Balance in Evangelism

I read a very helpful book by Mark Dever called "The Gospel and Personal Evangelism. One thing that has remained with me as I have prayed about sharing the Gospel is the balance that Mark Dever lays out between honesty, urgency, and joy.

Honesty means we can't hold back any parts of the Gospel. The Gospel is the call to repent of the sins that we love and turn to a holy God who we're called to love.
Urgency means we keep in mind that there could not be a tommorrow and there are people who are headed to hell without the saving power of the Gospel.
Joy means that we are truly affected by the Gospel and are sharing it in light of the newfound freedom we ourselves have beeng graced with undeservingly.

Be encouraged to look to Christ and let His love compel you to share the Gospel with others! Do it with honesty, urgency, and joy and trust God that His word does not go out and come back empty.

"For the love of Christ compels us, because we have concluded this: that one died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who might live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."
2 Corinthians 5:14

Enjoying Christ and Sharing Him

"Millions of Christians live with a low-grade feeling of guilt for not openly commending Christ by their words. They try to persuade themselves that keeping their noses morally clean is a witness to Christ. The problem with this notion is that millions of unbelievers keep their noses morally clean. Christians will-and should-continue to feel bad for not sharing their faith. Christ is the most glorious person in the world. His salvation is infinitely valuable. Everyone in the world needs it. Horrific consequences await those who do not believe on Jesus. By grace alone we have seen him, believed on him, and now love him. Therefore, not to speak of Christ to unbelievers, and not to care about our city or the unreached peoples of the world is so contradictory to Christ's worth, people's plight, and our joy that it sends the quiet message to our souls day after day: This Savior and this salvation do not mean to you what you say they do. To maintain great joy in Christ in the face of that persistent message is impossible."
John Piper

In a way this makes my stomach sink to read. I now am stripped of one of my most beloved excuses for not sharing the Gospel. In another way though, I am set free. I am set free to actually face this guilt I feel and actually fight for the joy of sharing Christ with others. My King has given me a mandate to share with others the inheritance that has been so graciously bestowed upon me. Far be it from me that I should withhold it and squirm under my King's loving commands. John Piper is right. Not to share Christ sends a quiet message to my heart that my King is not worthy.

"The fight is to enjoy Christ so much that speaking of him is the overflow and increase of that enjoyment."
John Piper

Through the Living and Abiding Word

"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

'All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.'

And this word is the good news that was preached to you."
1 Peter 1:22-25

Love! Why love? Because you yourself have been born again! How can this be? It happened through a living word and an abiding word which came alive in you. Do you see how fleeting your own flesh and glory are? It will all wither and fade in such a short time! Do not be deceived but rather put your hope in what is living and abiding. Examine your life and have it purified by your obedience the truth. Place on the altar all things, even those that may be in your mind, good, so that you might be purified, living wholly and purely for what will last into eternity. Does your heart hesitate? Does it not see the immense and overwhelming joy that is waiting to be poured out upon you? That is because it it is not yet purified.
You have been born again by the living and abiding word of God. And this word is the good news that was preached to you. Do you see the miracle here? The word that saved you was the word that was preached to you. You were saved by words that came from the mouth of men, given life by the Holy Spirit. Could our words be used in such an eternal and lasting way? Yes! Be amazed by your new birth and inheritance that are wholly secured in Christ. Enter into the joy that comes from obedience to the truth. We too can speak the truth of his Word and what wonder that it should fall on the ears of others and bring them the same salvation and joy that are inseparable.

Peanut Butter & Honey Sandwiches

Behold, one of my new favorite things to eat. I have eaten many of them so far since I've been out to sea and have smiled many times. Maybe you are tired of the same old peanut butter & jelly? Try this wonderful creation. For some added fun and delightfulness, add some chocolate syrup and/or some banana slices. Yes...I only wish I had them filling my elementary school lunch box in my younger days. There's something about that honey that Winnie the Pooh was always drowning himself in. :)

Mossy Foot

Dr. Nathan Barlow took his medical degree along with his wife and four children to Africa in 1945. He treated a large variety of different patients but eventually confronted Mossy Foot Disease and provided treatment for countless outcast and helpless people. Mossy Foot Disease, also called Big Foot's Disease, is contracted by people working barefoot in volcanic soil. People who contract this debilitating disease get swelling, ulcers, and infections in the feet and lower legs. They are shunned by society and treated much like lepers. It is amazing to read about Nathan Barlow's story. Nathan Barlow died at the age of 91, helping the people of Ethiopia and sharing with them the glorious news of Jesus Christ up until the time of his death.
It's never pleasant to read stories and see pictures of suffering people but it made my heart break and I had to share it. Please say a prayer for these people. One of Nathan's daughters, Sharon, continues running the Mossy Foot Project that her dad started. If you want to donate to help these people or read more about it, click here.
I want to give my life away like Nathan Barlow did and use the gifts God has given me not for myself but for others. It is so inspiring to see someone follow the example of Christ by preaching the Gospel and laying his life down for others.

"But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps."
1 Peter 2:20-21

Approaching Death

"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart."
Ecclesiastes 7:2

"Intellectually we all know that we will die but we do not know it in the sense that the knowledge becomes a part of us. We do not really know it in the sense of living as though it were true. On the contrary, we tend to live as though our lives would go on forever."
Frederick Buechner

Now this could be depressing, all this talk about death. That generally hasn't been my experience though. My last year at the Naval Academy there were two final capstone classes for my English major that we could choose between. One was called "Laughter and Love" and the other was called "The Literature of Death and Dying". I remember my friend took the first one and I took the second one. It was so funny to hear him talk about how completely and utterly boring the class was. He would tell me about people falling asleep and drooling on themselves. On the contrary I always had funny stories of how much my class actually laughed and enjoyed the reading and dicussions we had. Taking that class definitely taught me that avoiding the topic of death is not the best way of dealing with it. There was always a sense of freedom in the classroom to have the much-avoided topic out in the open and it seemed that the more we talked about death, the more the preciousness of life was realized and cherished.

