Monthly Archives: August 2013

Five Reasons Christians Don’t Evangelize

Posted on by
Reply

Virginia. In an and when they do we’re not really ready to give an answer. Evangelical churches talk a lot about evangelism, but according to popular surveys and anecdotal impressions most church members don’t share their faith very often.

WHY DON’T WE EVANGELIZE?

I’d like to suggest five reasons that churches and church members don’t share the gospel as part of their normal course of life. Other articles in this Journal suggest ways to remedy this situation, but for now let’s stick with diagnosing the problem.

1. Churches isolate Christians from unbelievers

First, churches isolate Christians from unbelievers. Simply put, a lot of Christians don’t know any unbelievers. Though our daily lives put us into regular contact with many people who don’t know Jesus, it’s easy to go through life without having close relationships with any of them.

Churches enable this isolation in a couple ways. Many churches run a host of weeknight programs and then define being a good church member in terms of attendance at those programs. As a result, the calendars of many Christians are filled up with church activities and there is little time to have neighbors and co-workers into their homes.

In addition, some congregations cultivate hostility toward the world. As our culture becomes more explicitly hostile to Christianity and biblical morality, it’s easy to allow a bunker mentality to set in. When that happens, the outside world becomes a bogeyman and the way for God’s people to be holy is to keep their distance from it. So Christians live lives on parallel tracks from the world, with their own schools and businesses and sports leagues and scouting programs, but very few chances to build relationships with unbelievers.

2. We believe that evangelism is extraordinary

A second reason Christians don’t evangelize is that we believe it’s extraordinary. We suspect that evangelism is only for those who have the gift of evangelism, or for pastors and other professional Christians. And so they simply don’t feel like they are capable of sharing the gospel. From time to time people in my congregation will bring their friends or family to me so that I can tell them about Jesus, and I have to challenge them to step up and do it themselves! After all, in Acts 8:1-4 it’s not the apostles but the “normal” Christians who take the message about Jesus out of Jerusalem and into the wider world.

3. Churches don’t talk about the cost of following Jesus

Third, our churches don’t talk about the cost of following Jesus. Yet evangelism will be costly. There’s really no way to tell people that you believe God took on human flesh by being birthed by a virgin and then, after dying on a cross, rose from the dead and soared back up to heaven without at least running the risk of losing their favor. But that’s okay. The apostle Paul says that God intentionally saves us in a way that will seem foolish to the “wise” of our world (1 Cor. 1:18-29). Our message will not be well received by those who are perishing, but will be like a stench in their nostrils (2 Cor. 2:14-16).

If I understand Paul correctly, it’s actually God’s plan for you to suffer some as you share the gospel. If you don’t agree, read through the book of Acts and just make a note of every time someone shares the gospel and something bad happens to them.

But many churches never confront their people with the reality that following Christ will cost them. We teach them that God is all about them and their sense of personal wellbeing. So when it comes time to pay the price and share the gospel, many of us simply aren’t willing to lose our reputations.

4. We look for immediate results

Fourth, we look for immediate results. Of course, it’s easy to become discouraged about our evangelism. Maybe we read a book or listened to a sermon and went out and shared our faith, only to grow discouraged when nothing visibly happened. I think many Christians have simply given up on evangelism because they made an effort and didn’t see any results.

But we simply aren’t in a position to judge what God is doing in any given situation. It may be that in God’s plan we are supposed to be the first in a long line of people who evangelize a person before they come to Christ. I can think of plenty of examples of evangelistic conversations and efforts that seemed like a waste at the time. It was not until much later that I found out that the person had come to Christ.

The gospel is the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16), and the word of God is alive and powerful (Heb. 4:12-13). We must cultivate confidence that the Lord who causes the growth will accomplish his redemption. He will save souls. He often does not do it according to our timetables, and he may not choose the people we would choose. But he will use us if we are faithful.

