This blog, written by a friend of mine, is a great example of what I am talking about in this weeks blog.
http://thelawmanchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/01/invest-and-invite-how-modern-church.html

Well, lets face it. The world isn’t exactly pounding down the doors of the church to get in. In fact, I would suggest that the church is the last place that those who sit in darkness will want to find themselves. The church building has about as much appeal to a sinner as the county jail does to the average criminal. It just isnt a very comfortable place to go when you’re guilty.

So how do we get them in? With what means should we make the whole experience more attractive? Maybe we could add padding to the pews, get better sound equipment, hire a hip worship leader, or have the pastor dress as casual as possible, and refrain from using the words, “sin, repentance, judgment, righteousness, blood, cross, hell, damnation,” and anything else that might scare them off. After all, we want to be as seeker friendly as possible, don’t we? We wouldnt want to come on too heavy, and imply that following Jesus requires any kind of real change. That might send them straight to the doors.

This way, coming to church on a Sunday morning can be a pleasant and enjoyable experience for anyone. The attendees can walk out the doors, having their backs padded and their ears tickled, and walk straight back into their sinful lifestyles with no real fear of judgment or threat of consequence.

Why are you being so sarcastic, do you ask? Because this is the kind of nonsense that happens when we are too fearful to tell the truth. If the pastor is not bold enough to preach the gospel the way Jesus and the apostles did, how can we expect the church to go out into the world and do so? In other words, if there is weakness in the pulpit, there will be weakness in the pews. If you have a group of people who have been brought into some kind of religious experience of accepting Christ, but are strangers to repentance, who were not told why Jesus died on the cross, then it is no wonder why they lack any kind of zeal for building up His kingdom.

The trouble with the contemporary western church today is that we have a country club attitude. Too many of us subscribe to the mentality that we should enjoy an easy, laid back life. Leave the world outside, we don’t care. Don’t bother to tell them about what we know, they wouldnt be interested anyway. Besides, even if they were, would they not come on their own?

Listen to this quote by Samuel Chadwick, “Why does the church stay indoors? They have a theology that has dwindled into a philosophy, in which there is no thrill of faith, no terror of doom, and no concern for souls. Unbelief as put out the fires of passion, and worldliness garlands the altar of sacrifice with the tawdry glitter of unreality.”

If we do not have a sense of the terror of doom ,we will not have any concern for the fate of the ungodly. Many understand what the Word has to say, but apparently they either do not believe it or have no compassion for those who will fall under the wrath of God. It is either unbelief or apathy that paralyzes the church. Which is it? We either have little love for our neighbor or we have little belief in what God says.

Everyone clings to the promises of God. Promises of forgiveness, freedom, blessing, future paradise, etc., but how often do we groan in sorrow for the promises he has made to execute his wrath on those who refuse to repent? How often do we consider what lies ahead for the ungodly? This is what kindles the fires of passionate preaching. This is what motivates a preacher to carry the message of salvation to his family, friends, neighbors, and the ends of the earth. An awareness of the awful consequence of being in one’s sins on the day of judgement is what gives urgency to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is also what drives sinners to the foot of the cross. Recognizing that it is only the blood of the Savior that can wash away their sins is what makes lost men and women put their faith and trust in the One who died for them. These converts do not backslide. They didn’t come to Jesus for a better lifestyle, or because they were missing something, or because they had a God-shaped hole in their heart. They came to be forgiven of their sin. Nothing will separate them from Jesus now.

They won’t bail out on Jesus when their portfolio disappears, or when temptation rears its ugly head, or when they lose their job, etc. They didn’t come to Jesus for a happy life. They came because He is life itself. If anything, all the hard circumstances in life only make them cling tighter to the Lord, and even make them look forward to getting out of here.

Problem is, if pastors and street preachers fail to fulfill their responsibility to preach all of the truth, then we are not only robbing the sinner, but we are robbing the gospel itself of one of its “ablest auxiliaries.” God wants his servants to be faithful, and that includes faithfulness to the simplicity and purity of the message. It is tempting to gloss over those parts of the gospel that are uncomfortable to discuss, but to do so does a great disservice to those you intend to reach, and to the Lord.

