Faith and God
John MacArthur on hearing God's voice, and the sufficiency of Scripture
20/May/2010 04:57 PM
I meant to post this a month ago when I received this letter in the mail from John MacArthur. Once again, I’ve “stumbled” upon yet another “sermon” telling me to trust in God’s word alone when seeking to hear from God.
I’m going to quote John MacArthur in a letter that we received a few days ago from Grace to You. Unless otherwise noted, all underlined emphases are MacArthur’s, though I added the section headings.
God told me…
There’s a phrase that has taken hold in Christian conversation — one you’re probably familiar with. Whether you heard it from a preacher on television, from your own pastor, a believing friend, or during a religious radio broadcast, I’m sure you’ve heard someone, somewhere say the words, “God told me ______.”
Hearing the voice of the Lord is not a new idea. I’m sure you could cite several biblical examples of God’s speaking to His chosen people to communicate to them His will. On a few extraordinary occasions in Scripture, whether through His Spirit or in an audible voice, God provided specific, practical instructions directly to individuals.
Many believers today want to have that same kind of experience. They want personal, spiritual direction from the Lord. Attempting to receive guidance from God, they listen longingly for His audible voice or wait for some intuitive, emotional prompting or impression that will unveil His will for their lives.
But that kind of communication, whether it’s audible or intuitive, is not trustworthy. In fact, it’s useless — and can even be dangerous.
Why isn’t it trustworthy? To begin with, there’s no valid way to discern divine truth in what a person hears or feels. Experience is unreliable because it’s always subjective. There are no means set forth in the Bible to test or prove or discern the meaning of some inner voice or prompting you may think you heard or felt. In fact, Scripture never gives believers even the slightest encouragement to listen for private revelations from God.
Danger within and without
To put it in practical terms, how could we objectively know the difference between the moving of God’s Spirit within us and a bad case of indigestion? If you’re earnestly looking for a personal, unique word from the Lord, what’s to keep you from misinterpreting your common, everyday aches and pains — or thrills and euphoria — as direct revelation? Using your own experiences to determine divine truth gives too much weight to your own perspective and interpretation. Scripture says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26). The church does not receive new or private revelation, either corporately or individually. Scripture clearly warns against adding to the completed revelation given in the Bible (Revelation 22:18).
In our fallen state, we simply lack any mechanism to discern divine thought. We can sometimes look back on events and see how the Lord orchestrated circumstances to accomplish his will, but we cannot reliably discern His thoughts in the midst of a situation. We don’t have the capacity to comprehend how He’s moving in our lives until He’s already moved — and even then, we can’t appreciate the full magnitude of His supernatural work.
Furthermore, hearing a voice doesn’t necessarily mean what you heard is correct, or that it’s even from God. To hear a voice and assume it’s the Lord is a huge leap — especially when there is no definitive way to know whose voice it really is. Televangelists, in particular, are prone to jump to that conclusion. But just because you hear something doesn’t mean it was the Lord.
Is there a reliable way to distinguish between the sound of God’s voice and that of a demon? Even if what a person hears or feels seems to match up with Scripture, how can he be sure he’s not being manipulated by demonic forces? Listening for ambiguous, mystical messages provides Satan with all sorts of opportunities to tempt, confuse, pervert, and deceive. Earnestly hoping to hear from the Lord doesn’t mean you’ll only hear from Him.
Does God communicate with us?
So if we can’t clearly or objectively determine whether what we’re hearing and feeling is truly coming from the Lord, how do we legitimately receive communication from Him? What reliable source can you turn to for God’s instruction in your life?
The only trustworthy source of divine truth, guidance for your own spiritual growth, and instruction for the church is the written Word of God. No emotional urging or mystical experience can trump the concrete, fundamental truth God has given us in Scripture. Does God still speak? Yes, but not in an audible voice. He speaks through the pages of Scripture.
The Bible alone has survived the test of time, and countless attacks from doubters, liars, and heretics. Its objective truth is proved every day in the transforming work the Lord accomplishes through it. Even the apostle Peter, who witnessed Christ’s transfiguration firsthand, heard the voice of the Lord numerous times, and performed miracles himself, counted Scripture as “a more sure word” — the final word regarding God’s revelation (2 Peter 1:19).
What drives the quest for hearing God’s voice?
If all that’s true, why do some believers still look beyond the Bible for a special, personal word from the Lord? At the heart of their desire for fresh revelation is a fundamental lack of faith in the absolute sufficiency of God’s Word. They simply don’t believe the Bible gives enough answers for the problems and struggles in their lives; or they don’t grasp the degree to which Scripture is living and active — that it is God speaking to us clearly and distinctly.
This paragraph really stuck me! A lack of faith in the sufficiency of God’s Word - that’s not good. After all, God DOES tell us that Scripture is all that we need for every good work in life:
“All scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
I trust that you’re not entertaining that kind of thinking. If you reject the sufficiency of Scripture — or even if you simply look to supplement it with fresh, personal revelation from God — you cut yourself off from the only reliable source of God’s truth. The Bible isn’t a book of static, lifeless words. It’s alive and active in the hearts of God’s people. It’s the vessel through which the Lord performs His transforming work, sanctifying and shaping us into His likeness. It’s not simply the record of what God has said in the past — it’s what He’s saying to you and me every day. His Word remains perpetually applicable and relevant.
Because God does speak to His people through His Word, there’s no more serious undertaking than studying the Bible. Understanding biblical doctrine isn’t an academic pursuit for believers — it’s knowing His mind. By studying Scripture, we’re able to grasp His instructions for all matters of life and godliness.
-----------------------
Why is it that so many people want to look everywhere for God, except the Bible? Dreams, Visions, “Fresh Revelations,” inner feelings, etc. God has, and is speaking to you right now, through 66 love letters in the Bible. He’s waiting for you to dig into it!
I’m going to quote John MacArthur in a letter that we received a few days ago from Grace to You. Unless otherwise noted, all underlined emphases are MacArthur’s, though I added the section headings.
God told me…
There’s a phrase that has taken hold in Christian conversation — one you’re probably familiar with. Whether you heard it from a preacher on television, from your own pastor, a believing friend, or during a religious radio broadcast, I’m sure you’ve heard someone, somewhere say the words, “God told me ______.”
Hearing the voice of the Lord is not a new idea. I’m sure you could cite several biblical examples of God’s speaking to His chosen people to communicate to them His will. On a few extraordinary occasions in Scripture, whether through His Spirit or in an audible voice, God provided specific, practical instructions directly to individuals.
Many believers today want to have that same kind of experience. They want personal, spiritual direction from the Lord. Attempting to receive guidance from God, they listen longingly for His audible voice or wait for some intuitive, emotional prompting or impression that will unveil His will for their lives.
But that kind of communication, whether it’s audible or intuitive, is not trustworthy. In fact, it’s useless — and can even be dangerous.
Why isn’t it trustworthy? To begin with, there’s no valid way to discern divine truth in what a person hears or feels. Experience is unreliable because it’s always subjective. There are no means set forth in the Bible to test or prove or discern the meaning of some inner voice or prompting you may think you heard or felt. In fact, Scripture never gives believers even the slightest encouragement to listen for private revelations from God.
Danger within and without
To put it in practical terms, how could we objectively know the difference between the moving of God’s Spirit within us and a bad case of indigestion? If you’re earnestly looking for a personal, unique word from the Lord, what’s to keep you from misinterpreting your common, everyday aches and pains — or thrills and euphoria — as direct revelation? Using your own experiences to determine divine truth gives too much weight to your own perspective and interpretation. Scripture says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26). The church does not receive new or private revelation, either corporately or individually. Scripture clearly warns against adding to the completed revelation given in the Bible (Revelation 22:18).
In our fallen state, we simply lack any mechanism to discern divine thought. We can sometimes look back on events and see how the Lord orchestrated circumstances to accomplish his will, but we cannot reliably discern His thoughts in the midst of a situation. We don’t have the capacity to comprehend how He’s moving in our lives until He’s already moved — and even then, we can’t appreciate the full magnitude of His supernatural work.
Furthermore, hearing a voice doesn’t necessarily mean what you heard is correct, or that it’s even from God. To hear a voice and assume it’s the Lord is a huge leap — especially when there is no definitive way to know whose voice it really is. Televangelists, in particular, are prone to jump to that conclusion. But just because you hear something doesn’t mean it was the Lord.
Is there a reliable way to distinguish between the sound of God’s voice and that of a demon? Even if what a person hears or feels seems to match up with Scripture, how can he be sure he’s not being manipulated by demonic forces? Listening for ambiguous, mystical messages provides Satan with all sorts of opportunities to tempt, confuse, pervert, and deceive. Earnestly hoping to hear from the Lord doesn’t mean you’ll only hear from Him.
Does God communicate with us?
So if we can’t clearly or objectively determine whether what we’re hearing and feeling is truly coming from the Lord, how do we legitimately receive communication from Him? What reliable source can you turn to for God’s instruction in your life?
The only trustworthy source of divine truth, guidance for your own spiritual growth, and instruction for the church is the written Word of God. No emotional urging or mystical experience can trump the concrete, fundamental truth God has given us in Scripture. Does God still speak? Yes, but not in an audible voice. He speaks through the pages of Scripture.
The Bible alone has survived the test of time, and countless attacks from doubters, liars, and heretics. Its objective truth is proved every day in the transforming work the Lord accomplishes through it. Even the apostle Peter, who witnessed Christ’s transfiguration firsthand, heard the voice of the Lord numerous times, and performed miracles himself, counted Scripture as “a more sure word” — the final word regarding God’s revelation (2 Peter 1:19).
What drives the quest for hearing God’s voice?
If all that’s true, why do some believers still look beyond the Bible for a special, personal word from the Lord? At the heart of their desire for fresh revelation is a fundamental lack of faith in the absolute sufficiency of God’s Word. They simply don’t believe the Bible gives enough answers for the problems and struggles in their lives; or they don’t grasp the degree to which Scripture is living and active — that it is God speaking to us clearly and distinctly.
This paragraph really stuck me! A lack of faith in the sufficiency of God’s Word - that’s not good. After all, God DOES tell us that Scripture is all that we need for every good work in life:
“All scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
I trust that you’re not entertaining that kind of thinking. If you reject the sufficiency of Scripture — or even if you simply look to supplement it with fresh, personal revelation from God — you cut yourself off from the only reliable source of God’s truth. The Bible isn’t a book of static, lifeless words. It’s alive and active in the hearts of God’s people. It’s the vessel through which the Lord performs His transforming work, sanctifying and shaping us into His likeness. It’s not simply the record of what God has said in the past — it’s what He’s saying to you and me every day. His Word remains perpetually applicable and relevant.
Because God does speak to His people through His Word, there’s no more serious undertaking than studying the Bible. Understanding biblical doctrine isn’t an academic pursuit for believers — it’s knowing His mind. By studying Scripture, we’re able to grasp His instructions for all matters of life and godliness.
-----------------------
Why is it that so many people want to look everywhere for God, except the Bible? Dreams, Visions, “Fresh Revelations,” inner feelings, etc. God has, and is speaking to you right now, through 66 love letters in the Bible. He’s waiting for you to dig into it!
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The Shack and how God speaks to us
25/April/2010 07:49 PM
I recently reread Dr. Normal Geisler’s book review and critique of “The Shack.” The section below was of particular interest to me as this topic of “hearing from God” seems to something I’ve been bumping into a lot lately. Personally, I don’t need any special “revelation” or voice from God, because I already have one - a big one - the Bible. Every time I take even a small amount of time to study the limitless revelation from God, I’m spoken to by Him. Challenged, encouraged, rebuked, instructed, loved, guided.
The full article can be downloaded here. See tag on the sidebar for more on the Shack.
Problem Three: The Rejection of Sola Scriptura
The Shack rejects the sole authority of the Bible to determine matters of faith and practice. Rather than finding a Bible by the altar in a little old country church and getting comfort and counsel from the word of God, he is instructed to go to an empty shack in the wilderness with no Bible and get all he needs to cope with the tragedies of life from extra-biblical voices. The Shack’s author rejects what “In seminary he had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture.... God‟s voice had been reduced to paper.... It seemed that direct communication with God was something exclusively for the ancients.... Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book” (63).
However, the Bible clearly declares that “Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, emphasis added). Indeed, our comfort is not found in extra-biblical revelations but is realized in that “through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). In short, the Bible is sufficient for faith and practice. No new truth beyond the Bible is needed for doctrine or living the Christian life. Of course, this does not mean that God cannot bring biblical principles to our minds when needed through various experiences, even tragic ones. He can and He does. Nor does it mean that God cannot guide in circumstances that help us in the application of biblical principles to our lives. He can and He does. But these experiences bring no new revelation. They are merely the occasion for God focusing our attention on the only infallible written source of His revelation, the Bible and the Bible alone.To forsake this fundamental principle is to leave Protestantism for Mysticism.
The full article can be downloaded here. See tag on the sidebar for more on the Shack.
Problem Three: The Rejection of Sola Scriptura
The Shack rejects the sole authority of the Bible to determine matters of faith and practice. Rather than finding a Bible by the altar in a little old country church and getting comfort and counsel from the word of God, he is instructed to go to an empty shack in the wilderness with no Bible and get all he needs to cope with the tragedies of life from extra-biblical voices. The Shack’s author rejects what “In seminary he had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture.... God‟s voice had been reduced to paper.... It seemed that direct communication with God was something exclusively for the ancients.... Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book” (63).
