Thursday, 31 October 2013

Resurrection of Jesus is believers assurance

The Lord Jesus Christ said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25-26).
Good Friday, when we remember the cruel death of Jesus Christ on the cross, is a day that man made because of sin. But Resurrection Sunday is God’s Day. He made it. Only the power of God could have raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Man’s deepest yearnings for life, power, and hope find fulfillment in the meaning of Easter. Resurrection speaks of life.

Secret instruction for dear one

My Dear, this is a secret only for you. I am telling you this in this late at night when all seems are sleeping. :

If you want to be happy and God be with you, NAVIGATE your Bible daily, surf through the pages with prayer. Always pray to God whether you do work, walking, driving, reading, eating,drinking,sleeping, sitting or any.
Yes, no need to close eyes always. Call on Jesus. Inform Him what you want to do or are doing. If so, He will guide you and save you from doing wrong. Then, you will always be happy and very lively to do all your duty. You will enjoy doing and never tired as Jesus will help you. Always doing with pleasure means success is heading.
Yes, pray for others, too. Pray for others is one of the best way to demonstrate our 'Love for others'. Remember, our Lord and Saviour Jesus told us to 'Love other as He loves us."
You know prayer goes like a wind. You can not see it and do not know how it travels. But it is blowing.Your secret prayer blows and move the object ( the persons for whom you pray) when God answer your prayer and God always answer earnest prayer for others. As far as possible, do not tell them that you pray for them if you pray that they may stop their bad habit. Just pray for them secretly, God will bless you too when He bless them.

Go!

Evangelism, like following Jesus, is all about going to where the broken and the lost and theforgotten are and loving them as Christ loved us. It’s not, I am convinced, about finding new ways to get them to come to us on our terms and to learn to believe the way we believe. Jesus commanded us to “Go” and the command is still valid today. If we have any hope of accomplishing this command, it will only be as we go out in the power of the Holy Spirit and as we cooperate with Him in the process. Evangelism is also more than simply telling people something they don’t know yet. It’s not about information. Without the evidence of a life that is being transformed by the power of this message, the message itself is useless and without evidence. Evangelism is something we must be willing to live out, to demonstrate daily to others around us without relying on words alone. We can only accomplish this in the power of the Holy Spirit. We have to intend to live a life that bears witness to the transformational power of Christ. It will mean a full surrender. It will require great faith. It will not be easy. It will not be quickly accomplished. There is no formula. It is not for the faint of heart. Nevertheless, if you call yourself a follower of Christ, then you have already entered into an agreement to follow Him with your whole life. You’ve already taken on the job of ambassador. Your life is already being directed into the path of surrender and daily dependence upon Him. I encourage you to engage others in conversation. Tell your story, and listen to their story. Share your experiences with God in natural ways, not rehearsed speeches, but with a genuine voice of concern and compassion. Love others the way Jesus loved you. Invest in people. Trust that God loves them far more than you ever will, but ask God to teach you to love them more anyway.

For Here?

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus declares that we, His followers, are the salt of the Earth and the light of the world. I believe this means God simply wants us to be who we are, and what we are, no more and no less. Jesus makes the point that salt is for being salty and if it doesn’t do that it is worthless. He explains how light is meant to be seen in the darkness and if you light the candle and then hide it, what good is it? This illustrates the futility of attempting to be something other than what we are. Sometimes we think that to be a good witness for Jesus we have to be the most holy and perfect person in the room. We have to smile as much as possible. We have to wear a mask of holiness and be careful not to let anyone see weakness or doubt orfailure in our lives.

I can remember once when my Dad came home from work and told me that, after months of trying to be a witness in his workplace he had discovered something unexpected. When he was doing his best to appear “Godly” in front of his co-workers, they kept him at arms length and avoided him. That day he had been in a conversation with a co-worker who was not a Believer and he had accidentally cursed out loud in his frustration. His co-worker sat back and stared at my father in shock and disbelief. Then my Dad hung his head and apologized for his coarse language, admitting that he struggled sometimes in this area. His friend leaned forward and began to ask him about his faith. He wanted to know where my Dad attended church. Over the next few weeks this man would come around and ask my Dad questions about the Bible. What had happened? My father had simply let his mask fall to the ground. He had confessed to his friend that he was a sinner and that he needed the Gospel himself.

