They Will See Christ In Me

Every Friday I meet with two Jehovah Witnesses.  I have been meeting with one (his name is Bob) for five years on and off.  We have exchanged some lively conversations about our different beliefs.  I come to realize we are not going to budge each other off our beliefs so why continue the conversation.  Many by now would have tossed them aside and surly would not have them in their house.  Let me say I wouldn’t encourage a new Christian or someone not mature in their faith and understanding of the Bible to attempt this.  Jehovah Witnesses have a hundred years of practice.  They have mastered using your Bible knowledge against you.  So I wouldn’t encourage you to engage them on that level unless you are confident in your core doctrinal beliefs.  The primary belief you need to know is Christ and his deity, and his role the trinity.  

 So why continue the conversation? I continue the conversation for one reason, that they might see Christ in me.  Through prayer God will use me to reveal himself to them and draw them in.  Through my actions God might reach them.  I want to love them as Christ loves them.  So I pray for their salvation and that God would show his love for them through me.  So I continue to meet with them.  I believe this is how we are to be with all people, let them see Christ in me. 

Don’t Worry!

 “Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

 ~Philippians 4:6 HCSB

Paul writing to the Philippians church tells them not to worry about anything, nothing at all.  Now I don’t know about you but there are many times in my life I have worried.  Look around you, there are many things to be worried about.  But here is Paul having the nerve to say don’t worry.  How can this man, Paul have so much confidence?  How can Paul not worry!  He has people trying to kill him.  People all around him are suffering.  He himself has been beaten, stoned, jailed, shipwrecked, and bitten by a poisonous snake!  And that isn’t everything!  He would eventually lose his life, and he says don’t worry! 

Prayer was Paul’s confidence.  He prayed about everything and trusted God to take care of him.  God took Paul’s faith and used it to make Christ known to the world.  You look at the list above and know Paul suffered, so how is that being taken care of by God?  People around Paul saw him suffer.  We read about what Paul experienced and we see Paul’s faith grow and we are amazed.  Without Paul suffering and God using it to build his faith, he could have never written most of the New Testament in the same way.  No Paul’s experiences and seeing God’s hand deliver him time after time allowed him to give thanks in any situation and say with confidence, “Rejoice, again I say rejoice!” 

So what is it you are going through and how is God using your experience to build your faith?  Have you looked back and realized how God has used past experiences to build your faith?  I look back on my life and I can see Him using everything that has happened to me to bring Him glory.  He used past pains and sufferings to make me into the person I am today.  Do I want to revisit those past events?  Not at all, but at the same time I am thankful because without them I would be incomplete.  Only God can do that, only God can take tragedy and turn it into something beautiful and helpful to others.  God deserves all the credit, all the glory!    

So I’ll close with one thought.  The only time you need to worry is…when your problems are NOT in God’s hands.  

Lord help us to trust you with everything.  Lord help us to give thanks for everything that happens to us.  Lord we pray for you to use us for your purpose and glory and most of all Lord, help us not to worry about anything!  Amen

June 2011 Newsletter

The other day a member of our church was sharing with me about sharing Christ with a man in Subway.  He had asked her what the sandwiches were for and she told him church, which led to the question what church.  She told him and he said he was seeking and she told him about Christ.  How he was the only way to heaven, he was God in flesh and he came to die for us. The man wanted to know more!  She said it was just natural, I just started sharing.  While she was telling me this I got goose bumps!  This is what it is all about, sharing Christ with others.  The world around us is starving for something more.  They have sampled the buffet of the American culture, where you can get Buddhist’s bean sprouts, with a Hindu carrot salad.  Throw in baked chicken ala Christian, with a side of Holy Spirit (use cautiously).  Don’t forget a big helping of self potatoes and I need that now desert.  People are looking for so much more, they need Jesus.  They are looking for answers and are not finding them.  They are eating but are never satisfied and we have both the answers and the food that will nourish their souls.

Our country had been hit with tornados, floods and end time announcers.  Around the world there has been devastating earthquakes, floods, financial hardships, government upheavals.  People are need of having a sure place to stand.  The world is built itself upon the shifting sands and the storms are bringing crashing destruction.  The Bible is clear life isn’t easy here on earth.  Bad things are happening and will continue to happen.  Every day we wake up in peace and safety should start with praise for God’s grace.  There is urgency for the gospel and it is our privilege to share it with them.  We are the body of Christ, a royal priesthood, a holy people.  We are in the world for the sole purpose of sharing Christ with others.  We are to intercede on their behalf to a God they do not know personally, they only know of him. 

Paul asked the question in Romans 10:14-15, “But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!” The gospel has to be shared by believers, people who follow Christ, people changed by the gospel.  The gospel, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures was buried and on the third day rose again according to the scriptures.  By putting our trust in what Christ did for us, not in any of our works, we are saved.  Christ is the Rock, he is what we are to build our lives on.  Christ is what the world is longing for, and we need to share him.  My sincerest prayer for our church body is we would be known for how naturally we share Christ, how we long for others to know him.    

Seek First The Lord

“David was in a difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.” ~1 Samuel 30:6 HCSB

David and his men returned home to Ziklag.  Only to find it had been burnt down and plundered.  The women and children had been kidnapped, including David’s two wives.  David’s men wept bitterly and were very angry and wanted to stone David.  In this situation David sought the Lord.  He found his strength in the Lord.  Afterwards he asked for guidance from God, who told him to pursue those who had burnt down the town, and he would rescue the people. Which is exactly what David did and he got his family back.  David never lost sight to the fact it was God who handed over the raiders.  It was God who gave them the strength, it was God who protected them, and it was God who won the victory.   

How many times have you faced a dire situation?  Or had the people around you mad at you for something?  It is times like this we can do several things.  Some people run.  They get out of the situation, move, quit, whatever it takes to get away.  Some people try to rationalize their way through sometimes making things worse.  Some will just dig in their heels and hurt people even more.  Or do you seek the Lord?  Do you go to the Lord in prayer and allow him to work the situation.  Time after time I have had to learn this lesson the hard way.  I try one of the ways mentioned above and find myself worst off.  But every time I hand over the problem to the Lord, he fixes it.  We need to follow David’s example and seek the Lord immediately, not after we have exhausted all of our own ideas.  How much pain and misery we could spare ourselves and those God has surrounded us with, if only we would go to him in prayer.  

Lord help us to seek you first in everything.  Lord you are the living God, our shield and refuge in times of trouble.  Lord guide us and direct us, give us a heart to follow you.  Amen