However, the Bible clearly declares that “Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, emphasis added). Indeed, our comfort is not found in extra-biblical revelations but is realized in that “through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). In short, the Bible is sufficient for faith and practice. No new truth beyond the Bible is needed for doctrine or living the Christian life. Of course, this does not mean that God cannot bring biblical principles to our minds when needed through various experiences, even tragic ones. He can and He does. Nor does it mean that God cannot guide in circumstances that help us in the application of biblical principles to our lives. He can and He does. But these experiences bring no new revelation. They are merely the occasion for God focusing our attention on the only infallible written source of His revelation, the Bible and the Bible alone.To forsake this fundamental principle is to leave Protestantism for Mysticism.
40 Days after the 40 Days - My 40 Day Fast
12/April/2010 04:33 PM
Now that 40 days have passed since I finished a 40 day fast, I thought I’d put down a few thoughts about my experience in order to encourage others to think about exercising the spiritual discipline themselves. I can’t believe how fast these post-fast 40 days have gone by!
Right off the top, I will say it was a great experience! I saw answered prayer, experienced deeper self control (a fruit of the spirit), got far healthier (cleansed), dropped 34 lbs, and got a “brand new body” so to speak and completed a life goal.
In the last 10 years I’ve done 1, 3, 5 and 10 day fasts. I’ve always wanted to do a longer fast, as I read about the health and spiritual benefits, and read testimonials from others who had completed what seemed like an “impossible task” that only the “super spiritual” could do.
Right off the top, I will say it was a great experience! I saw answered prayer, experienced deeper self control (a fruit of the spirit), got far healthier (cleansed), dropped 34 lbs, and got a “brand new body” so to speak and completed a life goal.
In the last 10 years I’ve done 1, 3, 5 and 10 day fasts. I’ve always wanted to do a longer fast, as I read about the health and spiritual benefits, and read testimonials from others who had completed what seemed like an “impossible task” that only the “super spiritual” could do.
WHY NOW?
Every time I did a “longer fast,” and by that I mean at least 5 days, I realized such physical benefits, that I declared that “I should do this regularly!” Indeed, I know I should be (and want to) fast 3 days a month, as well as do a 7-10 day spring cleaning every year. But alas my discipline has been lacking. At any rate, over the last few years my body has been giving me the signs that it is time to fast, and “reset the system.” As I approach 40 (this November), my moderate exercise program, and physically demanding show, are not enough to hold back creeping weight gain when faced with months of cruise ship and resort food, food “on the road,” and meals by the excellent cook who is my wife.
As a Christian, it’s normal, and expected to fast. Jesus said in Matthew 9:15, And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. NLT
I will list some resources below for Christians who are interested in fasting. Anything I write will not do any more justice to what has already been written. For me, I wanted to grow deeper in my faith, experience a greater discipline, and see the blessings that the Lord may see fit to bestow through fasting, be it, answered prayer, a closer relationship to him, or simply a healthier body.
Once you start to research fasting you will start to read about all kinds of testimonials of people healed of ailments through fasting. Things like eczema, hemorrhoids, improved diabetes, arthritis, cancer and many others. It’s hard not to get excited about the physical & health benefits. Sometimes I felt bad that I was thinking about that and not focusing only on the spiritual. An article at a www.freedomyou.com really spoke to me about this.
There is an article on the helpful www.freedomyou.com site called “Motive is Everything.” Its found here: http://www.freedomyou.com/fasting_book/Motive_Is_Everything.htm Below is an excerpt that I found really helpful.
In saying all this, I am not convinced fasting for purely health reasons is wrong. At least it is honest. Did Jesus heal for healing sake? Yes, of course He did. Healers love to heal.
Your body will call you on a fast. I know when it is time I need a fast. Diet has slipped; sneaky food addictions start showing up here and there, less mental clarity, spotty skin. One may say, well, that is not a spiritual fast! Wrong! I no longer separate spiritual fasting and fasting for health. They are intertwined. The very desire to be clear minded, vital, overflowing with energy and cleaned of any addiction is for the glory and work of God. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Keep it clean and free from addiction.
Let me tell you a secret but you must not breathe a word. Many people begin fasting with the honest desire to heal, only to find themselves face to face with their own spiritual need. And guess Who shows up? God can deal with truth, its all the phony cover-ups we put up that He hates so much. Your fast will only be as good as the motive.
In mid January, I looked at myself. I was in the worst shape of my life, hitting the highest weight I’ve ever been - 203 lbs. My whole life up until my mid thirties I was always in the mid 180s. I do work out and exercise regularly, and also have a physically demanding show. But nothing seemed to bring my weight down more than a few pounds. And so, I decided it was time to do a fast. I started, with a goal of 10 days, and a “dream” of making it 15 days, I told my wife. As I got going and began to do research, and particularly as I started to read about how you need a longer fast to really do some serious good cleansing wise, I starting to think about 40 days. www.fasting.com has some pretty compelling information about longer fasting. They suggest that a total body cleanse, properly done, needs to be “your age plus 17 days” not including entrance and exit days. That’s seemed quite long and due to a vacation schedule, I had only about 45 days available for it to work logistically. None the less, somewhere in that first 10 days, I decided to go for it - 40 days.
HOW
I’ve never done a water fast, and you can read all about that type of fasting on other sites. I’ve always done juice fasts, and for that you need a good juicer. When I did my first 10 day fast, 10 years ago, I was looking for a good juicer, and my research led me to The Champion Juicer. http://championjuicer.com/ It would appear that I made a good choice, as many sites still recommend this one as one of the better ones.
Basically if it’s a fruit or vegetable, this thing can juice it! Every day I would mix a concoction of several fruits and vegetables, enough to fill a pitcher that held 3 large glasses of juice. I would make it all in the morning, about a half an hour job from start to cleanup. And then have one 8 ounce glass of juice for each meal, and water in between. Carrots, apples, oranges, celery, cucumbers and peppers were staples, but I had many other things over the weeks. Cantaloupe juice turned out to be amazing. For the most part, I went with what I thought might taste good, and they had at the grocery store. About 50% of my creations tasted “good”, about 25% tasted, so-so, and about 25% were “chug only” or you wouldn’t get it down.
HUNGER
The first week is probably the hardest week, as far as hunger pangs go. I enjoyed the challenge from a discipline point of view. Basically saying to yourself “I’m not going to eat, for God’s glory, so just have a drink and get on with your day.” There’s no doubt about it that you will have hunger pangs over your fast, but you will be very surprised at how normal you can function on juices! The juicer is acting like your digestive system. It’s your body’s “juicer,” taking the nutrients and vitamins out of the food you eat. But when you juice, it’s all done for you ahead of time so that your body can rest, and work on healing, and cleansing.
SPIRITUAL FOCUS
Each day I would pick a different person or topic to focus on for prayer that day.
I prayed for several different people and things throughout the fast, including the country of Iran. During this time, I can say I've gotten closer to God, and more specifically, have matured in the fruit of the spirit, in self control.
As a matter of fact it's quite eye opening to be away from food for so long, in that you begin to see how we often use food for a) pure pleasure b) pure socializing.
Neither are sinful in themselves (not counting gluttony). But when I reflect on the verse
1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
It's hard not to wonder if I'm glorifying God in my meals.
a) am I thankful?
b) am I gluttonous?
c) am I treating the temple of God well by eating healthy? This is a big one.
Early in the fast I believe a big answer to prayer was the selling of our home with astounding results: it sold the night before we closed on the new house, for a good price, with a hard to get early March 1 closing and even more amazing, an unconditional offer. If we had received a more common “conditional offer” we could have been waiting for months.
SOCIAL OUTCAST
The first few weeks were pretty hard for my wife who enjoys cooking for her family. I began to sit with her during her dinner while I drank my juice. With no one to cook for, she ended up reverting back to her “single days” mode, of not really cooking at all. She may have lost weight too because of that. But I would advise anyone planning on a fast to talk about what it will mean to your spouse to have to “eat alone” some times, enjoy food alone (Tim Hortons anyone?), and to just have a cut back on meal time socialization. My recommendation is to make sure you have your full support of your spouse before doing it. Or, better yet - do it together! That would be ideal.
There will be times when you can’t avoid social food gatherings, upon which you will have to reveal that you are fasting. In cases where we were invited to people’s home for dinner, or out to a restaurant, I simply informed them ahead of time that “I looked forward to the event, but just to let you know, I’m fasting right now, so if you could have some tomato juice for my first course and peppermint tea for dessert, I’ll be just fine. And don’t worry, I won’t feel weird...”
A FEW SURPRISES
Here are a few surprises that I encountered along the way.
-you won’t believe what still keeps coming out of you even weeks after not putting anything into you. Enough said
-I couldn’t believe it - I lost a whole watch size on my wrist! We carry weight on our wrists?
-at 30 days I stumbled and had half a bowl of popcorn - the tempter will remain nameless. Yet, it acted as a flush - yes, still more stuff to come out after 30 days!
-at about 33 days I tried a beloved Tim Hortons double double. It tasted horrible and uninteresting to me, after 5 weeks of pure veggie and and fruit juice
-I tried so called “pure” Tropicana orange juice - it was so sweet I could not drink it. I had become used to “true pure” orange juice right from the oranges
-I slept better, and had way more energy in the morning - waking up feeling rested
-it was surprising to see how much energy I had, while taking in just fluids. Some times I wondered why we eat solid foods at all
-it wasn’t until I was close to the end that people started to notice my weight loss. (because of my face) Classic quote from my pastor’s wife: “Are you ok? You don’t look so good.”
-do not have a Harvey Angus Burger 3 days after your fast. Yes, that is stupid, and painful. Trust me.
WEIGHT LOSS
Most people will lose 1+ lbs per day for the first 10 days, and that was pretty true in my case. I tell you it can be exciting to see yourself going down 1-1.5 lbs every day, day after day. When I started I was 203lbs. When I hit 188.8 lbs on day 10, I couldn’t believe it! I hadn’t seen the 180s in years... It took 13 more days to drop the next 10 lbs. I hadn’t seen the 170s since I was in high school, I think. It took 17 days (nearly the whole last half of the fast) to drop my last 10 lbs down to 169. For the speed at which you drop weight, everyone’s mileage will vary based on how fat you are (for lack of political correctness). Frankly I did not expect to go much below 180, so it was a complete surprise to make it to 169. However what was a surprise was that with even that much weight loss, my tummy was still not flat. I figure it would have taken another 2 weeks to finally lose the “pooch.” Although it was way smaller than when I started to be sure.
Each person carries around about 5-10lbs of fecal matter in them at all times, that just doesn’t come out (sorry about the image) so when you begin eating again you will gain back 5-10 lbs for sure, as you rebuild up that store. In my case, 40 days later, I’m back up to 183 lbs, meaning I gained back 14 lbs after beginning to eat again, but 20 lbs less than when I started. When I carry around our baby Hudson who is 19 lbs, I can’t believe I used to carry that much weight around on my body all the time! I feel great physically, and it feels like I’ve been given a new digestive system. I’ve been able to wear pants that I have not been able to get into for years, and have other pants that will simply fall off if I don’t wear a belt. A good problem to have. I was richly blessed from a spiritual perspective, as I met with God every day on faith, looking to glorify God even in that fast.
In the movie “Chariots of Fire” - about the life of Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner who refused to race on Sundays - the Bible is quoted: “For those who honour Me I will honour.” (1 Samuel 2:30) I wish to acknowledge and honor God in all that I do, and so it is with this fast. My hope is that this small account of my experience will encourage others to practice this spiritual discipline.
References:
www.freedomyou.com
http://www.freedomyou.com/level%202/Fasting%20Page%20Guide.htm
see here for the fasting section
www.championjuicer.com
www.fasting.com
You Might be a Dispensationalist if...
13/March/2010 10:02 PM
You Might Be A Dispensationalist If ….
The 2010 Shepherd’s Conference sessions are now available as MP3 files to download.
From Michael Vlach’s session: You Might Be A Dispensationalist If ….
1. You believe the primary meaning of Old Testament passages is found in the Old Testament passages themselves.
2. You believe that national Israel is not a type that finds its significance ended with the Church.
3. You reject Replacement Theology.
4. You believe that Jews and Gentiles can be unified in salvation and there is a future for the nation Israel.
5. You believe that the nation Israel will be saved and restored with a role to the nations after the Second Coming.
6. You believe that believing Gentiles can be the seed of Abraham without becoming spiritual Jews or part of Israel.
and ….
Covenantalists believe in dispensations, and Dispensationalists believe in covenants.
I guess I’m a Dispensationalist...
The 2010 Shepherd’s Conference sessions are now available as MP3 files to download.
From Michael Vlach’s session: You Might Be A Dispensationalist If ….
1. You believe the primary meaning of Old Testament passages is found in the Old Testament passages themselves.
2. You believe that national Israel is not a type that finds its significance ended with the Church.
3. You reject Replacement Theology.
4. You believe that Jews and Gentiles can be unified in salvation and there is a future for the nation Israel.
5. You believe that the nation Israel will be saved and restored with a role to the nations after the Second Coming.
6. You believe that believing Gentiles can be the seed of Abraham without becoming spiritual Jews or part of Israel.
and ….
Covenantalists believe in dispensations, and Dispensationalists believe in covenants.
I guess I’m a Dispensationalist...
