Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
What happened Friday May 21st 2010?
It had been a few weeks since I had gone out with the mission to open air preach and to share the truth of the gospel with dying souls, and my heart was yearning to go again to proclaim Christ, to labor with the brethren, and to preach as a dying woman to dying men and women.
In part, I almost felt as if I shouldn’t go, as if I should just give up, but I said no, I’m not going to give up I will press on and go tonight. I texted everyone I could think of to see if anyone was going downtown. No one was going. Nicole said she might go but was with her sister. I called James and he knew of no one going. I prayed to the Lord, Lord don’t let me be anxious, provide for me laborers to go with tonight. I don’t know who Lord, but you can provide, and if you don’t Lord, I will rest in your sovereignty and do what you would have me to do.
So I drove to Fattys, even though I knew of no one who would go with me downtown that night. No one besides Nicole had texted me to say they were going or not, but I went anyway.
When I walked into Fattys Jay J was sitting there and I went and sat next to him and told him that I prayed the Lord would send people to Fattys to go with me downtown and that the Lord had answered my prayers because he was there, just waiting for me! I don’t think he knew at all that I was coming so he wasn’t waiting for me, but I saw it as God’s providence, and it was.
So I was able to fellowship with Jay J and then I saw David Garza was coming in the door, and I said to Jay J, “See the Lord is answering my prayers!” Well actually he just came to buy a burger lol, but we got to fellowship together and it was good.
I was thinking of going downtown alone but Jay J wouldn’t allow it. Time went by and I trusted the Lord. “Lord let me be patient and anxious for nothing. I am here, you know my heart, you know my desire to go to the Alamo and preach tonight. You know it Lord, do as You will.”
About an hour and a half went by and I got a text from Daniel saying he was at the Alamo and wanted to witness and would wait for me there until I got there. :)
Jay J had decided that he would go with me as well, and so after two hours of waiting upon the Lord He gave me my hearts desire, brethren, laborers, to go with me so that I would not go alone.
I was excited and when we got to the Alamo we saw there were many people there.
We prayed, and it was such a blessing to hear the prayers of my brothers, I was so encouraged! We talked for a time, and we shared with a few people and then sat at the Alamo. There was hardly anyone at the Alamo; I expressed my desire to preach, but I wanted there to be more people.
Jay J did not feel liberty and Daniel wanted to fellowship and I desired to preach, and in my mind I was like, “Lord what do we do? How can our hearts be united as one body?” We were thinking of leaving, but I saw a few more people coming and thought while we are here I might as well preach before we go. Might as well since that was the very reason I desired to come!
There were probably 20 people, as well as a group of about 20 kids at the Alamo, so I went up to preach but realized my great need for Gods help and went back to Daniel and Jay J to ask for prayer. The Lord really filled them with the words to pray and I knew the Lord was with us and that this was His will, and because I knew the Lord was in this and that it was His will my confidence to stand up and proclaim the gospel was strengthened. When we opened our eyes from praying there were twice as many people as there were before we closed our eyes to pray. We were like wow, where did they all come from?! And more are coming!
Filled with excitement and desire to preach for God’s glory, I went back up to preach and could see that Daniel and Jay J were praying and I felt comfort knowing they were fighting with me, that together we were the body of Christ, united in Spirit, intent on one purpose, and it pleased my heart. I prayed to the Lord, “Lord I can’t do this, Lord I can’t do this, Lord I’m not able, Lord I can’t make my voice sustain, Lord I can’t do anything. Lord you can do this, Lord you can do this, Lord you are able, Lord you can make my voice sustain, Lord You can do everything. Help me.” Then from behind came a rushing wind and I opened my mouth to speak, that the wind might carry my voice.
Most of what happened is a blur to me. I had written down what I wanted to preach and for the most part I stuck to what was written and preached the gospel as loudly as I could without losing my voice. More people were coming and I saw people watching, listening, filming me, or talking to others about what was going on. Then there came a beautiful blessing from the Lord. A group of what must have been about eighty young catholic school boys around the ages of 8-10 passed by me on their way to the Alamo. They watched me and mocked as they passed by. Jay J told me that the Catholic Priest had been talking to the officers there at the Alamo to try to get them to make me stop preaching, but they would do nothing. After the boys had walked by the Alamo a group of about forty of them came back and sat down on the ground in front of me to listen and watch me preach. Many laughed and mocked and shouted out amens. I told them about their sin and that God has seen everything they’ve done when they thought no one was looking, that God knows their thoughts and every bad thing they’ve done. I told them that they were in danger because any day they could die and face God and be judged for all the things they have ever done. I told them their works and their righteousness wasn’t good enough and that only Christ’s sacrifice on the cross could pay for their sins. I told them that God is perfect, holy, and just. I told them they must repent and turn from their selfishness and sin and live for God and follow Christ. I told them that if they did not repent and did not believe in Christ that they would go to hell for eternity. I told them that there was only heaven or hell and to get to heaven you had to be perfect, and only what Christ did on the cross was enough. I saw them there and I wanted to pour out all the truth I could think to give to them. I told them I loved them and wanted them to know the truth that they might save their soul, that they might be reconciled with God. Some of their faces became more serious, it seemed they really were listening, though some were mocking it and spurning God in their hearts.
I observed that because of the group of boys that had sat down to listen, others had been drawn to also listen. It was such a blessing, and the Lord enabled me to say all that I desired to share with them. When I stepped down they all applauded as if it had been a show and flocked over to me and Jay J.
Fortunately, Jay J was there to share with a group of about twenty-five of the boys to talk to them further about the things that I had said and explain to them, and I prayed for him as he shared. I had not realized the boys were Catholic, but Jay J did so he was able to talk to them specifically about that, and how works do not save, and how a person is saved by faith in Jesus Christ. He talked to them about the law and that God has a law, a standard, and that if you fail to keep one area you are guilty of breaking it all. He told them that they all had broken Gods law and only Christ was perfect and able to keep it. Only Christ was able to save them because they were guilty. The boys asked him questions and he explained for quite some time until their school leaders called them away from us. We gave the boys some illbehonest cards and I tried to give them some rap cds but their teachers would not allow it. Afterwards we found Daniel sharing the gospel with a girl that had sat next to him during the time Jay J was talking to the boys.
A couple came up to us afterward and told us that the seed had been planted in all those hearts today and that one day the Lord might water and use those seeds. They encouraged us to keep on, and they said they were so encouraged to see others proclaiming the truth.
We left rejoicing in the Lord and glorying in what He had done for us. Jay J was glad that he came and saw why the Lord had brought him to talk to those boys. It was so perfect, the way the Lord worked out everything. I'm so thankful to the Lord that He provided brethren to go with me. Thank you Jay J and Daniel for going with me, for where two or three are gathered in Christ's name He is among us in a special way!! It seemed perfect having one watch and one pray as one preached, united and working together. It was beautiful! I praise the Lord because it was all because of His blessing upon us.
The Lord is teaching me to walk by faith and not by sight. Even when things seem impossible we can count on the Lord to provide! And there is no reason to be anxious because the Lord has the whole world in His hands, and He showed me that :) Yesturday, the Lord opened His hands and blessed us. Brethren, don't stop proclaiming the gospel! Don't stop preaching it loudly! Don't stop sharing in whatever way the Lord has gifted you! Go! And make disciples! :) The Lord will bless it!
