UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER, PART 3 - PASSION FOR THE MISSION

What are your motives for ministry? A good friend of mine was telling me recently how he went from unsaved skeptic to fired up leader for Jesus Christ, being now, on a variety of media just going full bore with the Gospel of Life. When he was in college, a well-known fire and brimstone evangelist at the time visited the church, to which my friend was invited. 

At this time, my good brother was close to giving his life to Christ, but if he was not at the very door of salvation, he would have walked away from the Church. This preacher proceed to hit him over the head with the Bible, telling him he would be going to hell now, if he didn't say "the Prayer". Obviously, if the preacher's tactics had worked, he would have a good story to tell at this next stop, to make HIMSELF look good to the people listening.

This is absolutely not biblical and wrong way for the surrendered Christian to evangelize and make disciples. Unconditional Surrender to the Will and Ways of God extend even to this aspect of our lives. When Christ rescued us from the pit and brings us into the right relationship with the King of Heaven, we want to tell someone....or a whole bunch of people. However we have to do according to Biblical principles, to be an effective witness for the Gospel, which would be pleasing to the Lord. Pride is an abomination to Him.

This is how the Lord teaches, through Paul. This is how it works, remembering at all times, to be mindful to Whom we belong and to WHOM we owe everything. Before reading this passage, please pray for the Lord to open our minds, give us wisdom and then give someone to whom to share the Gospel. 

1 Thessalonians 1:3-8 New American Standard Bible (NASB):

3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, 4 knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.

As we pray and commit current and future opportunities to witness to others for Jesus Christ, not the following methods God's Agent of Change the Apostle Paul used:

  -  In verse #3 always be aware of your surroundings and the people to whom we are ministering, or potentially reaching. Take nothing for granted. What worked in one place, may not work in another. Then pray this opportunity up to the Lord, give it to Him, and then go do the work in Love. 

 -  Reread verses 3 and 4 above and it will become evident to us, that the Power and Presence of God MUST be in present in our evangelistic opportunity for conviction of sin and turning to Christ to be the result. 

  -  Be not like that self-absorbed evangelist I mentioned at the beginning of this post who was just trying to get another notch in his belt. Be like the sold-out apostle of Christ here - Paul - who bore his burden for the people of God, with love.

  -  As we surrender the opportunity before us, into the Hands of the Holy Spirit of God, any pushback we get (and we may most likely get more pushback in the beginning, than a welcome sign). Verse 6 talks about tribulation. This world hates us, hates our Faith and are enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be more obstacles than welcome signs. But remember, this is not about us, but the One Who has rescued us. At the same time, be aware of the joy of being counted as one who is worthy to be persecuted for Jesus, just as all twelve of Jesus' real disciples were.

Wisdom, Godly wisdom, is allowing God to do His Work, through the Holy Spirit and His Word, rather than us attempting things in our own power, for our own satisfaction. Trust God with our evangelistic opportunities and watch Him work, for His own glory. This is the only pathway to pure Godly passion for the mission.

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THIRTY ONE DAYS OF BIBLE TRUTHS - DAY 17 (J.J.S.E)

BIBLE VERSE: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” ( Jesus speaks in Acts 1:8)

TRUTH: J.J.S.E. - JERUSALEM, JUDEA, SAMARIA, END OF THE EARTH.
This is not an exercise in geography from the Lord and Master Himself, Jesus Christ. This is the final command from the Savior as He gets ready to ascend into Heaven, not just to the assembled disciples and followers left gaping up at the amazing sight of the Ascension, but to us for all generations, until He returns. Most Christians in recent decades in the west would rather write a check to some missionary cause or the church than "step out of the boat" and even tell their most trusted neighbor, co-worker or friend about Jesus or how to find true peace, hope and joy that last. We hide our Faith.  

