Saturday, February 24, 2007

The Horse with Beautiful Feet, Part 5

Most people have defensive walls built around their lives that make it difficult to share the gospel, and Christians often take their best battering ram and charge the strongest part of the wall in an attempt to win someone to Jesus. I have done it many times without much success; however, some people are ready the moment we share with them.

In the movie “Troy” there was a great, ill-fated battle to take the city by the Greeks, and when that failed they came upon an ingenious plan, “What if they invite us in?” Well, of course this is nonsense unless you become a friend or an attractive gift. You know the rest of the story as the enemy hid in the wooden horse that was welcomed as a gift in the city.

How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!"
Rom 10:15

Now let’s look at this verse. Are our feet really welcome when we share the gospel, or are we seen as a nuisance, or worse, an adversary? I have seen countless methods of evangelism by Christians and even cults that are basically annoying mainly because what they were sharing was not even understandable, much less relevant for the moment. I have also seen an air of superiority and condescension which my friends and I call “the rebuke spirit”.

For example, at work John says, “I am really having trouble with the wife.” or “The #@**/! kids are driving me crazy.” Too often we reply, “If you simply came to church, tithed and gave your life to Jesus things would change.” Well, this is like speaking Chinese to present-day people (unless you are Chinese, then it is like speaking Urdu, etc.) We are also giving the impression that our lives became perfect when we did those things.

On the other hand we could say, “My wife and I also had problems as well as unruly kids, and we got it worked out.” This is something your friend can understand; you had problems and got it worked out. This is welcomed news, and John might let you in the gate to say more. Unlike the Greeks in the horse we really do want to help.

This is the use of testimony, your personal eyewitness account. Your friend’s problem is the “ripple in the water” that we should look for as we are fishing for men. The gospel starts to make sense to him over time, and as he begins to understand the roots of his problems - no God in his temporal life - he will begin to understand the value of our Jesus. In the midst of his personal crisis he will say, “I am so glad to see you! What do I do now?”

Your feet have just become beautiful.

…but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. 1 Peter 3:15

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Castaway & some new blogs

Check out pastor Steve's new blogs:
the accidental misionary ( can all missionaries say ouch?)
http://smurrell.multiply.com/

the reluctant leader
http://stevemurrell.typepad.com/

For anyone entering any kind of ministry these blogs as well as my links are a great help. I also recommend Daniel Defoe's classic "Robinson Crusoe" for the adventurous reader. Enjoy!

The Witness, Part 4

Last summer we were visiting friends in New York where we lived and ministered prior to coming to Manila. After a church meeting we all had a picnic at a beautiful park on the west side of Manhattan by the Hudson River. Looking southwest along the river there was a hole in the skyline where the World Trade Center once towered in pride.

I asked my friend where he was that tragic day, and he told me that he was actually driving by the same park when he noticed a passenger jet flying down the river at a low altitude. I pause here in the telling because at this moment you are seeing the same image that I saw in my mind when my friend related what he had witnessed. Yet for some reason listening to my friend’s story at the site of the incident had more impact on me that any of the news footage that I had seen of 911, one of our nation’s greatest tragedies.

There is a fundamental difference between being an eyewitness and simply repeating what we have heard about an event. In a court of law anything other than an eyewitness account is called “hearsay”, which is not admissible. This simply means: I heard it, and then I said it. In Christianity people often get the terms confused, thinking that we need to go “witnessing” while never having “witnessed” the things we will speak of.

“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Acts 1:8

Jesus is not saying in this verse that God will only give us power to tell the gospel, but He will make us eyewitnesses of the gospel by the indwelling and transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Like the park where my friend told his story, our lives are also the site of an event, and this event is so personally significant that it is called a new birth. Yet unlike the tragedy in New York we went from war to peace, disorder to order, death to life. It was a reverse catastrophe such that if it did happen it would be worth the telling and produce eagerness in the listener.

As a visiting pastor, Jim Hayford, said here last week, “our handicaps are not liabilities, but they are opportunities.” I hate to use the following example in light of the sensitivity evoked in mentioning 911, but I hope that it may bring encouragement to those who think that they have grown too little in their faith to be a witness. If you were to witness any catastrophe like 911 as if the film ran backwards you would see the miracle even before the damage was completely undone. In the same way anyone who sees the process of spiritual transformation will also see the hand of God in it even though the work is not yet complete. Salvation is the event that precedes a life of continual change.

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
Heb 10:14

If God has touched your life in any way then you are a witness.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

How to Speak…Fish? Tips Part 3

I went snorkeling with my daughter a few weeks ago, and we found ourselves surrounded by a world of coral, sponges, exotic fish and a very pretty sea snake which was our cue to visit land from whence we came. Over 20 years ago I snorkeled almost every week when I was serving in the US Air Force in Florida. I thought that I would have the same agility as then when I recently took the plunge again, but I realized how strange the sea was to me as I got vertigo and fatigued.