Jesus called us salt and light. It only takes a small flicker of light to push back an ocean of darkness. It only takes a few grains of salt to season a steak. Too much light only blinds those who are searching. Too much salt ruins the most succulent of meals. I found myself wondering how great it would be if Christians around the nation would begin to take down their masks and just be who they are in front of their co-workers and neighbors. Instead of pointing our fingers and saying, “You sinner! You need to repent and receive the Gospel!” maybe we should be saying,

“I am the wretched sinner who needs the Gospel. Here are the ways I would be hopeless without Jesus.”

Maybe then people could see our small, flickering light? Maybe then they might taste the small grains of salt upon their tongues?

Doubt

Jesus is our blue-print for life in the Kingdom of God. It’s a life that starts here and now, and continues each and every day that we live and breathe on this planet. It involves living today as if God were on the throne of this Earth ruling it as King, right now. We don’t have to wait until that day comes, we are invited to live under His rule and reign today. Jesus said we cannot enter the Kingdom and follow Him unless we daily die to ourselves and obey His teaching. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom which Jesus came and died to preach and communicate. There is no other Gospel in the Scripture. The Gospel of Jesus is the Gospel of the Kingdom. Grace is an integral part of the process for those who hope to follow Jesus. Without Grace we could not hope to daily surrender our lives and fully submit to God’s will in favor of our own desire. Grace does not cancel out our daily need to surrender to Jesus as our Lord.

The phrase “Jesus is Lord” is powerless unless we actually live it out in our lives every day. Without the daily act of surrender, it’s simply a pointless bumper sticker slogan. Simply put, the Gospel of the Kingdom has been drowned out by the more popular televangelical version of the Gospel that says, “Repeat this prayer after me and you can go to heaven when you die.”

A by-product of this kind of teaching has been the cheapening of the decision to follow Jesus with your whole life. Instead the calling to follow Jesus is treated so lightly that I’ve seen Christians urge total strangers they’ve only just met seconds earlier to pray and ask Jesus into their heart so they can go to heaven when they die. It’s almost as if they believe that this magic prayer will take anyone to heaven if they say it twice and click their heels together. Instead, I would urge us who follow Jesus to allow people around us to get to know Jesus first, and maybe then they can make an informed decision about whether or not to surrender their life to follow after Him.

There’s a great story about the great evangelist Charles Finney who would regularly tell his converts that they were not truly converted to Christ. Imagine that. A famous evangelist urging his newly converted to doubt their faith in Christ.

The story goes that he would cast doubt upon their faith in Christ and send them away saying, “I don’t think you really are a follower of Jesus yet.” After a few weeks the person would invariably return after a season of introspection and declare that they were now a true follower of Jesus. Finney would then find a reason to doubt them once more and send them on their way again. Eventually the person would return, declaring with fire in their eyes that they “knew” they were a follower of Jesus. When Finney could no longer dissuade them he would let them go with a nod, “You might actually be a follower of Jesus after all.”

If anything, Finney employed doubt to test the faith of those who claimed too eagerly to be genuine disciples of Christ. Whether or not you agree with Finney’s tactics, please don’t treat the decision to follow Jesus too lightly. These days we are far too eager to ask a total stranger to pray on the spot to receive Jesus, before they’ve even really understood who He is or what such a decision might mean to their life. I believe the decision to follow Jesus is more like a commitment to enter into a life-long marriage and less like the decision to rent a movie. We would never counsel someone to go into a marriage quickly, and yet we are sometimes over-eager when it comes to pushing people to enter into an eternal relationship with Jesus.

I would suggest we let people have a chance to get to know Jesus before we push them into praying to receive forgiveness and follow Him. They need to know who He is first. Can you imagine a total stranger coming up to you on the street and leading the conversation in such a way that you felt compelled to marry his daughter as fast as possible? Who is this guy? What is his daughter like? Why is he so eager to get her married off? All of these questions would be flashing into your brain as this stranger tried to convince you that all you had to do was to repeat the vows after him and everything would work itself out later. If you were wise you would flee from that person as fast as possible. Yet, this is almost exactly the sort of witnessing and evangelism that many Christians practice, or at least visualize, when it comes to reaching others for Christ.

Jesus does not force Himself upon us. Do not force Jesus onto those who do not know Him yet or who are not ready to make this life-changing, eternal decision. Better yet, try living a life that bears witness to the compassion and humility of Jesus each and every day. Maybe then people will actually ask us why we live this way and what it was that transformed us into such patient, compassionate, loving people. Then we can make sure we are prepared to give to every man an answer, a reason for the hope that lies within. Let’s live a life that provokes the question rather than throwing around the answers to questions that no one is really asking.

k � r��e” (Matthew 19:26).