Jesus is calling us to something really simple here. Check this:
"JERUSALEM" - anywhere immediately outside your door: neighbors; the store; office; down the street; the homeless mission; your unsaved family member.
"JUDEA" - your own community (through working with like-minded witnessing Christians); village; town; city or state.
"SAMARIA" - your own country- construction missions to less fortunate states (due to natural disaster or poverty) or your own province or island in Caribbean or Central America where local churches do not have the resources to even fix a leaky roof. But tell the Truth about Jesus and forgiveness with the good works.
"END OF THE EARTH" - overseas missions. This is becoming more and more critical; dangerous and even expensive. Persecution is up, support is down. But the Fruit of Evangelism under that persecution is amazing. Recent stats reveal that almost 84% of the entire world has heard the gospel and/or has a bible in their language! This is bringing us closer to the Return of Christ! Be one of those J.J.S.E Christians!

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SEVEN THINGS GOD HATES- #6: A FALSE WITNESS

THE PILTDOWN MAN

These six things the Lord hates,

Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 

A proud look,

A lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

A heart that devises wicked plans,

Feet that are swift in running to evil, 

A false witness who speaks lies,

And one who sows discord among brethren

Proverbs 6:18-19 

Can God be any clearer? He put the following in the 9th Commandment in Exodus 20:16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor", then He emphasizes that Law in the list of Seven Things He hates! 

Why is this? Well, because God is Truth, period. It is written "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life". It is also written "the Father is looking for worshippers....who will worship in SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH"! Then twice in three chapters, the Lord Jesus mentioned the Spirit of God - Holy Spirit - and called Him "the Spirit of Truth" - John 14:17 and John 16:13.

There is a distinction AND a difference - GOD IS TRUTH, the devil is a lie, the father of lies and the personification of the false witness. He is a deceiver, a conniver, a swindler, a conman, a dupe, a wolf in sheep's clothing and his future wardrobe will be flaming hot.

The debate over something called Evolution has been going on since former seminary student Charles Darwin concocted the theory, in his 1859 book "Origin of the Species". Darwin's close friend, Lady Hope, tried to cover for him at his death by spreading an unlikely story that he was converted on his death bed to Jesus Christ, but his family denied he recanted and believed God. That being said, what Darwin did through his false thesis was unleash a Pandora's box of evil which typified the descent of man into degradation, during the 20th Century.

The abortionist Margaret Sanger (founder of the misnamed Planned Parenthood); Adolph Hitler and even the Columbine (Colorado) killers of the 1990's were all believer's in Darwin's theory of natural selection, evolution and all that comes with any of this! Another false theory and witness to the Truth of Creation is not just the Big Bang (where you and I and everything around us came out nothing and then - voila - we were all something!), but the Piltdown man!

The Piltdown Man is one of the longest run false testimonies ever about the origins of man. The Word clearly states that it was God Who made man in His own image. In the same way, a man named Charles Dawson created his own false mechanism. The fraud which last for more than 40 years - the longest running "scientific" falsehood in history - began when Dawson said he was "given" the remains of a "being" found in the quarry at Pilton, Sussex County in India. These remains of the secular "being" confirmed to some that here indeed was the "missing link".

For four decades - lies after lies after lies abounded in the scientific/academic community.  All kinds of study and illogical reasoning were imputed to this so called Piltdown Man. That is, until the quiet investigation of this led to a big exposure in 1953 in TIME magazine. The Piltdown man was the Hoax of the Century! For four decades, the world's academic community thought their "missing link" of the bridge between apes and humans had been found. IT TURNED OUT TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN A WELL CRAFTED, DECEPTIVELY FILED AND STAINED PARTS OF A FULL DEVELOPED 600 year old HUMAN SKULL AND A JAWBONE OF AN ORANGUTAN!!! It was carefully crafted to deceive....to be a false witness to the lie of evolution, against the Truth of Creation.

This was NOT a harmless hoax. This fraud/false witness was used by Clarence Darrow in court as evidence of the "Missing Link" in the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. It was used by racists and others to further segregate the races with their concocted theories.  It was used by secularists to dispute the Bible. IT WAS A BLATANT FRAUD. 

The Truth found in Scripture speaks to this deception and the multitude of others, in these last days:

Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed (Hosea 4:1-2).

You destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit (Psalm 5:6).

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will perish (Prov. 19:9).

But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

God WILL not let sin go unpunished, whether it is the "Piltdown Man" or not. The damage caused the lie of the Piltdown "man" is unimaginable, as this damage is ongoing now for over 100 years. This too is an abomination unto the Lord....as much as any politician lie or someone preaching heresy.