In part, I almost felt as if I shouldn’t go, as if I should just give up, but I said no, I’m not going to give up I will press on and go tonight. I texted everyone I could think of to see if anyone was going downtown. No one was going. Nicole said she might go but was with her sister. I called James and he knew of no one going. I prayed to the Lord, Lord don’t let me be anxious, provide for me laborers to go with tonight. I don’t know who Lord, but you can provide, and if you don’t Lord, I will rest in your sovereignty and do what you would have me to do.
So I drove to Fattys, even though I knew of no one who would go with me downtown that night. No one besides Nicole had texted me to say they were going or not, but I went anyway.
When I walked into Fattys Jay J was sitting there and I went and sat next to him and told him that I prayed the Lord would send people to Fattys to go with me downtown and that the Lord had answered my prayers because he was there, just waiting for me! I don’t think he knew at all that I was coming so he wasn’t waiting for me, but I saw it as God’s providence, and it was.
So I was able to fellowship with Jay J and then I saw David Garza was coming in the door, and I said to Jay J, “See the Lord is answering my prayers!” Well actually he just came to buy a burger lol, but we got to fellowship together and it was good.
I was thinking of going downtown alone but Jay J wouldn’t allow it. Time went by and I trusted the Lord. “Lord let me be patient and anxious for nothing. I am here, you know my heart, you know my desire to go to the Alamo and preach tonight. You know it Lord, do as You will.”
About an hour and a half went by and I got a text from Daniel saying he was at the Alamo and wanted to witness and would wait for me there until I got there. :)
Jay J had decided that he would go with me as well, and so after two hours of waiting upon the Lord He gave me my hearts desire, brethren, laborers, to go with me so that I would not go alone.
I was excited and when we got to the Alamo we saw there were many people there.
We prayed, and it was such a blessing to hear the prayers of my brothers, I was so encouraged! We talked for a time, and we shared with a few people and then sat at the Alamo. There was hardly anyone at the Alamo; I expressed my desire to preach, but I wanted there to be more people.
Jay J did not feel liberty and Daniel wanted to fellowship and I desired to preach, and in my mind I was like, “Lord what do we do? How can our hearts be united as one body?” We were thinking of leaving, but I saw a few more people coming and thought while we are here I might as well preach before we go. Might as well since that was the very reason I desired to come!
There were probably 20 people, as well as a group of about 20 kids at the Alamo, so I went up to preach but realized my great need for Gods help and went back to Daniel and Jay J to ask for prayer. The Lord really filled them with the words to pray and I knew the Lord was with us and that this was His will, and because I knew the Lord was in this and that it was His will my confidence to stand up and proclaim the gospel was strengthened. When we opened our eyes from praying there were twice as many people as there were before we closed our eyes to pray. We were like wow, where did they all come from?! And more are coming!
Filled with excitement and desire to preach for God’s glory, I went back up to preach and could see that Daniel and Jay J were praying and I felt comfort knowing they were fighting with me, that together we were the body of Christ, united in Spirit, intent on one purpose, and it pleased my heart. I prayed to the Lord, “Lord I can’t do this, Lord I can’t do this, Lord I’m not able, Lord I can’t make my voice sustain, Lord I can’t do anything. Lord you can do this, Lord you can do this, Lord you are able, Lord you can make my voice sustain, Lord You can do everything. Help me.” Then from behind came a rushing wind and I opened my mouth to speak, that the wind might carry my voice.
Most of what happened is a blur to me. I had written down what I wanted to preach and for the most part I stuck to what was written and preached the gospel as loudly as I could without losing my voice. More people were coming and I saw people watching, listening, filming me, or talking to others about what was going on. Then there came a beautiful blessing from the Lord. A group of what must have been about eighty young catholic school boys around the ages of 8-10 passed by me on their way to the Alamo. They watched me and mocked as they passed by. Jay J told me that the Catholic Priest had been talking to the officers there at the Alamo to try to get them to make me stop preaching, but they would do nothing. After the boys had walked by the Alamo a group of about forty of them came back and sat down on the ground in front of me to listen and watch me preach. Many laughed and mocked and shouted out amens. I told them about their sin and that God has seen everything they’ve done when they thought no one was looking, that God knows their thoughts and every bad thing they’ve done. I told them that they were in danger because any day they could die and face God and be judged for all the things they have ever done. I told them their works and their righteousness wasn’t good enough and that only Christ’s sacrifice on the cross could pay for their sins. I told them that God is perfect, holy, and just. I told them they must repent and turn from their selfishness and sin and live for God and follow Christ. I told them that if they did not repent and did not believe in Christ that they would go to hell for eternity. I told them that there was only heaven or hell and to get to heaven you had to be perfect, and only what Christ did on the cross was enough. I saw them there and I wanted to pour out all the truth I could think to give to them. I told them I loved them and wanted them to know the truth that they might save their soul, that they might be reconciled with God. Some of their faces became more serious, it seemed they really were listening, though some were mocking it and spurning God in their hearts.
I observed that because of the group of boys that had sat down to listen, others had been drawn to also listen. It was such a blessing, and the Lord enabled me to say all that I desired to share with them. When I stepped down they all applauded as if it had been a show and flocked over to me and Jay J.
Fortunately, Jay J was there to share with a group of about twenty-five of the boys to talk to them further about the things that I had said and explain to them, and I prayed for him as he shared. I had not realized the boys were Catholic, but Jay J did so he was able to talk to them specifically about that, and how works do not save, and how a person is saved by faith in Jesus Christ. He talked to them about the law and that God has a law, a standard, and that if you fail to keep one area you are guilty of breaking it all. He told them that they all had broken Gods law and only Christ was perfect and able to keep it. Only Christ was able to save them because they were guilty. The boys asked him questions and he explained for quite some time until their school leaders called them away from us. We gave the boys some illbehonest cards and I tried to give them some rap cds but their teachers would not allow it. Afterwards we found Daniel sharing the gospel with a girl that had sat next to him during the time Jay J was talking to the boys.
A couple came up to us afterward and told us that the seed had been planted in all those hearts today and that one day the Lord might water and use those seeds. They encouraged us to keep on, and they said they were so encouraged to see others proclaiming the truth.
We left rejoicing in the Lord and glorying in what He had done for us. Jay J was glad that he came and saw why the Lord had brought him to talk to those boys. It was so perfect, the way the Lord worked out everything. I'm so thankful to the Lord that He provided brethren to go with me. Thank you Jay J and Daniel for going with me, for where two or three are gathered in Christ's name He is among us in a special way!! It seemed perfect having one watch and one pray as one preached, united and working together. It was beautiful! I praise the Lord because it was all because of His blessing upon us.
The Lord is teaching me to walk by faith and not by sight. Even when things seem impossible we can count on the Lord to provide! And there is no reason to be anxious because the Lord has the whole world in His hands, and He showed me that :) Yesturday, the Lord opened His hands and blessed us. Brethren, don't stop proclaiming the gospel! Don't stop preaching it loudly! Don't stop sharing in whatever way the Lord has gifted you! Go! And make disciples! :) The Lord will bless it!
Open Air Preaching Sermon Ideas #1
I've been writing down different ways to share the gospel in the context of open air preaching, sort of like scripts to practice and use when I go downtown as I'm learning and starting out. I thought I'd start posting them for critique, suggestions, scripture to include, what to add or remove, what people think is good or is not good, needs work etc. I want to grow in this so please be honest. I want to be as biblical, direct, and clear as possible, and I know theres tons of room for improvement. Thanks.
