My favorite song right now

Here comes that "great" change

Sad sad sad........................................................

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123267481436808735.html

awesome song

Thousand Foot Krutch

music

I have always loved music, even though I cannot sing a lick (although I am an awesome lip singer) I am pretty sure I am probably tone deaf, and all I will say about dancing is one of my Dads favorite sayings "Like a bumbling bull in a china closet." With all of that said I still love listening to music. It has always amazed me how certain types of music can move your emotions around so easily. So while working on posting different items I want to also just post videos of different songs that I love to listen to and that have impacted me in some way. So here is one that is one of my favorites and one that has really hit home with me over the past few months.

dos and don'ts of evangelism

I came across this on http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com and thought that it would be a great resource to share.

1. Be clear about what you believe and why you believe it. Know the Scriptures and know the confessions and catechisms. The more you know about your faith, the easier it is to talk with non-Christians.

2. The essence of evangelism is communicating the correct information about sin and grace, simply and clearly. Talk about the law and the gospel, not about infralapsarianism and divine simplicity. That comes later!

3. Avoid the use of Christian jargon. Speak about real sin, real guilt, real shed blood!

4. Use tact and be charitable! Don’t talk about reprobation with someone who has just lost an unbelieving family member. Be kind and courteous! Many non-Christians act and speak out of ignorance, not malice.

5. Be sensitive to someone’s past—if they’ve had a bad experience in church, struggle with a particular sin etc., be understanding and compassionate! Non-Christians hate self-righteousness, and they have a right to do so. Do not soft-peddle the law and the guilt of sin, but make sure they understand that you are a justified sinner, not a self-righteous "know it all," who is here to correct them!

6. Stick with the subject—don’t get side-tracked. When the conversation wanders, pull it back to center stage—the law and the gospel.

7. Evangelism is not about winning an argument, but leading people to Christ. Discussions may get heated and intense at times—that’s okay. But the purpose of evangelism is not to show why you are right and they are wrong. It is to communicate the truth of the gospel. The message is to be the offence. Not you!

8. When people are apathetic about sin—use the law. When people have doubts or are skeptical—use basic apologetic arguments. When people express guilt for sin—present the gospel.

9. Evangelism is about leading non-Christians to Christ. Convincing evangelicals that Reformed theology is true, falls under the heading of polemics. Don’t confuse the two.

10. Stick with what all Christians hold in common wherever possible. Leave the internecine fighting among Christians aside when talking to non-Christians. A non-Christian will not care much about why the Lutheran view of the Lord’s Supper is in error, or why Baptists are wrong about infant baptism. That will come during catechesis.

11. Wherever possible, speak about Christianity as factually true— "Jesus did this," "Jesus said this," "people heard and saw him," etc. Keep away from the subjective line of approach— "it works for me."

12. Pray for wisdom.

13. Trust in the power of God the Holy Spirit working through the word! Cite texts directly from the Scriptures with attribution. Jesus says, Paul says....Not, "I think," or "it seems to me."

14. Don’t rush things. Just because someone is not ready to trust in Christ after one encounter does not mean that effective evangelism has not taken place. Pre-evangelism is equally vital. You may plant, but someone else may have to water.

15. Treat people as objects of concern, not notches in your belt. Establish relationships and friendships whenever possible.

16. Don’t forget that a prophet is without honor in his own home. The chances of you leading your own unbelieving family members [or someone close to you] to Christ are remote. Pray for someone else to come and evangelize your family!

17. Don’t force things. If people balk, ridicule and otherwise are not interested, back off. Find another time and place. If after repeated attempts to communicate the gospel, and someone still shows an unwillingness to hear what you have to say, "shake the dust off your feet and move on to a new town!"

18. Be willing to get people the resources they need: be willing to provide them with a Bible, the right book to read, and certainly an invitation to attend your church or Bible study, etc.

19. Pray for opportunities to evangelize. Pray for your church—that God would bless the preaching of his word, that he would bring non-Christians into our midst, and that he would bless the church with growth.

20. You don’t have to become a practical Arminian to be a faithful evangelist! A Reformed approach to evangelism simply means telling people the truth in love.

Your Best Life Now? pt 2

Luke 9:23-25
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

These 3 verses completely go against the popular teachings of today from men such as Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Rob Bell, Brian McClaren and sadly many many more. We see in these verses what the true cost of being a disciple of Christ is. The three conditions of this are clearly laid out in that we first have to deny our self. Which is more than just a denial of certain things, but instead a rejection of a life that is based on our own self interest and the fulfillment of worldly things. Next is the command to take up our cross. You might easily take that verse lightly but we must understand that when Jesus was speaking these words the cross was a emblem of a horrible and painful death. Just as today we see the electric chair as the source of capital punishment that is what Jesus was basically referring to here. This is not a command to go out and seek death, but instead that we should be willing to suffer unto the the possibility of death for Christ. 1 Timothy states that "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" so why do we expect a life of ease and fluff when we are told what we will have when we are living in Christ? Last we see the we have to follow Jesus. Basically this is easy. Follow Jesus and no one else. Just as He stated in John 14:6 there is no other way but Jesus Christ!

25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

This has become a verse that I am trying to make a motto for my own life. To me it is pretty much asking what is you soul worth? Are all of the treasures of the world worth spending an eternity in hell and completely separated from God? Would you sell you right eye for a million dollars? Then why would you sell your soul for less?


Christ came to this earth not to give us a better life here, He did not suffer a painful death on the cross so that we could have a lot of money and be happy happy and He did not rise from the grave so that we could demand anything and everything that we want from Him. No He done all of that because without it we would have no hope. We would be living a life of nothing because apart from Him we are nothing. He is not our "magic genie" He is our Lord and Savior. Our Master! So instead of asking what Jesus can do for us We should be asking how we can glorify Him. Because that is what the Christian life is. To glorify God and God alone. He does not need us we need Him. It is an awesome thought to me that Jesus willingly gave His life for me and gave me eternal life for nothing I had done, but through everything He has done. I did not have to do anything to earn that. But I want to live a life that serves Him daily.

Your Best Life Now? pt 1

Turn on TBN (or has I have heard it called Twisting the Bible daily Network) and you will probably hear that if you become a Christian that all your troubles are gone. You will have wealth and health and will prosper greatly. That whatever you ask of God will be done. Basically, they teach that God is your "magic genie" and there to meet all of your worldly needs. Anyone who has opened the Bible for more than a 2 minute pick me up will realize that this is nothing near what is taught throughout. Not only that but anyone who has faced a tough trial and come out of it knowing that God and God alone was the only one pulling you through it knows that this is false.
After Jesus blinded and converted Paul on the road to Damascus the Lord came to Ananias in a vision and told him to go to Paul so that he could receive back his sight. Ananias was not to keen on really going to Paul because of the persecution he had done to the Christians, but the Lord told him "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." If you notice there he did not say that Paul was fixing to live the life of a king and prosper greatly but that he will suffer for God. Not only there do we see that the Christian life is not a bed of roses but instead we are to die to this world and to our self.