known as “Burning Man.” For those who may not be familiar with this local event, literally thousands of people from all around the country will descend upon the Black Rock Desert a couple hours north of Reno. They will camp out in RV’s and tents, they will bring assorted foods, music and the like. But this is no ordinary camp out. It is a festival in which every individual’s personal belief system is put on full display. Literally, from the most basic camp out to full on pagan worship, a small society of ultra post-modernity sets itself up for a full week of personal celebration and worship of whatever you choose. The event culminates in the burning of a wooden statue where everybody congregates and celebrates this most sacred event.

However, it is not the debauched, pagan style celebratory worship that drives me to write this article, well, not entirely anyway. As I said, the Burning Man festival is literally the hallmark event of post modernism. Virtually every lifestyle choice and belief system is represented at this gathering. And were you to ask those attending how they felt about the competing beliefs being in all in the same place, they would tell you how wonderful it is to have such a non-judgmental environment where everyone could live as they chose without fear of being told they were wrong. In other words, Burning Man is the utopia of post-modernism. And post-modernism IS the religion of the United States. Those who promote this religion would be overjoyed to see the Burning Man mentality exist in every corner of our society.

My motivation here is not to bemoan the leftist, elitist mindset that drives post-modernism. Rather it is to challenge every single Christian with this thought: how did Burning Man become the Mecca of American “religion” while the Church is viewed as its “anti-christ?” The answer is, I believe, is this, we have faltered in Christ’s command to go forth and preach the gospel to every creature. Remember when we first understood that we were vile wretches that were at war with God through our wicked works. How we realized that in His just punishment, God would rightly send us to Hell. Yet God, in His mercy, pulled us from the fire and punished His Son Jesus Christ at the cross in our place! His shed blood covered our sins and His resurrection paved the path to Heaven for us. Through repentance and faith alone, both merciful gifts from our gracious Father, we received the amazing salvation that promises us eternity with Him! And then Christ commanded us to take the story of that salvation and to preach it to everyone we came in contact with. And what a blessing it would be to share it! To lead the lost, blind and dying to the very salvation they didn’t even know they needed!

Somewhere along the way, we stopped obeying that command. Where we once would not have thought twice about sharing this glorious message with anyone, we reigned back, we slowed down and we gave in. We stopped preaching the hard truth that the law brings condemnation, that it reveals we are not good people and that we deserve Hell. We started saying “God has a wonderful plan for your life,” or we decided we would just allow people to “see Jesus in us.” In doing so, we have exchanged the amazing gospel of Christ, a gospel that should cost us everything to follow, for cheap grace and easy believism! We have become content that evangelism is a spiritual gift for only some and not a command for all. As a result, the culture has plunged head long into the morass of sin and debauchery, into false “religiosity” and personal fulfillment. All the while, we have stood by with the very words of life that can rescue these perishing masses, yet failed to heed the call of our Captain into action.

It is altogether possible that, as you are reading this, you have dismissed my conclusion. If so, consider this, statistics tell us that merely 1% to 2% of professing Christians go out of their way to deliberately share the gospel with someone. That is a very telling number, even if one were to believe the polls which report the high percentages of “Christians” in the United States. In truth, it is likely many of those polled are more cultural Christians than truly bathed in the blood of Christ, born again of the Spirit believers. So that 1% to 2% gets even smaller, which means that a very scant number of truly born again Christian are out there carrying the weight of the command that the entire church is responsible to obey. With these small numbers acting as the evangelistic force for the church, is it that hard to imagine why the church holds so little influence in our culture today?

Yet, there are Christians who would insist that they are very evangelistic. They would point the numbers of people they have invited to church regularly to hear the preaching of the gospel by their pastor. While it is good to bring unsaved friends and loved ones to church, we must understand, this is not evangelism. It is the abdicating of one’s personal responsibility to seek out the lost and share the life giving elixir that is the gospel. Local churches are the place where the saved come together in corporate worship. They are led by the pastor in prayer and praise. They are edified and equipped under his teaching so that they may go out and do spiritual warfare in the world. To leave our responsibility to be proclaimers of the gospel solely to the pastor changes the very nature of the church gathering from corporate worship and edification to seeker friendlyism which sacrifices the content of the word for entertainment to keep the unsaved coming.

