Wow what an honour it is to be able to share the Gospel with people!

Just come back from "Reach the Mount" - at sunny Mount Maunganui beach, where over four days we got to witness to the holiday makers up there. It blew me away the responses and the genuine conviction - if you want to be on the edge of what God is doing - get out there and do some street evangelism! We have the most precious, amazing message, we've been told to share it, guys lets get out there and go for it!

Can you believe these guys are actually standing around listening to me?? Romans 3.19 says: "Now we know that whatsoever things the law says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God." - Law before Grace obviously sobered them up to prepare them to want to hear the Gospel - the solution to their sin problem.

Handing out tracts to some foreigners.

And oh yes I did swim in that lovely water :) The guys above are doing the flip charts - taking people through the law then the Gospel using "the good person test" - would you consider yourself to be a good person? (see www.needgod.com to do it online)

xox

To Preach Open Air? Or Not to Preach Open Air?

What do you think?

I agree with what Ray C said on his blog:

"Despite it being biblical, we sometimes get emails from people saying that open air preaching is a waste of time. Admittedly, there is a lot of “sowing in tears” but preaching the gospel to unsaved people is never a waste of time. I was greatly encouraged recently when I asked a man in the crowd if he thought he was a good person. He called back, “You asked me that a couple of months ago.” I answered, “Did I ask you if you had lied or stolen?” He said that I had. “Did I say that Jesus said that if you look at a woman and lust after her, you commit adultery with her in your heart?” He said, “You did. And I would have gone to Hell, but two weeks ago I gave my life to Christ!” I didn’t expect that answer. The crowd applauded . . . and so did I."

But what do you think?

IS HELL A REAL PLACE?

Nobody likes to talk about Hell. It's an uncomfortable subject; the prospect of unsaved people tormented in outer darkness forever. It's much more pleasant to imagine that Hell is simply a metaphor, or that unsaved souls simply cease to exist after death.

According to the Barna Research Institute, just over 80 percent of Americans believe in some form of afterlife, and 71 percent believed in Hell. However, how those 71 percent defined "Hell" varied from person to person. According to Barna, only one-third of Americans believe that Hell is an actual place of punishment:
"While there is no dominant view of Hell, two particular perspectives are popular. Four out of ten adults believe that Hell is "a state of eternal separation from God’s presence" (39%) and one-third (32%) says it is "an actual place of torment and suffering where people’s souls go after death." A third perspective that one in eight adults believe is that "Hell is just a symbol of an unknown bad outcome after death" (13%)."

What does the Bible say about Hell? The Bible, however, describes a place of punishment for those who die in their sins. Three different words are translated "Hell" in the King James:
Sheol - the grave, the place of the dead: (Num 16:33; Job 24:19; Ps 9:17; 31:17). Sheol is described as deep (Job 11:8), dark (Job 10:21,22), with bars (Job 17:16). The dead "go down" to it (Num 16:30,33; Eze 31:15,16,17).
Hades - the home of disembodied spirits. Hades refers to the abode of the unsaved dead prior to the great white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). It is a prison (1 Pet 3:19) with gates and bars and locks (Matt 16:18 Rev 1:18) and it is downward (Matt 11:23 Luke 10:15).
Gehenna - the trash heap outside Jerusalem in the time of Christ: Here the dead bodies of animals and of criminals, and all kinds of filth, were cast and consumed by fire, always kept burning. It thus, in process of time, became the idiom of the place of everlasting destruction. Jesus uses it in this sense 11 times (Matt 5:22,29,30; 10:28 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5).

The Rich Man and Lazarus:
The most poignant description of Hell is Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), in which the wicked rich man ended up in torment in the flames of Hades, while Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man was quite conscious of his predicament and longed for just a drop of water to soothe his tongue, "for I am tormented in this flame." Jesus frames this as a true story and not as a parable.

Why Would God Create Hell?
Hell was not created for humans, but for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41). God gave His Son to die for mankind so that all who believe in him can have eternal life (John 3:16), and He does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). But, those who reject the sacrifice of the Lamb of God will be subject to the punishment their sins deserve (Rev. 21:8). God is merciful and patient and full of love, but He is also perfectly holy and perfectly just, and nothing that defiles will be allowed into Heaven (Rev. 21:27).

While many Christians will say, "Yes, I believe in Hell," we often do not act like it. If we truly recognized that the unsaved people in our lives might die tomorrow and end up in eternal punishment, we might appreciate the urgency of telling them about the good news of the Gospel.