Christians who have been saved a long time really have trouble with evangelism for the same reasons. They have not been fish for a very long time. In fact, they might not even know any fish! Even worse, they forget they were fish at all, or worse still they ask, “What is a fish?” (Fish: all those unsaved people around us who are so close that the most probable person to reach them is us.)

We sometimes seem a bit alien to the lost around us. “Yeah, the aliens abducted Mike the other day. Haven’t seen him since then.” This happens when we only focus on individual conversions without further discipleship that eventually affects entire families and societies.

How then do people get saved? Does their car break down outside of our church Sunday morning? Oh the methods that we could talk about until we were tangled in fishing line. How did I even get saved? Someone cared to share. Let’s begin with the heart.
  • We need to love the lost enough to want to reach them. A church that loves the lost will grow regardless of clumsy outreach methods. However, the best equipped church with no heart for the lost is as powerful as a Ferrari without gas.

  • People need to see our concern for them by actions of caring rather than persistent invitations to events. Instead of gathering Christians at the church picnic, invite your neighbor over to grill a burger.

  • Finally, we need to have an awareness that the only thing that keeps us above water is the grace of God. Yes, we still smell like fish sometimes to those around us. We were once lost and without hope.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Fishing with Dad, Tips Part 2

And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matt 4:19

Our responsibility is to follow, and Jesus will make us fruitful. I used to go fishing with my dad, and besides slipping on the rocks and falling in the river I also managed to catch fish. Fishing is instinctive to a pelican, but not to little boys, so I had to learn. My dad told me to watch the water for movement and look for secret places where fish gathered so I could cast my line there. If I did what he told me and used the right bait then we usually caught fish.

The same is true with evangelism. Jesus first makes us aware that there are fish to be caught – a daunting task in the modern church. He next lets us know that if we follow Him where He is going then He will teach us the art of reaching people along the way.

For Jesus fishing for men was not a pastime; it was and is His primary goal because, well…He said it was.

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Luke 19:10


A great purchase was made at Calvary, and Jesus is going after what He purchased in much the same way we would pursue what we paid for if someone failed to deliver; much more so with Jesus.

“… Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Rev 5:9

If Jesus paid the ultimate price then this must be His ultimate goal. Some would ask, “So, where then is the emphasis on growing in Christ?” To that I would say that we really get to know our fathers when we are fishing with them. 1st Jn 2:12-14

Check out Pastor Joey’s blog in my Links for great insight on discipleship.

Last thoughts:

  • My dad never suggested that we divert the river into our house so that the fish
    could swim into the kitchen, much too expensive and reserved for professionals.
  • Fish rarely leave the water, and almost never jump into the bucket. We have to go to the water.

Dad had common sense, and so should I. Following Jesus is the first step, and being aware of the lost around us is the second. We need to concentrate to look for movement in the water. Part 3 will be next: “How to speak fish … the forgotten language.”

Friday, February 9, 2007

Babe Ruth and Basic Fishing Tips, Part 1

I was sitting with a friend a few years ago watching the American baseball playoffs as the Boston Red Sox were trying to break the “curse” that had haunted them since they had sold their good luck charm, the Babe. (Not the talking pig but the famous baseball player, Babe Ruth). During a commercial we grabbed some more pizza, and the conversation turned to the art of coaching.

My friend related to me that many star athletes eventually tried their hand at coaching or even training. The problem often occurred that the natural talent or ability that many possessed was non-transferable. These were great athletes, but they could not train average athletes to be like themselves. It often reverted to, “can’t you see it?” or “jump like him!”

It turned out that average players who had to learn their ability from scratch made the best trainers because they knew what it was like not to know how to do it, and they could explain how they learned how to do it.

This conversation took me back to some leadership training meetings that I attended a few years ago, and on this particular day the subject was “evangelism”, a task where I am not very confident and often fumble the ball. The first speaker was a Babe Ruth kind-of guy who told many testimonies of his spiritual home-runs. I was amazed, inspired and … discouraged. “This guy is awesome, but I could never be like him.”

The next speaker was not an evangelist, but he told many stories about ordinary people like myself who were trained to reach those around them. They were equipped by ordinary teachers to learn to share their faith in ordinary ways in ordinary places. He even exclaimed that he was not very good at it himself, but had even produced some success. Actually, this was an understatement. It was the success of those whom he had trained which caught my eye.

In my heart and mind the lights suddenly went on. This was transferable, and anyone no matter their ability or handicap could do it. In fact, I might even be able to do it. An itch – if I may call I that – began that day, an itch that would not be satisfied until I landed in Manila, Philippines. To be continued…