But one may point to something that is overtly evangelistic, such as their involvement in the large christian outreaches that gather untold thousands of lost and unregenerate people in one place to hear the gospel. While it is wonderful to see the efforts of so many people to brig the gospel to the world, in many cases, it is simply a repeat of bringing someone to church. Rather than going out into the world preaching the gospel, Christians invite the lost into one place where they will hear preaching by a few, or maybe even just one preacher. The energy and effort put into this gathering is all about getting the people there to hear someone else preach the message. I’m not discounting the genuine desire, and even countless hours of prayer, that Christians pour into this. But in the end, we abdicate the responsibility to someone else. And in truth, many of these events become big seeker friendly attractions where big bands, light shows and celebrity Christians attempt to woo the unsaved to making a “decision for Christ.” But when we look at the statistics, most of those people who make professions of faith never get plugged into a local church. They run around with a “Christian-buzz” for a while, but before long, they prove themselves to be rocky ground with no depth, or a plant choked out by the weeds. In other words, a false convert. One who left us, because he or she never really was of us.

Or maybe those in the church really do desire to get out on the streets to interact with people. So they set up food drives, or head out to feed and clothe the homeless. They hope to show those who are in desperate situations that they are loved by the Church. A noble effort to be sure, but more often than not, it is devoid of the preaching of the gospel. Those they help may be aware of a physical, temporal love in the here and now, but they are rarely, if ever, told that they more desperately need peace with God through Jesus Christ, because their sinful deeds are causing them to be at war with Him.

That’s how post modernism and events like Burning Man are the hallmark of excellence in our society, because Christians have faltered in preaching that amazing grace that saved us from the depths of Hell. I say this because if we remembered that beautiful gospel daily, how could we not go running into the streets to preach it to everyone? How could we ever claim evangelism is not our “gift” when it is a command from our Savior? How could abdicate our responsibility to preach the entirety of the gospel and give a wishy-washy “God has a wonderful plan for your life” message? I can say we have faltered because the fruit of it is as apparent as the false worshippers running to the desert grounds of northern Nevada to worship as they please with no fear of ever being told they are wrong!

I am not saying that the efforts I described above should never, ever happen. If even one soul is saved because they were invited to church or an evangelistic out reach, praise God. If one person comes to Christ because he or she understood that the love of Christ compelled a Christian to reach out and help them, His name is glorified! What I am saying is that by and large, most Christians are either not engaging in the command to evangelize, or are trusting in efforts solely like these to abdicate their responsibility to do so. And because of this, more and more souls are being lost to the culture’s tolerant, post-modern ideas.

Christians, we need to wake up and realize our Captain is commanding us to action! We need to repent of our sin of failing to preach the gospel and seek His forgiveness. We must equip ourselves with the word of God and bend our knees in prayer. We must go out into the highways and byways preaching the truth that salvation is in Christ alone, through repentance and faith alone! We must do so at all costs, even if it means losing relationships, positions at work, or even one day, our freedom. For lives are lost everyday to the pits of Hell! Let us be about our Father’s business, let us preach the truth and let us point people not to a “Burning Man” made of wood, but to the God Man who was and is and is to come! Let us call them to Christ alone!

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Free cult flyer and gospel tract download.

Back in 2008, I made a cult flyer/gospel tract combo available to the readers of this blog to download for free. Since then, this flyer/tract combo has undergone refinement and is now in its fifth printing.

This flyer/tract combo was drafted as a way to inform the public about the truths of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, and to provide them with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It was originally designed to hang on doorknobs in the area where I live and was in response to the constant canvasing of neighborhoods by these two cults. But since its inception, this flyer/tract combo has also found its way into the hands of numerous people throughout America and has even found its way to the shores of Africa (with another box full currently en route to Liberia as I write this).

The cult flyer is a single tri-fold (printed on the front and back). The tract comes three to a page (printed on the front and back). Each tract fits nicely inside the cult flyer as an insert.

Please feel free to download, print, and make as many copies of each of these items as you wish to distribute as you see fit. You can even put your church name, website, or other personal information on them to help in your evangelistic contacts if you so desire.

The Great Exchange

Who’s Really Knocking at Your Door?

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Tony Miano’s “Cross Encounters” is now on Blog Talk Radio

The confused looking man in the picture is your’s truly as I maintained the call screen switchboard for Tony Miano’s new Internet radio program, “Cross Encounters.” We have written about Mr. Miano, who authors a blog by the same “Cross Encounters” name, previously on this site, and I must say it is an honor and a privilege to work with him on this new endeavor.

