Great Music Resource

Perhaps you are longing for more Christ-centered, God-exalting, Doctrinally-rich hymns for your church or family to sing together? Or perhaps you are tired of the shallow songs that you listen to on the local pop-Christian radio station?

If you haven’t heard of Church Works Media yet, then you must stop by their website.

When my family gets together, we print off the latest Chris Anderson hymn and sing it around the piano. Here’s two of my favorites:

• My Jesus Fair
• Come Quickly Lord

Tip of the Day: Evangelism (9)

The Da Vinci Code‘s influence upon our nation’s pop-culture is evident. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard, “What about the Gnostic Gospels?” 

Then I’d have almost 8 extra dollars! 

Rather than getting into a technical discussion (in which I would fumble around a bit and he/she probably wouldn’t get much out of it anyway), this response usually helps moves the discussion away from the Gnostic Gospels: 

The Gnostic Gospels truly are fascinating. Have you ever read the Gospel of Thomas? Interestingly, it records Peter as saying, “Make Mary leave us because females don’t deserve to live.” Jesus responds, “Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.”*

Tip of the Day: Evangelism (8)

In his book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Mark Dever gives 12 practical steps that Christians should take towards becoming evangelists (paraphrased):

1. Pray. Ask God for opportunities and the power to take advantage of them.
2. Plan to evangelize.
3. Accept that evangelism is our job as Christians.
4. Understand that God requires faithfulness even if we don’t feel gifted.
5. Be faithful even when you have a cultural excuse not to evangelize.
6. Take risks even if it may jeopardize a relationship.
7. Prepare to evangelize, whether it be practicing on friends or thinking about answering potential objections to the gospel.
8. Look for opportunities, expecting God to answer #1.  
9. Love others. This love will overcome our fear and help us to value their soul more than our pride.
10. Fear God. “When we don’t share the gospel, we are essentially refusing to live in the fear of the Lord.”
11. Stop blaming God for being sovereign. “We should not conclude from his omnipotence that our obedience is therefore pointless.”
12. Consider Jesus (Hebrews 12:3).

Tip of the Day: Evangelism (7)

Pray for God to open doors for gospel witness. Romans 3 makes it clear that there are none who seek after God. If, then, an individual is seeking God, we must assume that God is seeking that particular individual. Based upon this, our evangelism must be founded upon the fact that God works and God is working, not upon our ability to persuade or convince.

Colossians 4:3-4:

Withal praying for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak.  

Some more thoughts on this verse:

1. The Colossians were to pray for Paul and his associates.
2. The Colossians were to pray for them with the purpose that God would open up doors for speaking the gospel.
3. This gospel message was the reason for Paul’s imprisonment.
4. Paul must reveal the gospel by speaking it.

NEXT!

Since I’ve been sharing these with my friends on google reader and since a commenter pointed them out yesterday as well, I commend to you the NEXT! series over at Team Pyro (written by Dan Phillips). 

Here’s my favorite one: 

Challenge: I think you can make the Bible mean anything you want.

Response: So, you’re saying that the meaning of the Bible is objectively fixed and crystal-clear?

Tip of the Day: Evangelism (6)

When sharing the gospel, frequently I hear, “How could a good God allow evil into the world?”

Although there are many ways to respond and several views on the issue within Christianity, I usually respond like this:

The question almost makes it sound as though evil is this rabid dog that God released into the world to bite everyone. This is not the case; rather, God allowed his created beings to make choices. In allowing for choice, God did create the potential for evil. Had He not done that, we would not be having conversation; we would be robotic and therefore incapable of asking why questions. However, you have already acknowledged that there is much evil in the world. Interestingly, in the Bible, Jesus equates lust with adultery and hate with murder. Is murder evil? Is adultery evil? Based upon all of this, have you contributed to the evil in the world?

I would hope there would be more interaction between the individual and me, but at least you can see my line of thought. I try to see every potential objection to Christianity as an opportunity to speak to hearts, trusting that the Holy Spirit is working.

Tip of the Day: Evangelism (5)

You are explaining the gospel to an individual and he says, “I just can’t believe there is only one of way to heaven.” Perhaps you are frozen in your tracks as you think, “what do I do now?”

I usually say something like this, although there are no “silver bullets” for questions like these: 

God is not obligated to make a way of salvation for those who have shattered his laws and violated his standards in rebellion against him. However, God in his mercy and grace has made a way of salvation for those very people; He did not have to do this to begin with. Further, He could have made a 2nd or 3rd way of salvation, but man in his rebellion would have sought a 4th or 5th or 78th. The problem, then, is not with God, nor with His way of salvation; the problem is ours. We will not come to God on His terms; we will not follow His way.*

Tip of the Day: Evangelism (4)

When witnessing do not allow yourself to get drawn into political debates; these are counter productive. As strongly as you may feel about a particular politician or issue, swallow your opinion. In an evangelistic context, you represent Jesus, not a political party. 