This message is called "Jesus Died!"
Only the truth will set you free.
There is one truth and that is Jesus Christ.
Do you understand this? Jesus died! Christ died for you! It took the death of God, it took the blood of God Himself to wash away the wickedness of mans sin.
Many people believe that Christ died for them, they say, “Of course Jesus died for me, He loves me!” as if they deserve it, as if God somehow owes them salvation, a way to heaven & eternal life.
Romans 3 says this, “There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands, there is none who seek for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, not even one. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” You do not deserve heaven. You do not deserve salvation. Not one human being on the face of this earth is worthy. All are guilty before God because all have sinned and have not obeyed God.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, one who is angry at sinners who turn their backs to him all day long. Do you turn your back on God by denying His existence? Do you turn your back by being religious? By knowing the truth about Christ, but not loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. To love God with everything was Christ’s greatest commandment.
Jesus died! Our redemption, our salvation from sin and death and the holy wrath of God came at the highest price. The price has been paid. Jesus Christ’s blood paid it. Jesus Christ bore the sin of the world on His shoulders. Even though He was perfect and without sin, He became sin for us. Though innocent and perfect in every way possible He suffered in our place, He suffered to pay the debt for our sin that you and I could never pay.
Jesus died! And His death is enough. He arose from the grave and is seated at the right hand of God. One day you will be judged by Him. Are you ready to stand before the Lord when you die? Have you truly repented of your evil ways? Have you truly renounced your sin, let it go, and have you turned to Christ with true remorse and shame asking for forgiveness and now seeking to follow Christ and live like Him and obey Him. To many people, Christ’s words are spoken, “Why do you call me Lord and do not do what I say?”
Is Christ your Lord? He died for you! But are you willing to die for Him? Christ said that if you aren’t willing to take up your cross and die daily you aren’t worthy to be His disciple and you aren’t a Christian. You cannot hold to any sin, any idol, any selfish desire in one hand and hold to Christ in the other. You cannot have the world in one hand and Christ in the other and make it through the narrow gate that leads to life. Forsake everything and Christ will be yours. You must let go of everything to enter into life. The way is narrow that leads to life and there are few that find it.
Will you forsake this world to gain Christ and everlasting life? Or would you rather gain the whole world and lose your soul? There are only two choices. Right now you are choosing one. Right now you are living for one.
Do you want to be saved? Don’t you want to be free from your bondage to sin? Don’t you want to have the weight of sin lifted off your shoulders and to rest in Christ? He accomplished everything for you, if you will only take hold with both hands the gift that Christ freely offers. Will you heed the call or continue on the broad way that leads to destruction? Will you let go of everything and cling to Christ who alone can save your soul? Christ came to die for sinners, for wretches, for the lost. If you think you are a good person. If you think you have your life together. If you think all is well and good, you are in great danger. Listen, Christ did not come to save the righteous. He did not come for those who trust in their own goodness, He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Until you see the sinfulness of your sin in light of the great holiness of almighty God, until you see the reality of your lostness and your great need for God and a savior, you will remain in your sin, and on that day when you stand before God, your righteousness will fall short. It won’t be good enough. The Bible says that our greatest works are like filthy rags. If the best you have to offer God are filthy rags what hope do you have? If your hope is not in Christ you have none. The only hope is Christ! The only way is Christ!
May the Lord awaken your souls to see you stand under the wrath of God. His wrath is pressing down to fall upon you, and yet this God of grace is holding it back, bearing with your sin, that you might still turn to Him and live. With one hand Christ beckons you to come. With the other hand He holds back the wrath of God. But on that die you die, if you are without Christ, he will drop both hands and you will be consumed by God’s wrath. The ground beneath you is not secure. You may feel secure but at any time the ground you stand upon may give way and you will fall. Death comes swiftly. Life is a vapor, a breath here now and gone tomorrow. Are you ready to face God?
When you see Christ on that day He won’t be as most of you picture Jesus. He came to earth as a baby, He came and served man and died for their sin. But on the day Christ returns, on the day when there is judgment this is the Christ we will see.
Revelation 19:11-16
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
With eyes like flaming fire, with a sword He will judge and tread the winepress of God’s wrath. The coming judgment is a fearful one for the man or woman who is not secure in Christ. They are not safe, not safe from God! Christ is the only one who can stand in your place to be crushed under God’s wrath, and He was. But if you will not turn to Christ, if you will not believe upon His Name and bow your knee to the Lord who made you and commands all men to repent and believe that they might live, there remains for you no mercy. On that day there will be no mercy. Without Christ’s atoning blood to cover your sins you will be crushed under the wrath of God. On that day you will not be able to bear it, and after 1000 years you will still not be able to bear it, and yet hell will last for all eternity. There will be no escape, no second chance, no mercy to be found, only hopeless despair and wishing for death that it might end, but your soul will live on forever.
I say this because it is true and because I care about your soul. The gospel of Christ is good news to those who are perishing because there is hope for the one who will look to the Savior. I say this because today is the day of salvation. Today you can be made right before God; today the Lord can open your eyes and give you a new heart and real life. Will you come to Him? Will you come to Christ and look to Him alone as your only way to be saved?
There is no other way. I beg you, look to Christ and be reconciled to God.
This message is called "Jesus Died!"
Only the truth will set you free.
There is one truth and that is Jesus Christ.
Do you understand this? Jesus died! Christ died for you! It took the death of God, it took the blood of God Himself to wash away the wickedness of mans sin.
Many people believe that Christ died for them, they say, “Of course Jesus died for me, He loves me!” as if they deserve it, as if God somehow owes them salvation, a way to heaven & eternal life.
Romans 3 says this, “There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands, there is none who seek for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, not even one. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” You do not deserve heaven. You do not deserve salvation. Not one human being on the face of this earth is worthy. All are guilty before God because all have sinned and have not obeyed God.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, one who is angry at sinners who turn their backs to him all day long. Do you turn your back on God by denying His existence? Do you turn your back by being religious? By knowing the truth about Christ, but not loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. To love God with everything was Christ’s greatest commandment.
Jesus died! Our redemption, our salvation from sin and death and the holy wrath of God came at the highest price. The price has been paid. Jesus Christ’s blood paid it. Jesus Christ bore the sin of the world on His shoulders. Even though He was perfect and without sin, He became sin for us. Though innocent and perfect in every way possible He suffered in our place, He suffered to pay the debt for our sin that you and I could never pay.
Jesus died! And His death is enough. He arose from the grave and is seated at the right hand of God. One day you will be judged by Him. Are you ready to stand before the Lord when you die? Have you truly repented of your evil ways? Have you truly renounced your sin, let it go, and have you turned to Christ with true remorse and shame asking for forgiveness and now seeking to follow Christ and live like Him and obey Him. To many people, Christ’s words are spoken, “Why do you call me Lord and do not do what I say?”
Is Christ your Lord? He died for you! But are you willing to die for Him? Christ said that if you aren’t willing to take up your cross and die daily you aren’t worthy to be His disciple and you aren’t a Christian. You cannot hold to any sin, any idol, any selfish desire in one hand and hold to Christ in the other. You cannot have the world in one hand and Christ in the other and make it through the narrow gate that leads to life. Forsake everything and Christ will be yours. You must let go of everything to enter into life. The way is narrow that leads to life and there are few that find it.