I met Tony three years ago via Living Waters evangelism training program. We had previously talked online due to my seeking him out because of our mutual backgrounds and my desire to learn a truly biblical presentation of the gospel. Tony was instrumental in bringing me to the Ambassadors’ Academy, a three day intensive training program for street evangelists. And while that program is no longer in operation, many street evangelists can thank Tony Miano directly for his passion, his determination and his devotion to biblical evangelism which he has passed on to them. I count myself blessed to consider him a mentor and friend.

Recently, due to the poor economic times, Living Waters had to lay off several employees and Tony was one of those among them. While this was truly sad for all involved, Tony has not ceased his efforts to continue preaching the gospel and encouraging others to do the same. By God’s grace, Tony was able to be part of an evangelism effort in London during the Olympic Games, from which he just recently returned. Additionally, he has started an internet radio program called “Cross Encounters,” of which he says, “Cross Encounters Radio will air every Sunday evening, 6-8 PM (PST). The show will focus on the glorification of Christ and the proclamation of His gospel. We will tackle current events and ongoing social issues through the lens of a Christian worldview. We will have guests on the program: authors, bloggers, apologists, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and whoever else we think would help Christians to grow in their love for Christ and the knowledge of His Word. We won’t shy away from hot-button topics, whether they are social or theological. And false teachers will not find our program a safe place to hide. We won’t allow any elephants in the room.”

I was humbled and blessed, and a bit shocked, when Tony extended an invite (more like a very less than subtle hint) for me to join him as the official “sidekick” on this program. After about 5 seconds of thought (can you tell this was a difficult decision) I enthusiastically accepted. As I was not near my house when this happened, there was a bit of logistics involved (part of which involved borrowing my dad’s office for two hours). Additionally, I had to learn the switchboard so I could screen calls and monitor the chat room. Thankfully, Blog Talk Radio makes these fairly user friendly!

During our first program, Tony and fellow evangelist, Bobby McCreery, discussed the recent Olympics outreach, they played audio clips in which they talked with YWAM members in London who were not preaching a true gospel message, as well as one of Tony’s open air messages, and took calls from listeners. We had over two hundred listeners for our first program and are thrilled at some of the responses. I encourage you to listen in live, or even download the weekly podcasts to listen to and share. Please help us to make this program a blessing to the Lord and to reach people with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Quotes (944)

http://allenmickle.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/packer.jpg

There is, then, available in this world a sure message from God, tried and true, unfailing and unchanging, and it needs to be proclaimed so that all may know it. The messenger who delivers it will have the dignity of being God’s spokesman and ambassador. Nor self-aggrandizement or self-advertisement is involved, for the messenger neither invents his message nor asks for attention in his own name. He is a minister – that is, a servant – of God, of Christ, and of the Word. He is a steward of God’s revealed mysteries, called not to be brilliant and original but diligent and faithful (1 Cor 4:1-2). Yet to be God’s messenger – to run His errands, act as His courier, and spend one’s strength making Him known – is the highest honor that any human being ever enjoys. The servant’s dignity derives fro the dignity of his employer, and the work he is set to do.

– James Inell Packer

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Sermon of the Week: Retracted

In the desire to keep Christ the center of what we do here at DefCon, the Sermon of the week has been retracted by the Author due to concerns regarding the character of the man who preached it.

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Why I Love Jesus But Reject Islam

I ran across this while reading on James White’s web site. I pray it is encouraging to you, my brother or sister in Christ; and that it might provoke a lost sheep to consider the God-Man, Jesus – Who is the Christ.

In response to Kamal Saleh’s video found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNGqrzkFp_4

James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries (www.aomin.org) teamed up with Ivey Conerly ( http://www.ivhisson.com/ ) to produce a Christian response. Our hope and prayer is that the message of the Gospel will be clearly presented to all who watch this video, but especially to Muslims who are led to listen and consider our words.

A written response to Kamal’s video can be found here: http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=4948

A 52 minute video response, point by point, can be found here:
http://t.co/hrx8AKqe

My sincere thanks to Ivey and Marcus for their great work. Soli Deo Gloria!

