I Found A Tract!

I was in Wal-Mart with Mary the other day, picking up a birthday present for our son. Mary needed to stop off somewhere, so I went over housewares/furniture section to wait for her. I found some bookshelf units we were thinking of buying, and I was browsing around at other stuff when I noticed it: someone had left a gospel tract on the shelf. No way!

I picked it up to check it out: not from The Watchtower, not from the Mormons, not some other cult. Just a simple Christian gospel tract with the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. COOL!

I was excited. Why? Because some brother or sister in the Lord was doing something to reach the lost in my community for Jesus Christ! Think that's not a big deal? Trust me, it's huge. Most Christians do not regularly engage in evangelism with strangers; it's something like 2% or less in the professing church who regularly share their faith with strangers.

Leaving a gospel tract in a place like Wal-Mart is a good stepping stone to handing a tract to a stranger, which leads to actually talking to a stranger about Jesus Christ and the gospel message they desperately need. I drop tracts in various places all the time: ATM machines, the credit card slot in gas pumps and Red Box machines, on parked cars while out walking around. If you think its silly, what did you do today to reach these men and women who do not know Jesus Christ?

Now the location where I found this tract was a little obscured - back behind some items on an end cap. So, I stuck it on an island display, hanging out into the main aisle where it could not be missed.

God bless the person who left that, and may God get that into the hands of someone who needs it. Thank you for your boldness. If nothing else, unknown brother or sister in the Lord, you got me fired up!

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:"

Hebrews 10:24

I Hope Someone Told Jimmy Lee

I just caught a headline on the Drudge Report that peaked my curiosity:

"Top JP Morgan Banker Dies Suddenly...."

Jimmy Lee

So I clicked on the article, and read about a man by the name of Jimmy Lee, a well-known Wall Street banker who was known for his deal-making.

Dead at 62 years old. 

Click here if you want to read about it: LINK. Dead physically, but alive on the other side. Alive in eternity...but where is he now? 

And so I have these questions in my mind:

Jimmy, I hope someone loved you enough, loved your eternal soul enough, to share the truth of God's word with you. To show you the moral law (Leviticus 20:1-17; Romans 3:19-20) so you could recognize your sin against God, and then the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-5; John 3:16), so you could see your only hope for mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life.

Because, Jimmy, you and I and every other person born into this world knows the God of the Bible exists. He has revealed Himself in us through both creation & our conscience, so we are without excuse if we will not turn to Him & yield to Him (Romans 1:19-20). 

You had the information you needed...we all do. I just cannot help wonder what you did with that information? I pray you turned to Jesus Christ! Rich people can be saved (though Jesus said it is hard!), and its not a sin to be rich: the Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil, not the money itself (1 Timothy 6:10).

 But, oh Jimmy! If you turned away from that truth, and lived for temporary things of this brief life,  like success & wealth, and did not live for eternity...then Jimmy, you blew the best deal of the Universe!

Mark 8:36 

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 

2 Corinthians 5:21 

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 

Jimmy Lee's eternal destination is set: once we step into eternity, that's it. No do-over, no renegotiating, no changing (Hebrews 9:27).

But...if you know Jimmy or his family, will you love them enough to reach out to them with the gospel? 

From the article:
"Mr Lee is survived by his wife Beth and three children, Lexi, Jamie and Izzy."

Don't Be A Fat American Christian

For the past few weeks I have been teaching my Precept Inductive bible study in the book of Hebrews. While I'm at work I like to think about what I'm studying and really meditate on scripture.  Just the other day I am trying to get my preventative maintenance done on a few machines and I had a thought.  We are pretty fat American Christians.

This doesn't have anything to do with our physical size (though most Americans are overweight), but our spiritual fatness.  How does a person get fat?  Well, they eat...and eat...and eat some more.  They go to the buffet down the street and get their money's worth filling up two, three, four plates and walk out of there feeling like they won.  On their way home they stop at the store and get a gallon of ice cream and a case of pop on top of that.  And what do they do when they get home.  With clicker in hand, sit in front of the TV and flip channels.  No exercise, no activity, just laying around eating and eating, and eating till they feel sick.

But isn't that what most Christians do?  We go to church and listen to the sermon, we read our devotionals, we pray (mostly about what we need), we go to our bible studies or small groups.  We listen to our favorite teachers on our IPod's while we are working or jogging.  We are just taking in and eating God's Word till we burst.  You are probably thinking to yourself, "But isn't that what we are supposed to do, Frank?"  Yes...yes it is.  But the problem that I see (and myself included) is that we are taking in God's Word, but not exercising it out in activity for the Lord.  We get lazy and fat with knowledge, and not pour it out through service to God and our fellow man.  

Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."  So how to I accomplish that? Better yet, how to we start exercising to burn off some of God's Word to get lean and mean?  Well, here are some ideas on how to start.  

Do Something That Jesus Already Told You To Do. 

Alot of times we don't know what our calling is, or what we are equipped to do, especially if you are a new believer in Christ.  But while you are waiting on the Lord and seeking Him for guidance, do something.  Don't just sit and wait.  The most important thing is to start with what the bible says to do...love God, and thy neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).  Here are some ideas that Jesus already told us to do. 

