A Passion for Evangelism

Last night I was able to go to Tamworth to see Will Graham and hear him speak about the passion he has and the passion that we should have for evangelism. It really challenged me and thought that I should share it on here.

What I am basically going to do though is recount what he said in my own words. (I hope that I represent what he said well) So here goes ...

How bad will things get in this world? Things are pretty bad at the moment, with the GFC and the like. It makes some of us think that  maybe it is about time that the world as we know it to come to and end. As John in Revelation says "Come Lord Jesus"

At the same time though we want to be able to tell people about Jesus. Even though we may want to give up as everything is a bit hard, we need to remember that Jesus never gave up and that we are on the winning side even if at times it does not feel like it in this world.

In Luke 17:20-37 Jesus begins to speak about the coming of the Kingdom of God. He speaks about how it was in the days of Noah and the days of Lot, then in vs 32, he says "Remember Lot's wife!" This verse sticks out as a warning to us. Her heart was in Sodom - she looked back  and was turned into a pillar of salt. (Gen 19:26) When the end times come we need to guard our hearts. Now seeing that we are in the end times now, we need to have a heart for evangelism, but what does that mean. What should our heart look like at this time? There are 5 things ...

1. Need a Heart that Wants to Rescue People

Luke 12:35-48 talks about being watchful and ready for when the Lord returns and ensuring that when he returns we will be ready. Remember that our master is coming again and we will have to be accountable for what we have done to Jesus. What we need to do in the meantime is to rescue as many people as possible until Jesus returns.

Imagine being in a life boat and going around a sinking ship, you would want to save as many people as possible. There is no reason just to be there rowing around in circles watching people drown. You will want to get as many people in the life boat and to safety as possible.

We only have one life to live and then eternity to rest. When you stand before God will you be exhausted from making the most of every opportunity that you have. Make sure that you spend everything you have to rescue as many as possible.

2. Need a Heart with a Passion to Preach in the Darkness

Have a look in the bible at people like Daniel, Elisha and Elijah. They all prayed for the people that were around them. They were light in a dark place. A light in the midst of darkness. There are so many crises in this world that makes it very dark and when it is dark outside, we then need to make sure that we let our light shine and continue to proclaim the truth.

3. Need a Heart of Humility

1 John 1:8 - If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Romans 3:10 - There is no one righteous not even one.

We need to realise our own sinful nature and to stop being proud of ourselves and what we have done. Whilst we need to be strong in the pulpit, but at the same time meek and loving. What is meant by being strong in the pulpit - we need to remain strong in God's word.

Therefore we need to humble ourselves both before God and each other.

4. Need a Heart for Holy Living

There seems to be people out there who are functional atheists. They proclaim that they believe in God, but live as though they do not. There are also people out there who say that I will win people over by my actions, but the challenge is how many people have seen our actions and been won over? It is only by speaking the truth that people will come to know Jesus as their Lord and saviour. (Rom 10:14)

Holy living however will validate what you say about Jesus. We still need to have holy lives though for "just as he who called you is holy so be holy in all you do." (1 Peter 1:15)

5. Need a Heart that Relies on the Holy Spirit

People out there need to hear about Jesus - the spiritually dead people, but only God can revive them. No matter how much we do, we can not do it on our own. It is his work  and the Holy Spirit will work in the people's lives through regeneration. Ultimately it is easier to work rely on the Holy Spirit anyway.

Billy Graham (his grandfather) when he finished preaching would stand back from the microphone and pray these words: "Lord I have done everything that I can do - the rest is up to you." He could preach his heart out, but it was not up to him to work in peoples hearts, but the Spirits.

We then need to preach the gospel message and fully rely on the Spirit, for by the Spirit things will happen.

So What?

In the end it is not easy to be an evangelist, especially in the current world that we are in, but remember that Jesus has not given up on anyone, so you had better no give up on anyone either.

Will you be the next generation that takes the good news and shine the light in a dark place?

What did I take away from this you might then be wondering. Well I want to make sure that when I stand before God that I will be exhausted. That I will have spent every moment that he gives me here on this earth telling people about him, playing my part in saving as many people as possible for his sake. To not be ashamed about doing this and standing up for Jesus in all areas of my life.

I Am Sure Some Did Not Work That Hard

I was busy the other day reading the youthworks newsletter - The Buzz and came across these words:

" Over two years a Diploma of Theology student will spend about 438 hours in classes, 15 hours in written examinations, complete 40,000 words of written assessment, spend 336 hours in private study and 48 hours in critical reflection groups."

Now I thought to myself there is no may some of us would have done that much work. Speaking on my own behalf I would think that I would go fairly close in some respects, but if I was a beating man, I would put money on that fact that others I  know that would not go anywhere near these amounts.

Some would have missed class time, I know many left exams much quicker than the allotted time allowed and did nowhere near that much private study. As for critical reflection, (and this is the category I fit into) I think I would have reflected all of 12 hours and not 48.

In hindsight though critical reflection is not such a bad thing. I probably do it more now than I did at college, but too often I do it in my head rather than write it down so it gets forgotten. Maybe if I did more at college then I would be better off. Something to reflect upon anyway.

Out of interest where do other people from college think they fit into this?

Baptism and Thanksgiving

I conducted my first baptism last week and also my first thanksgiving service. Both of these services were for infants.