Please note: comments are not active for the simple reason that atheists (and others) cannot control their tongues, or their keyboards, and we have no interest in providing a forum for such things. If you wish to discuss the claims made in this video, listen to The Dividing Line and call in when we have open phones, toll free. See:

http://www.aomin.org/articles/webcast.html

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A Catechism for Babes, or, Little Ones

“There never was a man in the world without a creed. What is a creed? A creed is what you believe. What is a confession? It is a declaration of what you believe. That declaration may be oral or it may be committed to writing, but the creed is there either expressed or implied.”—B.H. Carrol

A Catechism for Babes, or, Little Ones, Suitable to their Capacity more than others have been Formerly,

1652 by H. Jessey, a servany of Jesus Christ

Prov. 22.6 Catechise or begin the child in his way, according to his 1capacitie: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

 2 Tim. 3.15. From 2infancy thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation.
 1Heb. mouth 2Gr. an infant

Q. Who made you?
A. God made me. (Psal. 100.3. Know that the Lord is God, he made us, and not we.)

Q. When did God make you?
A. God made me before I was born. (Psal. 139.13,16, next proof.)

Q. Where did God make you?
A. God made me in my Mother’s womb. (Job 31.15. Did not he that made me in the womb, make him?)

Q. Wherefore did God make you?
A. God made me that I should serve him. (Psal. 100.3. Serve the Lord, —he made us. Luke 1.74.)

Q. Must you not then learn to know God, that so you may rightly serve him?
A. Yea I must learn to know God. (See the first proof 1 Chro. 28.9: Know the God of thy Fathers.)

Q. When must you learn to know God?
A. I must learn to know God now, when I am but a child. (2 Tim. 3,14,15. Eccles. 12.1,2. Prov. 22.6. Remember now thy Creator. See the Title page.)

Q. How may you learn to know God?
A. I may learn to know God by his word, and by his workes. (Deut. 17.19. Psai. 91.7. 11.1 John 39.40. Rom. 1.19,20. He shall read it all the dayes of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God. The Heavens declare the glory of God. Psa. 19.1.

You are encouraged to read the complete catechism – and find many other excellent resources to build up your faith in Christ – right here.

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Letter from a Recent West African Convert

Dear Friends,

I would like to share a very special letter that I received this past Sunday. By brief word of explanation, this came from a young man around 28 years old who was recently converted out of Is1am. His entire family, with the exception of one brother, all remain Mus1ims at this time.

Because of the war and the education system here in Liberia, people can actually take several years to get through high school. Many are in their 20’s and 30’s before they can afford to complete and gain their high school diploma.

Because of the sensitivity of those who minister in predominatly Is1amic areas, we will refrain from using his name. This young man is growing every week in his understanding of the Scriptures and is…well, I’ll let you read his letter to me which I have transposed just as he wrote it.

Thanks for praying.

*************

Dear Borther Mark,

How are you doing: hope all is Well with you and your family.

You may not understand why I writting you this letter, but if you do not understand, remember me. (He is reminding me who he is again because this was passed to me through one of the other men I am training. This is one aspect of Liberian culture to deal with another through somebody you respect.)

I am using this opportunity to inform you about the hard work you have done for me. I was in darkness, but now am walking in light. Through you my life will improve because of the bible class.

I understand that you want to open bible school in Gbarnga.

I will be going back to school in Gbarnga to complet my high School and I want to be part of this bible school in Gbarnga, because one day I want to become a missionary in my country Sierra Leone.

God bless you.

Signed,

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You Versus God: Who’s View is More Important?

What is more important? What you think of yourself, or what God thinks of you? In our current culture, how we view ourselves is considered of the utmost importance. In fact, many believe that the single greatest thing that we can do for ourselves is to perfect our self image. The greater and more positively we view ourselves, the more likely we will be successful in life. The more negatively we view ourselves, the less likely we will be able to cope with life’s difficulties. On the surface this sounds very compelling. When there are so many people and events that attempt to make us feel like we are worthless or failures, thinking positively seems to make sense so that we can avoid the inevitable depression that would come. Looking at all the positive aspects of our lives, seeing ourselves as good people in the midst of difficult circumstances, would seem to help us because we are not dwelling on the negatives. We are not being drug down emotionally, but we are able to keep our minds free and clear. Thus, it is argued, self image is far more important that anything else.