5. We aren’t clear on the message

A final reason we don’t evangelize is that we aren’t clear on the message. When someone asks to join our church, one of the things that I ask is for them to briefly summarize the gospel message (think 60 seconds). And I am consistently surprised by how many Christians find it difficult to do that. It’s not that they don’t believe the gospel—they do. It’s not that they are ignorant—many of them know their Bibles very well. And while they might be nervous or surprised by the question, it’s still a disturbing trend. There’s no way to share the gospel if you aren’t prepared to share the gospel.

Good and Hard

Posted on by
1

bible04The writer of Hebrews outlines what many have called “the Hall of Faith” in Chapter 11. Here we see the actions of those who have faith, the outcome was very GOOD; for others it was extremely HARD. Any yet in either case, they are commended for their faith.

Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms (GOOD), enforced justice (GOOD), obtained promises (GOOD), stopped the mouths of lions (GOOD), 34 quenched the power of fire (GOOD), escaped the edge of the sword (GOOD), were made strong out of weakness (GOOD), became mighty in war (GOOD), put foreign armies to flight (GOOD). 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection (GOOD). Some were tortured (HARD), refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking (HARD) and flogging (HARD), and even chains and imprisonment (HARD). 37 They were stoned (HARD), they were sawn in two (HARD), they were killed with the sword (HARD). They went about in skins of sheep and goats (HARD), destitute (HARD), afflicted (HARD), mistreated (HARD)— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains (HARD), and in dens and caves of the earth (HARD).

Once again – whether the people enjoyed seeing God’s miraculous power or whether they endured terrible hardships, they were commended for their faith.

Miscellaneous Quotes (87)

Posted on by
1

quotes“Many atheistic books and blogs seethe with anger. Remarkably, the authors do not limit their anger to Christians. They seem most livid with God. I don’t believe in leprechauns, but I haven’t dedicated my life to battling them. I suppose if I believed that people’s faith in leprechauns poisoned civilization, I might get angry with members of leprechaun churches. But there’s one thing I’m quite sure I wouldn’t do: I would not get angry with leprechauns. Why not? Because I can’t get angry with someone I know doesn’t exist.” – Randy Alcorn, If God Is Good

“Know this! They (false prophets) are the judgment of God upon a wicked defiled people who although they have a knowledge of God they do not want him. And so God sends them the teachers that they themselves desire.” – Paul Washer

“Among these tenets [of the Pelagians]…is the evil and tenuous seed of the others, namely, that God’s grace is given in answer to men’s merits…In this manner, grace is no longer grace, because, if it is rendered for merit and does not itself cause what is good in man, then its name is meaningless.” Prosper of Aquitaine, 5th Century

“When we see that others are saved, we should not make so bold to say that they were worthy of salvation, since of course God could have condemned them in justice had He so chosen. But the reason why He does not save all or saves some in preference to others, there is no need for us to inquire, nor is it possible for us to find out. Without considering the reason for that discrimination, it should be enough for us to know that mercy does not do away with justice, nor justice with mercy, in Him who condemns no one except in justice and saves no one except through mercy.” – Prosper of Aquitaine, 5th Century

“The Holy Spirit has brought us into an inseparable union with Christ — one that is as secure as the Father’s love for the Son, as sure as God’s love is for himself.” – John Piper

“Some make man God’s co-worker, to ratify election by his consent. Thus, according to them, man’s will is superior to God’s plan. As if Scripture taught that we are merely given the ability to believe, and not, rather, faith itself!” – John Calvin

“Bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“If you want to follow Jesus because He’ll fix your marriage, if you want to follow Jesus because He’ll give you a better life, that’s idolatry. Follow Christ for the sake of Christ; He is worthy!” – Paul Washer

“Faith is the means by which the righteousness of Christ is given to us.” – R.C. Sproul

“The Scriptures should be read with the aim of finding Christ in them. Whoever turns aside from this object, even though he wears himself out all his life in learning, he will never reach the knowledge of the truth.” – John Calvin

