Hit Me! Evangelism Linebacker

I could have used a solid hit from the “evangelism linebacker” today. I had a great opportunity, but I did not take it because I was blinded my selfishness and pride.

Tonight in our small group we had a great talk about evangelism, and I am stoked for the next opportunity the Lord gives.  Here are some highlights from our discussion:

Unless otherwise noted the Biblical text for the following points comes from Colossians 4:2-6.

1.  Pray for opportunity

2.  Go!  It may be right next door or moving a conversation to the next level or it might mean moving halfway around the world. (Matthew 28:18)

3.  Be ready to share about Jesus

4.  Be gracious in your conversation

4b.  This means to listen to what the other person has to say.

5.  Redeem the time – because I don’t know how long I will be here or anyone else for that matter – we need to proactively seek opportunity to speak for and about Jesus.

Colossians 4:2-6, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (NIV).

 

Sweetie!

On Monday, I was driving out of my neighborhood to go to a meeting when I saw a small dog running past me going the opposite direction. Dogs in my neighborhood do not generally run around – they are walked – and I could tell this was definitely an inside dog.  I stopped and tried to get the dog, but the little one just kept on running.  I knew that I wouldn’t like myself very much if I went ahead to the meeting and came back to find the dog laying dead on the road.  So I turned around and with the help of a couple neighborhood kids and another man caught the little guy – actually a girl – named Sweetie!

Sweetie’s dog tag had an address from the other side of town and a phone number.  “How in the world did you get way over here?”  I called the number, but I just go an answering machine.  So I grabbed a dog crate from my house and headed to my meeting with Sweetie in tow.  No return call before, during, or after my meeting.  When I got home it was dark, and I’m thinking that I will just have to figure this out tomorrow.  Before taking Sweetie in for the night I grabbed a leash in hopes that the dog would use the bathroom outside and not in my house.  As I’m walking back toward the house with the dog behind me, I suddenly realize that there is no longer any tension!  I turn around, and I all I have is the leash with the entire dog collar including the identification tag!  “Oh no!”  I look around the other side of the truck and yard – no dog – I look up the road and there is Sweetie – booking it.  So I take off after her IN FLIP-FLOPS…I had already played basketball and mowed a lawn so I don’t have much in the tank and this little dog is fast.  So the rest of this is like something out of a movie – I’m yelling at a car to stop that is about to run her over.  I lose track of the dog at one point and don’t see which way it went, the dog ends up running across 5 lanes of traffic, several motorist point me in the right direction, and people are looking at me like I’m crazy because I’m at a full sprint in flip-flops.  A 1/2 mile later from when we started running, I finally catch up to Sweetie in the Wendy’s drive-thru.  She is now safe once again.  After some detective work the next day, I was able to track down the person who was in charge of watching Sweetie while the owner was on a cruise.  The son-in-law who is a local police officer called to thank me and told me that Sweetie was a “rescue dog” and that she is an escape artist…with a history of running away.  In his opinion, this cute, little, dog is very fortunate to still be alive.

I’ve been reflecting some this week about Sweetie, and how I have observed that many people are the same as Sweetie – running away from the Person or people who are trying to help.  Ever since I was old enough and spiritually mature enough to understand it I have seen people run away from Jesus.  They think they are wise and are doing what is best for them – but they run from Jesus and into the Enemy’s trap.  It is only by the grace of God that more are not utterly crushed.  I’ve also noticed over the last 15 years the tendency of people to run from the truth tellers and spiritual helpers in their lives.  In western culture it is in large part due to the drastic individuality we are taught to embrace. “Whatever makes you feel good is right for you,” and “You don’t have to listen to anyone but yourself,” are the mantras of our culture.  The extreme emphasis on the individual is a great hindrance toward healthy churches in the west today.  So, if you are being like Sweetie, STOP, and let Jesus grab you with His gentle and scarred hands and let Him embrace you deep into His love.

Please take a few minutes to read and meditate on the following verses:

Judges 17:6, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Praise Jesus for His sacrifice for us!)

I Timothy 1:1-2, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…”

Hebrews 13:17, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Thank you for taking the time to read and reflect, and may God use this for His glory and honor.