However, there is an aspect to this that is rarely considered. Self image addresses our perceived needs in the here and now. It concerns itself with how we feel at this moment, how we perceive ourselves in the present. While self image does claim to look back at past mistakes to learn from, and makes the additional claim that it benefits for future life decisions, it primarily concerns itself with our life in this world, at this moment in time. It does not, in fact cannot, deal with what comes after. It can only address how we exist in this life. So, if there is a life yet to come, one which God has much to say about, does it not conclude that solely concerning ourselves with how we feel about ourselves excludes a major aspect of our existence? And if it is how God perceives us that determines our eternal existence, then focusing solely on how we feel in the here and now could well prove detrimental to us. For if we concern ourselves with only how we view our life, then we could well neglect God’s view of us and, by natural extension, live in such a way that brings us into conflict with Him.

We are God’s creation. When God made the universe (see Genesis 1-2) He designed it to declare His glory and majesty (Psalm 19:1). But to whom did it declare? On day 6, God made man. Man was created in God’s image. He was created with the unique breath of life, the awareness of himself, the ability think and perceive outside of basic animal instinct. Man was created with the unique opportunity to understand he was created by God, to be in fellowship with God, to worship and obey God. Man, being God’s unique creation in the universe, finds his being and purpose in loving and worshipping his Creator alone. However, it was in chapter 3 of the book of Genesis where man turned that purpose on its head. At that time, man chose to seek his own purpose, to determine for himself what was right and wrong. In that moment, when man ate of the forbidden fruit, he actively chose to place his desires, his own feelings, over that which God had designed man for. In that moment, man chose how he felt about himself and forever changed his standing before God.

SInce that time, mankind has lived in a state of rebellion against God. Every thought, every word and deed, has been tainted by this desire to satisfy one’s self. And while man does often demonstrate an ability to show mercy, kindness and even love, it is all affected ultimately by the self centered sinfulness that first manifested itself in the garden. If you doubt it, then ask yourself this: who among us can ever say that they have never lied? How about theft, and the value of the stolen item is not the issue. The willful taking of that which is not yours, the depriving of another’s property, ideas or livelihood is theft. What about lust? Some may say that lust is what drives mankind’s ability to reproduce. But is also a demonstration of one’s inability to control the emotional and hormonal drives that God gave us to be used for our spouses alone. The inability to simply bring our thoughts under control when we look at another person again demonstrates how far we are in bondage to sin. What about how we view God? All one must do is look around at the various world religions to realize mankind has failed to acknowledge God as He truly is. From Buddhism to Islam to Catholicism and all points in between, mankind has designed “gods” that resemble the desires of its own heart. Every world religion establishes as system of “good works” that can appease its “god,” hopefully to the point of atoning for the very sins we just looked at. Yet, this demonstrates the fallen nature of man for it demonstrates a “god” that can somehow be bribed or cajoled into ignoring the guilt men have when they sin.

The point of all this is to say that God designed us to be in loving fellowship with Him, yet we have rebelled against Him. Our Creator is now not just the loving God who made us, but He is also the righteous judge who must hold us accountable for the sins we have committed against Him. Where we were once to be ushered into a beautiful, eternal existence with God, we are now barred from such a paradise. Where we were once in a state of being children of the King, we are now condemned criminals, traitors against our sovereign Lord. God cannot view us as positively as we hope to view ourselves. We were created to worship Him, but we have chosen a life of sin against Him.

So we come back to our original question: what is more important, our view of ourselves, or God’s view? If we only were ever to exist in this life, we could say that how we viewed ourselves was very important. But we were created by a being who exists outside of all space and time. We were created to love, honor and worship Him alone, yet we have sinned against Him. The end result is that, when this life ends, we will stand before that Creator, and he will be our Judge. The books of our lives will be opened and every sin we have ever committed will be judged. And like any good judge, God will find us guilty, condemning us to an eternal torment that justly fits our crimes. So the answer is simple, yet very profound, it is God’s view of us that has the greatest importance. And no matter how positively we view our own life, God sees it as utter rebellion. It is not a positive ending we are headed for, but one of eternal suffering.

So, we now ask, if man cannot appease God, cannot atone for himself, what do we do? Should we just “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die?” If we are honest, we have to admit it would seem that if we are to be condemned, should we not just “live it up?” If that were the end of the story, perhaps that would be the answer. But it is not. Remember, God made us to be in fellowship with Him. It is our sinful nature that keeps that from happening, Therefore, God made the way for that fellowship to be restored. We cannot make ourselves “un-guilty” of our sins, Nor can we convince God to simply “forget about it.” So, the only possible means of addressing the consequences of sin was for God to pay the price for it Himself!