These got me thinking a bit more about each of these  services - the meaning behind them and why different people choose one over the other.

Let me clarify the two services. Baptism - the parents make promises before God and the church that they will bring their child up knowing God. They will endeavour to do this by reading with them and teaching them amongst other things. They themselves must also profess their faith.

A thanksgiving service on the other hand does not include promises, but more an opportunity to give thanks (as the name suggests) for the birth of the child and pray that one day that child will indeed make up their own mind as to what they believe. It also gives opportunities to pray for the child and the parents as they raise the child. This would be similar to what is done in a baptist church even for believing parents.

For me I believe in infant baptism and bringing the young people of believing parents into God's covenant family. I then believe that those who do not believe should have a thanksgiving service.

Let me digress for a moment and let you know what occurs within this diocese. (this is from my understanding and I am willing to be corrected if I have any of this wrong) Parents wishing to have their child baptised contact the minister and they arrange a visit or send out information (the first being the better alternative) During this visit, the parents are informed about the two different services and what they both involve. From here the minister leaves them with information and invites them to come to church where they hand their form back in indicating which service they would prefer.

If thanksgiving is chosen, then a date and venue can be determined and usually one more visit is conducted which gives an extra contact with the family and also allows for a small gospel presentation to be made. Also at this time the service is run through so the parents know what will be occurring on the day.

If baptism is chosen, the parents understand that their will be 3 further meetings with the minister or another member of the congregation to prepare them for the baptism. (Unless already a regular member of the church and clearly a follower of Christ) These visits allow for the chance go through a more in depth gospel presentation such as 2 Ways to Live broken down in parts or Christianity Explained. From this they may become Christians and understand what it means to be a follow of Jesus. If this is the case then that is awesome. Others though have some idea about it all and just know that to have their kid "done" would please their parents/grandparents.

I have so far seen both sides of this.

I struggle though with baptisms for children of non-believers. In the end even if we know they are not Christians, we still go ahead and baptise their child. They get up, say the words have the water splashed on the child and more often than not then leave after the service is over as quickly as possible. How can we as a church family say that we will support these people and the child when it is unlikely that apart from around town we will not see them again until they come to have their next child done. I mean it is a great opportunity we get to sit down and share the gospel with people, but maybe we need to be more hard-lined as some churches in Sydney are and not baptise children from unbelieving parents.

Do we need to gently guide them into having a thanksgiving service instead? If so how can we do this. We do not want to present two options for them and then tell them that one is no longer available to them. We need to assist them to see/come to terms with the sort of promises that they are making for their child and ask them to think seriously about what they are saying. The words they are saying are not just for fun, but they are like vows that they took at their wedding. They are promises that they should keep, but how can they if they do not believe? This is the struggle I am facing.

One thing that needs to be kept in mind though is that unlike in Sydney it is more than likely that you will see these people around town again. We want to show as a church that we are welcoming etc, but are we doing it at the expense of what we believe? If we turn people away, what does that say about us as a church? Will they just go somewhere else to get it done?

Anyway I should be asleep, and now this is down maybe that will help a bit. I do apologise for the longer blog too for those who do not enjoy reading that much, but I hope at least that it is clear what I am saying.

I know one thing though I have not yet figured this one out, but that also goes for leaders of communion services must be ordained priests, confirmation services being done by bishops and a whole host of other things. But enough for now.

Youth Leaders - Country Style

One of the hardest things that I have found thus far in country ministry is the lack of leaders for youth ministry. Let me first of all go on the record though and say at our youth group we have a small team of dedicated leaders who I am ever so grateful for. Guys if you happen to read this, then thanks heaps for everything you do.

The dilemma that I am faced with however is expansion and how to be able to do that. While most people in suburban areas have a large number of people to pull upon as leaders, the country lacks that to a degree, especially when you are talking about younger people.

Now I know what you are saying at the moment - a youth leader does not have to be young, and I agree, but I would say the majority of older people in our church are already involved in other areas of ministry currently. So then what do I do? Where do I find more leaders for the ministry so as we are able to grow, both numerically, but also more importantly spiritually? Leaders that will be willing to run small groups, mentor kids, go and hang out with them etc.

One thought that has been passed by me is that I should take some time and train up the older youth - years 11 and 12 and get them to then assist and be leaders with the younger group. Whilst I can se merits in this, I can also see downfalls.

Merits

1. Trains the older ones and prepares them for leadership roles in other churches once they leave.
2. Fills a potential gap (currently this would be the case, especially for the girls as we are unsure what the current female leaders will be doing next year.)

Downfalls

1. We make them leaders before they are ready and take away them being youth therefore separating them from the others.
2. What happens when only some of that year group would be suitable to be leaders. What happens to the rest. Does this then seem to show favoritism?

These are just some that I have come up with, but I am sure there are more in both fields that could be added. I think though that the downfalls outweigh the merits in the end. (even if that is not the case above)

What other solutions are there? If anyone has one then I would love to hear about it and discuss it with you further.

In the meantime I will continue to commit this to prayer and trust God that he will raise up the right people at the right time.

Enriching our Marriage

Jenny and I are about to go on a 2 day marriage course in Tamworth. Not really sure what to expect at the moment, but do know that it will be a refreshing time away from the kids and a chance for the two of us to have some time together. Maybe the last chance before our next one arrives.

Will try and write some more on my return though and give some more insight into what we did.