Category: Gospel

When Pitching the Gospel: Throw With Authority

03/04/2014Gospel, The Furrowed Brow, 4 Comments

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Our boys are great athletes, and Brian is a great coach. His words of advice sometimes transcend the playing field.

I recall one such instance when our youngest was in Little League. During spring practice he was playing catch with a boy he didn’t know very well and had no idea of this other boy’s baseball ability. Because of his uncertainty, and not wanting to overpower or humiliate the other boy, our son held back. After practice, Brian asked him why he wasn’t throwing as he usually did.

Our son told Brian he wasn’t sure the other boy could catch the ball, so he didn’t throw hard, he lobbed in a few tosses. Brian responded, “Son, it is your responsibility to throw with authority. To place the ball where it needs to be. His responsibility is to catch it.”

If only Christians could grasp that truth as it applies to living, speaking truth, and sharing the Gospel. Sometimes it seems like we’re so afraid others won’t, or can’t catch the whole truth that we water it down, pretty it up, or lob it in so gently that it fails to reach the mark. No one benefits if the truth is not clearly given with authority so that it might be fully received.

Sometimes Christians (myself included) present the Gospel through our words, entertainment, books, Bible studies, and even our lives as if we are ashamed of it. Or as if we don’t think the receiver is capable of carching it. We forget Paul’s words in Romans:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” – Romans 1:16-17 NIV

What is the Gospel? It is the power of God that brings salvation! It is the human life, the physical death, the resurrection, and the exaltation of Jesus. The Gospel is Jesus.

Why do we need the Gospel? Because we are sinners born with a sin nature. By our very nature, we deserve God’s just wrath.

“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desire and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” – Ephesians 2:3 NIV

We are so afraid that we might offend “seekers” by speaking about sin and the need for salvation that we speak of other things: miracles, healing, freedom, love, peace, joy. But how wise is that? The truth is that no one seeks God apart from God’s drawing that person to Him. If anyone seeks at all, he/she is seeking the whole truth. We must speak it with authority.

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away… There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:10-18 NIV

“No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the Father who sent me draws them… Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” John 6:44-45 NIV

If someone is seeking the Way, the Truth and the Life why wouldn’t we give them Jesus in all His beauty? We don’t need to pretty up the Gospel; it is glorious, cleansing, and freeing as it stands.

If we don’t speak the truth of Jesus with authority when we are introducing people to him, how will they be prepared when the reality of life hits. If all we do is lob softballs through our teaching, how do we expect anyone to deal with the hardballs of life?

In that Little League practice, our son was afraid the other player might drop the ball, but if the ball wasn’t catchable, whose error would it be? The game of life is short. People are dying. Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Will you speak truth and pitch the Gospel with authority?

For Barb and Bruce Bryant

02/28/2014Death Grief and Mourning, Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, , , , , , , , , , 10 Comments

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Bruce Bryant’s funeral was Thursday. Bruce’s body died on Sunday, but Bruce is alive. His family grieves his passing from this life, yet at the same time celebrates that his days of pain are over.

On Tuesday evening, some of us gathered to pray for Barb. We prayed for God to comfort and sustain her through the difficult days ahead. He is, and He will. She also asked us to pray for those who would attend the visitation and funeral: For believers to be comforted and unbelievers to hear, believe, and receive God’s word of salvation.

“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? Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” – Romans 10:14-17 NIV

Everyone at Bruce’s funeral heard God’s word about Christ.

Some at the funeral will be challenged by what they heard. God’s word will sound comforting, and they may even want to believe it, but they will stop short of commitment because they aren’t sure salvation is that easy. Or they will think they are too unworthy. We prayed that the seeds of truth that were sown will take root. We prayed that the hearers will understand that grace means you can’t earn salvation; you receive it from God’s hand.

“It is by grace you have been saved.” – Ephesians 2:8 NIV

And, some who were there will be comforted by God’s word. They were reminded that though death seems final it isn’t. Death has been defeated. Death is the doorway into the presence of God. God’s word will comfort those who mourn.

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:25 – NIV

Dying and death are real. Every “body” will die, but not every person will. Those who don’t die, are those who have responded to God’s word and accepted the gracious gift of salvation that God offers through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is free to us. It cost the life of God’s one and only Son.

To reject God’s word is to choose to take upon your own shoulders the responsibility for the errors, omissions, failures, guilt, shame, and heartache you have caused throughout your entire life. To reject God’s word is to stand condemned to eternal death. No one has to do that. It is a choice

“I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” – John 8:24 NIV

Some of those alive at Bruce’s funeral will experience death for all of eternity. Some will live forever with Jesus. Where will you spend eternity? How do you know? Upon whose word are you relying?

 

Under Siege

02/21/2014Death Grief and Mourning, Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, , , , , , , 8 Comments

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A little over five years ago, my friend’s family came under siege. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer. They engaged the fight.

Under siege, you have limited resources. At their disposal were surgery, medicine, wise doctors, time, faith, hope and love. They have used up all the procedures, medicines, doctors and clinical trials available to them. Now, they are hoarding the only things they have left: Time, Hope, Faith and Love.

Time is running short.  The enemy will try to rob them of time together with each call, text and email notification on their phone. To protect each precious moment with their family, they have asked their friends not to phone or text. We won’t. We will pray and stand by in silence. We will give them uninterrupted moments together.

Hope will soon end for my friend’s husband as he will no longer need it. He will see the face of Jesus. He will dwell, in the glory of eternity. He will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  Hope gives this family peace today.