08/January/2010 12:32 PM
WITNESSING AND EVANGELISM - a shunned discipline
Imagine being a Christian for 20 years and one day being convicted in a huge area of disobedience and pathetic growth in your life. For example, lets say you never gave any of your money or resources to the ministry of the church, or to God’s work in any way. Or perhaps you’ve never obeyed the Lord by being baptized. Or maybe you have not been exercising faith in a certain area of your life. Most Christians, when confronted with scripture that shows them an area of growth they are weak in, will want to, by God’s grace, seek to obey and grow in that area of their walk.
About two years ago my wife and I became quite aware of the sad state of our witnessing lives, as we began to regularly listen to a radio ministry that shared the gospel with people on the street day after day. In my case, I realized that my 8 months of missionary efforts in Lithuania were ill trained, ill-equipped and poorly executed. It’s hard not to think of my time there as a waste now, and that the sharing of the gospel I had done publicly for the last several years was poorly presented (more on that later). In my wife’s case, she summed it up by saying; “To my shame I’ve been a Christian in full time ministry on staff at a church for 10 years, and have never once gone out of my way to witness to a stranger.”
Most Christians reading this article won’t need much convincing that evangelism is something that they should be doing, and is expected of every Christian. But lets start by defining what evangelism is. Evangelism is to present Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to sinful people, in order that they may come to put their trust in God through Him, to receive Him as their Saviour, and serve Him as their King in the fellowship of His Church.1
To put it simply, it is communicating the gospel. So if you are sharing the gospel, you are evangelizing. This can include various methods such as the spoken word, text, prerecorded messages, sign language or many other ways. Evangelism is not just for missionaries! Pastor John Piper has made the distinction that missions is evangelism in another culture.
Why should a Christian witness? Jesus Christ commanded it.
Matthew 28:19-20 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Mark 16:15 15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Luke 24:47 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
John 20:21 21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Acts 1:8 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Some other verses of interest:
Proverbs 11:30 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
2 Corinthians 5:11 11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
Romans 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
2 Timothy 4:1-2 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
1 Peter 2:9 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Why Don’t We Witness?
There are hundreds of reasons and excuses why Christians will not open their mouths and speak to non-believers about Christ. One of them is that a person will say “I don’t have the gift of evangelism.” Author Ray Comfort says “Saying I don’t have the gift of evangelism is like saying I don’t have the gift of feeding the poor.”
Some Christians believe that evangelism is a gift and the responsibility of only those with that gift. They appeal to Ephesians. 4:11 for support: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” While it is true that God gifts some for ministry as evangelists, He calls all believers to be His witnesses and provides them with both the power to witness and a powerful message. Every evangelist is called to be a witness, but only a few witnesses are called to the vocational ministry of an evangelist. Just as each Christian, regardless of spiritual gift or ministry, is to love others, so each believer is to evangelize whether or not his or her gift is that of evangelist.2
Luis Palau said “I find that the people who most argue against evangelism as a priority haven't won a soul to Christ in decades. They are afraid of the nonbeliever. In almost every case, they stay within their closed circles. We scream at the world with our magazines and our microphones, but we don't mingle with the people in the world to bring them to Jesus Christ. Sometimes we hide behind theological statements that go beyond Scripture. Sometimes we hide by saying, "I'm just much too busy carrying on my gift." And we forget that witnessing is not an option. We are all supposed to be witnesses.”
When it comes down to the core of it, pride is the most common sin that stops us from witnessing in the end. We are afraid of what people will think of us. We are afraid that we will look stupid. But by fearing men and not God we are sinning. By not loving people enough to share with them that Jesus Christ can save them from their sin which will result in their eternal punishment in hell, we are showing that we either don’t really love them, or we don’t really believe the Bible. Even Penn Jillette, the God hating atheist from the magic duo “Penn & Teller” surprisingly admits:
"How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?" Jillette asked. "How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? If I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn't believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you, there's a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that."
Methods of Evangelism
There are probably as many “methods” and mediums of evangelism as you can think of. By methods, I mean the context or situation. (as opposed to the message itself). Methods could include a whole spectrum such as sermons, kid’s club, soup kitchen ministries, outreach events involving music or comedy, men’s breakfasts, camps, or Christian sports leagues. The list is endless. There are many mediums as well, such as: speaking to a person one on one, through literature such as books or tracts, door to door, open air preaching, radio, internet, television, or sermons.
It’s important to realize that things like comedy, drama, juggling, music, or “living the Christian life” in and of themselves are not evangelism. However, if the gospel message is proclaimed through those mediums then you could call it evangelism. Personally, I think those who rely on “lifestyle evangelism” as their only form of evangelism are doing themselves, God, and the lost a big disservice, since it necessitates the lost “coming,” rather than you “going.” And seriously, how often does a non believer come up to you and say, “Why are you so loving?”
Career evangelist Luis Palau points out “You have not been a true witness to Jesus Christ until you have openly, clearly, lovingly presented the message of John 3:16. Witnessing for Jesus Christ is done through one's life, but the life has no meaning if the lips do not speak. Until you've done that, you have not been a full witness to Jesus Christ. People cannot guess why you're such a good neighbor unless you openly, clearly express your faith in Christ.”
OK, Where do I start?
I have found that even when I’m committed to making evangelism a part of life, it’s so very easy to slip back into my self focused life; keeping my lips closed, gospel tracts, books or dvds to myself and not going out of my way to share the greatest news in the world. One of the reasons for this I believe, is because it is a discipline. To become good at anything you have to practice it, and prepare for it. Having someone teach, train and encourage you (disciple you!) is of great importance. I can teach the worst klutz to juggle in far less time that I taught myself to juggle because I had no experience or knowledge about it. I would never be able to juggle six balls today if I never practiced juggling. I used to wonder how I could grow up in a church with such great Bible preaching and teaching, and never learn how to witness? It’s because I never saw anyone do it, and hence never learned how to do it. Therefore I never placed the proper importance on it. I think it’s safe to say that if there is no one in your church regularly involved in sharing the gospel with friends or strangers, you probably won’t be either. So, if you are interested in learning how to witness more effectively, and regularly, get prepared and get some people together! In my church situation I can’t tell you how blessed I am to know that there are people I can call (including my wife) that will take a few hours to go out to the mall, or the market, or the park and talk to people. It’s always the same for everyone - you go dragging your feet, quite nervous, and after having the honour of sharing the gospel with someone, your heart beats with joy, and you go home with a skip in your step!
So how does the believer plan and prepare? For starters, let me say that you will never “feel” ready. So don’t plan on doing a 1 year course before you decide to open your mouth. Begin to practice saying and sharing the gospel with a friend or family member. You will soon discover that even though you may have sat in church for years, if you’ve never done it, it can be hard to share the gospel clearly in just a few minutes. Don’t believe it? Try it!
There are a lot of good ice breakers and tracts with the gospel message on them available today. I used to think lowly of tracts, but not anymore. They can be so helpful to start a conversation, and they can go where you cannot - home with people. I even met a woman whose husband become a Christian from a tract he found in a port-a-potty. He then led her to Christ and now the two of them train thousands of other believers every year how to share their faith. All that from one tract not even handed directly to someone. There are plenty of resources that can help you get prepared. One of the ministries that changed our evangelistic lives was Way of the Master, which did two things for my wife and I.
First, it showed us that we didn’t need to have a Bible College degree or seminary education to have a strategy for our witnessing conversation. We heard people of all faiths (or lack of faiths) being witnessed to over and over again, and realized that with some practice, you can get to the point where you know how to get a conversation started, and where to take it. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), and whether the conversation goes “well” or you are completely rejected, it’s a win win situation! 1 Peter 4:14 says: If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Remember, you don’t do the converting, God does! Your job is to faithfully plant the seeds and let God work on the soil.
Secondly, it showed us that by not presenting God’s moral law to the sinner before the gospel of grace, we cripple and weaken the effectiveness of the gospel, and are in danger of creating a false convert, who never actually repented of his sin, because he never knew what sin was. (Romans 7:7) By helping a non-believer to see how they personally have broken God’s moral law (the Ten Commandments), and that a holy God must punish law breakers, then punishment (hell) is reasonable and the gospel makes sense. (Gal. 3:24). About one hundred years ago, the evangelical church at large began to abandon the use of the law in evangelism, to our great peril. The topic of using the law in evangelism is an important one and my space is short so for more information on this subject read, “The Way of the Master” by Ray Comfort, or for a crash course listen to the two sermons listed below in the resource section.
Please take the time this new year to think about your witness for Christ. If it hasn’t happened already, it won’t be long before, like me, you have a friend die that you did not share the gospel with, and then it will be too late. Take a lesson from this event that happened in New York. On December 19 2009, a pregnant woman in a coffee shop had a fatal seizure in front of two paramedics who refused to help her. According to media reports, 25-year-old Eutisha Rennix, of Brooklyn, was in Au Bon Pain when she began to complain of severe pain and shortness of breath. Rennix later fell to the ground with convulsions and foaming of the mouth. Two paramedics who were in the coffee shop told patrons to call 911 because they were on their break, according to witnesses. When an ambulance finally arrived, it was too late. Rennix died shortly after being transported to the hospital. Sadly, doctors were not able to save the life of her infant daughter, Jahniya Woodson who died about two hours after her mother. How do you feel about the paramedics who stood by and did nothing, when it was in their ability to help? As Christians, we know that there are people all around us who are terminal, with the sickness of sin. We have the medicine. Will you offer it to them or stand by and do nothing?
3 Questions For Application
Since evangelism is expected, will you obey the Lord and witness?
Since evangelism is empowered, will you believe that God can use your words in the salvation of others?
Since evangelism is a discipline, will you plan for it?
Helpful Resources
Books
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, (Evangelism Chapter). Donald S. Whitney
One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, Mark Cahill
The Way of the Master, Ray Comfort (A must-read for every Christian interested in evangelism)
Sermons
Hells Best Kept Secret & True and False Conversion by Ray Comfort, www.wayofthemaster.com/audiolessons.shtml
Radio
Wretched Radio, On FamilyNet Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 161 3-5pm weekdays. Download or listen live at www.wretchedradio.com (“witness Wednesdays&rdquo
The Cross Current Radio, http://tccradio.com/
Web Sites
http://www.thecrosscurrent.com An excellent evangelism ministry lead by Rev. Cory McKenna, based in London Ontario. Get involved in street witnessing in different Ontario cities.
http://www.wayofthemaster.com
www.livingwaterscanada.com (also a great source for tracts - click on “Store&rdquo
Courses
School of Biblical Evangelism, www.biblicalevangelism.com
Evangelism Basic Training Course www.livingwaterscanada.com - Click “Store”
Resources to give Non-Believers
An excellent Canadian-themed website that shares the gospel, www.greatnewscanada.com
One Heartbeat Away, Mark Cahill - A great book to give to a non-believer
www.livingwaterscanada.com Click on “store” for some great tracts from a Canadian supplier
The Big Question, An evangelistic DVD “tract.” www.wretchedradio.com/store
1 J.I.Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979), pages 37-57
2 Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, (Evangelism Chapter). Donald S. Whitney, Page 95
Imagine being a Christian for 20 years and one day being convicted in a huge area of disobedience and pathetic growth in your life. For example, lets say you never gave any of your money or resources to the ministry of the church, or to God’s work in any way. Or perhaps you’ve never obeyed the Lord by being baptized. Or maybe you have not been exercising faith in a certain area of your life. Most Christians, when confronted with scripture that shows them an area of growth they are weak in, will want to, by God’s grace, seek to obey and grow in that area of their walk.
About two years ago my wife and I became quite aware of the sad state of our witnessing lives, as we began to regularly listen to a radio ministry that shared the gospel with people on the street day after day. In my case, I realized that my 8 months of missionary efforts in Lithuania were ill trained, ill-equipped and poorly executed. It’s hard not to think of my time there as a waste now, and that the sharing of the gospel I had done publicly for the last several years was poorly presented (more on that later). In my wife’s case, she summed it up by saying; “To my shame I’ve been a Christian in full time ministry on staff at a church for 10 years, and have never once gone out of my way to witness to a stranger.”
Most Christians reading this article won’t need much convincing that evangelism is something that they should be doing, and is expected of every Christian. But lets start by defining what evangelism is. Evangelism is to present Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to sinful people, in order that they may come to put their trust in God through Him, to receive Him as their Saviour, and serve Him as their King in the fellowship of His Church.1
To put it simply, it is communicating the gospel. So if you are sharing the gospel, you are evangelizing. This can include various methods such as the spoken word, text, prerecorded messages, sign language or many other ways. Evangelism is not just for missionaries! Pastor John Piper has made the distinction that missions is evangelism in another culture.
Why should a Christian witness? Jesus Christ commanded it.
Matthew 28:19-20 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Mark 16:15 15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Luke 24:47 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
John 20:21 21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Acts 1:8 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Some other verses of interest:
Proverbs 11:30 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
2 Corinthians 5:11 11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
Romans 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
2 Timothy 4:1-2 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
1 Peter 2:9 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Why Don’t We Witness?
There are hundreds of reasons and excuses why Christians will not open their mouths and speak to non-believers about Christ. One of them is that a person will say “I don’t have the gift of evangelism.” Author Ray Comfort says “Saying I don’t have the gift of evangelism is like saying I don’t have the gift of feeding the poor.”
