Sow & Sleep

This Sunday after church, our Sunday school group is planning an evangelism blitzkrieg.  We will be knocking on doors in the surrounding neighborhood and in the dorms on campus.  We will be armed with tracts, flyers, and cookies.  Our goal is to meet people, share the gospel, invite them to church, pray with them, or simply give encouragement (with love and cookies). 

We have done this for several years with mixed results.  We have had many doors shut in our face, but there have also been a few people whom we have cultivated a relationship with.

Although this evangelism en masse event was my idea this year, I must admit that I am a little apprehensive.  Talking to people is not my strong suite.  God saw fit not to include that gift in my basket.  That doesn’t excuse me from my duty to share the gospel, though.  It just means I have toe (faithfully) try harder, and pray harder.

I tend to worry about what to say, or what technique to use.  I’m scared I’ll do something stupid and mess up the opportunity.  I am comforted in this by God’s sovereignty.

Mark 4:26-29

²⁶ And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸ For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Notice that the sower is only responsible for sowing the seed.  The sower cannot cause the seeds to germinate and grow.  He simply sows the seed and then goes to sleep.  The sower doesn’t know how the seed grows, he just watches it until harvest time.

In the same way, it is our responsibility to sow the word.  God changes a person’s heart to accept the gospel, not me.  God causes the growth, I only sow and sleep, He does the rest.

So in the end, what I say, or how clever or funny I am is not as important .  My job is to be faithful and obedient and simply go and do, trusting God to take care of the rest.

So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. – 1 Cor. 3:7

Fiery Faith

Daniel 3:16-18

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king…"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

I cannot think of any text that better exemplifies genuine faith.  In the face of agonizing terror and death, these three young men put their trust solely in God.  They had no promise of divine intervention, no assurance that God was going to save their lives.  They laid it all on the line in obedience to God’s law.  They trusted in God’s sovereignty, knowing that He has the power to save them if He so willed. 

God did indeed save them from a fiery death in the furnace.  Notice how the characteristics of their faith were different from some of the modern conceptions of faith.  They were not protected from the flames with positive thinking.  They didn’t bind up the flames in the Lord’s name.  They didn’t rebuke the fire, inciting the power of God through their magic words.  Nor did they stubbornly insist that the flames don’t really exist if they just really, really believe without doubting.  They didn’t bargain with God, or make empty vows.

They simply submitted to God in faith, trusting to decree their fate. They placed their confidence and their lives in the hands of the Almighty.  This is genuine faith in action.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a jerk like me.

I graduated from high school eight years ago.  In that time, I have lost touch with my former classmates.  But living in my hometown, I sometimes run across my schoolmates from yesteryear. 

That happened to me last week.  I was at a meet-the-teacher night for the Mothers Day Out my son will be attending.  As we were waiting for it to begin, all of my attention was on my boy.  He was determined to collect every offering envelope and visitor card from the pew in front of us.  As he began throwing the leaflet confetti into the air, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Standing there was a fella I graduated with.  To be honest, I wasn’t all that excited to see him.  In high school he was a real jerk, or at least that’s what I thought.  I always felt he was arrogant and rude. 

As I stood up to shake his hand, I was startled by the full enveloping bear hug thrown at me.  I quickly realized that something was different.  He smiled and we talked for a minute.  He was kind, friendly, and genuinely caring.  All that went through my mind was, “Hey, this cat reminds mf Jesus.”  We only had a minute to converse because the program was beginning, but that meeting left a strong impression on me.

I was reminded of the power of the gospel to genuinely change people.  I need to be reminded of that from time to time.  It gives me encouragement and hope, for if God can change a jerk like him, then He can change a jerk like me.

1 year, 365 days, 88 posts, 841 hits, 9 states, 7 countries, one purpose

for His glory

'tis better to give

Matthew 5:40-42 (New King James Version)

⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

My conviction based on this passage is to give to anyone and everyone who asks of me. This is a hardline approach, but that’s the kind of guy Jesus is. His words are crystal clear, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Jesus doesn’t put any provisions or conditions on this principle. They ask, we give. Black and white, plain and simple.

I know the objections that are mulling in your mind. “But what if they use the money to buy boos, or drugs, or a copy of The Shack.”

Well, first of all you cannot control other people’s actions. Neither can you always accurately judge others motivations. Your responsibility as a disciple of Christ is to give. What they do with it is on them.

Even if their motivation is to take advantage of you, you are still to give in love. In fact, we are called to give above and beyond what they ask.

“And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”

I am by no means a perfect practitioner of this principle. My heart is to give unto the Lord. However, I sometimes miss opportunities, and other times I act out of legalism and not love. My heart is to consistently apply this command of Christ in a loving, cheerful manner.

This principle, I believe, encompasses everything from the homeless guy begging on the street to the girl scout selling outrageously overpriced cookies at my door.

Give to everyone who asks. Give more than they ask, and do more than they require. Such is the job description of every follower of Christ.

"Pastor Yanked From Capitol Over 'Jesus' Prayer"

A Baptist pastor in North Carolina was “relieved of his duties as an honorary chaplain of the state house of representatives after he closed a prayer by invoking the name of Jesus.”

He was told not to “use the name Jesus. We have some people here that can be offended.” Read the whole article here.

This baffles me. If Christianity is offensive to them, then why are they praying? It would be better to just stop the charade and give up the hypocrisy. They might as well pray to the naked statue of Lady Justice. It would probably offend less people.

Pastors pray. Pastors pray in the name of Jesus. That's their job, its what they do.

To ask a pastor not to would be like asking a structural engineer to design a building without using any math. After all, some people don’t understand math and are offended by it (especially fractions).

Or its like going to a doctor and asking him to treat you without using any of that offensive medicine stuff. It just don’t make no dadburn sense.

I am encouraged, though, by this pastor’s actions. He fought the good fight of faith in the face of persecution. I pray (in the name of Jesus Christ) that God will bless him for it, both now and in eternity.

Spiritual Gift Cop-Out

It sometimes seems that we are too concerned about what our specific spiritual gift is. We take batteries of multiple choice tests to determine our spiritual gift aptitude. We categorize ourselves into predefined groups and put on or respective “prophet” or “server” t-shirt. We can then begin to serve God, but only within the limits of our newly discovered gift.

This strategy does make sense, especially in the corporate world. It is efficient to find the strengths and talents of your human resources and put them into a job in which they can excel. The problem with this approach is that it pigeon holes the believer, not leaving room for God.

So next time the offering plate is passed to you, don’t think,”Oh I’m a teacher not a giver.” And don’t show up to the next work day to only show mercy while everyone else paints or cuts grass or repaves the parking lot. In other words, don’t use your spiritual gift as a cop-out.

Even though we all have our individual gifts, we are all called to a variety of service. My advice is to not worry so much about what your particular gift is, and just willing and humbly serve wherever there is a need. All that other jive will follow. After all, God has already prepared your good works beforehand. Your job is simply to walk in them.