 

Powerful Words from an Atheist

Penn from Penn and Teller asks a profound question of those who have faith in God.  “How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”  Penn is a self-proclaimed atheist, and yet he gets this serious truth far more than many followers of Jesus do.  We can see the task Jesus gave us to do (“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…”) should be an obvious top priority.  Please also recognize how profoundly touched Penn was by a Christian who”loved his neighbor” by engaging him as the Scriptures teach us.  The video is 5 minutes long – it is worth your time – watch it!  You can also say a prayer for Penn that he will read the Bible he was given and come to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Seeds of Blood, The church in China

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Here is the video I referred to in the previous post.  Very powerful!

If you only have about 8 minutes, I would recommend that you let the video load (buffer) and then fast forward to where the time counter says (-01:24:45).  You will then be able to hear the amazing testimonies of husband Allen Yuan and his wife Liang Huizhen.  Whenever you are not sure of God’s ability or willingness to provide for the faithful you can remember this true story.  May God help our faith to increase to this measure!

 

One good thing…

As I was walking through a parking lot the other day, this thought came to mind, “If I can do just one good thing for someone today, then it is a good day.”

Each day God is faithful to provide more than one opportunity.  God’s word provides encouragement to this end, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).  It should give us great confidence each day to know that God has a plan and good things for us to do.  Many times these things will not be easy, but they are for the good of others and for the good of our spiritual growth.

The good things we do should be done without any expectation of reciprocity as they should ultimately be done as an overflow of the love of God in our lives and for God’s glory.  May God help us to be joyful and willing servants.

“Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.”
Psalm 96:2

 

The Beauty of Adoption: The Richt Family’s Life-Long Commitment

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Just another proof that adoption is a really good thing!

 

Not ashamed…

If one day I have a little girl, I hope she is a lot like Erika!

Erika and I have become friends over my last few trips to Mexico.  She is now 11 years old.  Let me tell you that this girl has so much boldness in the faith.  She tells her classmates, kids she has just met, and even mothers about the love of God and their need for a Savior.  I have heard her share with great love for the people and passion for her God!

Often times I find that we make the excuse for not talking about God in our own culture and find it not so hard to share in a different culture where we don’t know the people.  Erika does not have this luxury…these are her people…and these are the only people she has the ability to tell.  I find strength in her story and example…even as I go out today and know that I will have opportunities to share the love of God with people.  I don’t want to let her down.  If she ever asked, I would want to be able to tell her that her tall friend from Georgia is just as bold in his own town as he is in her mountains.  May God help me because I am often silent when I should speak.  Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ…”
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As I share thoughts from our most recent trip to Mexico I need to let you know that I am not going to attempt a chronological order.  Also, if you are wondering what has happened to the study of Romans, don’t worry.  I’ll be picking back up this Sunday finishing chapter 3 and starting chapter 4.  Notes will be available early next week.

 

Oh, think twice…

I was full of emotion as our bus driver (who knew maybe 5 words of English) had Phil Collins, “Oh, think twice” playing as we rolled back into Mexico City at the end of our most recent mission trip.  I was reminded of how much people need physical and spiritual help.  Imagine being born poor into a city of 22 million and trying to find your way.  “Oh, think twice!  It’s just another day for you and me in paradise.”  The week was amazing, and I hope to post more about it shortly.  Let’s continue to strive to love our neighbors…all 6.7 billion of them…those in far away places and the ones next door.

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All are Under Sin – audio and outline

romans-3-part-2 click for sermon audio.  Recorded Sunday Feb. 15, 2009 during downtown community fellowship worship service.

Outline of Romans 3:9-22 (Conclusion of Section One: All have sinned and are accountable to God, Transition to God’s Salvation made available through faith.)

I.   All are under sin (3:9)

A.  Proof from OT Scriptures (Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3, Eccl. 7:20)

1. There is none righteous, no, not one (3:10)
2. There is none who seeks after God? (3:10)
3. They have all turned aside and become unprofitable (3:12)
4. There is no one who does good, no not one (3:12)

B.   Proof from OT Scriptures Continued

1. Poisoned Lips (3:13) Psalm 5:9
2. Mouth full of cursing and bitterness (3:14) Psalm 10:7
3. Quick to kill, destruction and misery are in their ways (3:15-17) Isaiah 59:7-8
4. Way of peace they have not known
5. There is no fear of God before their eyes (3:18) Psalm 36:1

II.  What the law does (3:19-20)

1. Condemns those under the law
2. By it every mouth is stopped
3. Gives guilt to the whole world before God
4. The law cannot justify man before God
5. The law gives knowledge of sin (informs man he is lost)

III.  The Righteousness of God is available (3:19-22)

A.  Apart from the Law

B.  Witnessed by:

1. The Law
2. Prophets

C.  Through Jesus Christ

 

Not a typical Valentine’s Day!