We don’t need to fall into the temptation to make the message more palatable. Study the sermons Jesus preached. See how he faithfully told the truth. To those who were proud, he gave the law, in order to humble them. To those who were humble, he gave grace. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to those who are humble.

So, self examination time. Are you sharing your faith with the people God has put in your life? Like I said at the beginning of this message, they are not exactly wearing out the carpet at the entrance of the church. You are the one who has been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation in their life. Are you being faithful to them and to God by sharing the whole message of the gospel? Do you let the thought of what will happen to those you know and love motivate you to make some effort to share the message of everlasting life with them? Are you willing to let the conversation swing to some uncomfortable things (sin, judgment, hell, repentance) in order to effectively reach them?

Pray about these things, and study the ministry of Jesus and the apostles. Be faithful to God. Be faithful to those with whom you share the glorious message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

See you on the streets!!

Hindsight is always 20/20. Isn’t that what they say? It is not unusual to find ourselves in the midst of stark criticism of someone’s efforts, especially after they have failed. Often we may be the ones whose mouths are not exactly being used as instruments of righteousness. Its easy for us, and for others to look at each others lives and evaluate the successes and flailings we see, and immediately offer our insight as to how we think things should have happened, or how they could have turned out better. Easy to say when you are looking at the results.

One area where we are dealt especially devastating blows is in the arena of ministry. Every time we see someone step out and attempt great things for God, there are the critics. If you make it your business to begin building the kingdom of God, and to become filled with a passion for urgent zealous evangelism, watch out! Because the attacks and the criticism won’t only be coming from the world, but they will also come from places where you least expect it. The enemy will pull out all the stops to shut you down, and if he fails to do that, he will discredit you. Everyone knows how you should be doing your ministry, or how you should have done it. Everyone has an accusing finger that points out your mistakes. Why is it that people are so quick to criticize the good work of others? Why is there this automatic assumption that every good deed is tainted by impure motives?

This is what Theodore Roosevelt had to say about critics who go about to destroy the good work that others would do. I love this. Its so powerful. “It is not the critic who counts. It is not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. Why, the credit belongs to the man who is in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, and comes short again and again, (because there is no effort without error or shortcoming), who does actually try to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, and spends himself in that worthy cause, who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. Far better it is to dare mighty things and to wish glorious triumphs, though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

It is far better to have at the very least attempted to do great things and failed, than to live in mediocrity. You will never achieve great things for the kingdom of Christ until you step out and make the effort, even if you fail and have to get back up at some point along the way. Yeah sure, there will be people who talk about it and whisper to each other how you should have gone about it in some other way. So what? What does their opinion matter? Are they on the front lines? Are they leading and directing and getting their hands dirty? I have had failures in evangelism, but my devotion to the cause of Christ is unwavering. I will not stop serving Him.

One of the greatest blessings that God gives me is when another brother or sister comes up and tells me they have been praying for me, or for something I have been involved in. Or that they have been blessed or encouraged by something the Lord did with me. For every critic out there who is bent on destroying what God is doing in or through you, you will find that God has placed people in your life who are authentic, and who love you like a brother or a sister.

Don’t let the fear of what others will say discourage you from attempting great things for God. After all, isn’t he worth it? Though the whole world turn against you and ridicule you for naming the name of Jesus Christ, yet to have the approval of the King of Kings turns their jeering into less than a whisper. Enduring criticism comes with the territory of daring to be a doer of great things.

Listen to what Paul said in 1Cor4:3,4 “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judges me is the Lord.”

The only one whose approval we should be seeking is the Lord’s. Now go out into the world and be the salt and light he has called you to be!
See you on the streets!

As many of you know, I will be returning on a mission to India this coming March with a team from Calvary Chapel. Please take a moment to review our travel plans, so that you can deliver us up in prayer and support this work of God.