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, second Person of the triune God, fully God and fully Man, came to this world approximately 2,000 years ago and did what we could never do. He lived a perfect life, free of sin in every aspect. He perfectly obeyed the will of His Father in every single moment of His life. Then, despite His being innocent of any offense, He willingly, voluntarily placed Himself in the hands of sinful man, endured an unfair trial, was humiliated, beaten and tortured. All the while, He could have called down legions of angels to rescue Him, yet He remained silent and received it all. Then Jesus allowed Himself to be placed on the cross, an instrument of cruel execution. He suffered and died, all the while being reviled by those He came to save. In doing so, He took upon Himself the punishment due for all our sins. The perfect, sinless Son of God took on the righteous and holy wrath of the Father so that the perfect law could be satisfied. We have earned eternal death from God, but the eternal Son died in our place. Then, on the third day after His death, Christ rose Himself from the grave. In doing so, Jesus proved that He had defeated sin and death. His own death paid the price for us, His resurrection secured life for us.

Today, that forgiveness of sins and promise of eternal life is available to us, but there is only one means by which it is obtained. We must acknowledge our that our life is one of wretched sinfulness, and is deserving of the judgment of God. We must turn away from that life of sin and commit ourselves to a life that is pleasing to the Lord. We must trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone, knowing that no work we could ever do would satisfy the law of God. Having total and complete faith that Christ has paid that price and devoting our lives to Him alone.

The question was who’s view of us was more important, our’s or God’s. Clearly, God’s view is the supreme view we must submit to. Yet, God’s view of His own Son is one of perfection and righteousness. If we will humble ourselves, repent of our sins and trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus, then God’s view of Christ is placed on us, rather than his view of of our sins. Place yourself in the hands of Christ. Trust not in your view of who you are, but trust in the holy and righteous God alone for salvation.

Original article posted here.

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Please Pray for Michael

When I am not busy working, raising my family or blogging, God allows me to share the gospel with people in evangelistic endeavors. One such effort was inspired by Tony Miano of Living Waters (who has recently been blogged about here and here). In the picture you see here, I constructed a cross with the words “Are You Ready?” on it. The original intent of Mr. Miano had been to use such a cross in his town as yet another tool to share the gospel. Many other evangelists, including myself, made similar crosses and a small but growing group has been taking the gospel to the streets in this unique manner. But the point of this article is not to brag on our evangelism technique.

Meet Michael. He is the point of this article. I met Michael today on a street corner in my home town where I was out with the cross trying to evangelize. As you can see, Michael spends a lot of time walking the roads and sleeping in the outdoors. When I saw Michael walking down the street towards me, I prepared to hand him a gospel tract, but I doubted he would be willing to stop and talk with me. I was quite surprised when he stopped directly in front of me and asked “Are you a crosswalker?” I explained to him that I was attempting to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people. What followed next was a half hour conversation where Michael explained he had become disillusioned with the “physical processes of life” and was looking to determine if he was something more than a biological machine that simply existed for itself and then died.

I was blessed to be able to share with Michael that he had been created for God’s glory. That because of his sin, Michael stood guilty before God and would be condemned to Hell. Yet, God in His mercy, poured His wrath out on Jesus Christ so that the righteous law of God could be satisfied. I explained that through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, Michael could receive salvation and spend eternity with the God who created him. I explained that God created him so that God Himself could be glorified by redeeming him out of his sinful state. While Michael did not immediately repent and place his faith in Christ, he stated he was very glad to hear that redemption was possible.

After talking for a half hour, Michael and I had to part ways. It was such a blessing to talk with Michael. It was a reminder of how desperately the world needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, that forgiveness is indeed available to wretched and vile sinners. So often we get caught up in discerning false religions and teachers, or we get caught up in the political machinations of the government to shut down the church’s influence, or even in discussing the watering down of the Word that is going on in evangelicalism. And while those can be worthwhile endeavors, the first and primary effort of every Christian is to share the gospel. The souls of people like Michael depend on our daily obedience to the command of Christ to go forth and preach the gospel to every creature. Let us not fail in this, but let us make every possible effort to share gospel with people so that souls might be saved.

Please pray for Michael. Pray that God would keep him safe as he continues to walk the roads and pray that God would lead him to true repentance and faith. Pray that we will one day meet Michael in Heaven.

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What Do You Do When You Ask Jesus Into Your Heart But He Doesn’t Stick Around?