Just because it’s Valentine’s Day, doesn’t mean you can assume your wife prefers roses!

We woke up, got ready, and headed out for our first of two adoption training classes.  We stopped at chick-fil-a on the way and grabbed one of our favorite breakfast meals – a chicken biscuit with cheese and a cherry coke.  We were fueled up for our 9 AM to 4 PM class.

I must say that the hardest part of the training is hearing about all of the abuse children are put through – beatings and burnings, sexual exploitation, and emotional destruction.  My personal emotions run back and forth between sadness and anger.  One moment I want to cry, and the next I want to beat the ever loving snot out of something or someone.  To “be angry and sin not” is quite a challenge for me when I hear about these things.

After the training, we came home and Claire took a nap.  I took the opportunity to grab some last minute Valentine goodies and prepare dinner.  While at the store I ran into one of the college students  I play hoops with.  He saw me standing there with a hydrangea plant with a bunch of huge blooms.  We had a nice talk about relationships, and I got to drop a little wisdom and speak a little about God’s love to him.  We had a good time cutting up and laughing.

After dinner we relaxed and then went downtown to see “Step into Africa”.  It is 3500 square foot exhibit set up to put you in a village in Africa.  You step into the character of a child and live their story.  It was very well done and highlights the devastating affects of AIDS among children in Africa. You can see a very short video that tells you about the experience by clicking this sentence.

It was not a typical Valentine’s Day, but today we grew closer together, and I believe closer to the heart of God.  I am so thankful to be married to a woman who is so full of love and who has such a great capacity to give that love away! “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4).

 

International versus local adoption

I was asked the question of whether it was better to adopt locally or internationally.  One argument used for international (particularly in famine ravaged areas) was that those kids are far more at risk of death.  I cannot disagree with that thought.  However, I do not think it is a matter of which is better but which are you capable of doing.

Often people say, “Well if I had the money, then I would adopt.”  And the truth is that there are a lot of us that don’t have $25K to $50K available for the typical cost of an international adoption.  And even many local adoptions have significant expenses related to them.

However, if you adopt a child who is in foster care, then the state actually pays you.  Until the kid is 18, their medical expenses are covered and you receive a per Diem that offsets the additional expenses you will incur by adding to your family.  You will also receive additional tax breaks, and educational supplements are available to help with college tuition.

So the excuse of, “I don’t have the money to adopt,” is taken away by adopting a kid out of foster care. For those who have a lot more jingle in their pocket or who find a unique an inexpensive opportunity, they have a green light to go for the international adoption.  The point of my original post was that the church in the U.S.A. has no excuse for all the kids who are currently up for adoption in the U.S.A. but who are not being adopted.

We should be about doing all we can every where we can because our neighbor is anyone we have the power to help!

 

Adoption – A challenge to the Church!

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

In every state in the U.S.A. there are children who are in foster care who are up for adoption.  The parental rights of their parents have been terminated.  They are in need of a permanent home, preferably a home that is full of God’s love and truth.

In my state of Georgia there are thousands of churches that claim to be Christ-centered and tens of thousands of homes that make this same claim.  On Georgia’s My Turn Now website there are 185 listings of children that need to be adopted, 25 of those listings are sibling groups.  We can clearly see that there should be many more Christian homes available than their are adoptable foster kids.  Yet, many of these are at risk of going through life without a family.  Can you imagine to be in that sad state where your biological family has either failed you or died, and there is no other family in the whole world that will make you part of theirs?

Instead of there being a waiting list of kids hoping to be adopted, there should be a backlog of hundreds of Christian families in our state waiting and hoping for their turn to adopt one of these precious ones.  What is stopping us other than a lack of awareness, selfishness, and fear?

Are we really taking seriously the command of God to take care of the orphans? It would be a powerful testimony in your community if it could be said, “There are no orphans here because the church in my community has handled its business.”