Some Christians believe that evangelism is a gift and the responsibility of only those with that gift. They appeal to Ephesians. 4:11 for support: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” While it is true that God gifts some for ministry as evangelists, He calls all believers to be His witnesses and provides them with both the power to witness and a powerful message. Every evangelist is called to be a witness, but only a few witnesses are called to the vocational ministry of an evangelist. Just as each Christian, regardless of spiritual gift or ministry, is to love others, so each believer is to evangelize whether or not his or her gift is that of evangelist.2
Luis Palau said “I find that the people who most argue against evangelism as a priority haven't won a soul to Christ in decades. They are afraid of the nonbeliever. In almost every case, they stay within their closed circles. We scream at the world with our magazines and our microphones, but we don't mingle with the people in the world to bring them to Jesus Christ. Sometimes we hide behind theological statements that go beyond Scripture. Sometimes we hide by saying, "I'm just much too busy carrying on my gift." And we forget that witnessing is not an option. We are all supposed to be witnesses.”
When it comes down to the core of it, pride is the most common sin that stops us from witnessing in the end. We are afraid of what people will think of us. We are afraid that we will look stupid. But by fearing men and not God we are sinning. By not loving people enough to share with them that Jesus Christ can save them from their sin which will result in their eternal punishment in hell, we are showing that we either don’t really love them, or we don’t really believe the Bible. Even Penn Jillette, the God hating atheist from the magic duo “Penn & Teller” surprisingly admits:
"How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?" Jillette asked. "How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? If I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn't believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you, there's a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that."
Methods of Evangelism
There are probably as many “methods” and mediums of evangelism as you can think of. By methods, I mean the context or situation. (as opposed to the message itself). Methods could include a whole spectrum such as sermons, kid’s club, soup kitchen ministries, outreach events involving music or comedy, men’s breakfasts, camps, or Christian sports leagues. The list is endless. There are many mediums as well, such as: speaking to a person one on one, through literature such as books or tracts, door to door, open air preaching, radio, internet, television, or sermons.
It’s important to realize that things like comedy, drama, juggling, music, or “living the Christian life” in and of themselves are not evangelism. However, if the gospel message is proclaimed through those mediums then you could call it evangelism. Personally, I think those who rely on “lifestyle evangelism” as their only form of evangelism are doing themselves, God, and the lost a big disservice, since it necessitates the lost “coming,” rather than you “going.” And seriously, how often does a non believer come up to you and say, “Why are you so loving?”
Career evangelist Luis Palau points out “You have not been a true witness to Jesus Christ until you have openly, clearly, lovingly presented the message of John 3:16. Witnessing for Jesus Christ is done through one's life, but the life has no meaning if the lips do not speak. Until you've done that, you have not been a full witness to Jesus Christ. People cannot guess why you're such a good neighbor unless you openly, clearly express your faith in Christ.”
OK, Where do I start?
I have found that even when I’m committed to making evangelism a part of life, it’s so very easy to slip back into my self focused life; keeping my lips closed, gospel tracts, books or dvds to myself and not going out of my way to share the greatest news in the world. One of the reasons for this I believe, is because it is a discipline. To become good at anything you have to practice it, and prepare for it. Having someone teach, train and encourage you (disciple you!) is of great importance. I can teach the worst klutz to juggle in far less time that I taught myself to juggle because I had no experience or knowledge about it. I would never be able to juggle six balls today if I never practiced juggling. I used to wonder how I could grow up in a church with such great Bible preaching and teaching, and never learn how to witness? It’s because I never saw anyone do it, and hence never learned how to do it. Therefore I never placed the proper importance on it. I think it’s safe to say that if there is no one in your church regularly involved in sharing the gospel with friends or strangers, you probably won’t be either. So, if you are interested in learning how to witness more effectively, and regularly, get prepared and get some people together! In my church situation I can’t tell you how blessed I am to know that there are people I can call (including my wife) that will take a few hours to go out to the mall, or the market, or the park and talk to people. It’s always the same for everyone - you go dragging your feet, quite nervous, and after having the honour of sharing the gospel with someone, your heart beats with joy, and you go home with a skip in your step!
So how does the believer plan and prepare? For starters, let me say that you will never “feel” ready. So don’t plan on doing a 1 year course before you decide to open your mouth. Begin to practice saying and sharing the gospel with a friend or family member. You will soon discover that even though you may have sat in church for years, if you’ve never done it, it can be hard to share the gospel clearly in just a few minutes. Don’t believe it? Try it!
There are a lot of good ice breakers and tracts with the gospel message on them available today. I used to think lowly of tracts, but not anymore. They can be so helpful to start a conversation, and they can go where you cannot - home with people. I even met a woman whose husband become a Christian from a tract he found in a port-a-potty. He then led her to Christ and now the two of them train thousands of other believers every year how to share their faith. All that from one tract not even handed directly to someone. There are plenty of resources that can help you get prepared. One of the ministries that changed our evangelistic lives was Way of the Master, which did two things for my wife and I.
First, it showed us that we didn’t need to have a Bible College degree or seminary education to have a strategy for our witnessing conversation. We heard people of all faiths (or lack of faiths) being witnessed to over and over again, and realized that with some practice, you can get to the point where you know how to get a conversation started, and where to take it. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), and whether the conversation goes “well” or you are completely rejected, it’s a win win situation! 1 Peter 4:14 says: If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Remember, you don’t do the converting, God does! Your job is to faithfully plant the seeds and let God work on the soil.
Secondly, it showed us that by not presenting God’s moral law to the sinner before the gospel of grace, we cripple and weaken the effectiveness of the gospel, and are in danger of creating a false convert, who never actually repented of his sin, because he never knew what sin was. (Romans 7:7) By helping a non-believer to see how they personally have broken God’s moral law (the Ten Commandments), and that a holy God must punish law breakers, then punishment (hell) is reasonable and the gospel makes sense. (Gal. 3:24). About one hundred years ago, the evangelical church at large began to abandon the use of the law in evangelism, to our great peril. The topic of using the law in evangelism is an important one and my space is short so for more information on this subject read, “The Way of the Master” by Ray Comfort, or for a crash course listen to the two sermons listed below in the resource section.
Please take the time this new year to think about your witness for Christ. If it hasn’t happened already, it won’t be long before, like me, you have a friend die that you did not share the gospel with, and then it will be too late. Take a lesson from this event that happened in New York. On December 19 2009, a pregnant woman in a coffee shop had a fatal seizure in front of two paramedics who refused to help her. According to media reports, 25-year-old Eutisha Rennix, of Brooklyn, was in Au Bon Pain when she began to complain of severe pain and shortness of breath. Rennix later fell to the ground with convulsions and foaming of the mouth. Two paramedics who were in the coffee shop told patrons to call 911 because they were on their break, according to witnesses. When an ambulance finally arrived, it was too late. Rennix died shortly after being transported to the hospital. Sadly, doctors were not able to save the life of her infant daughter, Jahniya Woodson who died about two hours after her mother. How do you feel about the paramedics who stood by and did nothing, when it was in their ability to help? As Christians, we know that there are people all around us who are terminal, with the sickness of sin. We have the medicine. Will you offer it to them or stand by and do nothing?
3 Questions For Application
Since evangelism is expected, will you obey the Lord and witness?
Since evangelism is empowered, will you believe that God can use your words in the salvation of others?
Since evangelism is a discipline, will you plan for it?
Helpful Resources
Books
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, (Evangelism Chapter). Donald S. Whitney
One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, Mark Cahill
The Way of the Master, Ray Comfort (A must-read for every Christian interested in evangelism)
Sermons
Hells Best Kept Secret & True and False Conversion by Ray Comfort, www.wayofthemaster.com/audiolessons.shtml
Radio
Wretched Radio, On FamilyNet Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 161 3-5pm weekdays. Download or listen live at www.wretchedradio.com (“witness Wednesdays&rdquo
The Cross Current Radio, http://tccradio.com/
Web Sites
http://www.thecrosscurrent.com An excellent evangelism ministry lead by Rev. Cory McKenna, based in London Ontario. Get involved in street witnessing in different Ontario cities.
http://www.wayofthemaster.com
www.livingwaterscanada.com (also a great source for tracts - click on “Store&rdquo
Courses
School of Biblical Evangelism, www.biblicalevangelism.com
Evangelism Basic Training Course www.livingwaterscanada.com - Click “Store”
Resources to give Non-Believers
An excellent Canadian-themed website that shares the gospel, www.greatnewscanada.com
One Heartbeat Away, Mark Cahill - A great book to give to a non-believer
www.livingwaterscanada.com Click on “store” for some great tracts from a Canadian supplier
The Big Question, An evangelistic DVD “tract.” www.wretchedradio.com/store
1 J.I.Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979), pages 37-57
2 Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, (Evangelism Chapter). Donald S. Whitney, Page 95
23/December/2009 12:16 PM
WET PANTS
Come with me to a third grade classroom. There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.
The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.' He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.
As the teacher is walking toward him, a class mate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap...
The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'
Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.
She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!'
Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.'
May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good.
Come with me to a third grade classroom. There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.
The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.' He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.
As the teacher is walking toward him, a class mate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap...
The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'
Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.
She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!'
Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.'
May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good.
JC Ryle’s Advice to Young Men
16/October/2009 08:09 PM
Taken from, Thoughts For Young Men, J. C. Ryle (1816 - 1900)
This is a fantastic several page document which is relevant for men even of all ages.
This is a fantastic several page document which is relevant for men even of all ages.
Sexual Survival in an Age of Temptation
27/August/2009 05:03 PM
A great sermon series from John MacArthur- and it’s free!
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
3 For this is the will of God, iyour sanctification:2 jthat you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own kbody3 in holiness and lhonor, 5 not in mthe passion of lust nlike the Gentiles owho do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and pwrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is qan avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For rGod has not called us for simpurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore twhoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, uwho gives his Holy Spirit to you.
God created it, sin corrupted it, Hollywood and Madison Avenue have made a killing off it. Sex is probably one of the most talked about, written about topics around. When enjoyed as God designed, it’s a wonderful human experience. When we go against God’s design, it can destroy families, careers, ministries, and literally kill.
So, in a day when you can hardly glance at a billboard without being confronted by unwholesome images, how do you stay pure? Is cutting yourself off from the media the key to overcoming temptation? What can and should you do to know victory over sexual sin?
In Sexual Survival in an Age of Temptation, John MacArthur helps you understand and apply the standards God has established for your thoughts and behavior in the area of sexual sin. This study can help you strengthen your commitment to purity and overcoming sexual temptation.
Two Free MP3s
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
3 For this is the will of God, iyour sanctification:2 jthat you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own kbody3 in holiness and lhonor, 5 not in mthe passion of lust nlike the Gentiles owho do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and pwrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is qan avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For rGod has not called us for simpurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore twhoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, uwho gives his Holy Spirit to you.
God created it, sin corrupted it, Hollywood and Madison Avenue have made a killing off it. Sex is probably one of the most talked about, written about topics around. When enjoyed as God designed, it’s a wonderful human experience. When we go against God’s design, it can destroy families, careers, ministries, and literally kill.
So, in a day when you can hardly glance at a billboard without being confronted by unwholesome images, how do you stay pure? Is cutting yourself off from the media the key to overcoming temptation? What can and should you do to know victory over sexual sin?
In Sexual Survival in an Age of Temptation, John MacArthur helps you understand and apply the standards God has established for your thoughts and behavior in the area of sexual sin. This study can help you strengthen your commitment to purity and overcoming sexual temptation.
Two Free MP3s
Rob Bell in a Nutshell
19/August/2009 10:35 AM
Pastor Rob Bell is very popular Christian pastor and speaker. Many Christians love him, despite his many neo-orthodox beliefs. Discernment is not just the ability to be able to discern between right and wrong, but between right and almost right. I have been to his church in Grand Rapids, read some of his book Velvet Elvis (before abandoning it for better material) and listened to his sermons. What concerns me is that many Christians take in many of his false teachings without being a Berean - checking them out agains scripture to “see if what he is saying is true." But the hard part is that he says LOTS OF GREAT STUFF and the bad stuff can be SO SUBTLE. Here is an article of research that brings together in a good format a summary of many of those teachings. (note this is already a year old, so it doesn’t touch on his “The God’s are not angry” tour, in which he gives a very unclear definition of repentance, as well as the gospel. See here for that review).
also of interest
ROB BELL MAKES ME ANGRY: A PASTORAL RESPONSE TO VELVET ELVIS
Here is a quote from John Piper’s message he gave at the 2005 pastor’s conference which has now been made into a book titled “Preaching the Cross”. This comes from page 105:
“Oh, that God would raise up young preachers who leave their hearers with a spiritual sense of shock at the sense of God—some sense of the infinite weight of the reality of God.
That is my longing for our day—and for you. That God would raise up thousands of broken-hearted, Bible-saturated preachers who are dominated by a sense of the greatness and the majesty and the holiness of God, revealed in the gospel of Christ crucified and risen, and reigning with absolute authority over every nation and every army and every false religion and every terrorist and every tsunami and every cancer cell and every galaxy in the universe.”
Later he says: “What gives preaching its seriousness is that the mantle of the preacher is soaked with the blood of Jesus and singed with the fire of hell. That’s the mantle that turns mere talkers into preachers.”
Is Rob Bell that kind of preacher? You can decide for yourself.
13 Evangelistic Phrases that produce False Conversions
13/August/2009 12:28 AM
A very interesting article by TODD FRIEL about how we can use wrong, misleading, or just plain horrible language when it comes to presenting the gospel.
____________________________
Churches divide over carpet color, building additions and budgets. In the meantime, our fellow church members are going to hell by the boat load.
A.W. Tozer said, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands of people, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.”
D. James Kennedy said, “The vast majority of people who are members of churches in America today are not Christians. I say that without the slightest contradiction. I base it on empirical evidence of twenty-four years of examining thousands of people.”