Out of the Comfort Zone

When I really get down to analyzing my own personal comfort zone I have to admit that it’s the part of me that I have not yet surrendered to Jesus. It’s the small, precious part of my life that I just want to hang onto and keep for myself.My comfort zone is the last bit of ground where I keep my own dreams, my own personal territory where I hoard the things that I am afraid to give up to God.

The one thing in the world that Jesus wants most from me is exactly that part of me that is still unsurrendered. He wants the part of us that we don’t want to let go of. More than anything else, He wants that last piece of our heart that we’re afraid to give to Him. Maybe you know what I’m talking about. Maybe you have that one small part of your life that you’re still afraid to give to Jesus, because if you do you’re not really sure what He will do with it. Maybe God will screw up your life if you surrender that last bit to Him? Will He ruin your plans? Will He jack up your dreams? Are you sure you can really, really trust God with this one, precious thing?

Our comfort zone is that last part of us that we’ve yet to lay on the altar to Him. Maybe we’ve given him 99% of our selves, but it’s that last 1% that we’ve held back, whatever it may be, that Jesus wants most of all. It’s what He suffered for. It’s what He died for. It’s all of you. I think really our ability to trust God is a huge issue in our day and age. We have difficulty trusting

God because so many of us have been abused by people in authority over us. We’ve been exploited, even by the people in the Church who should have loved us and empowered us.

Somehow we’ve got to reach a place in our walk with Jesus that we trust Him with everything. Do we love God more than we love our comfort zone? We cannot remain in an attitude of fear.

We cannot be afraid that we’re going to loose what we’ve been given in Christ. We cannot build containers to hold onto the blessings of God. We are called to give it away. We’re called to give away the blessings. We’re called to give away the Kingdom. We’re called to give even our very lives away to others so that they might see the love of God and turn to Him.God can be trusted. He’s demonstrated this upon the cross. He humbled Himself and became a servant to us all. He submitted Himself to us. He bowed down and became a servant to us. He emptied

Himself of His power and position. He willingly surrendered to our brutality and He endured the shame that was intended for us. His cross demonstrated that even though He has all power and all authority at His command, He will not use it to exploit us or to harm us.

If we can look upon the face of Jesus, beaten and humiliated in our place on the cross of shame, and still doubt His love for us, or doubt that He wants what is best for our lives, then we have no hope of every fully trusting and loving anyone in our lives. “Freely you have been given, freely receive” -Jesus (Matthew 10:8)

”Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” - Jesus (Matthew 10:39)

Don’t let that one simple thing you’re holding on to keep you from fully receiving the great riches that God has in store for your life. Let go of it. Surrender it to Jesus today. Receive the treasure He has buried for you along the way.

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.” - Jesus (Matthew 13:44)

The truth is that God does ask you to give up something when you come to Him. It’s called “Everything”. That’s all He wants from you. Just everything. The Good News is that what you give up will never compare to the boundless riches of His Kingdom. When the Rich Young Ruler went away from Jesus because he was unable to sell all that he had to give it to the poor, Jesus turns to His disciples and encourages them by saying “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

What is the thing that Jesus says is impossible for man? It’s giving up our material possessions in exchange for the Kingdom of God. What is it that He says is possible with God?

It’s the ability to let go of our worldly wealth and possessions in order to gain the incomparable treasures of The Kingdom. The response of the disciples to these words from Jesus is also worth noting. Peter asks Jesus what will become of them since they have left everything to follow him (in Matthew 19:27).

It was true. Each of the disciples had walked away from their day job to dedicate themselves to Jesus as apprentices. Peter and his brother, on the day of the largest catch of fish in their careers as fishermen, left the fish dieing on the beach to follow Him. Matthew, the tax collector, stood up and left the money on the table in the middle of the day to follow Jesus.

Each of the disciples, in his own way, turned away from his life and gave it up to discover a new way of life. In response to Peter’s question Jesus makes an astounding promise that I’m certain almost no one really believes. He said, “I tell you the truth…no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will

fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age…and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10:29)

Here Jesus assures those who give up worldly possessions and even family relationships, will receive back one hundred times as much. Not just in Eternity, after death, but here and now, in this life on Earth. Jesus promises more than a one-for-one repayment for what is given up for the sake of following Him. He promises more than a ten percent return on your investment. He promises more than you can imagine; One hundred times as much, in this life and in the life to come.

