Unless You Believe

WOW! What a weekend. I have had a great and exciting past few days. And they could not have been timed any better. With state tests coming the next few days at work, I really needed the pep up. My daughter turned 1 and we had two birthday parties for her. One on Friday, and the other on Saturday. On Monday, we celebrated the holiday with friends with a cookout and fireworks. All of these were great in themselves, but I have to say that Sunday afternoon was the best pick-me-up of the whole weekend.

Sunday afternoon at church, we had a guest speaker come to our church to do an evangelism/apologetics workshop. His name is Marty Minto, and he has a Christian talk show on 100.9 out of Fairmont, NC. He by far is one of my favorite speakers. But in a way that may be different from some. It is not how he presents the Word to us, but how he dissects the Word to give accurate teaching. The name of the workshop is Unless You Believe. And it stems from this verse.

John 8:24
"...for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

Now, I know that I have my issues with witnessing to those around me. But, I was eager to learn his point of view. I thought that I could get a few things to add to my "toolbox" so to speak. I was blown away by what I learned. Almost every time that I try to witness to someone, I spent most of my time defending all the scriptures. The main focus of witnessing should be sharing the gospel. The ins and outs of how a church should be run, and what makes my church different has nothing to do with the gospel. I had taken a man-centered approach to witnessing, instead of a Christ-centered approach. It's not about church, or how we stand on certain issues. It is solely about Christ. Once the gospel of Christ is heard, and salvation occurs, then the rest will come. You see, man cannot understand the ways of God without salvation. And even then, we will never be able to comprehend it all.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25
"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “ I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

So, how do I go about now with witnessing to others?

1. I need to understand that the world is lost. At one time I was in the same shape. I did not have the understanding that has been given to me since I have been saved. Jesus died for their sins, just like He did mine. The things people do are a result of the sin in their life, just as I had.

2. I need to understand that those in the world will not understand. There are many people on this earth who have never heard about Jesus. They have never had anyone tell them about them. I cannot expect them to become truly saved after spending two or three minutes with them. And I have to accept the fact that they may not respond the way I think they should.

3. I need to stick just to the gospel. My entire focus needs to be on the life of Christ. I need to share with them about His birth, life, death, and resurrection. That in itself is the gospel message. I do not need to get caught up in other debates, because they will not understand where I am coming from. I just need to focus on telling them who Jesus is. I just need to plant that seed and trust in God with the rest.

4. I need to pray for the lost daily. I need to pray for those that I come into contact with that I know are lost. I need to pray that God will open their eyes to the gospel. I need to pray that I will have the right words to say to them when their path is laid before me.

I have learned so much from this study about how to witness to people. I have also learned once again that I still have a lot to learn. It is my prayer, that I become more effective in my witnessing to others.

Thanks for reading, and God bless you all this week!

Who is wise?

There are many people these days that are always willing to give advice. Sometimes whether we want it or not. But, is it really good advice? We have to be careful about the wisdom of others. One of the best ways to tell if the advice given to you is good, is if it contains scripture, or a reference to Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:20-25 reads " ²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." Let's face it. There is no greater wisdom, than the wisdom gained from a devotion to the study of God's word. By seeking God, and an active prayer life, we gain wisdom. Even if the rest of the world thinks that we out of our minds. So, the next time you have a struggle and someone tries to give advice, see if they use scripture to help you. If not, do not be too trusting of it, and search the Word yourself. You will never go wrong with Christ.

Thanks, and God Bless You all this week.