“The most effective sermons are those which make opposers of the Gospel bite their lips and gnash their teeth.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“Christians have a new identity. We are no longer ‘in Adam’ but ‘in Christ’; no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit…” – Sinclair Ferguson

“The true gospel…stands before the throne of God declaring, ‘Jesus did it all.'” – R.C. Sproul Jr

“The gospel is the good news that God bought for us the everlasting enjoyment of God.” – John Piper

“When God calls, it has the intensity of a shout and the authority of a summons. When He calls, He secures His own desired results.” – Steven Lawson

“If we refuse mercy here, we shall have justice in eternity.” – Jeremy Taylor

“We are not called to make a crowd of worldly folk happy–even worldly evangelistic folk happy–but so to labour amongst them that, through many tribulations, discouragements and misunderstandings, we form a faithful people of God, however small a remnant of the total congregation that may be.” – William Still in The Work of a Pastor

“You see no beauty in any action that you do. All seems imperfect, blemished, and defiled. You are often sick at heart of your own shortcomings. But now know, that Jesus can see some beauty in everything that you do from a conscientious desire to please him. His eye can discern excellence in the least thing which is a fruit of his own Spirit. He can pick out the grains of gold from amid the dross of your performances, and sift the wheat from amid the chaff in all your doings. Your endeavors to do good to others, however feeble, are written in his book of remembrance. He does not forget your work and labor of love, however little the world may regard it.” (J.C. Ryle, Holiness, pg.228)

“In truth, from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, lost mankind is completely infected by sin.” – Steven Lawson

“The only righteousness that meets the requirements of the Law is the righteousness of Christ.” – R.C. Sproul

“A sinner is justified as soon as he, or she, believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. God pronounces us righteous immediately the instant we place our trust in Christ as the Saviour whom God sent into the world to live and die for us. There is no place whatever in justification for the merit, so-called, of our own good works. Neither the sacraments, nor prayers, nor devotions, nor good works of any kind enter into a sinner’s justification before God. This is the clear teaching of the Bible and it is essential that we do not allow any false teaching to spoil our understanding. The great Apostle Paul states: ‘Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law’ (Rom. 3:28). We see from these words that nothing but faith justifies us. By ‘works of the law’ Paul means our observance of the Moral Law, the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments cannot save us. Our own good works cannot justify us, either in whole or in part.” – Maurice Roberts, ‘Finding Peace With God – Justification Explained’

“There is no little sin, because no little God to sin against.” – Thomas Brooks

“There is more evil in the least sin than in the greatest affliction.” – Thomas Brooks

“Take this for your motto; wear it in your heart; keep it in your eye; have it often in your mouth, till you can find something better. The cross of Christ is the tree of life and the tree of knowledge combined. Blessed be God! there is neither prohibition nor flaming sword to keep us back; but it stands like a tree by the highway side, which affords its shade to every passenger without distinction.” – John Newton

“Serve God with integrity, and if you achieve no success, at least no sin will lie upon your conscience.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“The character of God is the foundation of all holy joy, as his nature is the basis of all right theology, . . .” – William S. Plumer, (1872). Commenting on Psalm 119:137 in his book “Studies in the Book of Psalms: Being a Critical and Expository Commentary, with Doctrinal and Practical Remarks on the Entire Psalter” (p. 1079). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company.

Why some chosen and not others?

Posted on by
1

spurgeon-portrait-roney“But there are some who say, ‘It is hard for God to choose some and leave others.’ Now, I will ask you one question. Is there any of you here this morning who wishes to be holy, who wishes to be regenerate, to leave off sin and walk in holiness? ‘Yes, there is,’ says some one, ‘I do.’ Then God has elected you. But another says, ‘No; I don’t want to be holy; I don’t want to give up my lusts and my vices.’ Why should you grumble, then, that God has not elected you to it? For if you were elected you would not like it, according to your own confession. If God this morning had chosen you to holiness, you say you would not care for it. Do you not acknowledge that you prefer drunkenness to sobriety, dishonesty to honesty? You love this world’s pleasures better than religion; then why should you grumble that God has not chosen you to religion? If you love religion, he has chosen you to it. If you desire it, he has chosen you to it. If you do not, what right have you to say that God ought to have given you what you do not wish for?

