No Guarantee for Tomorrow

Today, I would like to share the third part of this episode.  What I want to specifically point out and what we need to pay attention to are the words of this young woman (midway through to ending of the video) who lost one of her friends.  She talks about some of the difficulties of sharing her faith with all of her friends, despite her love for them, and realizes more of the importance of sharing her faith to especially those who don’t have the Salvation of Jesus Christ.  She vividly paints the picture if her friend Mike who had died, what if he hadn’t been saved, that she would have felt this tremendous guilt for never approaching him about Christ after all these years.  People have various personalities and sometimes it is tough to reach those who are not as willing to listen, but we hope that what we share or how we demonstrate ourselves is grasped by them before it is too late. 

James 4:13-14 (NIV)

13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

We have on guarantee for tomorrow, only this very second, minute, hour, or day.  I learned a lesson in the danger of delay and that there could be no tomorrow.  A co-worker a few years ago had an interest in getting right with God.  I spoke often about the things of God, about Christ with him on many occassions.  I can remember that it was one late Wednesday evening that we were on the phone talking about spiritual matters.  In the conversation (paraphrased), he said,”I want to get right with God. I want to be saved”.  I replied, “I will set up a call with you sometime next week when we have more time and I will take you through the sinner’s prayer”.  The call was concluded that night.

Tragedy Struck

On that Friday, going into the weekend, my friend ended up having a heart attack.  He was taken to the hospital and was within a minute of death.  He told me that all he could do was ask God to help him, he said he didn’t even know what to pray.  When I found out the news, I realized what a horrible mistake I had made in delaying something of that importance – this man, my friend, could have died in his sins and spent an eternity in Hell because I didn’t feel like doing something right away.  When I had the opportunity to speak to him that Monday morning, I said, “We are doing the sinner’s prayer now, not later, now” – I wasn’t taking anymore chances by waiting for the perfect time.

Remember, “Don’t delay – it could mean spiritual life or death, Heaven or Hell for a person for the rest of their eternal lives…”

As I conclude, I was recently with a friend who accepted Christ.  Before I took him home, I said, “I am not taking you home or letting you out of this car until I ask you a very important question”.  That question was “Do you want Jesus?”  You could die tomorrow or the end of the week, but you will be saved for eternity with Jesus Christ.

If you have had a similar situation, whether delaying to share Christ with someone, I would be interested to hear more of the story.

If you are new to visiting this blog and do not know Jesus Christ in your heart, don’t delay for their may not be a tomorrow, but seize the moment of opportunity to get right with the Lord Jesus.

4 Steps To Being Saved

• Step 1 – Realize that you are a sinner and for your soul to be saved, you need to come to God.
  • God created us to have a relationship with Him.  See Isaiah 59:2
• Step 2 – Acknowledge the fact that you cannot save yourself.
  • Regardless the path you choose, it seems, the peace of God eludes you. Money, good works, success, fame. Those things cannot buy salvation. Only the Blood of Jesus can provide that. See Proverbs 14:12
• Step 3 – Believe that Jesus Christ can and will save you!
  • Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sin and restore our lost relationship with God.  See John 14:6 and John 6:37
• Step 4 – Confess your sins to God and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. 
  • Romans 10:9,10,13 (NIV)
    • 9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
  • You can receive Jesus Christ into your heart right now by praying this prayer:
    • “Dear Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness.  I believe You died for my sins.  I want to turn from my sins and give you my heart.  I repent of my sins and invite you to come into my life.  I now trust you as Savior, and make you Lord of my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen”
  • If you prayed the prayer sincerely and believe that God has heard – then you are saved!

Are you a Firefighter for Jesus?

Are you a Firefighter for Jesus? … or the equipment and the truck just for looks?

For those of you have spent a few minutes watching the first part of the “The Firefighter” video, the point has been stressed that we as Christians have a duty to reach the lost to save them from an eternal destination of Hell.  For those of us who have grown comfortable with where we are at, while we have saved ourselves, others are lost and dying in their sins everyday  – resulting in an eternal destination of suffering & separation from Jesus.  Since we know that Hell is real, wouldn’t we want to warn as many people as possible before it is too late for them?

Are we Shy, Embarrassed, or afraid of Rejection?