Will you forsake this world to gain Christ and everlasting life? Or would you rather gain the whole world and lose your soul? There are only two choices. Right now you are choosing one. Right now you are living for one.
Do you want to be saved? Don’t you want to be free from your bondage to sin? Don’t you want to have the weight of sin lifted off your shoulders and to rest in Christ? He accomplished everything for you, if you will only take hold with both hands the gift that Christ freely offers. Will you heed the call or continue on the broad way that leads to destruction? Will you let go of everything and cling to Christ who alone can save your soul? Christ came to die for sinners, for wretches, for the lost. If you think you are a good person. If you think you have your life together. If you think all is well and good, you are in great danger. Listen, Christ did not come to save the righteous. He did not come for those who trust in their own goodness, He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Until you see the sinfulness of your sin in light of the great holiness of almighty God, until you see the reality of your lostness and your great need for God and a savior, you will remain in your sin, and on that day when you stand before God, your righteousness will fall short. It won’t be good enough. The Bible says that our greatest works are like filthy rags. If the best you have to offer God are filthy rags what hope do you have? If your hope is not in Christ you have none. The only hope is Christ! The only way is Christ!
May the Lord awaken your souls to see you stand under the wrath of God. His wrath is pressing down to fall upon you, and yet this God of grace is holding it back, bearing with your sin, that you might still turn to Him and live. With one hand Christ beckons you to come. With the other hand He holds back the wrath of God. But on that die you die, if you are without Christ, he will drop both hands and you will be consumed by God’s wrath. The ground beneath you is not secure. You may feel secure but at any time the ground you stand upon may give way and you will fall. Death comes swiftly. Life is a vapor, a breath here now and gone tomorrow. Are you ready to face God?
When you see Christ on that day He won’t be as most of you picture Jesus. He came to earth as a baby, He came and served man and died for their sin. But on the day Christ returns, on the day when there is judgment this is the Christ we will see.
Revelation 19:11-16
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
With eyes like flaming fire, with a sword He will judge and tread the winepress of God’s wrath. The coming judgment is a fearful one for the man or woman who is not secure in Christ. They are not safe, not safe from God! Christ is the only one who can stand in your place to be crushed under God’s wrath, and He was. But if you will not turn to Christ, if you will not believe upon His Name and bow your knee to the Lord who made you and commands all men to repent and believe that they might live, there remains for you no mercy. On that day there will be no mercy. Without Christ’s atoning blood to cover your sins you will be crushed under the wrath of God. On that day you will not be able to bear it, and after 1000 years you will still not be able to bear it, and yet hell will last for all eternity. There will be no escape, no second chance, no mercy to be found, only hopeless despair and wishing for death that it might end, but your soul will live on forever.
I say this because it is true and because I care about your soul. The gospel of Christ is good news to those who are perishing because there is hope for the one who will look to the Savior. I say this because today is the day of salvation. Today you can be made right before God; today the Lord can open your eyes and give you a new heart and real life. Will you come to Him? Will you come to Christ and look to Him alone as your only way to be saved?
There is no other way. I beg you, look to Christ and be reconciled to God.
What God is doing in my life!
I want to testify to what the Lord is doing in my life. He has powerfully taken hold of me, revealed Himself in deeper ways, and has brought me to heights of glory and joy I have never experienced in eight years of walking with Him. I want my testimony to be an encouragement. I wish I could impart to you the grace that has been given to me that it might spark a flame and turn into fire! Let me tell you what God has done to me! How He has answered my prayers! He has given me such a great and precious thing and I desire to cling to Him and run harder, not to lose this passion, but for this to only intensify that I might run harder for Christ and be an encouragement and help to the body.
At the beginning of this year during prayer and fasting I wrote down a list of personal resolutions, 23 things that I wanted the Lord to do in my life, to transform my character and to make me more like Christ. I wanted to be disciplined, and had also been working on getting up early and seeking the Lord. So many mornings I spent in agony, in prayer asking the Lord to give me zeal and passion, to open His Word to me, to give me a thirst, a hunger and a desire. I so longed to be near to Him and I prayed and prayed for Him to come. Many mornings were like this and sometimes I’d just weep because I knew that in my own power I was not able to live out the Christian life as my heart longed to. To share the gospel and preach boldly, being humble, broken, and burdened. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t muster up strength and passion. I needed the Lord to give it to me and I wanted it so badly.
Just before the beginning of the year I also started memorizing the sermon on the mount. I really wanted to live out what was in this sermon, I wanted to be the beatitudes. I knew that there was some fruit there, but in my life I saw so much of the opposite and I wanted that to change.
I began to yield myself to obey the Lord, He was slowly showing me to trust Him completely, even when He seemed to be so far away. And I began to drop things that were idols, I began to drop things that were in the way. Much of my answer to prayer came in the form of trial and chastisement. It was not very pleasant, yet I began to believe, when before I had such little faith. The Lord was preparing me for something. He was emptying me of everything. The idols were dying, I was finding freedom and rejoicing. And then the Lord came.
I went to the conference with Steve Lawson. The only sermon I was able to go to was the one on the life of George Whitefield. I remember being there as if it was yesterday, the Lord powerfully poured out His Spirit on the place. It was like the Lord poured out on me and gave me a greater measure of grace than I had before. He gave me a gift of grace. He grabbed my heart and I took hold of Him and I believe that I will never ever be the same. I had an experience with God that changed my life, and ever since then the Lord has been opening up deep treasures in His Word, and revealing to me greater depths of His love and His heart. The Lord so overpowered me that day, to the point I could hardly bear it, I was on the verge of crying out in agony, joy, conviction, and falling on my face to either worship or vomit because of the conviction and that my life and passion was not as it ought to be as one chosen by Christ. I was overwhelmed with joy, the words of that sermon continue to ring in my ears and grip me.
I have had a desire and burden to open air preach for three years. I have wrestled over it, is this for me? Is this right? Is there any sin in this? God is this truly what you want me to do? Lord, I don’t see women doing this, I have been opposed, I have had people come against me and say that it is wrong. I am torn and confused because this burns on my heart. Every time I read about proclaiming from the rooftops, shouting from the rooftops in scripture, my heart burns within me because it is what my heart longs for in regard to proclaiming the gospel.
Saturday I wanted to go downtown and preach. It had been raining all day. I went outside to check the mail and walked out into a gloriously beautiful day, the sun was shining the birds were singing and I exclaimed in my heart, “Lord! What a beautiful day to go and share the gospel!” And I pondered, should I go? Should I preach? If I do not step out in faith today, why will I tomorrow? If I will not stand and preach and lift up my voice like a trumpet today, when will I be willing? Oh Lord, how I want to go. Well, I opened the mailbox and there was a little card addressed to me. I opened it to find a card from Diego and Nedelka saying that they had been praying for me to boldly proclaim the gospel. I was so excited, it was the little bit of encouragement I needed to go.
