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  “²⁷ Can 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. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If 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 “ ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore 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.

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  “²⁷ Can 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. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If 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 “ ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:31- 34)

JESUS COMFORTS US

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.