Do we believe Jesus? Do we have the faith to trust Him in this promise? Can we really let go of our dreams, our hopes, our plans, our security, our comfort, our money in exchange for an abiding and enduring trust that He is faithful and true to His word?

The Hard Question

In thinking about what it means to be a missionary to my community and culture, I’ve had to ask myself, “Do I have any meaningful relationships with non-Christians?”

Honestly, the answer is that I don’t know too many people who are not Christians. This means that I need more practice at being missional. Jesus was a man of scandalous inclusion. He

regularly spent his time with known drunkards, and prostitutes, and people commonly referred to as “sinners”. He hung out with people you and I would never dream of hanging out with, and not as an outreach, but simply because he loved them and wanted to have a relationship with them.

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire

mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”- Jesus (Matthew 9: 10-13)

God’s heart is for those who are the least and the lost. If we’re honest, we’d be scandalized to find out our pastor was spending time partying with the prostitutes, drunkards and ‘sinners’ in our community. Yet this is where Jesus was most often to be found, at the home of someone the righteous would never be caught dead with. In my own heart, I want the scales to fall off so

I can really love people the way Jesus did. I want to love them for who they are, not judge them because of what they’ve done. This means risking my own reputation in favor of caring for the unlovely.My own scandalous inclusion could result in my being radically excluded from many “righteous” gatherings. Am I really ready to make that choice? Can I learn to love that way?

The Mission

Recently, my wife and I felt a calling from God to leave the local church we had helped to plant. The dream God had given us was to start a new sort of a church, one where everyone took following Jesus seriously, where the practice of compassion to others was expressed in the giving of 100% of the offering to the poor and the needy. Our conviction was that everyone who called themselves a follower of Jesus was, by default, a missionary to their culture. Because we wanted to be reminded of this, we called our new church, “The Mission”.

Our challenge has been to inspire this sort of activity within our own weekly house church gathering. While we’ve called ourselves, “The Mission,” not everyone has come to the place where they have their calling figured out completely. This is where discipleship comes in. Our goal is to lovingly assist everyone in our house church to discover their gifts, their talents, and their mission field.

Part of what inspired us to start a house church was the idea that we, as followers of Jesus, should imagine the Church less in terms of where we meet, or the building we gather in, and more in terms of who we are and what we do. Our goal is to learn what it means to “be the church” and not to just “attend a church”. Our assumption is that “being the church” is what Jesus had in mind for us in the first place. Jesus did not suffer and die to commission a Body of Believers whose only goal and aim was to meet once or twice a week and have a little meeting.

He intended that we would be His full-time ambassadors to the world, living His teachings with our entire life, every single day.

The Christian life isn’t lived on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. That might be when we meet and sing songs together, but that’s not where the Christian life is actually realized.

Fellowship is great. Corporate worship is great. Sermons are great. But when we live for God, I believe we engage in the best form of worship possible. (See Romans 12).

Conversation, Community,Conversion

While it’s already been established that Jesus had no real formula when it came to evangelism, it does seem that that there are several guiding principles that can help us in our pursuit of a more missional way of life. The first thing we see is the absence of an “any size fits all” approach to sharing the Gospel message. Instead, Jesus employed a tailor-made, “this is just for

you” style of evangelism. He took the time to get to know people. He listened to them speak first. He spent hours in prayer with the Father, and when it came time to answer the question, “What must I do to be saved?”

He communicated the necessary information in a way that the person asking could understand and receive the truth.The only formula I can see, at a very basic level, begins with conversation. We have to learn to communicate well with others. The first and greatest secret of good conversation is simply utilizing your listening skills. People want to share what’s in their

heart with someone who genuinely cares to know. We have to develop a heart for others and that begins with knowing them in an intimate way. We can’t learn to really know someone or

begin to love them until we’ve listened to them. I’ve always loved the phrase, “Listening to someone is so much like loving them that most people can’t tell the difference.” It’s true.

We can fulfill the command of Jesus to love others simply by closing our mouths and laying aside our prepared speeches and evangelistic jargon in order to listen to the people around us with sincere compassion.