Friend, we argue over so many petty things. May I suggest we have lost sight of the most important debate of all, “What is salvation?” My theology teaches that salvation happens when a man repents and places his trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).
I would like to present thirteen ways that we have re-defined how a person becomes a true convert. Have we done this intentionally? Certainly not. We have simply created lingo that has a grain of truth in Scripture, but it is so open to interpretation that the un-converted understand it in ways that lead to false conversions.
1. Make Jesus your Lord and Savior. We cannot make Jesus our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We are living in rebellion to Him and He commands us to repent and trust Him.
2. Ask Jesus into your heart. Does Jesus come into our hearts? Yes He does. The question is, “How does He get in there?” It is not by simply asking Him in; it is by repentance and faith.
3. Just believe in Jesus. The demons believe and they tremble. We must repent and trust.
4. You have a God-shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it. We have far more than a hole that needs to be filled so we can feel complete; we have a wretched, deceitful, sinful heart that needs cleansing. Repentance and faith applies the blood of the lamb for that cleansing.
5. Accept Jesus. Whoa. We need to accept Jesus? This is entirely backward. We need Jesus to accept us–and He will, if we repent and trust.
6. Make a decision for Jesus. Decisional regeneration puts man in the driver’s seat of salvation. When we repent and trust, Jesus decides to save us. That puts Him in the driver’s seat…where He demands.
7. It is easy to believe. While the formula of repentance and faith sounds simple, a complete surrendering of self in repentance is anything but easy. It’s hard.
8. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The only promises for the convert are trials, temptation and persecution. If that is how you define a wonderful life, fine. Otherwise we must command all men everywhere to repent and trust.
9. Come to Jesus just as you are. We should come to Jesus just as the sinners we are, but He also expects a broken heart and contrite spirit demonstrated in repentance and faith.
10. Come to Jesus and you will receive forgiveness of sins and ________________ (fill in the blank with money, health, a healed marriage). Jesus didn’t promise healed marriages; in fact He promised broken homes because we would divide when one member repents and trusts.
11. Come to Jesus and experience love, joy, peace. Do we get the fruit of the Spirit upon conversion? Yes. But if we come seeking the gifts and not the giver, we will receive neither. Instead, we must repent and trust.
12. Jesus is the missing piece. Um, no, the God of the universe is not the missing piece, He demands that He is the center of our lives when we repent and trust.
13. Jesus is better than fame and fortune. That is an understatement, and frankly, it is insulting. Saying Jesus is better than money is like saying that a steak dinner is better than eating a dung hill. He defies comparison and we trivialize the Son of God. Instead, we should be pleading with all men everywhere to repent and trust.
If I showed up at your door with a can of grapefruit juice and a roll of paper towels and offered to change your oil, you would say, “No thanks.” If we wouldn’t let someone mess with our car using the wrong method, why do we allow the Gospel to be presented so ambiguously?
Would you let a doctor operate on your child who was “sort of” accurate? The salvation of men is far more important than an appendix.
I beg you to consider how you share the Gospel. You and I know what we are talking about when we use these phrases, but do the unregenerate? Is it possible that we have so many backsliders today because they never slid forward in the first place? Is it because they were never told that they must repent and trust?
If we are willing to debate shag verse plush in the fellowship hall, shouldn’t we be more concerned about an issue that has eternal consequences?
____________________________
Churches divide over carpet color, building additions and budgets. In the meantime, our fellow church members are going to hell by the boat load.
A.W. Tozer said, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands of people, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.”
D. James Kennedy said, “The vast majority of people who are members of churches in America today are not Christians. I say that without the slightest contradiction. I base it on empirical evidence of twenty-four years of examining thousands of people.”
Friend, we argue over so many petty things. May I suggest we have lost sight of the most important debate of all, “What is salvation?” My theology teaches that salvation happens when a man repents and places his trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).
I would like to present thirteen ways that we have re-defined how a person becomes a true convert. Have we done this intentionally? Certainly not. We have simply created lingo that has a grain of truth in Scripture, but it is so open to interpretation that the un-converted understand it in ways that lead to false conversions.
1. Make Jesus your Lord and Savior. We cannot make Jesus our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We are living in rebellion to Him and He commands us to repent and trust Him.
2. Ask Jesus into your heart. Does Jesus come into our hearts? Yes He does. The question is, “How does He get in there?” It is not by simply asking Him in; it is by repentance and faith.
3. Just believe in Jesus. The demons believe and they tremble. We must repent and trust.
4. You have a God-shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it. We have far more than a hole that needs to be filled so we can feel complete; we have a wretched, deceitful, sinful heart that needs cleansing. Repentance and faith applies the blood of the lamb for that cleansing.
5. Accept Jesus. Whoa. We need to accept Jesus? This is entirely backward. We need Jesus to accept us–and He will, if we repent and trust.
6. Make a decision for Jesus. Decisional regeneration puts man in the driver’s seat of salvation. When we repent and trust, Jesus decides to save us. That puts Him in the driver’s seat…where He demands.
7. It is easy to believe. While the formula of repentance and faith sounds simple, a complete surrendering of self in repentance is anything but easy. It’s hard.
8. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The only promises for the convert are trials, temptation and persecution. If that is how you define a wonderful life, fine. Otherwise we must command all men everywhere to repent and trust.
9. Come to Jesus just as you are. We should come to Jesus just as the sinners we are, but He also expects a broken heart and contrite spirit demonstrated in repentance and faith.
10. Come to Jesus and you will receive forgiveness of sins and ________________ (fill in the blank with money, health, a healed marriage). Jesus didn’t promise healed marriages; in fact He promised broken homes because we would divide when one member repents and trusts.
11. Come to Jesus and experience love, joy, peace. Do we get the fruit of the Spirit upon conversion? Yes. But if we come seeking the gifts and not the giver, we will receive neither. Instead, we must repent and trust.
12. Jesus is the missing piece. Um, no, the God of the universe is not the missing piece, He demands that He is the center of our lives when we repent and trust.
13. Jesus is better than fame and fortune. That is an understatement, and frankly, it is insulting. Saying Jesus is better than money is like saying that a steak dinner is better than eating a dung hill. He defies comparison and we trivialize the Son of God. Instead, we should be pleading with all men everywhere to repent and trust.
If I showed up at your door with a can of grapefruit juice and a roll of paper towels and offered to change your oil, you would say, “No thanks.” If we wouldn’t let someone mess with our car using the wrong method, why do we allow the Gospel to be presented so ambiguously?
Would you let a doctor operate on your child who was “sort of” accurate? The salvation of men is far more important than an appendix.
I beg you to consider how you share the Gospel. You and I know what we are talking about when we use these phrases, but do the unregenerate? Is it possible that we have so many backsliders today because they never slid forward in the first place? Is it because they were never told that they must repent and trust?
If we are willing to debate shag verse plush in the fellowship hall, shouldn’t we be more concerned about an issue that has eternal consequences?
My Performance Philosophy as a "Christian Entertainer"
05/June/2009 11:22 PM
Being a “Christian Entertainer” can be a tricky thing in many ways. In 2009 we live in a society that is drenched in entertainment in any form that you can imagine. Many Churches and Para Church Ministries are hiring entertainers for a wide variety of events, such as Upward awards banquets, stand alone outreach events/concerts, church “fairs”, camps, youth conventions, and other things. When the entertainer is hired to be “straight entertainment” then it is simple. You just be funny, entertaining, and good at what you do to the glory of God. You are using your talents that God has given you, to the best of your ability. An example of this would be, a volunteer appreciation banquet for the church family where the focus is simply good clean fun, and not outreach.
However, at 90% or more of the “ministry” events that I perform for, the focus is on evangelism or outreach in some capacity. This means that the congregation or ministry wants to share the Gospel at the event, or at least make some sort of connection with the non-Christians who come to the event.
So can a comedy show be evangelism? The dictionary definition of evangelism is “the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.” So evangelism is presenting the Christian gospel by preaching, proclamation or personal witness. Therefore a comedy show could be called evangelism if the speaker or performer shares the gospel.
Many performers are hired as “Christian Entertainers” but do not share the gospel. The reader can probably remember seeing a clean comedian, musician, band, illusionist, or comic variety act that did a great clean show, but did not share the gospel. Or perhaps they just shared something “inspirational.” That is fine and dandy if that’s all you want or need. But my feeling is that if the focus of your event is evangelism, then you had better make sure you share the gospel at some point.
That means that you have to get the gospel right for one thing. It also means that it would be advantageous if you could share it clearly and in a way that can be easily understood by the hearers. I believe that I as an entertainer should therefore be bold in my on stage witness, as well as take every opportunity that I can to get the message across, as it may be someone’s last chance before their death.
I believe it is important to use the Law in evangelism in order to help the non believer understand what sin is, and to lead them to Christ. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. (Ga 3:23). I use the ten commandments as an example of some of the specific ways that we have broken God’s law and store up wrath for ourselves. God commands us to repent of our sins, turning away from our sins and turning to Him in faith, for the forgiveness of our sins. “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Ac 17:29)
We can be forgiven, because the payment for our sins has already been paid in full for us, by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, when he was put to death on the cross. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Co 5:20)
It is not merely believing the facts of the gospel. But it is putting your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation from your sins. Trusting in none of your deeds, even your righteous acts. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Eph 2:7)
So, what is the “tricky” part for a “Christian Entertainer” that I mentioned above? It is the fact that entertainment’s goal is amusement, and the end goal of evangelistic preaching would be repentance and faith.
I do not bill myself as a preacher who happens to be an entertainer, or a “speaker” who happens to be an entertainer. I’m an entertainer who is a Christian. This means that from beginning to end, the show is designed to entertain and amuse, even in a “ministry setting.” But as a Christian, I can then by the grace of God, preach the message of salvation. I used to scatter the gospel message throughout the show, interspersing the elements of the gospel as I went along, building the facts and presentation in between comedy routines. However, I’ve come to a point where I feel that it is more effective for me to perform the straight comedy show, and then speak at the end of the show. If there is time available, I will often perform for 1 hour, take a 10 minute break, (stage controlled by the MC or host), and then I return to stage out of character, as myself, and proclaim the gospel for about 15 minutes, taking the time to get it right. This way, I can keep the entertainment the entertainment, and the gospel, the gospel. Usually at the beginning of the show, I compare the evening (or my presentation) to that of a DVD. I tell the audience that on a DVD you have the main performance, and then the really cool behind the scenes stuff, like the director’s commentary. Similarly, I inform the audience that I will give the main performance and then afterward give the most important “behind the scenes” insight or the “director’s commentary” so to speak, about my faith.
This leads me to ask the question, should something that has as its primary goal amusement, have a place in a Sunday AM worship service or fellowship gathering? (such as a comedy juggling show?) Personally I think not. At the very least I don’t want to add to the problem of lack of good preaching/teaching/worship etc. on a Sunday morning. That is why I will not replace a Sunday morning service with a performance. I would consider speaking and sharing the gospel however. But there may not be as many non believers at a Sunday worship service, as there would be at non-Sunday evening concert, if outreach is your goal.
Finally, if I have a performance philosophy, I must have a church philosophy that somehow fits into it. Over the last 18 months the Lord has been growing me greatly in the area of evangelism, and it has nothing much to do with the Comedy in Motion show. On one side of the coin, it has to do with how I share the gospel. I’ve been enlightened to use the Law (the 10 Commandments) in witnessing to the lost. (See comments above.) The Law is needed for grace to make sense to an unbeliever. (See www.wayofthemaster.com for more information.) I’ve been stretched to use this “method” in one on one conversations, open air preaching, and tract giving.
The other side of the coin is where I share the gospel, for lack of a better word. I’ve noticed that we Christians really keep the good news to ourselves. Or we want the non-believers to come to us (at church) to hear the Gospel. Indeed, that is what I do for part of my living! (Outreach shows where we invite the lost). But Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mk 16:15) It has been said that there is about as much chance of the unregenerate unbeliever wandering into your church as there is a criminal turning himself into a police station. It does happen, but not that often. The unredeemed hate God!
So I have been very challenged this past 18 months to put more energy into going to the unbelievers, and taking the gospel message to them, rather than trying to persuade them to come to the church, where people who love God want to go. This has been a personal challenge and stretch for me, requiring a step of faith, and I have so far to go!