So I went and I was excited that Aric and Jacquelyn came with me. A lot happened that night but I will just share a little bit. We weren’t there long before it began to rain, but when we prayed the Lord took away the rain. Even though we were surrounded by dark clouds, thunder, and lighting there was no more rain for hours. Jacquelyn prayed for me and I prayed and then I stood up and proclaimed the gospel. I cannot express to you the amount of joy that I found in that. It was as if the Lord lifted me and held me in His hands. I could feel His arms around me, I could feel His heart for the people, I could almost hear His gentle whisper to me, this is what I made you for. Though there was sorrow and sadness over the depravity of the people, which was brought out in their mockery and ridicule, I was filled with joy and worship to the Lord in my heart. I cannot express to you what I felt as I drove home that night, I felt so near the Lord I said, Lord I could die right now and be so happy, not because of what I have done, but because of how you have drawn me to yourself! I cannot express to you what it was like when I got home and looked at my mother, it was so strange. Because the presence of the Lord was so real that night and God was so close to me when I looked at her I realized that she seemed less real than the Lord that was near me. God was more real to me than my mother whom I have known all my life, who gave birth to me, it was so strange. I cannot describe what I felt when I laid my head on my pillow that night when I realized my mind was empty of everything but Christ. It was so clear and pure and void of sin, temptation, as if the Lord was giving me a picture of what it meant to walk in a body of flesh and to be void of sin, for just a few hours. No sin, no struggle, no temptation, just pure joy, peace, and quieted mind and spirit to commune with the Lord, it was so amazing. I thought about what I heard that day about George Whitefield, how he really lived. And I praised the Lord, for allowing me that day to truly live.
The Lord answers prayer. He truly gives us what we ask for. He comes in power when the time is right, and never a moment too late to meet our need. I am thankful, I boast in my God and what He has done in me. I know that none of it is of me, but all of Him!
At the beginning of this year during prayer and fasting I wrote down a list of personal resolutions, 23 things that I wanted the Lord to do in my life, to transform my character and to make me more like Christ. I wanted to be disciplined, and had also been working on getting up early and seeking the Lord. So many mornings I spent in agony, in prayer asking the Lord to give me zeal and passion, to open His Word to me, to give me a thirst, a hunger and a desire. I so longed to be near to Him and I prayed and prayed for Him to come. Many mornings were like this and sometimes I’d just weep because I knew that in my own power I was not able to live out the Christian life as my heart longed to. To share the gospel and preach boldly, being humble, broken, and burdened. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t muster up strength and passion. I needed the Lord to give it to me and I wanted it so badly.
Just before the beginning of the year I also started memorizing the sermon on the mount. I really wanted to live out what was in this sermon, I wanted to be the beatitudes. I knew that there was some fruit there, but in my life I saw so much of the opposite and I wanted that to change.
I began to yield myself to obey the Lord, He was slowly showing me to trust Him completely, even when He seemed to be so far away. And I began to drop things that were idols, I began to drop things that were in the way. Much of my answer to prayer came in the form of trial and chastisement. It was not very pleasant, yet I began to believe, when before I had such little faith. The Lord was preparing me for something. He was emptying me of everything. The idols were dying, I was finding freedom and rejoicing. And then the Lord came.
I went to the conference with Steve Lawson. The only sermon I was able to go to was the one on the life of George Whitefield. I remember being there as if it was yesterday, the Lord powerfully poured out His Spirit on the place. It was like the Lord poured out on me and gave me a greater measure of grace than I had before. He gave me a gift of grace. He grabbed my heart and I took hold of Him and I believe that I will never ever be the same. I had an experience with God that changed my life, and ever since then the Lord has been opening up deep treasures in His Word, and revealing to me greater depths of His love and His heart. The Lord so overpowered me that day, to the point I could hardly bear it, I was on the verge of crying out in agony, joy, conviction, and falling on my face to either worship or vomit because of the conviction and that my life and passion was not as it ought to be as one chosen by Christ. I was overwhelmed with joy, the words of that sermon continue to ring in my ears and grip me.
I have had a desire and burden to open air preach for three years. I have wrestled over it, is this for me? Is this right? Is there any sin in this? God is this truly what you want me to do? Lord, I don’t see women doing this, I have been opposed, I have had people come against me and say that it is wrong. I am torn and confused because this burns on my heart. Every time I read about proclaiming from the rooftops, shouting from the rooftops in scripture, my heart burns within me because it is what my heart longs for in regard to proclaiming the gospel.
Saturday I wanted to go downtown and preach. It had been raining all day. I went outside to check the mail and walked out into a gloriously beautiful day, the sun was shining the birds were singing and I exclaimed in my heart, “Lord! What a beautiful day to go and share the gospel!” And I pondered, should I go? Should I preach? If I do not step out in faith today, why will I tomorrow? If I will not stand and preach and lift up my voice like a trumpet today, when will I be willing? Oh Lord, how I want to go. Well, I opened the mailbox and there was a little card addressed to me. I opened it to find a card from Diego and Nedelka saying that they had been praying for me to boldly proclaim the gospel. I was so excited, it was the little bit of encouragement I needed to go.
So I went and I was excited that Aric and Jacquelyn came with me. A lot happened that night but I will just share a little bit. We weren’t there long before it began to rain, but when we prayed the Lord took away the rain. Even though we were surrounded by dark clouds, thunder, and lighting there was no more rain for hours. Jacquelyn prayed for me and I prayed and then I stood up and proclaimed the gospel. I cannot express to you the amount of joy that I found in that. It was as if the Lord lifted me and held me in His hands. I could feel His arms around me, I could feel His heart for the people, I could almost hear His gentle whisper to me, this is what I made you for. Though there was sorrow and sadness over the depravity of the people, which was brought out in their mockery and ridicule, I was filled with joy and worship to the Lord in my heart. I cannot express to you what I felt as I drove home that night, I felt so near the Lord I said, Lord I could die right now and be so happy, not because of what I have done, but because of how you have drawn me to yourself! I cannot express to you what it was like when I got home and looked at my mother, it was so strange. Because the presence of the Lord was so real that night and God was so close to me when I looked at her I realized that she seemed less real than the Lord that was near me. God was more real to me than my mother whom I have known all my life, who gave birth to me, it was so strange. I cannot describe what I felt when I laid my head on my pillow that night when I realized my mind was empty of everything but Christ. It was so clear and pure and void of sin, temptation, as if the Lord was giving me a picture of what it meant to walk in a body of flesh and to be void of sin, for just a few hours. No sin, no struggle, no temptation, just pure joy, peace, and quieted mind and spirit to commune with the Lord, it was so amazing. I thought about what I heard that day about George Whitefield, how he really lived. And I praised the Lord, for allowing me that day to truly live.
The Lord answers prayer. He truly gives us what we ask for. He comes in power when the time is right, and never a moment too late to meet our need. I am thankful, I boast in my God and what He has done in me. I know that none of it is of me, but all of Him!
The Sin of Achan
I was reading this morning in Joshua 7, the story of the sin of Achan and I was struck by the Lord's fierce anger towards sin, and I was afraid. I can say, by the Lord's grace that the Lord sits in His rightful place in my heart and no idols are competing with Him in my life at this time. A few months ago this was not the case, there were things I didn't want to let go, but the Lord disciplined me severely and took hold of my heart in such a powerful way that I in turn took hold of Him, and put the idols to death. My fear is that I could let idols creep in if I do not fight and battle the temptations aggressively and murder any sin that begins to show its ugly face. It was one sin of covetousness and disobedience against the Lord that cost Achan his life, and the lives of all his children, and the lives of many of the Israelites, and worst of all that the Lord removed Himself from His people allowing them to be defeated by their enemies. All because of the sin of one man among hundreds of thousands of Israelites.
