BOUND TO CHRIST

Even though the Christmas season has not yet begun, the holiday ads are already flooding the airwaves.  Businesses across the nation are looking forward to the extra revenue especially this year with its economic crisis.  The winter holiday has become not only a celebration for Christianity, but also one of four national holidays, the others being Thanksgiving, Independence Day and the Super Bowl.

This became clear when Lori Littman Brown, lobbyist with the Secular Coalition of America, appeared on the “Colbert Report” and explained the secularization of the holiday in America:

“In fact, Christmas is now a secular holiday…which means it’s no longer just about a religious thing, it’s a secular thing and we can all have parties and enjoy it.”

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This is a great sermon given by Pastor Jim Laffoon of Every Nation Churches. He speaks about the need for a reconciled church, not a tolerant church. Lafoon points out that there will be people who do love Jesus but will think differently from others.  He proclaims that there is absolutly no room for bi-partisanship within the church, and that reconciliation can only start at the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Listen to it here on B2C:

Machpelah-Releasing the Spirit of Increase Through Reconciliation
Jim Laffoon - November 11, 2008

2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

To give a recap: In Part One we discussed why we pray, and in Part Two I discussed why it is important to have a Christocentric mindset when praying.  So in Part Three of the “A Life of Prayer” series I would like to discuss how we can pray simply.  In order to keep prayer simple and focused I suggest we take a lesson from Jesus himself. By consulting scripture we find that Jesus actually told us how to pray.  Often, many churches refer to this as the Lord’s Prayer. 

The Lord’s Prayer is simple; however it is not the key to salvation.  It is the result of a regenerated heart, but it does not necessarily cause the regeneration.  God’s grace causes us to draw near to Him and place our faith in Christ, and it is His sacrificial death that brings salvation.  So let’s make sure to get it correct from the start.

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As the title might imply, this post is about evangelism.  I want to diverge from my normal way of writing and delve into a deeper topic which is the second most important thing in life to me (next to God); and that is people.

I will discuss the reasons why, as Christians, we must evangelize, and then I will thoroughly explain why you can’t save a single soul on this earth. Not only will I use stories from my own life to back up my claims, but I will give you practical advice on how to reach your lost friends.  This may take a while…

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What do you think your reaction would be if you experienced suffering on a grand scale?  I would love to say that I would experience a period of anger like anyone would and then come through it closer to God, but I do not know if that would be the case.

Why do I say this?  It is easy to figure out if you think about it.  Think about suddenly going blind, deaf, crippled and then about how much your life would change.  Yes I would know that God has a plan in it all, but while waiting to see what that plan is I can see myself growing increasingly frustrated with not knowing what it is.  I assume this comes from pride that I should have some kind of authority over my life and my body.  However, scripture is clear that we died to ourselves when we became Christians. 

Which leads me to my next thought: for Christians, does God ordain suffering to happen for those that can handle it better?  More importantly does suffering always work out something good in the long run?  I do not know the answer to the first question and for a while I struggled with the issue of freedom of choice and personal responsbility that we have in the second one. But I would still have to answer: yes. Read the rest of this entry »

Pastor Mike Plewniak continued VFC’s “Questioning God” series Thursday night with a sermon on the source of suffering and evil.  

Before his message, Mike played a video of interviews from UT students talking about why they believe suffering and evil exist.  The problem with these views, he said, was that they never took sin into account.

“You have experienced something from the fall,” Mike said.  ”The whole assumption is that suffering is unjust.”

Mike addressed two main issues that people have with God: the notion that suffering is something bad and that bad things happen to good people.  

First, the pastor reminded the audience that there is no such thing as a good person, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)”.  If any suffering or grief should come to anyone, it is not unjust because many times of suffering are results of the fall of man.

“Where did evil come into this creation?” Mike asked. “You don’t have to go far to know that.  As soon as sin enters into the world, suffering follows.” Read the rest of this entry »

The world keeps moving and things keep changing.  Just last week America voted in a historic election.  For the first time in history the United States of America has a black president-elect.  He has been called, through all the ad campaigns, smear tactics, propaganda and fear mongering, things like “Barack Obama is a terrorist, the Anti-Christ, Santa Claus, the cause of Global Warming, the end of the world as we know it, the savior and messiah of the human race and the man who shot Liberty Valance.”  I do not believe Barack Obama is any of those things.  I do not care for the man as a politician because I disagree with his viewpoints and stances on a lot of things.  But what I believe about Barack Obama is beside the point. 

In this time of uncertainty for the future and after this historic election I have heard many Christians say things along the lines of “God is in control” or “It’s in God’s hands”.  These are in fact true statements.  I agree with those statements, but in effect what these Christians are saying is “I wash may hands of any and all personal responsibility and this is just a cop-out I use to get myself out of actually taking a stance, standing firm and possibly getting mud on my face if I am wrong.”  My question is: when did Christianity become an excuse or cop out for a person’s personal responsibility? Read the rest of this entry »

I understand that I have been very quiet on this blog and for that I must apologize.  With that being stated, I am going to start a series on Evangelism that could last a very long time.  I am unqualified to write on such a topic, but I pray that God would give me grace to do so and that He would be glorified through this leaky vessel’s work.  I am a sinner in desperate need for the grace of God.

What is the etymological root of “evangelism”?  “Evangelize” comes from the Greek work “euangelion” which means “object of good news.”  To evangelize is to share one’s object of good news.  I purpose this short essay and its ensuing series to the labor of showing some weaknesses in the modern construction of evangelism and to cultivate a more accurate, biblical and authentic view of evagelism, encouraging Christians to love their Savior more. 

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Part of the bridge from Chris Tomlin’s song “Made to Worship” has been ringing in my head for the past few days. The bridge goes: “Even the rocks cry out/ Even the heavens shout/ At the sound of His Holy name.” This verse was probably in part based on Luke 19:40. The disciples were shouting praise to the Lord and the Pharisees wanted Jesus to rebuke his disciples. Yet Jesus says: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

I live in a scientific world. Biology is my major and biology is almost all I learn. Theories and lab procedures and exciting new advances in research, etc. get filtered through my brain everyday. I’m definitely not your average science student who is über passionate about science, but more than ever I am amazed at God’s creation through science. You just read that Jesus said that even if there was no one to praise God’s holy name the stones will cry out. That’s how I feel lately; creation is yelling, screaming, hollering to those who are silent, especially to my peers who don’t believe and are sitting there studying their advanced cell biology books.

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A news article has recently sparked my memory.  CBS reported two days ago,

A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said. 

Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo,Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. 

The Islamic militia in charge of Kismayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.

My freshman year at high school was the year I really started loving God and the Bible.  I read it before, during and after classes while attending church, youth group and a men’s bible study. It was an intense year of growth for me.   

I became enthralled with the romance of Christianity, things like dying to live and uncanny sacrifice made me passionate about my religion.  They also made me aware of what my religion had been, was currently, and could become.  

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