So regarding church - it is a place for believers to gather and worship, learn, be edified and encourage one another. Do we welcome non-believers to come to the church? Most definitely! But it is not to be designed for the unbeliever. Inviting the lost to attend church is not evangelism. Inviting them to Christ, IS. We are to go to them. (And I realize that now a days, we will actually find many of them IN the church.) The above church philosophy ideas have already be well summarized by others I will now quote:
Let me begin by stating upfront that Jesus Christ never commissioned His followers to go out into the world and "church" lost people. Nowhere in scripture will you find the Lord or any of His Apostles attempting to lure and entice the lost into the first century church. That was NEVER our Lord’s intention. The church was created WITH and FOR the REDEEMED ONLY -- not for the faithless, rebellious and unrepentant. It only became the primary place for the lost to hear the Gospel preached because church members throughout the 20th century couldn’t maintain enough faith and courage to talk about Jesus Christ outside the church sanctuary. So, for decades now, instead of Christians inviting the lost to Christ with an open Bible, a convicting Spirit and a working knowledge of scripture, we’ve been inviting them to church instead to hear our pastor do what we ourselves should have been doing all along. Imagine what would become of our military if recruiters bribed civilian passersby into putting on a uniform, taking a loaded gun and boarding the next plane to the middle east to fight terrorists. Bribing the lost into spiritual service armed with little more than human wisdom, strength and talent to battle Satan and his demons on the streets of America is just as ridiculous and destructive. To say it defeats the purpose of the church would be a gross understatement. Ultimately, church attendance, membership, personal sacrifice and service should be the RESULT of one’s salvation, not a means to obtaining it. If it becomes the latter, it eventually corrupts, confuses and degrades the church as a whole and undermines its divine purpose. Paul Proctor http://www.newswithviews.com/PaulProctor/proctor3.htm
...many would say that a seeker sensitive church still wants to minister to the believers that are coming to the church, but that at the same time it wants to be sensitive to the unbelievers that are coming in the context of evangelism and ministering to the unbelievers. And then, by their definition, Grace Community Church would be a seeker insensitive church. ...because our idea of what takes place on the Lord’s Day is that the ingathering of believers on the Lord’s Day is for, first and foremost, the exaltation of the Lord and then secondly it's for the edification of the believer. Clay Miller http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/SC03-1029.htm
Having stated my performance and church philosophy, let me just say, that if you do not agree with me, I would still be very open to coming to whatever event you have, and performing and/or sharing the gospel wherever I can. I understand that each church body is different in how they choose to spend ministry dollars and puts planning and effort into their own events. As a professional performer, entertaining is how I make my living and I would be happy with “just performing.” I have performed at many outreach events put on by churches, in which I was specifically asked not share the gospel. Each church will have it’s own reasons for this, and their own vision for the event (some use the show as a “first contact” type of event, or perhaps someone else at the event or conference is already sharing the gospel).
I am passionate about sharing the gospel whenever and wherever I can, since none of us knows the date of our death. But if I’m asked not to share the gospel, then I will follow the church’s wishes, and not. Instead I just perform a great show, to the best of my God given abilities, just as as I would when hired by a corporate client, or cruise ship for straight entertainment.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I would love any feedback that you may have. I trust that God will bless you as you personally think about evangelism, and seek to reach the lost, as we are all called to do.
Bob Cates
However, at 90% or more of the “ministry” events that I perform for, the focus is on evangelism or outreach in some capacity. This means that the congregation or ministry wants to share the Gospel at the event, or at least make some sort of connection with the non-Christians who come to the event.
So can a comedy show be evangelism? The dictionary definition of evangelism is “the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.” So evangelism is presenting the Christian gospel by preaching, proclamation or personal witness. Therefore a comedy show could be called evangelism if the speaker or performer shares the gospel.
Many performers are hired as “Christian Entertainers” but do not share the gospel. The reader can probably remember seeing a clean comedian, musician, band, illusionist, or comic variety act that did a great clean show, but did not share the gospel. Or perhaps they just shared something “inspirational.” That is fine and dandy if that’s all you want or need. But my feeling is that if the focus of your event is evangelism, then you had better make sure you share the gospel at some point.
That means that you have to get the gospel right for one thing. It also means that it would be advantageous if you could share it clearly and in a way that can be easily understood by the hearers. I believe that I as an entertainer should therefore be bold in my on stage witness, as well as take every opportunity that I can to get the message across, as it may be someone’s last chance before their death.
I believe it is important to use the Law in evangelism in order to help the non believer understand what sin is, and to lead them to Christ. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. (Ga 3:23). I use the ten commandments as an example of some of the specific ways that we have broken God’s law and store up wrath for ourselves. God commands us to repent of our sins, turning away from our sins and turning to Him in faith, for the forgiveness of our sins. “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Ac 17:29)
We can be forgiven, because the payment for our sins has already been paid in full for us, by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, when he was put to death on the cross. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Co 5:20)
It is not merely believing the facts of the gospel. But it is putting your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation from your sins. Trusting in none of your deeds, even your righteous acts. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Eph 2:7)
So, what is the “tricky” part for a “Christian Entertainer” that I mentioned above? It is the fact that entertainment’s goal is amusement, and the end goal of evangelistic preaching would be repentance and faith.
I do not bill myself as a preacher who happens to be an entertainer, or a “speaker” who happens to be an entertainer. I’m an entertainer who is a Christian. This means that from beginning to end, the show is designed to entertain and amuse, even in a “ministry setting.” But as a Christian, I can then by the grace of God, preach the message of salvation. I used to scatter the gospel message throughout the show, interspersing the elements of the gospel as I went along, building the facts and presentation in between comedy routines. However, I’ve come to a point where I feel that it is more effective for me to perform the straight comedy show, and then speak at the end of the show. If there is time available, I will often perform for 1 hour, take a 10 minute break, (stage controlled by the MC or host), and then I return to stage out of character, as myself, and proclaim the gospel for about 15 minutes, taking the time to get it right. This way, I can keep the entertainment the entertainment, and the gospel, the gospel. Usually at the beginning of the show, I compare the evening (or my presentation) to that of a DVD. I tell the audience that on a DVD you have the main performance, and then the really cool behind the scenes stuff, like the director’s commentary. Similarly, I inform the audience that I will give the main performance and then afterward give the most important “behind the scenes” insight or the “director’s commentary” so to speak, about my faith.
This leads me to ask the question, should something that has as its primary goal amusement, have a place in a Sunday AM worship service or fellowship gathering? (such as a comedy juggling show?) Personally I think not. At the very least I don’t want to add to the problem of lack of good preaching/teaching/worship etc. on a Sunday morning. That is why I will not replace a Sunday morning service with a performance. I would consider speaking and sharing the gospel however. But there may not be as many non believers at a Sunday worship service, as there would be at non-Sunday evening concert, if outreach is your goal.
Finally, if I have a performance philosophy, I must have a church philosophy that somehow fits into it. Over the last 18 months the Lord has been growing me greatly in the area of evangelism, and it has nothing much to do with the Comedy in Motion show. On one side of the coin, it has to do with how I share the gospel. I’ve been enlightened to use the Law (the 10 Commandments) in witnessing to the lost. (See comments above.) The Law is needed for grace to make sense to an unbeliever. (See www.wayofthemaster.com for more information.) I’ve been stretched to use this “method” in one on one conversations, open air preaching, and tract giving.
The other side of the coin is where I share the gospel, for lack of a better word. I’ve noticed that we Christians really keep the good news to ourselves. Or we want the non-believers to come to us (at church) to hear the Gospel. Indeed, that is what I do for part of my living! (Outreach shows where we invite the lost). But Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mk 16:15) It has been said that there is about as much chance of the unregenerate unbeliever wandering into your church as there is a criminal turning himself into a police station. It does happen, but not that often. The unredeemed hate God!
So I have been very challenged this past 18 months to put more energy into going to the unbelievers, and taking the gospel message to them, rather than trying to persuade them to come to the church, where people who love God want to go. This has been a personal challenge and stretch for me, requiring a step of faith, and I have so far to go!
So regarding church - it is a place for believers to gather and worship, learn, be edified and encourage one another. Do we welcome non-believers to come to the church? Most definitely! But it is not to be designed for the unbeliever. Inviting the lost to attend church is not evangelism. Inviting them to Christ, IS. We are to go to them. (And I realize that now a days, we will actually find many of them IN the church.) The above church philosophy ideas have already be well summarized by others I will now quote:
Let me begin by stating upfront that Jesus Christ never commissioned His followers to go out into the world and "church" lost people. Nowhere in scripture will you find the Lord or any of His Apostles attempting to lure and entice the lost into the first century church. That was NEVER our Lord’s intention. The church was created WITH and FOR the REDEEMED ONLY -- not for the faithless, rebellious and unrepentant. It only became the primary place for the lost to hear the Gospel preached because church members throughout the 20th century couldn’t maintain enough faith and courage to talk about Jesus Christ outside the church sanctuary. So, for decades now, instead of Christians inviting the lost to Christ with an open Bible, a convicting Spirit and a working knowledge of scripture, we’ve been inviting them to church instead to hear our pastor do what we ourselves should have been doing all along. Imagine what would become of our military if recruiters bribed civilian passersby into putting on a uniform, taking a loaded gun and boarding the next plane to the middle east to fight terrorists. Bribing the lost into spiritual service armed with little more than human wisdom, strength and talent to battle Satan and his demons on the streets of America is just as ridiculous and destructive. To say it defeats the purpose of the church would be a gross understatement. Ultimately, church attendance, membership, personal sacrifice and service should be the RESULT of one’s salvation, not a means to obtaining it. If it becomes the latter, it eventually corrupts, confuses and degrades the church as a whole and undermines its divine purpose. Paul Proctor http://www.newswithviews.com/PaulProctor/proctor3.htm
...many would say that a seeker sensitive church still wants to minister to the believers that are coming to the church, but that at the same time it wants to be sensitive to the unbelievers that are coming in the context of evangelism and ministering to the unbelievers. And then, by their definition, Grace Community Church would be a seeker insensitive church. ...because our idea of what takes place on the Lord’s Day is that the ingathering of believers on the Lord’s Day is for, first and foremost, the exaltation of the Lord and then secondly it's for the edification of the believer. Clay Miller http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/SC03-1029.htm
Having stated my performance and church philosophy, let me just say, that if you do not agree with me, I would still be very open to coming to whatever event you have, and performing and/or sharing the gospel wherever I can. I understand that each church body is different in how they choose to spend ministry dollars and puts planning and effort into their own events. As a professional performer, entertaining is how I make my living and I would be happy with “just performing.” I have performed at many outreach events put on by churches, in which I was specifically asked not share the gospel. Each church will have it’s own reasons for this, and their own vision for the event (some use the show as a “first contact” type of event, or perhaps someone else at the event or conference is already sharing the gospel).
I am passionate about sharing the gospel whenever and wherever I can, since none of us knows the date of our death. But if I’m asked not to share the gospel, then I will follow the church’s wishes, and not. Instead I just perform a great show, to the best of my God given abilities, just as as I would when hired by a corporate client, or cruise ship for straight entertainment.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I would love any feedback that you may have. I trust that God will bless you as you personally think about evangelism, and seek to reach the lost, as we are all called to do.
Bob Cates
Are You Really a Christian?
15/April/2009 04:22 PM
Are You Really a Christian?
If your Christian walk has been a little, um, un-even. You should listen to this sermon. You will be able to see once and for all if you are truly saved, Says Todd Friel.
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
RIGHT Click Here to download the sermon.
Click Here to stream the sermon from Wretched Radio.
Todd Friel examines 10 signs of salvation taken from 1st John.
1. You Fellowship
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
2. You Recognize Your True Sinful State
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)
3. You Are Obedient to His Commandments
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:3)
4. You Do Not Love the World
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)
5. You Have Knowledge of Who Jesus Christ Is
“Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” (1 John 2:23)
6. You Look Forward to His Coming
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
7. You Do Not Practice Sin
“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1 John 3:8-10)
8. You Love Your Brothers
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” (1 John 3:14)
9. You Love Preaching, Teaching and Hearing God’s Word
“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6)
10. You Proclaim Jesus Christ
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)
If your Christian walk has been a little, um, un-even. You should listen to this sermon. You will be able to see once and for all if you are truly saved, Says Todd Friel.
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
RIGHT Click Here to download the sermon.
Click Here to stream the sermon from Wretched Radio.
Todd Friel examines 10 signs of salvation taken from 1st John.
1. You Fellowship
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
2. You Recognize Your True Sinful State
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)
3. You Are Obedient to His Commandments
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:3)
4. You Do Not Love the World
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)
5. You Have Knowledge of Who Jesus Christ Is
“Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” (1 John 2:23)
6. You Look Forward to His Coming
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
7. You Do Not Practice Sin
“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1 John 3:8-10)
8. You Love Your Brothers
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” (1 John 3:14)
9. You Love Preaching, Teaching and Hearing God’s Word
“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6)
10. You Proclaim Jesus Christ
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)
An intersting idea about Pornogrophy
16/March/2009 04:56 PM
Here is an interesting view that I’ve never considered.
A Sobering Thought on Porn Every red-blooded Christian male has a battle with lust. He is incessantly bombarded from every side with explicit imagery. But when a man surrenders to the sin, we often hear a phrase like "He has an addiction to pornography." However, his addiction isn't to pornography. It's to "adultery." That's what we do every time we look with lust (see Matthew 5:27-28), and the root cause of someone who keeps going back to adultery is "idolatry." There is a concept of God in his mind that doesn't produce the fear of the Lord. So, make sure you flee from idolatry, and you will fortify yourself against sexual infidelity. Make the God who revealed Himself in Scripture your "accountability Partner." Do that, and you won't have an addiction to adultery.
A Sobering Thought on Porn Every red-blooded Christian male has a battle with lust. He is incessantly bombarded from every side with explicit imagery. But when a man surrenders to the sin, we often hear a phrase like "He has an addiction to pornography." However, his addiction isn't to pornography. It's to "adultery." That's what we do every time we look with lust (see Matthew 5:27-28), and the root cause of someone who keeps going back to adultery is "idolatry." There is a concept of God in his mind that doesn't produce the fear of the Lord. So, make sure you flee from idolatry, and you will fortify yourself against sexual infidelity. Make the God who revealed Himself in Scripture your "accountability Partner." Do that, and you won't have an addiction to adultery.
60 Minutes Ray Comfort Piece
09/March/2009 05:29 PM
60 Minutes did a video on Ray Comfort recently which was actually a fair look at him, his background and his ministry.
See it HERE
See it HERE
"Must See" Movies with a message
15/January/2009 12:01 PM
I have now watched all 3 of Sherwood Picture’s movies and I must say that I’m very impressed. I actually watched them in the reverse order they were made.