So here’s the rundown…
We will be spending 2 weeks in India in March. While there, we will be doing ministry in two separate cities. First, we will be in Rajahmundry for 6 days, during which we will be involved in a number of different ministries. We will hold 2 days of pastor conferences with 300 pastors, 5 nights of evangelistic crusades, visit churches, baptize many new believers, visit orphans, and visit the mission hospital. We are preparing to be used mightily for the glory of God. Then, on the 15th or 16th, we will fly down to Chennai and stay there for another 6 days. Part of the team will be here for only 3 days, as they will be leaving early. In Chennai, we will also be holding pastors conferences with up to 200 pastors, hold 3 nights of evangelistic crusades, visit orphans, AIDS victims, homeless, gypsies, leper colonies, speak at local churches, etc. I know this sounds like a lot, but if you could see how great the need is, you would understand why we are packing so much ministry into this trip.

Here is a link to my flickr page, where you can view a variety of photo shots from our last trip. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sowingtheseed/
Also, i would like to share with you a clip put together by Living Hope Church in Vancouver. They just returned from a trip in November to the same cities and set up by the same contacts that we will be working with. What you see here is exactly what we are expecting when we go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_KA1QLeSl4

We are in the middle of our fundraising efforts right now. The goal is to raise $20,000. This will be split between the two cities and will pay for ministry, such as, renting space for pastor seminars and for crusades, paying for lighting and stage/sound equip, pay for buses to transport people to crusades, food and medical supplies for poor and destitute, etc. The team members are all expected to raise their own airfare, so we can maximize our impact with the funds we raise.

The time is winding down for us to raise the funds for the trip. Right now, we are in the middle of our last few fundraisers. We have coin-collecting containers labeled for our trip, which we are passing out to friends, family and fellow believers, asking them to toss their loose change inside, and we will collect them in let Feb. Also, we will be selling donuts a few more times to raise funds. Lastly, we have set up a Paypal on the Sowing the Seed website and are selling raffle tickets for an iPod Touch 32g. Tickets are $10 each, and anyone can purchase as many as they like. Donations are also gratefully accepted. http://www.sowingtheseed.com/

The current economic conditions have tightened all of our spending and giving habits. Please prayerfully consider how you might partner with us in fulfilling the great commission.
If you are unable to purchase raffle tickets or to donate, please lift up this effort in prayer.

Thanks everyone,
Blessings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Billy

Hey guys and gals, Just wanted to share an encouraging message. Because many of us so often fall into the trap of doing nothing because “we don’t feel led” or because we think “God will make it happen”, I took the liberty of copying the following message so that you may be encouraged by it too.

Jeff Reiman is a member of an online fellowship of evangelists called the Ambassador’s Alliance. This is a message he posted last week.

First day of the New Year and I’ve already failed. I’ve fallen short of my goal to have at least one witnessing conversation every day. The good thing about it is I won’t have any temptation to be proud that “;I haven’t missed a day all year!”; I’m also glad that I haven’t made any promises that I can’t keep – after all, this is a goal, not a vow or a sacred commitment. It’s simply a goal that I ask God and others to help me with.

So why did I miss yesterday? It’s simple. I didn’t take the initiative. I used to pray that God would send opportunities my way to share my faith. I sort of expected some obvious “;Divine Appointment”; to happen, whatever that’s supposed to look like. I hear that phrase a lot in Christian circles, and whatever it is it somehow means that one way or another God himself will take the initiative to put a person in my path, or cause a conversation to naturally start, where there is no risk of failure on my part because I didn’t stick my neck out to make it happen. Oh I might do all sorts of subtle, goofy things to drop hints to people that I’m a Christian and would love to tell them about it – but for years I expected them to get the hints and take the initiative themselves. What about all the hints from a lost world that they are looking for someone to care, someone to reach out to them? What about the escapism or slow suicide of drugs and alcohol, or the arrogant boasting of beautiful people trying to convince others that they are “;living the dream”;, or the loneliness of the guy reading a book in public when he could just as well read it at home? In our non-confrontational culture people simply aren’t going to admit they are lost, and most don’t even know they are. But Jesus tells me otherwise, and He says “;Go”;.