Faith will sustain them as they grieve his passing from this life into the next. Their faith is in the Gospel: Jesus’ perfect life, death, and resurrection. They trust in the salvation that Jesus purchased on the cross. Their faith is in God’s promise of resurrection and new life.

Love never fails, and love never ends. When this precious family is reunited in glory, their love for God and for each other will grow through all eternity.

What can we learn from my friends?

Time is running short. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. Not you, your parents, children, relatives or friends.

“The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” – Psalm 103:15 NIV

Hope is the settled assurance that what God says is true. Our hope is in Christ alone. He is the promise that sustains us.

“In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.” – Psalm 71:1, 5 NIV

Faith is confidence in what we hope for. We must confidently believe that the Gospel is true, and act on that belief by receiving Jesus as our Savior and committing our lives to Him as our Lord.

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” – John 1:12 NIV

Love is sacrificial. It is how Christians act toward one another because this is how God acted toward us.

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 NIV

We are all under siege in one way or another and we have limited resources. Time is running out for all of us. How might you share hope, increase faith, and show love to others while you still have time?

Snowy, Slushy, Salty Shoes

02/04/2014Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, Spiritual Walk, , , , 4 Comments

I have a frisnowBootsFeb2014aend who is a beautiful, influential, charming, and well-thought of woman. She is godly, respected and many women look up to her.

Recently she and I attended an event on a snowy evening. When we walked into our hostess’ home, our shoes were snowy, slushy and salty. My friend quickly grabbed a roll of paper towels and a trash bag and as each woman arrived she wiped the mess off every shoe.

Those of us having our shoes wiped clean felt somewhat uncomfortable. In our eyes, the work of wiping shoes seemed far beneath this woman.  While it was difficult to accept her service, it was sweet to witness her servant’s heart. My friend embodied Jesus’ charge to believers:

“Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” – Mark 9:35 NIV

Jesus didn’t just teach this truth, He lived it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, stepped out of heaven, leaving the glory of God, the place where He is continually worshiped and adored as God, and lived in a human body to serve others even unto death.

Jesus did this. Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty, humbled himself and became the servant of all.

“…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness… he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” – Philippians 2:7-8

Jesus’ attitude was selfless obedience. He put human beings above Himself, and He put obedience to the Father above all. Jesus, God the Son, did not consider His equality with God the Father as something that He had to grasp with a tight fist. Jesus set His equality aside for you and for me. He died to cleanse and save us.

We can’t clean ourselves up; we can’t remove the muck and the mud of sin’s filth from our hearts. Our self effort is like trying to wipe our slushy shoes off with a dirty rag: we simply spread the filth around. We need the Servant to wash us clean.

When we accept Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, our hearts are washed clean by His blood. The blood of Jesus wipes the sin away and secures God’s forgiveness. He never holds our sins against us again. The stain of sin is permanently removed.

Christ’s cleansing assures our salvation.

We are clean, but we live in a dirty world. And, sometimes we track the filth of the world into our lives, our homes and our ministries. It’s difficult to serve God and His people when our hearts are dirtied up with selfishness, and pride.

Thankfully, Jesus’ blood continues to cleanse, and removes the mess of selfishness and pride when it is confessed.

Is there a place of service that you’ve dismissed because you thought it was beneath you? Maybe it seemed like wiping slushy shoes? Would you reconsider as you take into account Jesus’ attitude toward serving you?

Living In the Present Tense

01/31/2014contentment, Death Grief and Mourning, Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, , , , , , , , 21 Comments

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Dad would’ve loved this record-breaking winter. Not that he enjoyed the cold and snow, but he was always up for a challenge.

He would have gone out every day just to prove he could. Level 3 snow emergency – ha! That wouldn’t keep him parked. -40° wind chill – ha! That just meant putting on the lined jacket.

Then he’d call to tell me about the brutal cold, the deep snow, how many cars he’d seen in the ditch, how much he slid around, and how well he handled the icy slick roads. And if he fell on the ice, he’d tell me about that, too.

That was the “old normal”… knowing dad would be pushing the limit, and waiting for the phone to ring in the evening so he could tell all about it.

The “new normal” is talking about dad in the past tense. The “new normal” is not getting a call from him. The “new normal” is realizing the finality of death.

That may be our new normal, but it surely isn’t dad’s!

What is dad’s “new normal”? Can it even be called “normal”? Is there anything “normal” about being in the visible presence of Jesus every moment? Of continual praise? Of ceaseless joy? Of pure love? Of a sinless existence? Can we begin to imagine? I don’t think so…

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

What do we know about heaven? We know it’s real. We know that Jesus is there. We know that those who trust in Him will be with Him in heaven when they leave their physical bodies.

“…as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” – 2 Corinthians 5:8 NIV

“I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” – Philippians 1:23 NIV

We know that we will recognize each other. We know we don’t become angels. We know we remain ourselves.

Can we be sure that we will go to heaven? Yes! The glorious truth is that when we trust our salvation entirely to Jesus and the work He accomplished on the cross, our eternity is secure.

Trusting Jesus means we recognize that it is not about how good we are, but about how bad we are. We must admit that there is nothing good in us. Nothing. Not 80%, not 50%, not 10%, but 0%. We ask Jesus to save us from the sin that enslaves us 100%. We ask Him to enter into our person and live His life through us. We surrender to Him, and then we are saved. From that moment on, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is God who saves us, secures our salvation, and brings us to heaven.

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy…” – Jude 24, NIV

Dad would’ve loved this winter… but I’m sure it can’t touch how much he loves the Springtime of eternity!

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