Faith & Perseverance - Do you have them?

In my current textbook for a Global University course I've been taking (Relationships & Ethics in Ministry), I read a chapter on Evangelism that talked extensively about the need for us to have faith. The author cited a story by Michael Cassidy, a South African who founded African Enterprise. He used the story to highlight the need for having faith while speaking to a person wavering in his belief in the Resurrection. It is in Chapter 10, pg. 125. The story goes like this:


[The following letter was found many years ago in a tin, tied to an old pump on a remote dessert trail]

This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years. But the washer dries out and the pump has to be primed. Under the white rock, I buried a bottle of water, out of the sun and cork end up. There is enough water in it to prime the pump, but not enough if you drink some first. Pour about one-fourth and let her soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like crazy. You will get water. The well has never run dry. Have faith. When you get watered up, fill the bottle and put it back as you found it for the next feller. Desert Pete. 

What would you do? Would you go for the inadequate supply or the unlimited supply supposedly down in the ground? The thirsty man had to make a decision. Did he have faith and follow the instructions? If he was short sighted, he would go for the short supply. If he truly saw the big picture, he would take that leap of faith and use the pump. Of course, we don't know his fate.

We are also in a dessert with a well. We too have to make a decision. Those who have chosen the well are now drinking. Those who haven't are still waiting for that water. Jesus told us:

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14).

Are we and those around us drinking from the bottle of water or are we drinking from the spring? What do we do if the nonbelievers are not willing to take that leap of faith? We must work on continuing our relationship with them. We must continue to connect and show that we care about them. We need to persevere in the task assigned to us by Jesus.  We need to continue to model the example set for us by Him and lead them to the well..

Get us past it...

I recently read a daily devotional that spoke to my heart. It was written by Dr. Michael Youssef, PhD. When I read it, I felt that I needed to share it with all of you...

The Obstacles of Worldly Thinking

 

By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.

 

      Resisting the world's pressures can be painful. Paul warns, "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:12-13).

      Jesus gives a similar warning: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" (John 15:18-19).

      When we are following God's principles for living, when we seek purity and righteousness, when we act and speak with integrity, the world is going to resent us for it. We cannot expect a world in darkness to understand our desire to walk in the light. Regardless of the cynicism or ridicule we face, God calls us to His standard of obedience and righteousness.

      We don't have to do this work alone. The Holy Spirit will guide us through the obstacles of worldly thinking. The Bible will show us the truth when we are confronted by lies. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

      The more time we spend in God's Word, the more our hearts and minds align with God. Choosing to do the right thing becomes easier when we begin to understand God's ways. Standing for the truth becomes easier when we find encouragement and strength in Scripture. But apart from God, we will quickly become enmeshed in the world's ways of thinking.

      Prayer: God, thank You for Your Spirit which is with me to guide me through the obstacles of worldly thinking. Thank You for Your Word which exposes the lies around me. Help me to stay in Your Word so that my heart and mind will be aligned with yours. Amen. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This is a battle that we all have to face. It is not a once-in-a-lifetime kind of battle. It is a continuous fight against the obstacles that are thrown in our path by the world. I know that we have all faced the those difficult times. We need to stay in the word and the Holy Spirit will keep the world at bay. 

GIGO

There is an old computer expression I learned more that forty years ago. It sums up the idea that what you put in to a system, whether good or bad, is what you get out. GIGO refers to the principle of Garbage In - Garbage Out.

I have found that while it applies to computers, it applies to almost everything in this life.Whatever we put into our body has everlasting effects. They might not show up for years, but eventually our body breaks down and we begin to wish we had taken better care of ourselves. This same principle also applies to our mind. If you sit in front of the TV and watch the news, Your mind will get more negative trash about the state of the world, rotten financial news, disasters, political happenings, crime and sex. Talk shows and "reality TV"  thrive on our thirst for messy details. Sex is used to sell everything nowadays. Do we hang out with negative people and absorb what they are broadcasting?

As pointed out in Relationships and Ethics in Ministry (pg. 33),"To hate evil and love good takes practice. It takes self-control (Galatians 5:23) to not give in to our natural tendency to listen to a good story about a coworker. One half of the destructive process of slander includes a willing listener. Without one, there is no story. Be a protector, not a destroyer."

Shouldn't we be listening to the Father and growing in the Word? The more time we spend with God and His Word, the more our faith develops. The closer to Him we become, the more our fear diminishes.We need to constantly work on hating evil and loving good. We should be diligent in our effort to spend more time with God and his Word and less in the world.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).

We should change our personal GIGO to Good Stuff In - Good Stuff Out...

Are we reaching the right ones?

When you look around inside the walls of your church, what do you see? Do you see a group of people who are stand-offish to new attenders and visitors? Are they open to allowing these people join the congregation, or are they closed in their attitude?

In 1 Corinthians 9:19, Paul wrote "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself slave to everyone, to win as many as possible." Paul was following the Great Commission to the letter. He was out there spreading the word to all people regardless of their background, language, religion, status, etc.