One fact that was pointed out in the video (that I wasn’t too overly surprised to hear about) is that only 2% of Christians share their faith with the lost.  Looking at the other side of this is that 98% of Christians DO NOT share their faith because of various reasons.  Maybe some of these reasons are:

• They don’t feel called to evangelize and share the Word of God – it is someone elses job – like a preacher, evangelist, youth pastor, or missionary who works in the ministry full time.
• A lack of overall conviction to reach the lost. 
• They can’t reach the lost because they feel lost themselves. They are a backslider with their own problems.
• Don’t have the skills, tools, or empowerment from Christ to accomplish what Jesus asked us to do  – becoming in a sense “Wanna-be” Fishers of Men.  They have a fishing pole, but they can’t seem to figure out what comes next – the pond, the fish, or the pole.   They need someone to show you the ropes – where is the instruction manual to this thing? 

I admit 100% that I have been part of the 98% crowd – been in that crowd a long time.  We must realize the importance to train ourselves to reach the lost – but training must come through DOING, not watching.  The Way of the Master is a great tool for helping us to realize our potential, but we must also seek the power of the Holy Spirit who is our helper to accomplish the task at hand.  Courage and boldness will come from the Holy Spirit, but we must do our part to ensure that our hearts are prepared to be used.  We may have the firefighting gear on, but is our heart humble, full of love, crying for the lost – are we ready to put action with words?  Are you able to run into the enferno to save someone? Here are a few things to consider:

• Check your our own spiritual condition.  Are we walking in the light with God or in the world of darkness? Living carnal can destroy our ability to witness to others.  Why should they listen if we aren’t carrying out the teachings & commandments ourselves?

1 John 1:6-10 (New International Version)

6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[a] sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

• Understand that God’s mercies are new everyday (Lamentations 3:22-23). We have to rely upon the Throne of Grace when we do fail, seek forgiveness, and keep moving forward. (Romans 3:23)

Lamentations 3:22-23 (New International Version)

22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.

 23 They are new every morning;
       great is your faithfulness.

As you begin to think about your spiritual condition and how you can make a difference for people around those that you love, watch this next video to learn some techniques that will equip you with knowledge that can tear down some walls to bypass the intellect and reach the conscious of people around us.  It is my intention to use these same techniques very soon and share the experiences on this blog from what has been learned:

My First speaking engagement

As promised, today I would like to discuss my experience as a guest speaker for the very first time.

Ramping Up

A few weeks ago, I was approached by my friend Jamie if I would be interested in speaking to the Youth Group about my personal testimony. I was very excited about the prospect of doing something like that and determined this would be the launching pad for the direction I am moving in my spiritual life. With my acceptance, Jamie checked with the Youth Pastor – Kris to set up our very first meeting leading up to 11/05/2006.

Luckily for me, the timing for this couldn’t be any better. The Youth Group was starting a new series called “Mind, Body, and Spirit”, and Jamie thought that my personal testimony on “Mind” would fit perfectly into this. So I began typing up some ideas one evening and thought how I could tie all of this into my personal testimony. When I had finished typing, I discovered that I had 6 pages of material with thoughts, experiences, examples, and scripture to back the message for that evening. The question was – “Is this enough or is it overkill?”

Initial Meeting

On that Tuesday 10/31/2006, we worked out an arrangement for all of us to meet together for lunch. It would be a good opportunity for us to talk about that evening and get a feel for what would be discussed. I gave them both assurance that I was going to stay relevant with the message and not get weird with it. I didn’t want to get into areas that would be too deep or take the message off track.

It was also during this time that I had them to review the materials and to question if any of the language was too strong or if there is anything they would like for me to discuss or omit. Please keep in mind that when you are a guest speaker, you need to be accommodating (within reason) of meeting any standards and avoid failing to meet expectations. Afterall, this was my first speaking opportunity and I didn’t want to ruin it. Thankfully, these guys were open and placed no restrictions on what I wanted to discuss – they made it easy.

Leading up to the Big Day

I spent most of the remaining week refining my thoughts and began preparation for my materials. I needed to make sure that I had everything in order and ready leading up to the event. My checklist was as follows:

• Video recorder – to document my very first speaking and testimony event in front of a group.
• Video camera – to take a picture or two for this article.
• Power Point Presentation – 30 slide presentation.
• Summary Handout – In the event that I could not discuss all of the material in the time, I could hand out a two page document containing all the information I had in the presentation.
• Books – Obtained 4 books for the young women and men as part of a give-away.
• Give-away-tickets – For the free drawing of the books.
• Music CD – Christian music for playing at the end.
• Business Cards – Advertise for the Witness For The Master.

Front of the Business Card

Back of the Business Card

As the time approached, I felt a little nervous, but I knew the jitters were to be expected going into this. I know the more I do this, the more comfortable I will become. It is just a matter of time and practice.