Think about it. When the Israelites defeated Jericho, they were allowed to take spoil except for whatever the Lord had banned them from taking. Out of probably 600,000 Israelites (of course not all went to war), one man, Achan, saw a mantle, some gold and silver, coveted it and took it and hid it in the ground in his tent. So when the Israelites went to fight their next battle against Ai, though Ai was very small and should have been an easy battle, the Lord allowed Israel to lose and flee back to the camp, and 36 died.
Joshua implored the Lord why this happened, and the Lord told him that Isreal had disobeyed, these verses struck me:
" 10So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
11"Israel has sinned, and (A)they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
12"Therefore the (B)sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.
13"Rise up! (C)Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "(D)There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst."
14'In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which (E)the LORD takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which the LORD takes shall come near by households, and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man.
15'(F)It shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he (G)has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.'"
Wow. I just kept reading that. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.
How does the sin of one person in the church affect the whole? Does God withhold the power of His Spirit because of sin? I believe that He does. I believe He is the same God today that He was then. He may not kill His people in this way, but He definitely hates when we disobey and sin against Him, and I am sure He removes His favor from us when we are disobedient. We may be saved and secure in Christ, but we ought to fear to disobey the Lord and know the consequences are severe and affect the entire body. We can't afford to run this battle, fight this race and hold on to anything!
HOW MANY TIMES do Christians covet and take what they should not? HOW MANY TIMES do Christians lust after something and sin to have what they should not? Achan did it once and if you read furthur you see that he even came out and said he did wrong and confessed it. Yet he had to die for what he did along with his sons, daughters, and all he had. SIN IS A SERIOUS OFFENSE, and as Christians we had better take it seriously because God kills, destroys, and sends people to hell because of it. All sin is rebellion and disobedience to God. Its all mercy and grace if we are under the blood of Christ, and we ought not to take that lightly!
Lord keep us from idols and sin! Don't let me allow any idol in my life or in the life of anyone in the body of our church. If we so want God to move among us we need to walk before Him with a pure heart. It is the pure in heart that shall see God (Matthew 5).
Think about it. When the Israelites defeated Jericho, they were allowed to take spoil except for whatever the Lord had banned them from taking. Out of probably 600,000 Israelites (of course not all went to war), one man, Achan, saw a mantle, some gold and silver, coveted it and took it and hid it in the ground in his tent. So when the Israelites went to fight their next battle against Ai, though Ai was very small and should have been an easy battle, the Lord allowed Israel to lose and flee back to the camp, and 36 died.
Joshua implored the Lord why this happened, and the Lord told him that Isreal had disobeyed, these verses struck me:
" 10So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
11"Israel has sinned, and (A)they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
12"Therefore the (B)sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.
13"Rise up! (C)Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "(D)There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst."
14'In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which (E)the LORD takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which the LORD takes shall come near by households, and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man.
15'(F)It shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he (G)has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.'"
Wow. I just kept reading that. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.
How does the sin of one person in the church affect the whole? Does God withhold the power of His Spirit because of sin? I believe that He does. I believe He is the same God today that He was then. He may not kill His people in this way, but He definitely hates when we disobey and sin against Him, and I am sure He removes His favor from us when we are disobedient. We may be saved and secure in Christ, but we ought to fear to disobey the Lord and know the consequences are severe and affect the entire body. We can't afford to run this battle, fight this race and hold on to anything!
HOW MANY TIMES do Christians covet and take what they should not? HOW MANY TIMES do Christians lust after something and sin to have what they should not? Achan did it once and if you read furthur you see that he even came out and said he did wrong and confessed it. Yet he had to die for what he did along with his sons, daughters, and all he had. SIN IS A SERIOUS OFFENSE, and as Christians we had better take it seriously because God kills, destroys, and sends people to hell because of it. All sin is rebellion and disobedience to God. Its all mercy and grace if we are under the blood of Christ, and we ought not to take that lightly!
Lord keep us from idols and sin! Don't let me allow any idol in my life or in the life of anyone in the body of our church. If we so want God to move among us we need to walk before Him with a pure heart. It is the pure in heart that shall see God (Matthew 5).
82 cents for the gospel?
Today the Lord gave me the grace to step out in faith and boldly preach the gospel at the Alamo. One young man solemnly came up to me and placed 82 cents at my feet, as if thats all the gospel was worth. As he walked I tried to talk to him but he walked on so seriously as if angered and pricked by some truth that he didn't want to believe. What a sad thing to see people walk away hating the truth and hating God. People were happy to take pictures of their friends standing next to me as I preached. When you are preaching to a group of people it only pricks your heart more to care about their souls because you can see how lost and depraved their hearts truly are. I can't say that I completely understand why, but few things give me more joy than loudly proclaiming the gospel, than shouting it from the rooftops. I always used to wonder why I never saw anyone doing that, why isn't anyone shouting from the rooftops like dying men and women to dying men and women? All I know is that the Lord grips my heart, and when I stand up and boldly proclaim His gospel, reliant on Him, and He helps me by His mighty hand, I feel His pleasure. I feel Him near and His arms wrapped around me. I feel like this is what I was made for, I feel it so powerfully, I feel it deep within my soul. The Spirit walks with me, oh what a wonderful thing! Brethren, let us LIVE! Truly LIVE! I lived today :) And it was a day I will never forget because I know the Lord was with us and the truth was proclaimed to many. Let us strive together for the gospel! Lets not give up on going downtown together and spreading the Word of God and the gospel of truth! I will go. Who will go with me?!
Today I didn't go alone, Jacquelyn and Aric went with me. What a beautiful day. What a blessing they both are! :)
Earlier today, at 3 pm I went outside and saw the sunshine and was like, today is too beautiful a day not to go and share the gospel! And when I opened my mailbox there was a letter from Nedelka and Diego addressed to me, encouraging me to go share the gospel boldly and that they had been praying for me :) It was just what I needed, that little bit of encouragement, that Word from the Lord. Thank you brethren, your love and your words are powerful powerful things, to stir up and encourage :) I am only more eager to go out and share again!!! LETS GO! STRIVE TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL! :)
Today I didn't go alone, Jacquelyn and Aric went with me. What a beautiful day. What a blessing they both are! :)
Earlier today, at 3 pm I went outside and saw the sunshine and was like, today is too beautiful a day not to go and share the gospel! And when I opened my mailbox there was a letter from Nedelka and Diego addressed to me, encouraging me to go share the gospel boldly and that they had been praying for me :) It was just what I needed, that little bit of encouragement, that Word from the Lord. Thank you brethren, your love and your words are powerful powerful things, to stir up and encourage :) I am only more eager to go out and share again!!! LETS GO! STRIVE TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL! :)
Laying aside every weight that hinders
Dear Brethren whom I love,
My heart has been heavy because I long to see Christ exalted more and more among us, and that all weight that hinders us would be stripped away. In our small groups on Wednesday, Pastor Tim exhorted us on Ephesians 4, explaining to us that the building up of the body is not the pastors and teachers job, but is actually done by the body being connected and speaking truth to one another in love. The preaching is meant to equip us with what we need in order for us to uplift the body. Ephesians 4:11-16 explains this. And in order for us to build one another up there is the obvious implication that we must truly know one another deeply. We cannot exhort one another if we don’t know the struggles of our brethren in order to encourage and strengthen them. We cannot observe one another and instantly recognize what’s going on in that persons soul, whether it be discouragement or sin that we can address or strength in that person that if we ask about we might be encouraged by. When you truly know someone you can usually tell the state of their soul and if they are doing well or not. What a blessing it would be to the body if we could know each other that well in order to recognize how we might minister to each other and strengthen and build up the body to serve the Lord more! We cannot be a strong body if the parts are not connected and working together, if we do not talk, if we do not speak, if we are not vulnerable and transparent.