So, we begin with conversation, which at some point leads to community. By this I mean that, as we listen to others we begin to develop a sense of commonality. We identify the areas where we have things in common and as we build on these we soon discover a bond which goes beyond casual acquaintance and moves into friendship. Through this ongoing relationship we

eventually earn the right to be heard by them. Because we’ve spent so much time listening to what is in their heart, we develop credibility with them. Our opinion, suddenly and miraculously, actually matters to our new friend. Because of this new, genuine relationship, the Gospel message finds the fertile soil necessary for conversion to take root and germinate. Our role in this process then is simply obedience to God and the practice of unconditional love towards everyone God leads into our path. So, the pattern, if we must have one, would look like this:

1) Conversation

2) Community

3) Conversion.

Discovery

My friend Paul was sharing with me a story about a recent trip to the mountains where he had an odd spiritual experience. It all started while walking with some of his friends along mountain trails on their way to an overnight camp out. As he was crossing over a stream along the way he randomly picked up a rock to take along with him, something he did quite often on

treks such as this one. It wasn’t a particularly interesting or colorful rock. He really had no specific motive for picking it up initially other than that it was black and it felt good in his hands. Almost reflexively he pulled the rock from the cold water, dried it on his shirt, and placed it in his pants pocket as they continued up out of the stream and up along a newfound trail.

As the group of friends made their way up the mountain they happened to pass an older gentleman coming down the same trail. After a brief bit of friendly chit-chat one of Paul’s friends asked the older man if he had any words of wisdom for their group.

“You mean, like a mantra or something?” the old man asked. “Yeah, something like that,” Paul’s friend said. The older gentleman took a short moment to reflect and then he said, “I’ve got just two words for you,” he said. “The first is ‘Immanuel’, and the second one is ‘Maranatha’.” The group nodded their heads and smiled, and after a bit more chit-chat the two groups parted.

The Problem

In many ways, the Church in America has created its own problem. We have retreated into the safety and comfort of our own little sub-culture. We’ve re-made the world in our image and have been content to exist within this artificial reality while we pray for our Savior to come back soon, judge this sinful world, and lead us into everlasting joy. The problem with the Christian Subculture is that it isolates us from the world we’re supposed to have a positive influence on. One by-product of the Christian Subculture is the sense of antagonism it creates. The “Us vs Them” mentality begins to dominate our thoughts from behind our wall of safety and comfort. Keep in mind that most of this “comfort” and “safety” is made up of materialistic goods and services, as if our descent into Christian Consumerism would ever hope to change us, or the World around us in any way.

We’ve probably all had the opportunity to hear this mentality verbalized as something like, “If only those sinners would get saved, the world would be a much better place.”

You can substitute the word “sinner” for anything such as “Homosexual”, “Liberal”, “Atheist”, “Agnostic”, “Criminal”, etc. It really doesn’t matter what word you place in that sentence. The heart of the matter is still the same. We, who call ourselves followers of Jesus, tend to point the finger and shake our heads and blame the moral decay of our nation on “Those People” who are not like us. The idea being that, if there were more people in the world just like us, then everything would be perfect...because of course, we are so much better than all of “Those People” who are not good like we are. In 2 Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 14, we read a most interesting idea set forth by God Himself. This passage is not uncommon among those who call themselves followers of Jesus. We quote it now and again, but I suspect we miss the real point that is being made more often than not.

God says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Did you see it? God speaks to those who are “called by (His) name” and says that the healing of their land, their Nation, is held back because of their own lack of humility, their own lack of prayer, and their own unwillingness to seek His face. It’s amazing to me that God holds His own people accountable for the healing of their land. What He says needs to happen first is that we humble ourselves. That means we don’t use statements like “If only those people would be more like us, everything would be wonderful.” Humble people don’t talk like that, or think that way either. I hate to break it to you, but God will not hold the Homosexual Agenda accountable for the Spiritual health and direction of this nation. He will hold you and I responsible.

Not a Christian Anymore

“I don’t call myself a Christian anymore,” John said. The passengers in the car with him all turned their heads and blinked. “What do you mean,” the driver asked, “You mean you’re not a Christian?”

John turned to the driver and shook his head. “No, I mean if a Christian is someone that claims they are following Christ, but is ok with living a worldly lifestyle, or is someone who has no concern for the needy and the poor, then that’s not a person I want to be associated with. When people hear the word ‘Christian’, what they think of is the televangelist conning old women out of their social security money, or some guy in a three-piece suit telling people that God wants to make them rich. That’s not what a Christian is to me,” he said.

John had spent the weekend with these three other gentlemen on a fishing trip to the mountains.