Supposing I had in my hand something which you do not value, and I said I shall give it to such-and-such a person, you would have no right to grumble that I did not give to you. You could not be so foolish as to grumble that the other has got what you do not care about. According to your own confession, many of you do not want religion, do not want a new heart and a right spirit, do not want the forgiveness of sins, do not want sanctification; you do not want to be elected to these things: then why should you grumble? You count these things but as husks, and why should you complain of God who has given them to those whom he has chosen? If you believe them to be good and desire them, they are there for thee. God gives liberally to all those who desire; and first of all, he makes them desire, otherwise they never would. If you love these things, he has elected you to them, and you may have them; but if you do not, who are you that you should find fault with God, when it is your own desperate will that keeps you from loving these things—your own simple self that makes you hate them?

Suppose a man in the street should say, ‘What a shame it is I cannot have a seat in the chapel to hear what this man has to say.’ And suppose he says, ‘I hate the preacher; I can’t bear his doctrine; but still it’s a shame I have not a seat.’ Would you expect a man to say so? No: you would at once say, ‘That man does not care for it. Why should he trouble himself about other people having what they value and he despises?’ You do not like holiness, you do not like righteousness; if God has elected me to these things, has he hurt you by it? . . . If any of you love to be saved by Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ elected you to be saved. If any of you desire to have salvation, you are elected to have it, if you desire it sincerely and earnestly. But, if you don’t desire it, why on earth should you be so preposterously foolish as to grumble because God gives that which you do not like to other people?” (Charles H. Spurgeon, sermon on 2 Thessalonians 2:13, available at www.Monergism.com).

“And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev. 22:17b).

The Association Fallacy

Posted on by
1

An ASSOCIATION FALLACY “asserts that qualities of one thing are inherently qualities of another, merely by an irrelevant association. The two types are sometimes referred to as guilt by association and honor by association. Association fallacies are a special case of red herring, and can be based on an appeal to emotion.”

association

Your Suffering is Never Wasted

Posted on by
Reply

Marshall Segal he and his family desperately looked to God for comfort. They clung to God’s word, and in the deepest moments of grief, they were led to worship. The song below, “Though You Slay Me,” was born in that experience.

Job lived this song. The Psalms plead this song. And John Piper has preached the message of this song throughout his ministry. Because of God’s sovereign care for you, every pain in this life is producing a glory for you that will last forever.

I come, God, I come
I return to the Lord
The one who’s broken
The one who’s torn me apart
You strike down to bind me up
You say you do it all in love
That I might know you in your suffering

Though you slay me
Yet I will praise you
Though you take from me
I will bless your name
Though you ruin me
Still I will worship
Sing a song to the one who’s all I need

My heart and flesh may fail
The earth below give way
But with my eyes, with my eyes I’ll see the Lord
Lifted high on that day
Behold, the Lamb that was slain
And I’ll know every tear was worth it all

Though you slay me
Yet I will praise you
Though you take from me
I will bless your name
Though you ruin me
Still I will worship
Sing a song to the one who’s all I need

Though tonight I’m crying out
Let this cup pass from me now
You’re still more than I need
You’re enough for me
You’re enough for me

[Not only is all your affliction momentary, not only is all your affliction light in comparison to eternity and the glory there. But all of it is totally meaningful. Every millisecond of your pain, from the fallen nature or fallen man, every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that.

I don’t care if it was cancer or criticism. I don’t care if it was slander or sickness. It wasn’t meaningless. It’s doing something! It’s not meaningless. Of course you can’t see what it’s doing. Don’t look to what is seen.

When your mom dies, when your kid dies, when you’ve got cancer at 40, when a car careens into the sidewalk and takes her out, don’t say, “That’s meaningless!” It’s not. It’s working for you an eternal weight of glory.