I have heard this story before. A young boy or girl attends VBS and at the end of the week, they raised their hand and said the prayer. Or maybe, when they were older they came forward at the altar call at church or at the local evangelist crusade. No matter the venue, they were told to “ask Jesus into their heart,” and assured that once He came in, life would get better. They were assured they were a Christian now, and were told to never question it, no matter what. The initial spiritual high carried them for a time. They read their Bibles, went to church, talked about how great it was to be a Christian. But in time, the buzz wore off. The feeling just wasn’t there anymore. Other things, people or events just seemed more interesting. Or they began to be ostracized by their peers, so the compromises began. Before long, life was like it was before, or maybe worse because they began to look for other things to fill the void. But no matter how bad it might be, they were still a Christian…weren’t they?

When it comes to the modern day evangelism of “asking Jesus into your heart” there is a very big problem in that it rarely, if ever, addresses the issue that a person is a wretched, vile sinner. A spiritual criminal deserving of God’s righteous judgment. It avoids examining the life of the person under God’s law. It fails to show that when we lie, steal, lust, hate, blaspheme God, or any other sin, we are committing crimes against our Lord. It fails to reveal that on the day that we stand before God, every sin, every thought, word and deed is called into account. And because God is a good and just Judge, He will condemn us to Hell for eternity. It does not explain that the punishment is infinite because we have sinned against an infinite God.

When the church tells a person to, “just ask Jesus into your heart” there is very little weighing of the issue. Very little understanding of the severity of their sins. Consequently, many people will experimentally ask Jesus to become part of their lives without ever turning away from the sinful life they have lead. In other words, because they didn’t understand how wicked they were, they never obeyed the command to repent. They simply saw Jesus as a way to make their life better, or as some sort of “fire insurance.” There was no genuine commitment or surrender of their lives. If that happens, that person is not genuinely born again. And if they are not born again, they are still slaves to their sinful nature.

Often times, churches today will ask people to repeat a prayer, sign a card and get them baptized. Once that is done, they absolutely assure them they are saved and tell them to never doubt it. And if they see that person returning back to worldly pursuits, they claim they are backslidden, a person who is a Christian, but is actively sinning.

Such an evangelistic program, while certainly adding numbers to church roles, actually does more damage than good. The problem is twofold. First, the Bible tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith. Both the books of James and 1 John help us examine our walk to see if we are actually producing fruit that is consistent with a born again Christian. That doesn’t mean that once a Christian gets saved he is suddenly perfect, but what is the course of his life. If a person can look at their life and see that it is, bit by bit, growing in a God honoring direction, then they can see true spiritual fruit that is consistent with being born again. But if they look like the rest of the world day to day, if there is no brokenness, no desire for true repentance, then it would become prudent to ask if they were ever actually born again.

The second problem with the modern day gospel presentation is that it ignores the truth of false converts. In the parable of the soils, Jesus taught of two groups of people who spring up as apparent converts upon hearing the gospel. However, in due time, they fall away either because of the cares of the world or from persecution. The falling away demonstrates that they never were in the faith to begin with. So when the church baptizes someone and assures them they are saved without ever looking at the fruit of their walk, it can actually add numbers of false converts to the list.

So what does all this mean for you the reader? Well, the first question would be to ask yourself if you are truly saved. Examine your walk in the light of the Bible. Do you truly love the Lord? Do you desire to obey His commandments above all else? Do you hate your sin because you love Lord and don’t wish to sin against Him? Or do you care more about the things of this world? Is the only time you feel bad about sin is when you have to suffer the consequences?

If it is the former, I would encourage you to dig into the gospels again. Learn what it is that Christ did for you because He loves you. Gain assurance by preaching the gospel to yourself daily. But if it is the latter, then you need to repent of your sins and trust in Christ now. You need to get saved for the first time. What happened before may have only been an experimental attempt, but one where, like so many others, you never truly repented and trusted in the Savior. If that is so, then examine your life, understand that your sins are an offense to God deserving of judgment. Yet know that His Son died to pay the price that you deserved. Turn away from those sins and trust in the Savior today.

(Note: this article is also published on my personal blog at fernleycrossguy.wordpress.com)

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Christians Are We Ready?

Maybe I am overstating the obvious here, but the Christian church has lost a lot of ground with regards to homosexuality. I’m not talking about on the legislative or protest front, I’m talking about in our preaching and teaching of the gospel. We are losing and the culture is looking at us as old, fuddy-duddies who simply haven’t got a clue.