None of them were very close friends, but they shared a common love of fishing, and a faith in Christ. At least that’s what they had all assumed at the beginning of their trip.

“You can’t do that,” the driver said. John looked over at the man. “Do what?”

“You can’t just decide to stop calling yourself a Christian because you don’t want to be associated with a certain group of people,” the driver said.

John smiled and said, “Why not? I mean, on the other hand I don’t think any of us measure up to what a real, Biblical Christian looks like. When I read the book of Acts and I see their radical compassion for the poor and their willingness to sell property and possessions to share with anyone in need, I’m blown away because I’m not even close to having that kind of faith in God,” he said. “What right do I have, do any of us have, to compare ourselves to people like that who had faith to give up everything to follow Jesus?”

As the discussion raged on, one of the four men sat quietly in the back seat and stared out the window. He was not much of a talker by nature, as the rest of them had already discovered early on in their weekend together. After the storm of dialog had quieted down he cleared his throat and said, “I’m like you, John. I call myself a Christian too, but I’m not a loving person.

Religion of Compassion?

One of the most disheartening things, when you listen to non-believers talk about why they are not followers of Jesus, is to hear things like, “My boss is a Christian and he’s the meanest person I know,” or “Our neighbors are Christians but they are just as screwed up as we are, why would I want to join them?”

One thing that’s clear when we look at the early church is the fact that they were living radically different lives from the Jews and pagans around them. It was the curiosity such living provoked that drew the majority of early converts towards the “Jesus way of life”.

Early Christians did not pass out printed tracts about salvation, they did not market their religion, and everyone knew that to join them meant becoming an outcast within the culture, possibly even arrested and put to death because of aligning oneself with Christ.

Yet the early church grew by leaps and bounds.Hundreds of thousands of people gave up their lives to follow this Jesus, in spite of the lack of evangelistic crusades and the threat of persecution. Why is that? Many scholars are convinced that the lifestyle of those first and second century disciples was, in itself, the main reason. Some even suggest that their

lives of service to the poor and their inclusive nature was as important as the miracles performed in their midst by the Apostles, perhaps even more important. Historian Henry Chadwick, for example, attributes the practical application of Christian charity as the “most potent single cause of Christian success in the ancient world” and German theologian George Krestschmar has said that it was not so much the miraculous signs and wonders that followed the early church but the unbelievable conduct of the Christians that had such an impact on the world of its day. He calls this, “the propaganda of the deed” where the generosity of the early church spoke louder than the word of doctrine or the healing of the infirmed. It was the overwhelmingly generous lifestyle of those early believers that transformed the world and overcame the threat of horrific persecution. Their lives demonstrated that Christ was more than powerful enough to change their hearts and the evidence of this power was their ongoing care for others.

The sad truth is that, in our day, especially here in America, the line separating the pagan and the selfproclaimed Christian is difficult to see. You don’t have to read too many Barna or

Gallup polls to see that attending church services and proclaiming oneself to be “Born Again” doesn’t automatically make any noticeable difference in the sort of life you may live on a daily basis. Many experts on Church Growth and Evangelism see a direct correlation between the lower ethical standards of those who claim to be Christian and the kind of evangelism we’ve been practicing for the last century. “They’ve simply believed the story we told them,” says Todd Hunter, President of ALPHA Ministries USA. “We’ve made the story of the Gospel

reductive in the absurd,” he says. “It’s like that old bumper sticker that says, ‘Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven’. Is that all we are? Just Forgiven? What about living a life of radical transformation where we are learning to live our lives like Jesus?”

Granted, the sound-byte culture we live in has encouraged the Church to present a watered-down version of the Gospel to the world around us. Most have heard our story over and over again and have decided that it doesn’t work. The real question is what sort of Christianity are we calling people to? Are we really calling people to surrender their lives to Christ? Do we even really know what we mean when we say this?

Are we asking the wrong questions?

HAVE YOU EVER FALLEN IN LOVE?

If you’ve ever fallen in love you know that it’s a scary, delicate and uncertain process. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we get in the way of the natural progression of things. Other times we fall in love and we can’t even fully explain how and when it really happened. All we know is that one day we woke up and realized that we could not live without this other person in our lives. There is no science to the process of falling in love.