I’ve observed something in our church and because it seems to be a part of many Christians lives I desired to write this essay for the building up of the body. This weighs so heavy on my heart because I believe it hinders the very deep desires of our hearts as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve seen how carelessly some Christians, even Christians in our church, and I won’t name any names but they have argued that because it is not a sin to watch movies or listen to secular music that they have liberty to do it and that it is okay. Now whether or not that argument is even true or holds up, whether or not it’s a matter of conviction or not, I’m not even going to go there, because I believe the problem lies much deeper and I want to appeal to your hearts with reason, wisdom, the Word of God, and the calling we have been given by Christ.
Little children, what do we live for? If we have truly been born again what is the desire of our hearts? What is this new heart that the Lord has given us? And how do we walk with wisdom and discernment in this present evil age? Think about this when it comes to the area of movies and music.
I have a number of arguments I would like to put before you.
My first argument is this. We are at war. We are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are commanded to put on the armor of God and to fight. We have the mind of Christ. Brethren, we meet and pray and ask that the Lord would fill us with His Spirit, that we would be so filled with Him that we would have power! We pray this (or at least I hope you are) in secret as well, asking for the Spirit and power to live this life fully to be used of Him for His glory and seek it earnestly for the time is short. Brethren, it is quite silly honestly, that we pray and ask for these things, wanting to be filled, and then go about doing things that make this almost impossible. Fill me Lord! Use me Lord! We pray and then go to the movie theaters and sit and watch a movie and fill our minds with worthless garbage, with something so contrary with what is truth. Or we put on the headphones and listen to something that has a worldview that is contrary to the Christian worldview. In all honesty, whether or not these things have cursing, crudeness, sexuality, gruesome violence or NOT, the ideas underlying, the motives of the characters, the message being sent, the sin committed in the stories being portrayed as normal or okay, the gossip, the worldly lusts that people go after, the mindset, the idolatry, its all Anti-Christ. And we wonder why after filling ourselves with this things and letting it all seep into our mind, putting worthless things before our eyes (like scripture tells us not to do) we feel weak and vulnerable and we aren’t filled with the Spirit as much, and most likely have done more to grieve it than anything else. We do more to hurt ourselves then help ourselves to run this race. And for what? Why? For what gain? Why is it that we are so quick to defend our liberties, freedoms or lack of conviction about something, and yet we cannot even say anything good about it or anything truly beneficial about it? But we will defend it because “its not sin”.
This brings me to my second argument. Are we as Christians concerned with just not sinning? Or do we want more than to just not sin? Do we want to know how far we can go to please ourselves without sinning or do our hearts ache to be as holy and godly as we can possibly be? Are we concerned with living a life of sacrifice, living for Christ, and taking up our cross and dying? Are we more concerned about debating over what is sin or not sin, or wouldn’t we rather devote ourselves to what we know pleases God and brings Him glory? Why don’t we stop trying to figure that out and just LOVE HIM?! Brethren! The greatest commandment in all of scripture is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I hope that in no area of our lives have we lost sight of that. Have we lost sight of that when it comes to entertainment? What are we seeking brethren? What are we seeking? It ought to be to love our God.
My third argument is that in doing so we make ourselves the companion of fools when we choose to place ourselves in the midst of such entertainment. We know it is unwise to be friends with unbelievers, that we even must be careful around weaker Christians, not to be influenced by them and become like them. If we believe we can watch such things and not be influenced we foolishly deny the wisdom of scripture which tells us not to be a companion of a fool lest we become like him and that bad company corrupts good morals. We ought to run fast in the opposite direction lest we do ourselves harm.
My fourth argument is that we become partakers in their wickedness when we delight in their folly and give them our money. Have you ever watched something you knew was wrong or heard a joke you knew was wrong but you laughed? Or maybe they make light of a serious sin and we can make light along with them because it’s comical. Not only that but we became partakers in their sin because we willingly give our money to them which is only used to make more movies and music that blasphemes our God and fills peoples minds, ears, and eyes with lies. And they will suffer an eternity of hell for it because they believed the lies.
We can say amen to truth we hear. When we hear that everything we do counts for eternity, that we are always sowing seed either to the flesh or to the Spirit we can say amen, but is it real to us? If you truly believe that brethren I seriously doubt that in your right mind you can say that exposing yourself and giving your time, money, and enjoyment to what is anti-Christ and worldly is sowing seed to the Spirit. My final argument is that you are sowing seed to the flesh. You may be able to point out truth in it, you may be able to use it to expose the lies of the world, but honestly if we are listening and watching for the sake of our own enjoyment we may very well be doing ourselves a disservice and dishonoring our Savior who bled and died for us in the process.
This is no small matter. I appeal to you brethren in the view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to the Lord. Worship Him.
I am writing this specifically concerning movies and music. There are other areas where this may be applicable. I am not trying to be legalistic or rule out all forms of entertainment, because I believe in many ways we can glorify God in enjoying this life He has given us. But you see, the ideas of the world are the exact opposite of what we believe. We cannot rejoice in the lies, in fact we are to hate the lies and rejoice in the truth. So if you are sitting there soaking in and opening your mind to a story filled with lies and godlessness, what good is that for your soul? For this battle? We must be strengthened for war, not hindered, not lulled to sleep as we open ourselves to lies.
Personally, I have a conviction not to go to the movies at all and haven’t been for almost 4 years. Why? Because I believe in everything I stated above, and also I see the movie theater as a place where the world goes to worship. If we have in America a temple with its gods and goddesses, I believe it is the movie theater. I have no interest in going there but to go and wage war. I believe it is a place where demons love to be and whisper into the ears of those whose minds are being opened and exposed to great wickedness. Yes, Christians don’t want to go to those kinds of movies. We say that the ones we go see aren’t really that bad. But let us not make the mistake of saying they are good because we are comparing them to movies of great wickedness. That’s no different than a sinner comparing himself to a worse sinner and saying that they are good. I’ve heard so many times people tell me that the movie they went to go see was “good” because there was no sex or cussing. I’m sure if we compared a secular movie to Gods standard of goodness we probably wouldn’t say it was “good” but desperately wicked.
I wrote this because I desire for the body to run faster and harder for Christ, and I believe this is a weight that hinders us and keeps us from the victory in Christ, the joy that is to be had, and keeps us from what we ought to be pursuing- our treasure in heaven where it will be kept forever, and a closer relationship with Christ. That we might have a life that is emptied of the world and self so that the Spirit has room to come in and is pleased to dwell with us. So that revival might come and affect the whole city and that the Spirit might be pleased to fall when we forsake all our sin and live righteously and in integrity before Him.