Get Spiritual Backup

To ensure some level of success for the upcoming event, I sent out an email to personally ask for prayer from some of my Christian Brothers that evening. I knew that I was going to need backup spiritually because I had awareness that the enemy had their eye on me, and would love to make this a total disaster. Why did I think that? Leading up to the event, I had experienced increased spiritual warfare – so it was in my mind that a plan from the enemy was set against me to have complete failure. Never underestimate the power of having others pray and intercede on your behalf. My focus was in so many directions, and worrying about so many other things, I knew that I couldn’t effectively look after my own spiritual protection during this event. If you ever think the situation may become fragile, always call in some backups.

The Big Day!

Finally, after a long sleepless night, the day had arrived. I went to church that morning, received some words of encouragement, and then set back home to prepare for the event. I wanted to make sure I was rested and ready to go. I had asked my wife Carla to go with me, and I am so glad she did. I couldn’t have done it all without her being able to pick up the loose ends that I was missing. Never try to go and do things alone – bring a spouse, bring a friend – they help so much.

Before leaving at 5:00 pm, I had received a phone call from my friend Jamie. When I heard his voice, I started thinking, “I hope this is not going to be canceled”. Thankfully, it wasn’t, but Jamie was sick running a fever, and he was unsure if he would be able to make it that night. I felt pretty bad for him, but he left the prospect open that he will try to rest and if he is feeling better, he will be there because he really didn’t want to miss it.

After that phone call, we set out for Richmond, KY to the First United Methodist Church. I had Carla drive me because I wanted to make sure I was calm and had more time to commit more information to my mind. After a 35 minute drive, we arrived at the church and was greeted by Kris and his wife Courtney. Kris took us up to the Youth Group room and we began the process of getting things set up. After working through some of the technical difficulties, we were ready – and with only running 10 minutes behind … that added some extra pressure.

After hearing a few songs of praise and worship, Kris came up to say a few words and I came up forward.

Showtime

As I went up to speak to the group, I thanked everyone for having me. Initially, I didn’t know how many of the Youth were going to show up that evening, but Kris and Jamie got the word out in which there were over 20+Youth Members ranging from Freshman to Seniors. They were a nice looking bunch!

When I began talking, I immediately noticed I was feeling a little warm (probably because Kris told me it was 72 degrees already in there) … to me it felt like it was 80. Just a few minutes of being up front of everyone made me feel as if the heat was turning up – I knew I was going to sweat through this one. As I continued, I couldn’t seem to get a rhythm down when speaking or reading, but eventually I became more comfortable with the message and what I was talking about.

One of the emails that I had received the next day was “bring a bottle of water”. Well, I didn’t do that and from being nervous … my mouth already felt dry. I considered that a lesson learned for the next speaking engagement. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner.

Personal Testimony

Eventually, I made it into my personal testimony and how I was delivered and healed. Both Kris and Jamie (he made it out to hear me – though still sick) could tell that the message was getting through to them. Jamie said to me afterwards, “You could hear a needle drop it was so quite”. I could also tell I was getting through with the message on various issues because I watched as some would hang their head or couldn’t look me in the eye when I looked at them.

Through the entire message, while everyone was relatively attentitive, I had a great group (2 young ladies) and (1 young man) to my right who were consistently focused and showing attention towards me. If I ever felt like no one was listening, I would go back to focus on those 3 because they built my confidence up as I continued to speak. I am not saying that the rest of the group wasn’t paying attention, but I knew that they were very interested in hearing the message which I appreciated very much.

Here is a scripture that I shared with them that night:

Galatians 6:7-8
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Wrapping it up

As we approached the end, I had issued a 30 day challenge to fast from sensual imagery and/or other addictions. During this time, I had “Breathing the Breath” by Matt Redman playing over the sound system.

 

I drove the point that addictions are a poison which will choke the Living Breath of God out of our lives …

Then I moved into the “Call” to have everyone close their eyes and enter into prayer. I asked if anyone had this or other addictions they were struggling with that they want us to pray for. I had 1 raise their hand and prayed for that person there. I knew that it would be tough for a lot of the young women and men to acknowledge something like this in front of their friends, but I pray that the seed was placed in their heart for the Holy Spirit to work with.

After prayer, I had a drawing to give 4 free books away – 2 for the guys (Every Young Man’s Battle) and 2 for the ladies (Ever Young Woman’s Battle) to sow a seed further into their hearts and ask them to work together as accountability partners as they read the book.

 

At the end, I asked for a group picture with Jamie (on the left), myself (in the middle), and Kris (on the right)

I loved every minute of it, and hope to find more speaking opportunities in the near future.

Witness For The Master