Therefore, therefore, do not lose heart. But take these truths and day by day focus on them. Preach them to yourself every morning. Get alone with God and preach his word into your mind until your heart sings with confidence that you are new and cared for.]

Though you slay me
Yet I will praise you
Though you take from me
I will bless your name
Though you ruin me
Still I will worship
Sing a song to the one who’s all I need
Sing a song to the one who’s all I need

Regeneration and Faith

Posted on by
Reply

Gordon%20H%20ClarkGordon H. Clark, “God’s Hammer: The Bible and its Critics” pg.20-23:

When Adam fell, the human race became, not stupid so that the truth was hard to understand, but inimical, to the acceptance of the truth. Men did not like to retain God in their knowledge and changed the truth of God into a lie, for the carnal mind is enmity against God. Hence the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, for the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned. In order to accept the Gospel, therefore, it is necessary to be born again. The abnormal, depraved intellect must be remade by the Holy Spirit; the enemy must be made a friend. This is the work of regeneration, and the heart of stone can be taken away and a heart of flesh can be given only by God himself. Resurrecting the man who is dead in sin and giving him a new life, far from being a human achievement, requires nothing less then almighty power.

It is therefore impossible by argument or preaching alone to cause anyone to believe the Bible. Only God can cause such belief. At the same time, this does not mean that argument is useless. Peter tells us, “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” This was the constant practice of the apostles. Stephen disputed with the Libertines; the Jerusalem council disputed; in Ephesus Paul disputed three months in the synagogue and then continued disputing in the school of Tyrannus. (Acts 6:9; 15:7; 19:8,9: compare Acts 17:2; 18:4, 19; 24:25). Anyone who is unwilling to argue, dispute, and reason is disloyal to his Christian duty. Continue reading →

Violence and War in the Old Testament

Posted on by
Reply

Sproul01Why in the Old Testament does God demand so much violence and war of the Jewish nation?

Dr. R. C. Sproul women, and children. They were forbidden to take prisoners and were to utterly destroy and put the ban, or curse, upon this land before they occupied it for themselves.

When we look at that, we shrink in horror at the degree of violence that is not only tolerated but seemingly commanded by God in that circumstance. Critical scholars in the twentieth century have pointed to that kind of story in the Old Testament as a clear example that this couldn’t be the revealed Word of God. They say that this is the case where some bloodthirsty, ancient, seminomadic Hebrews tried to appeal to their deity to sanction their violent acts and that we have to reject that as not being supernaturally inspired interpretations of history.

I take a different view of it. I am satisfied that the Old Testament is the inspired Word of God and that God did in fact command the Jewish nation to institute the herem against the Canaanites. God does tell us in the Old Testament why he instituted that policy against the Canaanite people. It’s not as though God commanded a group of bloodthirsty marauders to come in and kill innocent people. Rather, the background was that the Canaanites were deeply entrenched in unrestrained forms of paganism that involved even such things as child sacrifice. It was a time of profound inhumanity within that nation. God said to Israel, “I am using you here in this war as an instrument of my judgment upon this nation, and I’m bringing my violence upon this unbelievably wicked people, the Canaanites.” And he said, “I’m going to have them destroyed” (Deut. 13:12-17). In effect, he said to the Jewish people, “I want you to understand something: I’m giving to the Canaanites their just deserts, but I’m not giving them into your hands because you’re a whole lot better. I could put the same kind of judgment on your heads for your sinfulness and be perfectly justified to do it.” That’s basically the sense of what God communicated to the Jews.

He said, “I am calling you out of my grace to be a holy nation. I’m tearing down in order to build something new, and out of what I build new, a holy nation, I’m going to bless all of the people in the world. Therefore, I want you to be separated, and I don’t want any of the influences of this pagan heritage to be mixed into my new nation that I’m establishing.” That is the reason he gives. People still choke on it, but if God is, indeed, holy—as I think he is—and we are as disobedient as I know we are, I think we ought to be able to handle that.