My heart has been heavy because I long to see Christ exalted more and more among us, and that all weight that hinders us would be stripped away. In our small groups on Wednesday, Pastor Tim exhorted us on Ephesians 4, explaining to us that the building up of the body is not the pastors and teachers job, but is actually done by the body being connected and speaking truth to one another in love. The preaching is meant to equip us with what we need in order for us to uplift the body. Ephesians 4:11-16 explains this. And in order for us to build one another up there is the obvious implication that we must truly know one another deeply. We cannot exhort one another if we don’t know the struggles of our brethren in order to encourage and strengthen them. We cannot observe one another and instantly recognize what’s going on in that persons soul, whether it be discouragement or sin that we can address or strength in that person that if we ask about we might be encouraged by. When you truly know someone you can usually tell the state of their soul and if they are doing well or not. What a blessing it would be to the body if we could know each other that well in order to recognize how we might minister to each other and strengthen and build up the body to serve the Lord more! We cannot be a strong body if the parts are not connected and working together, if we do not talk, if we do not speak, if we are not vulnerable and transparent.
I’ve observed something in our church and because it seems to be a part of many Christians lives I desired to write this essay for the building up of the body. This weighs so heavy on my heart because I believe it hinders the very deep desires of our hearts as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve seen how carelessly some Christians, even Christians in our church, and I won’t name any names but they have argued that because it is not a sin to watch movies or listen to secular music that they have liberty to do it and that it is okay. Now whether or not that argument is even true or holds up, whether or not it’s a matter of conviction or not, I’m not even going to go there, because I believe the problem lies much deeper and I want to appeal to your hearts with reason, wisdom, the Word of God, and the calling we have been given by Christ.
Little children, what do we live for? If we have truly been born again what is the desire of our hearts? What is this new heart that the Lord has given us? And how do we walk with wisdom and discernment in this present evil age? Think about this when it comes to the area of movies and music.
I have a number of arguments I would like to put before you.
My first argument is this. We are at war. We are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are commanded to put on the armor of God and to fight. We have the mind of Christ. Brethren, we meet and pray and ask that the Lord would fill us with His Spirit, that we would be so filled with Him that we would have power! We pray this (or at least I hope you are) in secret as well, asking for the Spirit and power to live this life fully to be used of Him for His glory and seek it earnestly for the time is short. Brethren, it is quite silly honestly, that we pray and ask for these things, wanting to be filled, and then go about doing things that make this almost impossible. Fill me Lord! Use me Lord! We pray and then go to the movie theaters and sit and watch a movie and fill our minds with worthless garbage, with something so contrary with what is truth. Or we put on the headphones and listen to something that has a worldview that is contrary to the Christian worldview. In all honesty, whether or not these things have cursing, crudeness, sexuality, gruesome violence or NOT, the ideas underlying, the motives of the characters, the message being sent, the sin committed in the stories being portrayed as normal or okay, the gossip, the worldly lusts that people go after, the mindset, the idolatry, its all Anti-Christ. And we wonder why after filling ourselves with this things and letting it all seep into our mind, putting worthless things before our eyes (like scripture tells us not to do) we feel weak and vulnerable and we aren’t filled with the Spirit as much, and most likely have done more to grieve it than anything else. We do more to hurt ourselves then help ourselves to run this race. And for what? Why? For what gain? Why is it that we are so quick to defend our liberties, freedoms or lack of conviction about something, and yet we cannot even say anything good about it or anything truly beneficial about it? But we will defend it because “its not sin”.
This brings me to my second argument. Are we as Christians concerned with just not sinning? Or do we want more than to just not sin? Do we want to know how far we can go to please ourselves without sinning or do our hearts ache to be as holy and godly as we can possibly be? Are we concerned with living a life of sacrifice, living for Christ, and taking up our cross and dying? Are we more concerned about debating over what is sin or not sin, or wouldn’t we rather devote ourselves to what we know pleases God and brings Him glory? Why don’t we stop trying to figure that out and just LOVE HIM?! Brethren! The greatest commandment in all of scripture is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I hope that in no area of our lives have we lost sight of that. Have we lost sight of that when it comes to entertainment? What are we seeking brethren? What are we seeking? It ought to be to love our God.
My third argument is that in doing so we make ourselves the companion of fools when we choose to place ourselves in the midst of such entertainment. We know it is unwise to be friends with unbelievers, that we even must be careful around weaker Christians, not to be influenced by them and become like them. If we believe we can watch such things and not be influenced we foolishly deny the wisdom of scripture which tells us not to be a companion of a fool lest we become like him and that bad company corrupts good morals. We ought to run fast in the opposite direction lest we do ourselves harm.
My fourth argument is that we become partakers in their wickedness when we delight in their folly and give them our money. Have you ever watched something you knew was wrong or heard a joke you knew was wrong but you laughed? Or maybe they make light of a serious sin and we can make light along with them because it’s comical. Not only that but we became partakers in their sin because we willingly give our money to them which is only used to make more movies and music that blasphemes our God and fills peoples minds, ears, and eyes with lies. And they will suffer an eternity of hell for it because they believed the lies.
We can say amen to truth we hear. When we hear that everything we do counts for eternity, that we are always sowing seed either to the flesh or to the Spirit we can say amen, but is it real to us? If you truly believe that brethren I seriously doubt that in your right mind you can say that exposing yourself and giving your time, money, and enjoyment to what is anti-Christ and worldly is sowing seed to the Spirit. My final argument is that you are sowing seed to the flesh. You may be able to point out truth in it, you may be able to use it to expose the lies of the world, but honestly if we are listening and watching for the sake of our own enjoyment we may very well be doing ourselves a disservice and dishonoring our Savior who bled and died for us in the process.
This is no small matter. I appeal to you brethren in the view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to the Lord. Worship Him.
I am writing this specifically concerning movies and music. There are other areas where this may be applicable. I am not trying to be legalistic or rule out all forms of entertainment, because I believe in many ways we can glorify God in enjoying this life He has given us. But you see, the ideas of the world are the exact opposite of what we believe. We cannot rejoice in the lies, in fact we are to hate the lies and rejoice in the truth. So if you are sitting there soaking in and opening your mind to a story filled with lies and godlessness, what good is that for your soul? For this battle? We must be strengthened for war, not hindered, not lulled to sleep as we open ourselves to lies.
Personally, I have a conviction not to go to the movies at all and haven’t been for almost 4 years. Why? Because I believe in everything I stated above, and also I see the movie theater as a place where the world goes to worship. If we have in America a temple with its gods and goddesses, I believe it is the movie theater. I have no interest in going there but to go and wage war. I believe it is a place where demons love to be and whisper into the ears of those whose minds are being opened and exposed to great wickedness. Yes, Christians don’t want to go to those kinds of movies. We say that the ones we go see aren’t really that bad. But let us not make the mistake of saying they are good because we are comparing them to movies of great wickedness. That’s no different than a sinner comparing himself to a worse sinner and saying that they are good. I’ve heard so many times people tell me that the movie they went to go see was “good” because there was no sex or cussing. I’m sure if we compared a secular movie to Gods standard of goodness we probably wouldn’t say it was “good” but desperately wicked.
I wrote this because I desire for the body to run faster and harder for Christ, and I believe this is a weight that hinders us and keeps us from the victory in Christ, the joy that is to be had, and keeps us from what we ought to be pursuing- our treasure in heaven where it will be kept forever, and a closer relationship with Christ. That we might have a life that is emptied of the world and self so that the Spirit has room to come in and is pleased to dwell with us. So that revival might come and affect the whole city and that the Spirit might be pleased to fall when we forsake all our sin and live righteously and in integrity before Him.
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