As pointed out in The Local Church in Evangelism, Third Edition (pg. 31), "We are called to reach people who are different from us. Christian witness should not only be only to 'our kind of people.' The Holy Spirit will enable us to effectively communicate with many kinds of people."

A church that understands the Great Commission and ministers in the Spirit will focus on reaching all lost people in their area. That means not just  the people who look and talk like you. The key word in that sentence is ALL.

The next time you come across a person who is down on their luck or spiritually lost, remember that Jesus said that that we were to go into the world and touch them. His church is not to be a social club for those like us, it should be inclusive and welcome all.

A church is a family, God's family. God did not design the church to keep certain kinds of people out, but to bring all kinds of people in!

Remember that as you travel the roads in your community. There are many untouched and lost souls out there waiting for you!.

Know God?

How do you know God and accept the gift of salvation? In the The Local Church in Evangelism by Randy Hurst, There are several salvation plans outlined. I have chosen one of the straight-forward and simple plans. It originated with the late Richard Champion. He served as editor of the Pentecostal Evangel.

To know God and be ready for heaven, follow these steps.

A. Admit you are a sinner.
          "There is no one righteous, not even one....for all have sinned and fall short
                 of the glory of God"  (Romans3:10, 23)

    Ask God's forgiveness.
          "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13)

B. Believe in Jesus.
          "For God so loved the world that gave his one and only Son, that whoever
                  believes in him shall hot perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16)

    Become a child of God by receiving Christ.
          "To all who receive him, to those who believed in his  name, he gave the
                  right to become children of  God" (John 1:12)

C. Confess that Jesus in your Lord.

          "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart
                 that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10: 9).

There you have it. Three simple steps to take and you are assured a place in Heaven for all eternity. It doesn't get any better than that!!

For more complete information, visit www.pentecostalevangel.ag.org/Salvation.cfm

Everybody does it...

Last week on the way to a doctor's appointment, I happened to be a little over the speed limit. I was immediately advised of that by Officer Friendly... While he did stop me and check out my documents prior to having mercy and letting me go with a friendly reminder, it sparked a short conversation with God.

As I tried to convince God that it was OK to do "five over" the limit (everyone does it), He kept saying "NO!." He tried to be nice but kept going back to the question "What does the sign say?" Of course I had to say "40," after all, you can't lie to God...

God followed up with “Driving over the speed limit is breaking the law, and breaking the law is a sin."

“But God, cops won’t pull anyone over for going just 5 mph over the limit. So if they don’t pull me over for it, it’s OK, right? Everybody does it." 

“But what does the speed limit sign say? It doesn’t say 45 mph. You are breaking the law! You are sinning without remorse. Sin is wrong!"

As I continued to think about this revelation over the next week, God revealed something else to me. By speeding every time I got behind the wheel, I had been living a lifestyle of sin. Lifestyle of sin!? Isn’t that term just used for serial murderers, alcoholics, rapists, the sexually immoral and all those other people? Yes! But I was acting no better than any of them! This  revelation opened my eyes to all people who are living a lifestyle of sin and the fact that it’s not my job to judge them. My sin is not better than theirs, nor does it receive a lesser degree of punishment. 

So now as I drive along with my cruise control set at the posted speed.  It feels liberating to know that I am not breaking the law. My heart no longer skips a beat when I see a police car. 

How about you?

In Word Only?

While recently watching a weigh-in for a professional fight it occurred to me that we can certainly talk a good game. Not only with our lips, but with our whole persona. The fighters used their eyes, face and entire bodies to attempt to intimidate the opposition. As the two boxers went through the pre-interview press conference, the weigh-in and finally the actual interviews, it was pretty amazing to see the broad spectrum of mugging that transpired. Each of the fighters spent a lot of time and energy to make make their opponent back down.

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We go through the same type of posturing as we make our way through the world. We put on our game face to attempt to convince others that we are a Christian. Is that how you go through the world? 

Jesus gave special instruction to his followers just before He left them. He outlined the tasks he wanted them to do and the methods to be used to reach the world. James 1:22 says we are to be doers of the Word, not merely hearers of it. While the Apostles understood the job at hand, it was something else to go out and do it. They did succeed in spreading the Word from one end of the world to the other. They did it through modeling Jesus' life. The most effective way to spread the Word is through your actions, not your lips.

The Local Church in Evangelism.(pg. 78) points out, "When people look at our lives and see love (expecially for those who have wronged us), overflowing joy in the midst of sorrow, peace in the crises of life, patience in tribulation, and gentleness in response to hostitily, these can be supernatural evidences that we are not mere subjects to our own fleshy emotions. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out the life to which the Lord has called us.The supernatural working of the Spirit will not always be spectacular or sensational, but it is convincing evidence of the presence and life of the Spirit within us."

Are you just mugging the fact that you are a Christian or are you out planting seeds by truly modeling Jesus Christ in your everyday life?