Of all the terms for it – street witnessing, personal evangelism, outreach, whatever – I think the phrase “;Initiative Evangelism”; best describes our role. Jesus commands us to go take advantage of the opportunities He gives that are all around us, not to passively sit back and wait for the opportunities to come to us – ; “;divine appointment”; or otherwise. Wherever there are people who have a little time to talk there are opportunities, and for us as people of faith it will always mean that we must step out of our comfort zone. For me, I’m not going to consistently step out of my comfort zone without deciding on purpose to do so in advance, and so at this point in my Christian journey I need to set some sort of unnatural goal to get myself to do something that I guess should come naturally. Maybe one day it will; God isn’t finished with me yet.

Jeff is right. Jesus did not call us to passivity or apathy. He has called us to be his witnesses. He has told us to be the light of the world. He has commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. All over the New Testament, we are continually reminded of the urgency of getting the gospel out to a lost and dying world.

Let us also take the challenge Jeff has, to make it our business to purposefully share the gospel with someone every day. Let us be sure that as we live out our lives, we are also about our Fathers’ business.

Until the nets are full….

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let me challenge you a little today. Let this challenge motivate you into action to step out in faith and begin to follow Jesus and do what he says without reservations. We live in such a safe, Americanized Christian box. We have all of our ducks in a row. We plan ahead and focus our attention and efforts on making sure our future is secure, through a number of different means. There is practical wisdom involved in these things, but all too often, especially in or culture, this kind of “prudent thinking” leads to thornbushes growing up in our garden.

What do I mean by that? Remember in the parable of the sower that it was the seed that fell on thorny ground that was choked out by the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. What happens is that we get so caught up in trying to establish our own empire that we forget about building up the kingdom of God. Our time and effort is given over to temporal things, and we stop bearing fruit towards God.

Today let me challenge you to reverse that cycle in your life. Let me challenge you to obey the command of Jesus to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” We have a tendency to put the emphasis on that last half of that verse, and focus on all the wonderful things we will receive when we seek God first. But I would submit to you that anyone does so is not seeking God first, but is seeking the things that God can give to him. No, the emphasis is on the first half of the verse. We should be so in love with Jesus Christ that all the cares of life fade into the background, and the allure of wealth and material things is lost because our hearts are completely sold out and committed to building treasures in heaven. He is faithful who promised. It is impossible for him to lie. Seek him and his will for your life first, and let him take care of the rest.

I am going to include a quote from Francis Chan from his book, Crazy Love. In it, he says, “I wrote this book because much of our talk doesn’t match our lives. We say things like, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,’ and ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart.’ Then we live and plan like we don’t believe God even exists. We try to set up our lives so everything will be fine even if God doesn’t come through. But true faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God’s fidelity to His promises.
Most of us use, ‘I’m waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life’ as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God.
A friend of mine was speaking recently. Afterward a guy came up and told him, ‘I would go serve God as a missionary overseas, but, honestly, if I went right now it would only be out of obedience.’ My friend’s response was, ‘Yes, and…?’
Jesus said, ‘If you love me, you will obey what I command’ (John 14:15). Jesus did not say, ‘If you love me you will obey me when you feel called or good about doing so…’ If we love, then we obey. Period. That sort of matter of fact obedience is part of what it means to live a life of faith.
Imagine if you opened up a drawer in your kitchen and found twenty cheese graters but no other utensils. Not very helpful when you’re looking for something to eat your soup with. Just as there are different utensils in the kitchen that serve diverse functions, God has created unique people to accomplish a variety of purposes throughout the world. That is why I cannot say in this book, ‘Everyone is supposed to be a missionary’ or ‘You need to sell your car and start taking public transportation.’ What I can say is that you must learn to listen to and obey God, especially in a society where it’s easy and expected to do what is most comfortable.

Do you see what Francis is getting at? Why do we live our lives as though God were not even there? We all know God’s word and His promises, but when the rubber meets the road, how often do we really step out and obey him or leave things in His hands? Why do we go ahead and make big vacation plans (which isn’t wrong) but when it comes to an opportunity to do something for the kingdom, our response is, “I’ll pray about it.”