Flywheel was released in 2003 on a small budget. I just rented the new directors cut from Blockbuster and will definitely be buying it, along with Fireproof when it comes out in a few weeks. I already picked up 3 copies of Facing the Giants I found at a pawn shop for $5 each.
Facing the Giants was a huge hit for Sherwood Pictures, a ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church. Their 3rd picture was called Fireproof, staring Kirk Cameron and was in theatres September of 2008 and is about to be released on DVD.
The next time you go to rent a movie, rent any one of these three and you won’t be disappointed. You’ll laugh and you’ll cry. If you don’t cry you aren’t human. Or at least not a Cates.
Click on the above pictures to go to each movie’s web site.
Understanding the situation in Israel & Gaza
15/January/2009 11:52 AM
Smoke rose from the United Nations headquarters after it was hit during Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on Thursday.
As the war in Israel and Gaza continues, I was looking for articles to help me better understand the situation. It led me to this site which has many helpful articles, news pieces and op ed commentaries.
Every Hamas rocket attack against Israeli civilians - and there have been more than 6,500 of them since Israel ended its occupation of Gaza - is an armed attack against Israel under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which authorizes member nations to respond militarily to armed attacks against it.
I can’t help but think that Israel always gets the short end of the stick in the world media.
What if Israel defended its citizens the way the British, the French, the Americans and the Russians did? When German rockets hit British cities during the World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill retaliated by bombing German cities, killing thousands of German civilians, and promised to continue until Germany's unconditional surrender. The United States did the same following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The French did much worse in Algeria and the Russians showed no concern for civilian life in Chechnya or Georgia.
The IDF, on the other hand, has gone to extraordinary lengths to minimize civilian casualties, despite the reality that Hamas deliberately fires its rockets from densely populated civilian areas and hides its rocket launchers in schools, hospitals and mosques.
Christian DDR & Guitar Hero
29/December/2008 08:51 AM
Three years ago, Digital Praise released a DDR game for the Mac or Pc with over 50 Contemporary Christian songs. I noticed that they now have a second new DDR game with more Christian music, as well as a Veggie Tales version. Imagine DDRing to the silly song! In addition they have “Guitar Praise” - a Christian version of Guitar Hero. Check it out here.
A great find - Bible in a year
22/December/2008 11:18 AM
- Today I found a great new One Year reading plan for the Bible. It breaks the reading down in to 7 different categories (for 7 days/week). Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy, and the Gospels. You can get the pdf and print it out.
I was asked by Christian Week to talk about life today as a Christian Entertainer...here is what I had to say.
01/December/2008 09:16 PM
My name is Bob Cates, and my show is called Comedy in Motion. I have been making my living full time as an entertainer since 1995. For someone who grew up on a large pig farm in Southern Ontario, this is the last thing I would have expected to be making my living at. I learned to juggle in my last year of high school (age 18) by teaching myself with tennis balls. I was inspired when I saw a juggler on tv at school and said to my friend, "wouldn't it be cool to be able to juggle!" He showed me that he could do it himself with chalk brushes, and I went home that night and taught myself. It took about 3 hours, but I'm nothing if not persistent. After high school I had a year of Bible College at the Baptist Leadership Education Centre in Whitby, then 4 years at McMaster University getting a Bachelor of Commerce degree. I started juggling societies at both schools and practiced on average for about 6-10 hours a week for those 5 years, which is when I developed my core skills.
I could quickly be described as a comedy juggler. Some skills presented in the show include juggling up to 6 balls (7 off stage), Spinning 21 real dinner plates from Value Village on 6 foot poles, juggling knives, milk bags, and/or fire on top of a 7 foot tall unicycle, cigar box manipulation, dance dance revolution while juggling, and advanced manipulation of Chinese Yo Yos. My specialty is the Chinese Yo Yo, as well as the authentic Ed Sullivan style plate spinning. But the show is much more than juggling, and perhaps would be better described as a Comedy Variety Act. Not only will people see many advanced and amazing talents and skills in the show as just described - but the whole show is woven together with squeaky clean patter, jokes, and interactive situation comedy. Over and over again we hear comments after the show such as, "You're not just a juggler, you're an entertainer!" or "I normally don't like jugglers, but I loved your show!" These are high complements that I cherish, because being an amazing juggler is not my goal; being an amazing entertainer is.
I just got married last summer after a long search, at age 37. My wife Jane who is close to my age had been looking for a long time as well. Little did she know her husband was to be the guy who she had hired for a show in 2002! My wife was the director of children's ministry at West London Alliance Church for the last several years. In 2002 she hired me for a show for some carnival day they were having at her church. There were no sparks at that time which is a funny story in itself. Our paths crossed again 2 years later at another ministry event for just a moment. So we knew OF each other. But, we eventually connected romantically through Christiancafe. Apparently I met every point on her 3 point list, and she met every point on my 27 point list! We now work and travel in the business together, so as to avoid long periods of separation while on the road performing. (Jane still works as a part time consultant and trainer for www.winningkidsinc.ca, a ministry for child protection which she helped to found and co-authored the book, Plan to Protect). Being able to work and travel together with my wife has been a great blessing. (She works behind the scenes, on stage and off, as well as in the business.) We had a great first winter together with 4 months spent working on the Ms Statendam cruising Australia, New Zealand and Asia. We plan to keep performing on cruise ships for about 2-4 months a year, as the opportunities present themselves. We may be Canada's youngest snowbirds!
I became a Christian at a young age, seeing the need for salvation from my sins, and was baptized at 18 before going off to Bible College. When I was a missionary in Lithuania for 7 months after university, I occasionally used the juggling to draw crowds for some street ministry. I started using my performances as an avenue to share the gospel in the late 90s after being exposed to Christians artists in the United states doing such things, such as Christian illusionists and Christian jugglers I met.
I started to offer my show as a tool for churches to reach out to the community. I would perform the show and share the gospel in and throughout the show. A concert/show could be called a "bring a friend" event that the church could sponsor, at their own location, or off site such as at a local community centre or high school, as we did last night for Innisfail Alliance Church. Being an entertainer, and a preacher of the gospel has always been a real "balancing act." The Church's mandate is not to entertain people. Juggling is not evangelism. Sharing the Gospel with people so that they might come to repentance and faith is. So I strive to make sure that the Gospel is presented very clearly and I'm not afraid to mention hell, sin, righteousness and judgement. It's quite the sight for someone who makes people laugh for an hour before that!
My faith has grown in various ways over the years, and so has how I've shared the Gospel in the show. I've always tended to use juggling oriented object lessons, and then go on to explain the Gospel with scripture. However this has changed a bit over the last year. About a year ago I became aware of Way of the Master Radio (see also www.wayofthemaster.com and livingwaters.com) and, after having listened to many podcasts of the radio show, it has transformed the way my wife and I do evangelism from the ground up.
You can see that story here.
Our eyes were opened to use the Law (the 10 commandments) in sharing of the Gospel. A practice that the church largely abandoned over 100 years ago.
Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Romans 7:7-25 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law.
By using the 10 commandments to show people how they have personally violated God's law, they can understand what sin is, and how they have sinned against a Holy God, so that the Grace of Jesus Christ makes sense.
After listening to many witnessing encounters on Way of the Master radio, we were inspired to share our faith more boldly than we do now (on stage and off).
This includes tracts, one on one conversations, and open air preaching. As a result,this has affected ministry shows in that I want to preach even more, and make the Gospel even more clear and personal to the hearers. This has led me to offer a new concert format for churches that are interested.
First, I present a one hour show, then the MC takes the stage for 10 minutes and can share ministry info about the church, or videos, etc. Then I return to the stage out of character as myself and preach the Gospel for about 15 minutes. This method allows me to keep the entertainment the entertainment, and the gospel the gospel. It also gives the church a few minutes of time to introduce themselves to any new faces from the community. I explain to the audience right at the beginning that the evening will look like a DVD - first the main show, and then after that comes the "special feature" where you get to hear the "director's commentary" behind the scenes, so to speak. We still do offer shows, however, where I preach the gospel near the end of the show without leaving the stage.
I'm very thankful to God for the ability to make a living at something as fun as being a comedy entertainer. It has taken me around the world. This past year we got to perform on a cruise ship throughout Asia. Last night we were on stage in front of 1200 in Lloydminster Alberta. Dare to dream.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corr. 10:31
The Shack - Now this book gets around
20/November/2008 12:47 PM
I was going to list some quotes from the text that send chills down your spine - but I’ll let you read them for yourself in the following reviews.
This one is short and Sweet by Hank Hanegraff
Tim Challies does a very in depth and balanced look at it. Check his site for many many other great reviews.
Thirteen Heresies in the Shack by Dr. Michael Youssef
10 minutes of thoughts about "THE SHACK" by Jason Robinson - a lot of stuff I never thought of
Chuck Coleson’s Review, Stay out of the Shack
Wretched Radio Resources - Three Different Reviews, including Geisler’s.
Mark Dricoll's take on the book's depiction of the Trinity.
Ambassadors Acadamy in LA - WOW
17/November/2008 08:21 PM
Two Weeks ago Jane and I returned from LA where we attended The Ambassador’s Academy. The Academy was three and a half days of intensive and fast-paced training and street evangelism under the teaching and leadership of members of the Living Waters staff including Tony Miano, Ray Comfort, Mark Spence, Emeal Zwayne and Kirk Cameron. After attending the Deeper conference near Atlanta just two weeks prior, we were pumped to continue in our evangelism training. However that doesn’t mean we weren’t nervous. After the first day and a half of in class training we were to hit the streets, starting with Hollywood Boulevard (the walk of stars) in LA.
Fifty people were accepted for the weekend. Our team had 7 people all from varied walks of life and evangelism experience. One couple in our team was particularly inspiring. Dwayne and Mary Ann from Norther California are 71 years old. They have a desire to reach the lost and are willing to get out of their comfort zone and be “fools for Christ” to make it happen. Neither of them had done any type of street witnessing before, to say nothing of open air preaching. One girl had been soundly save from a new age background. One of the fellows in our group was a pastor. And Brenda from New England had an inspiring testimony. She had grown up in the church but was a false convert. She came to a saving faith through her husband’s witness. He had become a christian after finding a Gospel tract in a porta-john! Now they are on fire believers who have started their own ministry training others how to share their faith. They have taken their one day seminar to over 50 churches in New England in the last 2 years - and it all started with ONE gospel tract that led to many being saved.
This summer Jane and I had begun open air preaching using my juggling as a way to draw a crowd (see here). But we were definitely going to be challenged by learning to open air preach to the masses, (without a juggling draw) and even something as scary as “Stop light” preaching. In big cities, many people bunch up on the sidewalk for about 90 seconds while they wait for the light to say walk. You have about 60-90 seconds to get the message out! Jane did a great job - see the video below. We also got to street preach out side of the famous Grovman’s Chinese Theatre where many movie premiers are held. (see video below) We all had many great one on one encounters with people in which we were able to share the Law and the Gospel.
With Trish Ramos, from www.fishwithtrish.com
It was a delight to meet Ray Comfort. We got along great with me being naturally goofy as a performer and he being very down to earth and fun loving. He even let me open one of his sessions with a 5 minute juggling act to break the ice. We can’t say enough about a Ray. It was also a delight to meet Kirk Cameron. We had lunch with him and I told him that he inspired me, as a Christian Entertainer. It is hard to find mentors (for lack of a better word) in the entertainment field as a Christian. I read his recent autobiography, and then passed it along to another friend of mine who I thought might be able to relate who was a star on the television series Star Trek Voyager.
We were inspired to see how preaching open air can be effective even if you don’t have a “crowd.” Because a preacher’s voice can travel astonishingly far if you have the wind behind you. It may not look, or seam like people are listening, but God’s word will never be preached in vain. I once said that everyone needs to experience being a missionary and door to door salesman in their life. (Both events I’ve had the honour of doing). But now I must add open air preaching to the list. It’s not easy to explain the feeling of having everyone in the crowd walk away from you as you preach.
I’d like to encourage anyone who’s read this to think more seriously about evangelism. Maybe for you it’s as simple as inviting someone to church, or leaving one gospel tract somewhere. But in the worlds of Spurgeon...
"Brethren, do something; do something, do something! While societies and unions make constitutions, let us win souls. I pray you, be men of action all of you. Get to work and quit yourselves like men. Old Suvarov's idea of war is mine: `Forward and strike! No theory! Attack! Form a column! Charge bayonets! Plunge into the center of the enemy! Our one aim is to win souls; and this we are not to talk about, but do in the power of God!" - Charles Spurgeon
It was halloween the day we were on Hollywood Boulevard.
bob open air hollywood blvd
jane open air hollywood blvd
Fifty people were accepted for the weekend. Our team had 7 people all from varied walks of life and evangelism experience. One couple in our team was particularly inspiring. Dwayne and Mary Ann from Norther California are 71 years old. They have a desire to reach the lost and are willing to get out of their comfort zone and be “fools for Christ” to make it happen. Neither of them had done any type of street witnessing before, to say nothing of open air preaching. One girl had been soundly save from a new age background. One of the fellows in our group was a pastor. And Brenda from New England had an inspiring testimony. She had grown up in the church but was a false convert. She came to a saving faith through her husband’s witness. He had become a christian after finding a Gospel tract in a porta-john! Now they are on fire believers who have started their own ministry training others how to share their faith. They have taken their one day seminar to over 50 churches in New England in the last 2 years - and it all started with ONE gospel tract that led to many being saved.