What I think we fail to realize is that, conversion to Christ is really a process of falling in love with Jesus over a period of time. When we attempt to make conversion to Christ a process that

involves a series of pre-determined steps and a progression of words, or a specific prayer, we have seriously interfered with the process. Falling in love is something that is far outside our ability to grasp and it’s impossible for us to coordinate this from the outside.

I can remember when I fell in love with my wife, Wendy, back in college. I can remember that first time I ever saw her. I was sitting on a bus that was headed for a leadership conference across the State. Several of us were attending this event with an oncampus student ministry. That’s when Wendy walked into my life. She boarded the bus with her blue-jean backpack slung over her shoulder. Her beautiful blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, exposing her gorgeous blue eyes and her wide, wonderful smile.

As she walked towards my seat and eventually sat in front of me I remember thinking, “Wow. Who is she? I’ve not seen her around campus before.”

Before the bus left the parking lot she and I were engaged in small talk. By the time the bus got in motion, however, we had both settled back into our seats. We barely interacted for the rest of the trip.

A few weeks later I joined the drama group she was leading, just to be near her. Over the next few months I got to know her better. Our first few dates were awkward and we very nearly abandoned our relationship because of the difficulties we were having with communication and trust. But one night we spent a few hours on the phone talking things out and ended up praying together that God would either bless our relationship, if it was “meant to be”, or let it die since it wasn’t going so great anyway. After that night our relationship improved dramatically. After formally dating for a few months I asked her to marry me and a year later we were married. Now, what if I took my own personal experience of falling in love and created a formula by which all others who wanted to fall in love must follow? Would that make any sense? Would that be wise? Would it work?

Patterns of Evangelism

Patterns of Evangelism

One thing that’s also helpful to me is to realize that, contrary to popular opinion, there is not a formula to evangelism found in the New Testament. Several times in the Gospels we see various people who come to Jesus and ask point blank, “What must I do to be saved?” One of the most shocking things is that Jesus never gives the answer that all of us have been trained

to give. Not once. Jesus never says, “Confess your sins, believe in me and repeat this prayer after me.”

What we see is that Jesus gave a different answer to this question every single time. He never gave the same answer twice. It’s as if Jesus goes out of His way to demonstrate to us that evangelism needs to be done in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, being sensitive to the specific heart of the one person we are speaking to, and not applying the cookie cutter approach to preaching the Gospel.

Let’s look briefly at the various answers Jesus gives to those who approached Him asking about what must be done to inherit eternal life and see what we can learn from Him. To Zaccheus Jesus simply acknowledges him in the crowd, invites himself to dinner and when Zaccheus repents of skimming from the taxes he’s collected, Jesus proclaims that salvation has come to

his household. In the case of the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus commands him to sell everything he has, give it to the poor and become a disciple under Jesus. The man refuses and is allowed to walk away, seemingly unconverted.

Do Not Worry

Jesus tells us not to worry. Jesus not only comfort but is able to give us if we ask Him according to His teachings – be receiving Him as Lord and Saviour.

Comforting us,Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? .”(Matthew 6:25- 26)

Jesus continue to say comforting us “²⁷Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ²⁸“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? (Matthew 6:27- 30)

Jesus continue to comforting us and say “ ³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:31- 34)

(Matthew 6:26- 34)

Jesus tells us not to worry. Jesus not only comfort but is able to give us if we ask Him according to His teachings – be receiving Him as Lord and Saviour.

JESUS COMFORTS US saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

Do you believe in Jesus?

If yes, then, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” (John 14:1), by obeying Him as He also says, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 14:23)

JESUS COMFORTS US , saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Jesus loves us so much that He does not requires us any hard work but to be with Him. He assures us that Jesus will produce good work (bear fruits) in us if we rely on Him and be in Him, which He asserts by saying, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Our much teaching to be good and do good works must be preceded by receiving Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour. He says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34)

Jesus also says, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” (John 14: 15-17)

To all who obey Jesus and receive Him as Lord and Saviour, God will send the Holy Spirit, the Helper to obey Jesus, live a good life and do good work. For which, we must pray continually, study His words in the Bible every day.

Social Leprosy

In the book of John, Jesus prays for those who would follow His teachings after He ascended into heaven. What I find fascinating is that Jesus began by praying for what He didn’t want to pray. Yeah, it sounds strange, doesn’t it? Why would anyone ever start praying by asking God for what they were not asking? Maybe the clue is in what it was that Jesus didn’t pray. He says, “I pray not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the Evil One.” (John 17:15)

Why did Jesus pray this way? I think it’s because He understood human nature and He knew that, soon after His ascension, we would want to remove ourselves from the world around us.

We’re not comfortable hanging out with those sinners. More often than not, we treat the lost, those outside the Church, as if they had some sort of “Social Leprosy”. We’re afraid we’ll catch what they’ve got, so we avoid contact with them. Instead, we create Christian versions of the world so that we never have to interact with these “Social Lepers”. We have our own Christian Radio Stations, Christian Yellow Pages,Christian Coffee Shops, Christian Book Stores, and all sorts of private avenues where our contact with non-Christians is mercifully minimized.

I’m convicted when I realize that Jesus didn’t even treat people who had actual leprosy this way, and yet I treat those who think differently than I do as if they had some infectious disease that I might catch if I’m exposed to them for any extended period of time.

Jesus expected that His disciples would be salt and light in the world, not hiding under a basket waiting for the second coming.

God Bless Who Receive His Forgiveness

1. WE NEED THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD

Sin brings all the problems and suffering in life and death to all. The Bible tells us that we are all have sin and need the forgiveness from God.

"There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." (Ecclesiastes 7:20) "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

We have all done things that are displeasing to God, which makes us deserving of punishment. Since all our sins are ultimately against an eternal God, only an eternal punishment is sufficient. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1John 1:8 )

All sin is ultimately an act of rebellion against God (Psalms 51:4). As a result, we desperately need God’s forgiveness. If our sins are not forgiven, we will spend eternity suffering the consequences of our sins.“Then they (sinners) will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. ” (Matthew 25:46)“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:36).

2. GOD WANT TO FORGIVE YOU

The only way to be saved from sin is to receive the ‘forgiveness of God’ and become His child. God is so loving and merciful - eager to forgive of our sins and make us His children.

“God is Love”(1John 4:8)"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." (John 3:16-17)
"…He (God) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." God desires to forgive us, so He provided for our forgiveness. ( 2Peter 3:9)

"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you." (Acts 13:38)

The word "forgive" means to wipe the slate clean, to pardon, to cancel a debt. When we wrong someone, we seek their forgiveness in order to restore our relationship with them.

Forgiveness is not granted because a person deserves to be forgiven. No one deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is an act of love, mercy, and grace. Forgiveness is a decision to not hold something against another person, despite what they have done to you. The only just penalty for our sins is death. "For the wages of sin is death…" (Romans 6:23)

Eternal death is what we have earned for our sins. God, in His perfect plan, became a human being – Jesus Christ.

“In the beginning was the Word (Jesus Christ), and the Word (Jesus Christ) was with God, and the Word(Jesus Christ) was God.” (John 1:1). “The Word (Jesus Christ) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14).

Jesus died on the cross, taking the penalty that we deserve – death.

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (II Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus died, taking the punishment that we deserve! As God, Jesus' death provided forgiveness for the sins of the entire world. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)Jesus rose from the dead, proclaiming His victory over sin and death (Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-28).

3. RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST

God offer the forgiveness of sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. "…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

Forgiveness of your sins is available if you will place your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. God’s word says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

Jesus paid our debt for us, so we could be forgiven. All you have to do is ask God to forgive you through Jesus, believing that Jesus died to pay for your forgiveness – and He will forgive you!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." (John 3:16-17)

You can’t earn forgiveness from God. You can’t pay for your forgiveness from God. You can only receive it, by faith, through the grace and mercy of God. If you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and receive forgiveness from God, here is a prayer you can pray. Say this prayer fully trusting in Jesus Christ that He can provide forgiveness of sins.

"Father in Heaven, I am a sinner and am deserving of punishment. Now, I understand that my Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to save me from the punishment. I thank You for such wonderful love. I, therefore, invite and receive my Lord Jesus Christ to become my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life in His hand and entrust Him to direct my life in Your will. Please give me the Holy Spirit to help and guide me live a worthy life as Your child, in Jesus name, Amen!"

4. LIVE A GODLY LIFE

If you pray the above prayer, having complete faith in God and His word written in the Bible, your sins have been forgiven by God. You have become the child of God, by being ‘born-again spiritually’, as the Bible says,

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)

Thank God that He has forgiven your sin and given you eternal life through Jesus Christ. Start living as His child. Study the Bible daily and always pray.

Ask leaders of the church to baptize you. Attend the Church regularly. Study the words of God in my books and sites, besides the Bible to grow in spiritual life.

A Blessed Life in Jesus

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