So let me challenge you today to think about your life. Are there any areas where you are not completely obeying? Are there areas where you are still planning things out just in case God doesn’t come through? Are there commands of Jesus that you ignore because of comfort or convenience? Seriously, take an honest look in the mirror and evaluate your motives, hopes and aspirations. Are they pleasing in the eyes of God? Will they matter in eternity? You will never regret making necessary changes.

God is at work on the streets. Are you?

We’ve all heard the stories of God’s incredible hand of provision. People regularly share testimonies about how the Lord came through for them in some miraculous way in their time of need. I have a story of providence that I would like to share with you, for the glory of God.

As many of you know, I am approved as a solicitor at Walmart. This means that 14 days a year, I can stand at the front doors and hand out tracts to the customers. On the scheduled days, I usually build a team of about 6-10 people, and we hand out an average of 1,000-1,500 tracts in about a 3 hour time period.

I have been planning a Walmart tracting event with Matt Kessie and the Calvary Chapel youth group for a few months, and we finally found a date that works well, which was Friday the 20th of November. I usually never check my tract supply to make sure I have enough for big events because I almost always order more to replenish my stock right after we hand them out. But it occurred to me on Tuesday that I should double check to make sure, and to my surprise, I didnt have nearly as many tracts as I thought. In fact, I definitely did not have enough for this event. I was in serious trouble.

I called Living Waters on Wednesday morning to order more, but to my dismay, they were closed! There was no way I could order them on Thursday and get them by Friday at 3:00. I began praying for the Lord to do a miracle! I was also racking my brain trying to think of who I knew who would have a large amount of tracts I could borrow. One friend had a few hundred tracts, which was a great help. Friday morning, I was at the point where I was prepared to just show up with the kids and go for it with whatever we had.

About 10:30 my phone rang and on the other end was a man I didnt know, who immediately began raving about some new tracts he had been using. As he was excitedly going on and on about the tracts, I interrupted him and asked, “Who are you?” Somehow, he had gotten my phone number from the church and was calling me to tell me about these tracts that were so wonderful. Out of the blue, he says, “Tell you what, I just got 600 of them and I want to give them to you!” What? At first, I was a little hesitant, because I didnt want to take that many tracts, and then find out that they werent something I would personally use. And then the bell rung. DING! You dummy! Werent you just praying for a miracle?

I said, “I believe this is a divine appointment,” and began explaining to him the situation I was in and how I had been praying for miraculous provision. He broke down and wept, so moved because this was obviously the hand of the Lord. We talked briefly and set up a meeting for me to get the tracts.

What an incredible confirmation to me that the blessing of God is upon this ministry! As I said last week, you can trust, every single time, that when you set out to fulfill the great comission, you are 100% in the will of God. You can see the hand of God do miracles for you when you obey the command to preach the gospel to every creature.

I dont know how many times I have stood up to preach, fully dependant upon the Lord, and watched him fill my mouth. There have been times when I have shown up with a message fully prepared, and have been told at the last second to speak about something else, and had the Lord do an awesome work by speaking to people’s lives. You can experience the same thing when you determine to speak for the kingdom of God. He is faithful to deliver and to use you. You may not have eloquence or know all the answers to every question, but you will see the Holy Spirit work through you and fill your mouth. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26

The Lord is at work all around us. He is doing incredible miracles for those who obey him and walk by faith. Are you willing to step out and do things for Him? Will you obey his commands even when it looks uncertain? I am not talking about recklessness. Like I said, I usually order tracts right away after big events so I have enough for the next one. And when I get up to speak, I come prepared. But when the Lord says to “Go,” are you ready to go even if you dont know the outcome? Just smile, trust him and say, “Okay, Lord, but you better come through here!” And he will. I know it because I have experienced it again and again. He has never left me alone. That’s his promise.

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spoke unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen”

Take him at his word. Obey the great comission, and experience the unmatched joy and fulfillment of knowing that you have been an instrument in God’s hands.
See you on the streets!