This summer Jane and I had begun open air preaching using my juggling as a way to draw a crowd (see here). But we were definitely going to be challenged by learning to open air preach to the masses, (without a juggling draw) and even something as scary as “Stop light” preaching. In big cities, many people bunch up on the sidewalk for about 90 seconds while they wait for the light to say walk. You have about 60-90 seconds to get the message out! Jane did a great job - see the video below. We also got to street preach out side of the famous Grovman’s Chinese Theatre where many movie premiers are held. (see video below) We all had many great one on one encounters with people in which we were able to share the Law and the Gospel.
With Trish Ramos, from www.fishwithtrish.com
It was a delight to meet Ray Comfort. We got along great with me being naturally goofy as a performer and he being very down to earth and fun loving. He even let me open one of his sessions with a 5 minute juggling act to break the ice. We can’t say enough about a Ray. It was also a delight to meet Kirk Cameron. We had lunch with him and I told him that he inspired me, as a Christian Entertainer. It is hard to find mentors (for lack of a better word) in the entertainment field as a Christian. I read his recent autobiography, and then passed it along to another friend of mine who I thought might be able to relate who was a star on the television series Star Trek Voyager.
We were inspired to see how preaching open air can be effective even if you don’t have a “crowd.” Because a preacher’s voice can travel astonishingly far if you have the wind behind you. It may not look, or seam like people are listening, but God’s word will never be preached in vain. I once said that everyone needs to experience being a missionary and door to door salesman in their life. (Both events I’ve had the honour of doing). But now I must add open air preaching to the list. It’s not easy to explain the feeling of having everyone in the crowd walk away from you as you preach.
I’d like to encourage anyone who’s read this to think more seriously about evangelism. Maybe for you it’s as simple as inviting someone to church, or leaving one gospel tract somewhere. But in the worlds of Spurgeon...
"Brethren, do something; do something, do something! While societies and unions make constitutions, let us win souls. I pray you, be men of action all of you. Get to work and quit yourselves like men. Old Suvarov's idea of war is mine: `Forward and strike! No theory! Attack! Form a column! Charge bayonets! Plunge into the center of the enemy! Our one aim is to win souls; and this we are not to talk about, but do in the power of God!" - Charles Spurgeon
It was halloween the day we were on Hollywood Boulevard.
bob open air hollywood blvd
jane open air hollywood blvd
Witnessing at the St. Jacobs Farmers Market
17/July/2008 06:00 PM
Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”
Bob & Jane face their fear and grow their faith. Would you like to join us?
It all started about 6 months ago when we were in Alberta and rented a car that had Sirius Satellite Radio. We heard a Christian talk show program called Way of the Master Radio. We thought it was so good I looked it up on the internet when I got home. I knew that they would likely have a pod cast and sure enough they did. You can listen live at www.wayofthemasterradio.com or just use itunes to download the free programs every day.
The Way of the Master radio turned out to be part of a larger ministry, Way of the Master and Living Waters and Living Waters Canada. I had vaguely heard of these ministries before from hearing that Kirk Cameron was a Christian ("Mike Seaver" from the old hit sitcom "Growing Pains").
In the radio Show, Todd Friel and Ray Comfort witness to people on the air at least once a day. They have a few people out on the street who approach people and ask them about their beliefs and if they would be willing to talk to the hosts live on air. One of the "Street Fishers" is a pastor's wife in Texas named Trish (see www.fishwithtrish.com for a great site about how things go after the witness encounters).
They use the Law (the Ten Commandments) to show people their utter sinfulness and hence their need for a saviour. Everyone has lied, stolen, coveted, etc, and people's own conscience convicts them. They use the Law as a schoolmaster to lead people to Christ. (Galatians 3:24 (KJV) "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.")
Many times that Jane and I have been afraid to witness, it has because we don't know what to say. We think we have to know every answer to all possible questions, and that is just not the case. But by making your final witnessing destination the heart and not the head, you will always have an ally in their conscience. You can witness the same way to an atheist, a muslim, a catholic or a homosexual, without having to know by heart the Qu’ran, the 800 page catechism of the Catholic Church, Philosophy, or what “Rosie’s Family Cruise” is.
As we listened to witness encounters again and again we were challenged by our own apathy to the spiritual state of non-believers, and our own pride and apathy towards witnessing. Our research into the ministry revealed two sermons that would change our life. These two sermons, "Hell's Best Kept Secret" and "True and False Conversion" are mind blowers if you have been a Christian for any length of time. I suspect that if you are a believer you also will be changed by what you hear. These can both be listened to for free, or downloaded and burned to CD for free here: http://www.wayofthemaster.com/audiolessons.shtml
If you do only one thing after reading this, please listen to these sermons.
So, summoning the courage, Jane and I decided to "hit the streets" with our soap box (juggling box), tracts, and faith. The most logical place we thought was St. Jacob's Farmers market because there are always lots of people on Thursdays and Saturdays. Thursdays fit our schedule best and so starting in late May we went there in faith looking to witness. As I have lots of experience in busking from my earlier days I signed in as a busker. The evangelistic “methods” we take are three-fold:
1) one on one witnessing with people we approach or strike up conversations with, usually right near where we are set up
2). Handing out tracts, which includes the unique "million dollar bill" gospel tract which totally opens the door to talk to people about faith
Ray Comfort said that a good open air preacher can reach more lost people in one day that an average church does in a year! I didn't believe this at first, it is such a radical a statement. However, I do now! This afternoon, I open air preached to about 50 people, and we witnessed one on one to another several people. And that was in just one hour! I believe a good open air preacher could therefore expose the Gospel to over 1000 people in a day. Does your church present the full and clear gospel message to that many run of the mill non-believers in a year?
I start by getting a small crowd with juggling and comedy, and the goal is to build it to about 15-40 people, although some times more or less are in the audience. I try not to spend more than 10 minutes on the show, although it sometimes goes longer. Then I say after the finale, "If I were busking today I would now put out my hat and ask for money. But today I'm reverse busking - I'm going to give out money! I then bring out the million dollar bill (tract) and say I'm going to give everyone one of these million dollar bills after I share a short message. (today I actually gave out the bills and said I was going to explain the gospel message that is on the back, after everyone had received one. Surprisingly, about three quarters of the crowd stayed to hear the message. I'll experiment with this).
Often we go to the market dragging our feet and leave skipping. It is a thrill share the gospel - to know that you can't rely on your own skills, but only the Holy Spirit to open someone's heart. It is a joy to share the gospel, without watering it down. And to realize that all we can do is plant seeds: we can't convert anyone!
We have discovered that sometimes it can be discouraging to see just how lost some people are. And to meet so many false converts. For example today Jane and I talked to this dear old white haired grandmother named Maria who, in the past, I would have probably thought to be saved without giving it a second thought. She said that she grew up in the church and knew the gospel and "all that." She said she went to the presbyterian church every now and then in Port Rowan to “make the pastor feel better," because they only have 12 people in the congregation. So after wading through a lot of self righteousness the scary truth came out. (Jane's gentle questioning revealed that the only one of the 10 commandments she thought that she had ever broken - in her WHOLE life - was lying... ) apparently in her 70 years she had never dishonoured her parents, stole anything, used the Lord's name in vain, lusted, coveted, etc). But she said that she was "ready to go" and started to tell us about her sickness recently which saw her go to the hospital. So I asked her if she died, and stood before God, why should He let her in. She replied with the heartbreaking old standard, "because I've been a good person." You will not believe how often you hear this. Pray for Maria from Port Rowan (and her husband John) if you think of it.
So since some people have expressed interest in coming out to show moral support, hand out tracks, or learn how / practice witnessing, we decided we'd better put a date and time on the next outings planned.
We work near the south entrance. Here is a map with the location marked with a pin. Click Here
Set aside some time to follow some of the above links, and download or listen to those two sermons over the next week if you can. If you are planning to join us please phone or email us - it would be great. And don’t worry, you never stop trembling!
Bob Cates
See Video Clip:
Bob & Jane face their fear and grow their faith. Would you like to join us?
It all started about 6 months ago when we were in Alberta and rented a car that had Sirius Satellite Radio. We heard a Christian talk show program called Way of the Master Radio. We thought it was so good I looked it up on the internet when I got home. I knew that they would likely have a pod cast and sure enough they did. You can listen live at www.wayofthemasterradio.com or just use itunes to download the free programs every day.
The Way of the Master radio turned out to be part of a larger ministry, Way of the Master and Living Waters and Living Waters Canada. I had vaguely heard of these ministries before from hearing that Kirk Cameron was a Christian ("Mike Seaver" from the old hit sitcom "Growing Pains").
In the radio Show, Todd Friel and Ray Comfort witness to people on the air at least once a day. They have a few people out on the street who approach people and ask them about their beliefs and if they would be willing to talk to the hosts live on air. One of the "Street Fishers" is a pastor's wife in Texas named Trish (see www.fishwithtrish.com for a great site about how things go after the witness encounters).
They use the Law (the Ten Commandments) to show people their utter sinfulness and hence their need for a saviour. Everyone has lied, stolen, coveted, etc, and people's own conscience convicts them. They use the Law as a schoolmaster to lead people to Christ. (Galatians 3:24 (KJV) "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.")
Many times that Jane and I have been afraid to witness, it has because we don't know what to say. We think we have to know every answer to all possible questions, and that is just not the case. But by making your final witnessing destination the heart and not the head, you will always have an ally in their conscience. You can witness the same way to an atheist, a muslim, a catholic or a homosexual, without having to know by heart the Qu’ran, the 800 page catechism of the Catholic Church, Philosophy, or what “Rosie’s Family Cruise” is.
As we listened to witness encounters again and again we were challenged by our own apathy to the spiritual state of non-believers, and our own pride and apathy towards witnessing. Our research into the ministry revealed two sermons that would change our life. These two sermons, "Hell's Best Kept Secret" and "True and False Conversion" are mind blowers if you have been a Christian for any length of time. I suspect that if you are a believer you also will be changed by what you hear. These can both be listened to for free, or downloaded and burned to CD for free here: http://www.wayofthemaster.com/audiolessons.shtml
If you do only one thing after reading this, please listen to these sermons.
So, summoning the courage, Jane and I decided to "hit the streets" with our soap box (juggling box), tracts, and faith. The most logical place we thought was St. Jacob's Farmers market because there are always lots of people on Thursdays and Saturdays. Thursdays fit our schedule best and so starting in late May we went there in faith looking to witness. As I have lots of experience in busking from my earlier days I signed in as a busker. The evangelistic “methods” we take are three-fold:
1) one on one witnessing with people we approach or strike up conversations with, usually right near where we are set up
2). Handing out tracts, which includes the unique "million dollar bill" gospel tract which totally opens the door to talk to people about faith
Ray Comfort said that a good open air preacher can reach more lost people in one day that an average church does in a year! I didn't believe this at first, it is such a radical a statement. However, I do now! This afternoon, I open air preached to about 50 people, and we witnessed one on one to another several people. And that was in just one hour! I believe a good open air preacher could therefore expose the Gospel to over 1000 people in a day. Does your church present the full and clear gospel message to that many run of the mill non-believers in a year?
I start by getting a small crowd with juggling and comedy, and the goal is to build it to about 15-40 people, although some times more or less are in the audience. I try not to spend more than 10 minutes on the show, although it sometimes goes longer. Then I say after the finale, "If I were busking today I would now put out my hat and ask for money. But today I'm reverse busking - I'm going to give out money! I then bring out the million dollar bill (tract) and say I'm going to give everyone one of these million dollar bills after I share a short message. (today I actually gave out the bills and said I was going to explain the gospel message that is on the back, after everyone had received one. Surprisingly, about three quarters of the crowd stayed to hear the message. I'll experiment with this).
Often we go to the market dragging our feet and leave skipping. It is a thrill share the gospel - to know that you can't rely on your own skills, but only the Holy Spirit to open someone's heart. It is a joy to share the gospel, without watering it down. And to realize that all we can do is plant seeds: we can't convert anyone!
We have discovered that sometimes it can be discouraging to see just how lost some people are. And to meet so many false converts. For example today Jane and I talked to this dear old white haired grandmother named Maria who, in the past, I would have probably thought to be saved without giving it a second thought. She said that she grew up in the church and knew the gospel and "all that." She said she went to the presbyterian church every now and then in Port Rowan to “make the pastor feel better," because they only have 12 people in the congregation. So after wading through a lot of self righteousness the scary truth came out. (Jane's gentle questioning revealed that the only one of the 10 commandments she thought that she had ever broken - in her WHOLE life - was lying... ) apparently in her 70 years she had never dishonoured her parents, stole anything, used the Lord's name in vain, lusted, coveted, etc). But she said that she was "ready to go" and started to tell us about her sickness recently which saw her go to the hospital. So I asked her if she died, and stood before God, why should He let her in. She replied with the heartbreaking old standard, "because I've been a good person." You will not believe how often you hear this. Pray for Maria from Port Rowan (and her husband John) if you think of it.
So since some people have expressed interest in coming out to show moral support, hand out tracks, or learn how / practice witnessing, we decided we'd better put a date and time on the next outings planned.
We work near the south entrance. Here is a map with the location marked with a pin. Click Here
Set aside some time to follow some of the above links, and download or listen to those two sermons over the next week if you can. If you are planning to join us please phone or email us - it would be great. And don’t worry, you never stop trembling!
Bob Cates
See Video Clip: