Prophets whose words are powerless

Sowers who’s seed all whithers

Fishers who take in no Fish

Soldiers who give no wounds

Are these God’s men?-C.H. Spurgeon

This gripped me…thought I would share it. If you are a minster of the gospel, I hope it grips you too

I would like to say that the calls coming in surprised me, but unfortunately, they didn’t. Men and women called in to tell stories of their infidelity, and how in doing so, they’d “saved” their marriage, because sex with another person showed them how much they actually loved their spouse. That statement sounds so ridiculous, that it is in desperate need of re-stating…sex, with another person, showed them how much they love their spouse.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, and it is a candid look into the human heart. We will convince ourselves of anything to have everything that we want…it is the human condition. We are self centered, depraved people, though every philosophical thought in society would try top convince us that we are basically good and giving. And the only thing that can solve the problem of the human condition is Christ and his gospel.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

What an incredible description of all that humanity is (dead,disobedient, following the passions of the flesh, desires of the body)outside of Christ, but what powerful transition words(but God), and it ends with all that we are under His love and leading. Stop justifying your selfish passions, and turn and know life.

If you can watch this, and not be changed……

Prior to Constantine’s decision to make Christianity the national religion of the empire, the early church suffered horrendously. Eusebius, a historian of the time tells of people being boiled to death, fed to lions, pulled apart, and being forced to sit in a metal chair while being cooked to death. The most horrifying for me as I read was the man who was asked to recant his faith in Christ under the threat of having boiling hot lead poured down his throat. Eusebius tells us that this man, like many others, did not recant, he would not substitute Caesar as lord, for Jesus as Lord, and so that day he lost his life…in a most disturbing and painful way. I have a vivid imagination, often times too much so, and I just kept feeling the heat in my mouth…throat…and chest as I read, trying to grasp in what world a human being could do this to another, and in what world a man could so faithfully love his Jesus, that he would give everything…even unto death, for the sake of His name.

Do I believe the death’s of these two men are the ushering in of Barbary of this nature? The likely answer is no, but what I do believe is that this incident, however tragic, marks a new age for the American Church. One in which the faithful and the fakes will be distinguished clearly. In the days that Eusebius wrote, it would be foolish and deadly to say that you were a follower of Jesus when you really weren’t. The sad reality is that since about 325 a.d. there has been an influx into the Church of casual “Christians” who served a Christ of convenience. But with the threat of death looming for even sharing your faith, this practice seems to be soon coming to an end as Christendom dies, and a post-Christian era emerges.

My hope is that the church would rise, and those that truly belong to Christ would stand firm in the face of all possible persecutions, be they personal, social, or governmental.

This incident, however terrifying for the author of yesterday’s article and others, is full of potential. For years men and women all over the world have given their lives, literally, for the cause of the gospel. The fact that it is just reaching America is in itself a startling reality…but it is here nonetheless. Do you belong to Christ? I hope that your lips are not close to Him while your heart is far off, because if it is, the time will come when it will be weighed and measured by similar incidents of verbal, physical, and emotional persecution,and if you are not His, the world will know….but more importantly, so will you.

Why the National Media Blackout?

According to the Boynton Beach police, simply sharing the word of God on the street is what brought two ministers to the man who killed them. Tite Sufra, 24, and Stephen Ocean, 23, were shot and killed Saturday night after meeting Jeriah Woody, 18. They witnessed to Woody for fifteen minutes when he got a phone call and told the preachers he ‘had to go.’ As they walked away, Woody suddenly started walking back toward them. Sufra walked up to greet him and was killed with a shot gun blast at point blank range. When Ocean ran, he was shot in the back. After he fell, Woody shot him in the head execution style. Woody was arrested Wednesday and is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

“As of today, there are no national news organizations reporting this vicious murder of two innocent Christian men. Why?” Cass said, “I’ll ask this: If two Muslims, or two feminists or two homosexuals were murdered, wouldn’t the media be all over it? These were two fine young black Christian men shot by another black man for their Christian faith, yet the media does not seem to care.”

Cass continued: “It is an ominous sign of our times that Christians are being shot on the streets and in our churches. Last year Jim Pullion was killed while holding pro-life signs in front of his granddaughter’s Owasso Michigan high school. Rev. Fred Winters was murdered while preaching in his pulpit in Maryville, Illinois. Increasingly we see Christian ministers threatened and churches terrorized and vandalized for their stand on marriage. Now when Christians gather for worship they must have armed security. Anti-Christian defamation and bigotry has helped to create this violent climate and it must stop.”

Tomorrow I will write some thoughts I have on this as it relates to the new frontier of post-christian culture in America. But, I’m curious to know, what do you think?

2. But for Grace, there go I. We are not better than them because of our physical, mental, or emotional state. In fact, we may be worse off in our self-righteousness.

3. Do NOT give to pan-handlers. I have failed at this many times, but actively try to not do it. We can do so much more for them if they submit to coming and being a part of the body of Christ. It would benefit them greater to come and hear/see the gospel, and the implications of it by how we serve them, rather than giving them a couple bucks to assuage our conscience.

4. Homeless men need to be taught basic skills to re-enter and thrive in society. This requires more time investment and reprogramming than giving them a blanket and a hot cup of soup. Though giving them soup and a means to keep warm is good and right, it will only sustain them for a day, a week at most. Taking them off of the streets, or sending them to a Church/organization that can and teaching them how to function in society, if successful, could sustain him for a life time.

5. Many of them have stories, of a life before (insert: drugs, alcoholism, spouse leaving/cheating, job loss etc.) ask them to hear their story, and you will most often gain their hearts.

6 Many people living on the streets suffer from mild to severe mental illness. Finding creative, no-governmental ways to serve this population could be vital to the renewal of any major city.

7. If you feel safe in doing so, if someone tells you they are hungry, invite them to dine with you at a nearby restaurant, rather than sending them off with a few dollars to “buy food”. If they are truly hungry, most often they will go. This is a great time to share your life and the gospel.

8. There are entire homeless families. Find ways to love and serve their children, and you will often find a way to reach the parents.

9. If they are hustlers, they have been to multiple churches/social/government organizations in the area. Call other local churches to find out who and what they know.

10. In some cases there is a measure of entitlement, as though they are owed what they are asking you for. Overcome this with the love of Christ, and the gospel.

11. There is little greater than seeing someone restored spiritually, physically, and culturally.

There is much I am still learning, but knowing these things has helped me a great deal in loving the poor, marginalized, and homeless as well as they will allow.

“How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written,“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Why? Because their God reigns! Some just don’t know it yet….