Question: “What’s your view on the Iraq War?”

Good example: “It saddens me, really, as it is a perpetual reminder of the sinfulness of mankind. All war would be unnecessary if humans were definitionally good. God created the world as a perfect place where humans enjoyed an unbroken relationship with God and with his fellow-man. Sadly, there was a murder in the first family…” 

Bad example: “George Bush was completely justified in…” or “I can’t believe we went in there like that; we had faulty intelligence…” Both are wrong answers in this context.

Marriage: Biblical Academics and Christian Service

One holiday season, my family taped one of those “made for TV movies” entitled “All I want for Christmas.” In a NYC diner scene, a teenager explains the process of “marrying the ketchup” – that is, when two ketchups are running low, you combine them. Since my family has watched this movie over and over again throughout the years, I remember his quip well; he teased, “Tragically most ketchup marriages end in divorce.”

Tragically, God has called us both to know and serve him, but all too often one of these equally important Christian responsibilities divorces itself from the other, resulting in imbalance and decreased usefulness for Christ and his Church. My own life is a testimony to this fact.

What Does the Qur’an Teach About Jesus?

While Islamic teaching holds that Jesus was merely a prophet, the witness of the Qur’an itself is that Jesus is an exceptional prophet. Amar Djaballah explains: 

In summary, the titles of the Quranic Jesus show him to be a highly esteemed prophet and apostle, with a uniqueness that Muslim tradition is not able to explain satisfactorily.* 

Djaballah is referring to the different texts in the Qur’an which point to Jesus as being in a special class of prophet, a class that Mohammed himself does not seem to attain. For instance, the Qur’an testifies to the following regarding Jesus: 

• Jesus was born a virgin (Surah 3:45-50).
• Jesus is sinless (Surah 6:85).
• Jesus is the Messiah (Surah 3:45).
• Jesus performed miracles (Surah 3:49).
  • One of these miracles is especially interesting (although only attested elsewhere in the Gospel of Thomas). Surah 3:49 and 5:110 teach that Jesus created a bird out of clay while He was upon this earth. 
• Jesus ascended into heaven in bodily form (Surah 3:55).
• Jesus spoke at his birth (Surah 19:27-35).
• Jesus raised the dead (Surah 3:49).**

Question for Muslims: since none of the above is true of Muhammed, how can he be called the greatest prophet? 

Tip of the Day: Evangelism (3)

If you live in a bigger city, you doubtless encounter the homeless on a regular basis. Here’s how I interact with them at the gospel level: 

• I never give them money. 
• If they are hungry, I’m always willing to buy them something to eat. 
• I usually sit down with them and pray with them over the meal, asking God to help them in their situation (i.e. help them find work, etc). 
• I always share the gospel with them in this context. 
• When I share the gospel, I talk to them about redemption primarily. This means that I frame sin in terms of slavery. Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” I have found this angle to be especially helpful, as many of the homeless are addicted to alcohol. Redemption, then, is a picture of God buying us out of sin at a great cost, namely the blood of Jesus Christ. 

Book Drawing Winners

Thanks to all who participated in the book giveaway! Winners are: 

• Shawn Garbutt
• Travis Daharsh 

I will be mailing your copy of Don’t Waste Your Life first thing Monday!

*For those who were not selected, don’t forget that the book is available as a free download here.

Evangelism for Dummies

I can’t wait to teach a little workshop entitled: “Evangelism for Dummies” at a couple different youth rallies in the next couple weeks. Should be tons of fun! 

We are going to discuss the following: 

• What is success in evangelism? Fruitfulness or faithfulness?
• What can I do to prepare to share the gospel?
• How can I actually share the gospel?
• How do I respond to objections to the gospel?

My friend, Matthew Tanis of Tanis2Web,  designed a sweet little powerpoint background for me, an obvious take-off on the popular book series.

If you would like to schedule me to present this to the youth of your church, please contact me.

The Power of the Cross

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

Video: Students Making Disciples

When I was an undergraduate student, I had the opportunity to lead a group of my peers in an evangelistic ministry near the UW campus in Madison. The current student leaders have produced a video that gives a taste of what they do each week. Amidst all the talk of the younger generation abandoning the faith in so many instances, the heartbeat of these 18-21 year-olds is quite encouraging!

As a side-note, these students are looking for a ministry center, a physical location that could be used for Bible studies, outreaches, etc. If you live in the downtown of Madison, WI or have this type of space in that area, please contact me.