the gospel message

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A Burden for the Churched

This morning, as I listened to Greater Vision sing “Just One More Soul,” I began to reflect once again on the message of that song. It was the perfect encouragement I needed, as I prepare for another year of conferences and ministry. For those who don’t know, I have the blessing of traveling with my brother as he ministers to people and challenges them to examine their worldview and make sure everything they do is from a Biblical perspective.

Although he has done some street witnessing, prison ministry, etc., most of our outreach is to professing Christians, and those are often the ones I have the greatest burden for. In our travels, we meet a lot of neat people, some of whom are on fire for the Lord and are striving to raise their children to have that same fervor. But many seem to be stressed and depressed, weighed down with the things of this world. Then there are those who are just biding their time, waiting for the service to be over so they can go get together with their friends or go home and watch TV.

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It seems like so many today don’t really care what the Bible teaches. “If it feels good, do it” still permeates our society. If you want to watch movies filled with sex and violence, that’s fine. It’s just a movie. If you’re tired of your wife and you find someone else who will make you “happy,” go for it. But let me interject here that nowhere in the Bible does it say that God wants us to be happy. It does say He wants us to be holy, and that is missing from the lives of so many who claim to be saved.

Hebrews 6:4-8 says, “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.”

I believe this speaks to those who say, “Lord, Lord, did we not do all kinds of things in Your name?” And, yet, the end result is that they did not live for Him on earth, so He had to turn them away from the gates of Heaven.

As I write this, my spirit is heavy. I see a world lost and dying, and I feel helpless to do anything about it. The truth is, however, that I can pray. I can live a life that pleases God so that He can use me for His glory. I can be faithful in the little things He has entrusted me with so that He can eventually trust me with bigger things. I can draw nearer to Him every day so that His voice becomes ever clearer. The answer is not to give up, but to press on with more determination than before.

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and this repentance must begin in the house of God. You may have sung as a child, “Lord, send a revival and let it begin with me.” May that be our prayer today. If the church begins to see true revival, I believe it will spread to the rest of the nation. Lord, hasten that day!

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Leslie Land – A Testimony of Grace

Testimony of Leslie Land (from Mack Tomlinson Author of In Light of Eternity)

[ Leslie Land (1903-1986) one of the closest friends of Martyn Lloyd-Jones in England. Both of them pastored in England at the same time, and while Lloyd-Jones became known world-wide, Land was virtually unknown all his life outside his own small circle of influence. But they shared an intimate friendship and fellowship between them. – Mack T. ]

In 1949, Leslie Land, speaking on why everyone is not a Christian believer, expressed his testimony about becoming a Christian. Speaking of the church he attended, he said–

“I could ‘hear and hear’ gospel sermons, perhaps preached with the very heart-blood and passion of a consecrated preacher, but I still could gaily persist in withholding my heart, the yielding of which would have involved a radical revolution in my pitiable self-centered existence.

But the time came–I cannot tell you the day or the hour–I cannot relate a crisis or give an exciting testimony–the time came when Jesus ‘came alive’ and real to me. I heard the gospel message, really heard it, listened to it with my whole being, and gave my God-aroused imagination to it. I felt–I still do feel my heart beat a little faster whenever I hear or preach the gospel of the redeeming love of God in Jesus Christ. ‘All within me leaps to greet Thee’ . . . I looked and looked, and now I saw Calvary as the place where my sin and my self-centered life were crucified and put away forever . . . I shall never forget the sight! And I shall go on telling, in different ways and in different expressions, this saving, dynamic, explosive love of God in Jesus Christ, in the hope and the simple faith that every time I tell it, backed up by the prayers of a praying people, someone here or there, by the impact of God’s Spirit, will be stirred out of their ease and complacency in sin.

What was it, you say, that held me back so long? Oh, it was self-centeredness, so entombed in my ego-centered outlook and sin, fooling around in the basement of life.“

– Leslie Land
A Prayer of Leslie Land for Personal Renewal and Usefulness

“We thank you, Lord, for saving us. We thank you for warning us and telling us what to expect. Now come to our hearts afresh. May we be found among those who love your appearing and are ever on our Father’s business. Send us out with a holy desire to live more for the things that matter, and to expend less thought and energy on the things that are rapidly passing away.

“So shed abroad your love in our hearts, that we might be able to breathe this prayer, and dare to say, ‘Even so, come Lord Jesus, come and cleanse us; come and sanctify us; come and make us whole, that we might be ready for you to come. For Jesus’ sake’.”

HT: http://jeremybstrang.com

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Your Only Hope – Christ Alone!

Dr. Steve Lawson produces an amazing impromptu message on the gospel. Truly, this is the only Biblical gospel that can and must be preached in the world today for there is NO HOPE in anyone or anything else. Flee to Christ while there is yet time!

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The Most Terrifying Truth of Scripture!

The gospel cannot be made any clearer than this. This is the message that is simple and free to all who will come and plead for mercy at the feet of a holy, righteous God.

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Scam Into Blessing – Part 17

Later that afternoon, Pastor Togba was expecting another guest from America. The guest was coming from Maryland in the United States. The little church that was hosting this pastor was just about one mile down the road from Maranatha Baptist where Pastor Togba was the pastor. Like many small congregations, they did not have a facility for their guest to stay, so had enquired as to whether Pastor Togba and his family would allow this man to be a guest in his home to which he graciously agreed. While the little church was charismatic in nature, Pastor Togba and his dear wife were very gracious and counted it a privilege to open their home to strangers.

A special project that had begun the night before was being concluded when we arrived. A unique custom found in parts of Africa is for the congregation to give an offering to purchase whitewash. As a sign of honor to their coming guest, many within the congregation would gather at the home where the guest would stay and completely whitewash the concrete or mud-brick home.

This small congregation had purchased what they could probably not really afford. They had then walked and worked in the oppressive heat just to make Pastor Togba’s home look a little nicer and cleaner with the new whitewash.

The day had finally arrived for their guest to arrive. Food and cool bottles of water waited on the table, and after two days of working to whitewash the house, the congregation stood patiently under the porch for their guest. The time for his arrival came and quickly went and still they waited. It was beginning to grow dark as the preacher finally made his appearance about three hours late! And it was definitely a dramatic appearance!

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Scam Into Blessing – Part 16

One by one, 35 pastors and church leaders lined up shoulder to shoulder behind me as they looked back out at the remaining seated congregants. As I turned to face the 35, I looked into the eyes of each individual and quickly realized that not included in the group who had walked forward were the three pastors who had been involved in the original attempt at duping me at the airport.

Seated behind the 35, Pastor Togba was looking at me and waiting for a response. His look seemed to be a mixture of surprise and an acknowledgement in the sure expectation that the Lord was doing great things in the country of Liberia.

My first response was, “Pastor Togba, I was not expecting this. What should I do now?”

Pastor Togba responded, “Pastor, do what you believe the Lord would have you to do!”

While I had been praying that people would respond and come afterwards to speak with either myself or Pastor Togba, I was not expecting in any way that they would of their own accord make such a public declaration before their peers. Up to that point, it had been my intention to conclude with a brief lesson that summed up the three days of teaching. Instead, I turned my attention to the 35.

The outside world blurred into insignificance along with all the problems that had brought me to this point. Facing away from the audience of on-lookers, I briefly summarized what had been heard from Paul Zawolo regarding his own faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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