Matthew 25:31-40

• Feed the hungry. 
• Give water to the thirsty. 
• Give shelter to people who need it. 
• Clothe the naked. 
• Visit the sick and in prison. 

James 1:27

• Visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction (James 1:27).

Romans 12:15 

• Lend an ear and a hug to those who need it.  Rejoice and weep with those who need it someone to share in their triumphs and struggles.  

Well, you get the picture.  Seek God's word and pray about how you can serve and love others.  There are thousands of ways to love others already in the bible to choose from.  

Pray About Your Spiritual Gift. 

Earnestly seek to know what your spiritual gift is, what your calling is.  Pray and ask God to reveal areas in which you are equipped for service.  When I was a new believer someone gave me a Spiritual Gift Assessment to help me find my purpose and gifts God has given me.  You can find it HERE.  

Join Others In What They Are Already Doing. 

There are so many ministries and believers already doing the work of the Lord so there is really no need to start a new thing.  This is so beneficial especially with new believers.  When you're a baby Christian, new born, you have no idea what you are doing.  Joining others in what they are doing provides the necessary training and equipping they can provide.  Here are some ministries in the Des Moines area that are in need of help.

• Freedom For Youth
• Forest Avenue Outreach
• Saving Faith Outreach

Since new believers are unskillful in the word like babies and in need of solid food (Hebrews 5:12:13), the easiest way babies learn is by imitating (Hebrews 6:12).  Paul told us to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).  We are to imitate those that are good and not evil (3 John 1:11).

Is There A Need To Be Filled or a Person To Be Blessed?

Now that we know what we can do, lets do it.  But how?  When?  Where do I start and with who?  Lets face it, you are going to mess up.  You will make mistakes and you will probably piss someone off.  Start small.  Look for needs within your own fellowship and then branch outward.  Keep your ears and eyes open for ways to serve. But remember to grow, consistently get out of your comfort zone and try new things. Don't stop, keep going, don't be sluggish (Hebrews 6:12).

Jesus Just Talked About Love?

If you listen to the latest audio from our public ministry in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, you'll hear a great exchange with a young man named Tom, who did not particularly agree with my style of communicating the gospel, claiming that Jesus just talked about love. And while it is true that Jesus spoke about love, and that the Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:16), that is not all that He is.

In other words, God is not love to the exclusion of His other attributes: He is also absolutely holy and righteous, and He will not overlook sin. All good Bible preachers know that we must proclaim the whole counsel of God, not just the parts that sound good. We speak the truth in love, and let the chips fall where they may.

Listen HERE, and let me know what you think.

I was so thankful that Tom showed up this day. A half-way decent heckler is like gold to an open air preacher. So, thank you Tom. I do hope you get your theology straitened out, but you are welcome to my street corner anytime.

Maranatha!
Paul

By This Shall All Men Know....

 Jesus made a statement in the Gospel of John that is, well, extraordinary:

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34-35)
The characteristic that identifies a disciple of Jesus Christ is not knowledge, not boldness or zeal, but love that is apparent between believers. Apparent to all men.

Wow.

This is one of those things in the scriptures that I contemplate, and look at those around me, and then look at myself and say, "Oh God, Father: there's no way! I will never be able to love in this way. I can't do it."  Does this sound familiar?

I came to know the Lord back in 1995. As a new believer, I was in a discipleship program at Grace United Methodist Church in Hancock, Michigan. Yeah, I know - United Methodist! Long story. There actually were some believers in the church, and an elderly Michigan Tech professor from Asia was leading a discipleship class patterned after the life of John Wesley. Anyway, one of the things we were required to do was to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. That Sunday afternoon after the church meeting, (I can picture all of this very clearly in my mind), I was sitting in my son's bedroom. It was a sunny day, and I was rocking in our old rocking chair, and thinking about this. Want to know what I was thinking? "Oh God, Father: there's no way!" I was terrified of talking to other people about Jesus Christ and the gospel. I was mortified at the thought.

I don't know how long I sat there rocking in that chair, but this thought was going round-and-round in my head. But at some point, a thought from God broke in upon my mind that shot me out of that chair, full of joy and exhilaration. I heard in my mind: "That's right, Paul. You can't do this. But I can do it through you." The pressure for me to perform was off. Is anything to difficult for the LORD? NO WAY! He can do ALL THINGS! I just have to yield to HIM, and he'll do it through me.

This truth has been a help and a comfort all these years I have walked with the Lord. It is the truth revealed in Philippians 2:12-13...

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

We don't work for our salvation, we work out what God has worked in. But more than that, scripture tells us it is God that gives us the desire ("to will") and the ability (to do): it is HIS POWER, not mine. This applies in all areas of our lives, including loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. And God knows I need his power to fulfill his will, for I need to love some people that I don't even like very much. He is indeed the God of the impossible, and as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am to yield to his authority and will in all things, especially in this. And so I do.

What a glorious, gracious, almighty God we serve! "FOR HE IS GOOD" as the Levites of the Old Testament were said to have sung in praise, "AND HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOREVER." (see Psalms 107, 118, 136; also 2 Chronicles 20:21, how Jehoshaphat appointed singers to go before the army when they went up against a great host of their enemies).

By God's grace, I desire to love my brethren through the Holy Spirit working in and through me, so that ALL MEN MAY KNOW....Fight the good fight of faith, brothers and sisters. Maranatha!