by Tim | Mar 18, 2010 | God, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
One reason we refrain from sharing our faith is that we really don’t feel we have much of a faith to share. And we might be right about that. Few know where to turn in Scripture to share salvation outside of John 3:16. And when we evaluate our relationship with Christ, we don’t feel like we have much to say. What can we discuss about Jesus and who He means to us? What personal witness of Jesus’ message do I have? Even if someone was eager to learn about becoming a Christian and wasn’t argumentative…do I even know what the Gospel is? As a result, we leave the responsibility for spreading the faith to the marketing efforts of our church to the unchurched so that they can hopefully hear something about God Sunday morning from an educated preacher or teacher. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with distributing promotional materials about our church. Or people hearing about God from the preacher. But we have almost made this the primary way to share our faith–hoping that unchurched people will come. That is why Sunday morning worship at church has become so targeted at seekers today–everything is catered to the unchurched. Is this God’s intent for our time of corporate worship of Him? What many are starting to realize is that this model continues to perpetuate weak Christianity in the lives of the average church-goer. They do not know how to do anything else but come to church, hear a message, and leave. They think this is what Christianity is largely all about! To be fair, some churches who follow this model also...
by Tim | Mar 17, 2010 | God, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
It is embarrassing that we would need to consider such a question. The accusation that sharing “good news” is somehow hateful or mean seems odd. Isn’t the message of Jesus we share all about love? Yet, I understand why we pose the question. After all, although there is great news, there is also “bad” news. Not all truth is pretty. But that’s just the reality of life. We Americans need a reality check. We think that loving others is doing/saying to others what we would vainly want them to do/say to us (a misrepresentation of the Golden Rule). In other words, we think this is “love”–making people feel good. Everyone has a hard time hearing truth about ourselves. And when the truth ain’t pretty, it is important to share it carefully, no doubt. I have encountered quite a few examples of people preaching to other people (in the pulpit or one-on-one) in manners that are less than cordial. This is unacceptable. Often, this occurs because someone is more concerned with spreading their cause in efforts to feel better about their own self rather than out of genuine concern for the people to whom they are sharing it. As frustrating as this can be to hear people blasting other people, the correct response to this is not to shun speaking the truth. Too often, we react by saying, “Let’s stop talking about hell, because we don’t want to be associated with those Hell-fire and Damnation preachers!” or, “Let’s stop talking about sin because of those legalistic hypocrites who preach about it all the time!” No–when the truth is being used...
by Tim | Mar 15, 2010 | God, Hell, My World, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
In a recent post, I already touched on hell, but focused mostly on those around the world who have never heard the Gospel–is it fair they go to hell? If you are interested in that topic, I suggest you read that post. In today’s post, I want to focus on my next-door neighbor or the people in our own communities. Most of them have already heard the Gospel at one point in their life. They can’t claim ignorance. Yet they have refused to give their lives over to Christ. Why as churches are we not motivated to reach out to the large number of people who refuse to trust Christ with their lives? Why are we not passionate to reach them? I only see this passion when it comes to growing our churches. I believe there’s a difference between really trying to reach people for Christ and trying to grow our church. Why are there so many “church growth” mega-conferences, best-selling books, models out there, but very little when it comes to investing in people who don’t know Christ? It is a shame that so many of us church leaders think these are one-in-the-same, but that is another topic altogether. I think too many Christians (especially in the South) want to assume that these people in our communities are generally “good folks,” and we have bought into the lie that people around us don’t need to believe in Christ–in the end, they won’t really go to hell, will they? We just think it would be a good idea for them to start coming to church. It would “help them...
by Tim | Mar 13, 2010 | God, Hell, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
Enough about what I have to say about all these subjects I’ve been blogging about lately…it’s good to hear from other people, who often say it better than I ever could: FRANCIS CHAN Out of all the well-known Christian pastors/speakers out there today, I connect with and respect Francis’ message over and over. This video is Francis’ message from last Sunday. The video is 50 minutes long, so move on to the next source and plan to watch it later if you don’t have the time right now. It’s excellent, of course. It deals quite a bit with specific disagreements over Scripture (Old Testament and New) that I heard while at my former church. About halfway through the video and on is what I’m referring to, but the first part of the video should not be skipped, because it is the foundation for the second part. By the end of the video, if you think the point of the message was about condemning a pastor’s wife–you couldn’t be more wrong and need to re-watch the video. It was totally all about me. And I’ve gotta believe it’s all about you, too. If you need to, watch it again. Here are my notes I took from the video, and the video is found below my notes: Scripture teaches that God doesn’t listen to everyone’s prayers. Don’t Expect God to Answer Your Prayers If: 1. you don’t honor your wife (1 Peter) 2. you have unconfessed sin (James) 3. you’re asking for things to fulfill your own passions/desires (James) 4. you are doubting the whole time (James) 5. you’re not taking...
by Tim | Mar 10, 2010 | God, The Church World, The Gospel |
Last night, one of the Bible stories that I read to Naomi and Rachel was the story of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with perfume using her hair. Simon, the owner of the home where this occurred, is disappointed that Jesus is letting such a sinful person carry out such behavior. Jesus’ reply made me think of the messages of my recent posts. I know some may be growing tired of hearing about hell, judgment, wrath, sin, the Fall, etc. It certainly isn’t uplifting material. Or is it? Jesus’ reply was, “Those who have been forgiven much, love much.” There is worry today among church leadership about decline in church attendance, giving, etc. Statistics show that most denominations are declining in almost every statistical item that can be quantified. This may or may not be a bad thing. (I think outward statistical progress doesn’t necessarily reflect inward progress.) I do, however, think that in general, there is one factor of enormous importance that is indeed affecting a decline among “church-going Christians.” Because we don’t realize how much we’ve been forgiven, we don’t seem to love God very much. Even if you disregard numerical statistics, take a look around the average church today. Where is the passion for Jesus? Do you see it in the eyes of the congregation as they worship? Do you see it in their insatiable hunger for pouring through God’s Word? Do you see it in a renewed fervor to abandon their life of comfort and live as Christ lived? Do you see it in their tireless efforts to share salvation with friends, co-workers, neighbors?...
by Tim | Mar 8, 2010 | God, Hell, The Church World, The Gospel |
Without any intro, here’s their argument: —————————————————————— THE WORLD’S NOT GOING TO HELL If there was anyone who was humble who walked this earth, it was Jesus. The Son of the Most High God was born as a helpless baby. He didn’t own any earthly possessions. He was ridiculed, but turned the other cheek. He allowed himself to be crucified by merciless men, asking God to forgive them all the while. Over and over, He reminded us to show mercy. His big procession was on a lowly donkey. Over and over, He didn’t want it to leak out that He was the Son of God. He was a man of humility. As followers of Christ, we are to do the same. So many people today in the name of Jesus arrogantly go around, trying to convert people to Christianity–as if they know the truth and everyone else is in darkness. How arrogant! Do Christians have a monopoly on truth? Isn’t God’s truth sprinkled in other places–in other faiths–as well? Didn’t Jesus die for the sins of the entire world? These Christians claim that if you don’t convert, you’ll go to hell. Does this sound like Jesus’ teachings? Is that what Jesus would do? ——————————————————————– The world is going to hell? That sounds judgmental, doesn’t it? In today’s world, any such assertion will be met with quite a bit of resistance. The root of that resistance will be: that can’t be God’s way. If there is a God, He loves everyone. If He inflicts wrath like that, surely He isn’t a good God! But is that how Scripture looks at...