Hell is not a scare tactic. It is a real danger that every one of us faces. The great gift of our loving God is freedom from that punishment, and eternity with Him in Paradise.
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: - 1 Peter 3:15

- from Khouse - Chuck Misslers weekly newletter

Was St Francis a sissy??

St Francis of Assissi that is.....? The one who said "Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary use words..." or did he say that? What did he mean by that? Act it out? http://www.livingwaters.com/columns_ray/

Is Evangelism an event or a process?

I believe that Evangelism is an event - having the gospel clearly explained to you, salvation is an event - when you come to the point when you humble yourself, repent, turn from your sins and trust in the saviour. The process of sanctification is the lifelong process of the Holy Spirit making us more like Christ. This happens after we are justified or saved. I am not alone in my interpretation of this, please correct me if I’m wrong, but when Rome ruled the world, it fought military battles on the outskirts of its territories. When a battle was won, the Roman General would send a runner all the way form the battlefield to Caesar. On arrival the runner would kneel at Caesar’s feet, unroll a scroll, and announce the Good News. The message the military runner carried was called the “evangel,” the military runner the “evangelist,” and the act of announcing the message “evangelism.” The good news Christians are commanded to carry to non-Christians is called the gospel.

According to New Testament scholar C.F.D. Moule of Cambridge University, the meaning of evangelism in the New Testament is to, “Offer or communicate Good News, whatever the result.”

The Lausanne Covenant defines evangelism; it was formulated by the 2,300 biblical theologians who attended the Lausanne conferences on evangelism in 1974:
“4. THE NATURE OF EVANGELISM To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and believe. Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to evangelism, and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Saviour and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God. In issuing the gospel invitation we have no liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship. Jesus still calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community. The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his Church and responsible service in the world.” (I Cor. 15:3,4; Acts 2: 32-39; John 20:21; I Cor. 1:23; II Cor. 4:5; 5:11,20; Luke 14:25-33; Mark 8:34; Acts 2:40,47; Mark 10:43-45)

Therefore Evangelism is the event where you share the gospel with someone – regardless of the result.

(From the book "Evangelism - Strategies from heaven in the war for souls")

Is this a slice of Laodicea?

Laodicea is the church in the bible that Jesus rebuked - he said he knew their works but as they were neither hot nor cold he would would spit them out of his mouth. (Rev 3:14-21) - among a whole lot of other sarcastic remarks!

www.bibleplaces.com says: "Jesus' condemnation of the city's church for lukewarmness rebukes not their lack of fervor but their lack of effectiveness."

Interesting... our modern day softened down Gospel message, excluding words like "sin", "righteousness", "hell" and "judgement" are concerning (even though Jesus talks a lot about them in the bible) , and our appeal to draw people into our churches by being relevant and cool by using the things of this world... hmmmmm.... missing the point....

I just saw TD Jakes Church in Dallas is having a womens conference entitled "He's just that into you" - er which verse is that?!?! Oprah 4:4??? Apparently the bible's not cool enough - we have to use worldy things to get seekers to church (??) Did anyone know that TD Jakes doesn't believe in the Trinity?? This kinda points him to being a false teacher... something the bible tells us to be very wary of and have nothing to do with. People - we must search the scriptures as we are commanded, and make sure what we are being taught is correct - as the word tells us to! So we are not decieved! Misuse of scripture - pulling bible verses way way way out of context is rampant in the modern church! I walked out of last sunday's sermon for that exact reason! Sure the message was emotional and motivational... just not biblicial! That guy needs to watch Herman Who?*

Come on people... God wrote a book... I know it's hard to believe - but God actually wrote a book! Why do we need to use "he's just not that into you" when we have the inspired word of God?!!! What are we thinking!!!


*Herman Who? is available at www.livingwatersnewzealand.com - it teaches you about Hermaneutics - how to read the bible right - I highly recommend it!

My poor blog is soooo rejected! Now the bebo revolution has started! (oh and I'm meant to be studying for my exam next week!)

YAY I just recieved my lastest order from Living Waters - that's where my paycheck goes these days! Just got the "worlds best optical illusions" tract - soo cooL! And the "Behind the scenes of Way of the Master" book :)

I made it onto yesterdays episode of Way of the Master Radio - i download the podcasts from itunes - but you can also listen to it online at www.wayofthemasterradio.com it is very funny and very addictive!