I am convicted by Frederick Buechner's quote above. The knowledge of my coming death is not a part of me. It does not shape the way I live. Francis Chan included the above quotes in his book and he said that every time he preaches he reminds himself that it could be his last time preaching so that he doesn't hold anything back or water down the truth of God's Word. I can see this in his preaching as he definitely does not hide the extremity of the Gospel's call on our lives but rather emphasizes it. Since first reading the quotes, I kept reminding myself of the fact that today could be my last day. I have be honest, it definitely makes life more exciting! I tend to do things and go places in my conversations with people that I wouldn't go otherwise. A few days after reading the quotes in Francis Chan's book, I wrote this entry in my journal.

July 6th, 2008
"A few entries ago I wrote about living in the knowledge of coming death. I'm writing again because I'm already experiencing so much freedom in this mindest. Even just worshipping at church this morning in light of the fact that it could be my last time was so freeing. It wasn't depressing. Rather, it made me not want to hold back. I didn't worry about things later today or later this week. I just wanted to give all to Jesus now and be in love with Him. Hallelujah! Approaching death with nothing to fear!"

Burying His Treasure

I was reminded of the parable of the talents while reading a chapter in Francis Chan's book. Two of the servants went and did something with the talents that their master gave them. The other servant went and buried the talents that were given to him. This convicted me on the level of whether or not I am burying my inheritance from Christ now in hopes of "cashing in" or "digging it up" later. I am like this in so many ways. God offers to lavish me with heavenly treasures and joys now if I will give up all and come to Him empty-handed. My hands and my time are both so full of earthly cares that I have no room for what He would give to me. I am neglecting and burying the talents He has given me instead of sowing them as seeds in ways that He leads.
In light of God's love, should I be crazy in love with God? Yes, without a doubt! I have to admit though that I am not crazy in love with God and don't bear fruit as someone who is crazy in love with God. There are so many ways I don't give of my time, money, and possessions and actually test God like He tells me to.

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."
Malachi 3:10

I love how Francis Chan ends his chapter by encouraging us to confess our sinful attitudes and ask Him to change us.

"Tell Him that you want Him to change you, that you long to genuinely enjoy Him. Tell Him how you want to experience true satisfaction and joy and pleasure in your relationship with Him. Tell Him you want to love Him more than anything on this earth. Tell Him you want to treasure the kingdom of heaven so much that you'd willingly sell everything in order to get it."

And I know that as I pray this prayer consistently and am amazed at God's love freely given to me that the Holy Spirit will begin bringing change in my heart. Already after reading this book, I'm looking forward to going and spending time with my Lord, confessing inconsistencies in my life, and asking Him by His power through His Spirit to change me and make me wholly dependent on Him.

Lord, take over my heart. Make my heart obsessed with You. Let me completely and staggeringly be overwhelmed by your love in giving your Son. You so loved the world that you gave. Lord, let my love likewise overflow into giving, both of myself, my time, and my possessions. I want to test you like you ask me to and I want to come to you with empty hands.

Crazy Love

I just finished a wonderfully encouraging and challenging book by Francis Chan called "Crazy Love". You can see the two arrows on the front cover, one pointing up and the other pointing down. His main theme is that when we come to terms with the God of the universe and the magnitude of his love for us, it should cause a response of love that is as crazy as the love shown to us. He is very helpful at pointing at scripture and asking us to match up our lives to it and have our lives be a response to God's love. He encourages us to go from being lukewarm Christians to being Christians who are obsessed with God. I was convicted in so many ways especially in how I spend my money and my time and what I plan to do with my life. After reading his book, I have been encouraged to fall more in love with God. I want to be crazily in love with Him. I want to do whatever God wants to give my life away, to give my money away, to give my time away, all for His glory. If this is to happen, I know I need Him to do a work in my heart.

Lord, how I need you! I want to change, Lord. And how encouraging that me typing this is even proof of you already stirring my heart. Let there be more than words Lord, but fruit. I want to enjoy You as my treasure and find my satisfaction in You. I want to love You more than anyone or anything. I want to to be willing to sell everything to buy the field where your treasure is. Do a work by your Spirit, Lord. I need you and am desperately poor without You. Let this be my prayer every day as I realize more and more that all I have is yours.

Sickness and Humility

I had a stomach bug yesterday and was lying on the couch later in the day. Everyone knows what it's like to be sick like this. I stared up at the ceiling drifting in and out of sleep, sips of water, saltine crackers, and simple prayers. Not many things can seem more lacking in purpose than such times of sickness but I find myself sitting here thankful for yesterday. I remember lying on the couch, repeating over and over to myself, "Jesus, I want you. Jesus, I want you. Jesus, I want you." I have to say my greatest peace yesterday didn't come later in the afternoon when my sickness faded away but rather it was in the midst of my sickness when my heart didn't want anything but the Lord.

It seems everyone has to endure in patience through physical pain. That's why James writes these humbling and encouraging words,

"Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."
James 5:7-8

I only find myself ever able to be patient when my treasure is the Lord and not the removal of the pain and the rain of earthly blessings. Unless my heart is established in the Lord and with him as the "want" of my heart above all else, I always seem to find myself impatient and restless at heart. I become a farmer who loses faith at a week without rain rather than patiently trusting the Lord and rejoicing that I am his child and that He is my inheritance.

Thank you Lord for my sickness yesterday and humbling my heart before you. As always, you redeem my physical suffering and use it to bring me closer to you. I am so glad that I want you more now and want more to bring glory to you.