In truth, I have to admit, when it came to discussing homosexuality, this was an area I just stayed out of. I simply believed I was going to get steam rolled if I ever tried to talk about it, so it just didn’t seem worth it. And it’s not like there isn’t evidence to support this. How many videos have we seen of Christians being escorted by police away from homosexual events or neighborhoods. The animosity from the homosexual community toward Christians is pretty well documented. So honestly, I felt justified in staying away from the matter.

But I realize now that I have done a disservice to the gospel. In fact, I would wager that I have sinned by unilaterally deciding to never deal with the issue. I say this because I never bothered to dig into scripture and learn how to defend what God teaches on this matter. I never learned how to explain how homosexuality was still wrong while eating shrimp was fine. I never learned how to preach the gospel compassionately and lovingly to a person who was struggling to understand how their attractions could be an affront to the God who created him. I simply just didn’t want to do it.

Now, all one has to do is peruse social media and blogging sites to see the prevailing attitude among our culture. Young people have no clue what the Bible says about homosexuality. And what little they think they know is grossly wrenched out of context. But the sad truth is that many Christians know less about this issue, biblically speaking, than those whose voices are being the agent of change in our culture. We simply don’t know how to defend the faith, and we look like fools when we try. So the culture throws the out of context verses at us, along with emotionally charged rhetoric, and we either respond with half thought answers, or we fold under the pressure. The result is that immorality grows unabated and the church loses more influence everyday.

So how do we address this? Well, it certainly isn’t going to be through protests, legislation and lawsuits. Just watch the evening news to see how well that battle is going. What’s worse, because there is no gospel centeredness in such efforts, all we appear to be are hate mongering jerks who want everyone to do things our way.

I believe that we as a church must first start by educating ourselves in the scriptures. And this means doing a lot of hermeneutical homework. We have to understand the passages of scripture, and their contexts, with regard to homosexuality. We also have to understand the passages the world loves to use to point out the so called hypocrisy in what we obey (such as the prohibitions to the Jews to wearing blended fabrics or eating shellfish). We have to understand for ourselves the differences between moral and civil laws and know what it is Christ really said about marriage. If we don’t take the time to do this individually, we will be ill prepared for any conversation that comes up. Incidentally, a good resource on this, which has prompted me to reconsider my involvement, is Dr. James White’s response to Matthew Vines (a young homosexual who spoke at a church regarding homosexuality not being sinful). Dr. White spent five hours on his webcast dissecting Mr. Vines’ speech and addressing the very issues we see being brought up today. He has made this response available as a download. You can find it on the main page at www.aomin.org. Please consider downloading and listening to this resource.

Once we have spent the time learning what the Bible really says, we need to start taking this out into the world to share. And I don’t mean go on some holy crusade to lash out at people on websites or get into arguments with people at protest rallies. I simply mean that as we talk with people, as we share the gospel, be prepared to answer this matter biblically. When the subject comes up with friends, relatives and co-workers (trust me, it will), give loving and compassionate answers straight from God’s word. Also, let us discuss this matter within our own homes. Face it, our husbands, wives and children are being exposed to this everyday. All you have to do is turn on the evening news and it’s right there. We have to raise them up in the scriptures so that they too will have a firm foundation to stand on.

Finally, let us be about our Father’s business of preaching the gospel at every single opportunity we have. Let us do so with great love and compassion, knowing that we too are sinners, but have been saved by the grace of Christ alone. While it is very easy to look at the agenda of the homosexual lobby and become angry, let us never forget that those lobbies contain hundreds and thousands of lost souls desperately in need of the gospel.

We have lost so much ground because, as a church, we have not invested the time to learn the right answers. We have lashed out angrily, we have given weak answers that toppled with a mere shove, or we have cowered into our philosophical corners and let the issue march right by. Yet, we serve a great and powerful God! His gospel is the power of salvation to all mankind! Let us not retreat in fear, let us not strike out in anger, but let us proclaim the truth to all mankind in love so that sinners might be saved. In doing, we might just change the attitude of our culture because people will be getting saved and led by the Spirit. Let us engage the culture and let us stand on God’s word alone.

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Would You Please Watch This and Consider Sharing It?

In recent weeks, I have been making efforts to effectively use social media to share the gospel with people online. While my efforts are meager, I pray that God would bless them and perhaps lead even one person to salvation through them. To that end, would you please take the time to watch the video below and share it with someone you know? I pray that this simple message would cause people to stop and think about where they stand with God. Thank you.