May Jesus soften the heart of His church to the needs of the least of these!  May we stop asking the question, “God, do you want my family to adopt?” and start assuming His command to love our neighbors does apply to us in this area by asking the question, “God, is there a reason you have why we should not adopt, or is there a reason you want us to wait to do this?”

Take a look at the kids available in Georgia at My Turn Now.  A quick Google search is all it takes to find the kids in your state.

 

If you thought you were good…notes 1

I.  The judgment of God (Romans 2:1-16)
A. according to truth (1-5)

Romans 2:1-5 “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

When the moralist sees the sin of others it should cause him to examine his own heart, see his own sins, and lead him to repentance. (Repentance:  making a 180 degree turn from self-justification to faith in Jesus Christ; turning from sin with godly sorrow to Jesus as Savior and Lord) Instead he sees only the sins of his neighbors, friends, business associates, and government.  The moralist has deceived himself into thinking he will escape the judgment of God while others will be punished.  He does not realize that the stubbornness of his heart will bring God’s wrath.

Example: Suzy hears about how Jessica has talked about her behind her back, and she is livid.  Later that day she is talking with Laura and says, “Did you hear about Julie?…”  Suzy knows what she is doing is wrong because she has already judged the same sin in Jessica, yet through the hardness of her heart she thinks she is a moral and good person who has nothing to fear from God.

Lesson: Our first and foremost concern about sin should be our own sin!

 

Curb your enthusiasm?

Psalm 139:13-14
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

Before the election, there was much debate in Christian circles of who to vote for and what system of ethics should be used in coming to a conclusion.  Abortion was a hot button topic but not as hot as normal.  It was different this time as many true followers of Jesus and many psuedo-Christians moved the abortion issue down on the priority list.

I really believe that most bought into the illusion that the issue was a non-issue and that there wouldn’t be any real ramifications…I mean Roe v. Wade was not overturned in the last 8 years by the Supreme Court or a constitutional amendment…so why should it be a deciding factor?  What I believe many failed to realize is that the issue is far more reaching then Roe v. Wade.  It has to do with Executive Orders and smaller laws and probably a bit down the road FOCA.

Today, the day after the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Obama has started down the road he has consistently said he would take.  On his third day of office and his second day of business he used his executive power to overturn the “Mexico City Policy”.  When the policy was in tact federal tax funds only went to organizations that “neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations.”

Our federal tax dollars will now be given to organizations that promote and perform abortions in countries around the world.  My understanding is that tax dollars still cannot be used for the actual procedure, but it can be used to support the overall operation of the organization and promotion of abortion; thereby, freeing up other money the organization has to actually perform the procedure  In short, money that was given to organizations to save lives, prevent and cure disease, and feed the hungry will be diverted to other organizations who will promote abortion and end life.

Please know that my heart has not changed in my love for both the unborn children and women who have had abortions.  If you have read my previous posts on the subject or talked to me personally I think you know my heart.  It is always painful to write about this subject, and I don’t write this post as an I told you so.  It is simply a reminder that our first ethical responsibility in loving other humans is the protection of life itself.  If your ethical priorities have been out of order I beg you to put them where they belong.  In this matter, on this day, justice was not done, and the innocent were not protected.  It is a sad day for the world and “the cloud of witnesses” to its sadness is great indeed.

I am still praying for President Obama, and I hope that you will continue to as well.  I Timothy 2.

 

Save the sea kittens!

I have been informed that because my Romans posts are of such a serious nature that I need to add a little brevity to the site here and there…so here you go.

PETA has a new campaign to get us to stop eating fish by changing the name of fish to “sea kittens”.  No I am not making this up!  Their reasoning is that no one would want to hurt something called a “sea kitten”.  I guess if I was at Red Lobster and “Fried Sea Kitten” was on the menu I might think twice…but only because I wouldn’t want to eat kitten (I’m fairly certain they don’t taste that good.)

PETA has “Sea Kitten Stories” and”Make your own Sea Kitten”  on their website.  http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/index.asp
My wife and I and a friend had a lot of fun making our own sea kittens yesterday.

The humane treatment of animals is important (and should be of particular concern to followers of God) but a campaign called “Save the Sea Kittens” just makes me laugh.  I think we can put this one in the “credibility killer” category.

P.S. (The shrimp alfredo that my wife made yesterday sure was tasty!)