Mardi Gras Mission

Tomorrow evening I will embark on my second trip to New Orleans to work the streets during Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras in N.O. is one of the largest parties in the world.(Biggest is in Rio De Janeiro). Hundreds of thousands of people will come to NO from all over the states and all over the world. The will drink gallons of alcohol, get wasted, get naked, engage in all kinds of lascivious behavior and sins. (doesn't sound like fun to me)But, these are not the scum of society, they are your neigbhors and co-workers. They are not evil, they are lost and need a Savior.

I will not be partying, I will be doing the work of an evangelist. Lord willing, I will hand out tracts and start conversations in which I can share the message of Christ with anyone I can.

Does this work? Is this effective? Is this just a waste of time? After all, they may not even be sober.

First of all, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Well, here they are. Jesus did not come for those who do not need a physician, but for those who are spiritually sick. Well, here they are.

Is it effective? Absolutely yes, from a certain point of view. I have already been convicted of the Lord that I need to be in much prayer about this trip. Me being drawn closer to the Lord - that is effective. I will get the opportunity to share my faith and be obedient to the Great Commission. That is effective in my own life.

But, is it effective in reaching the lost and bringing them to a saving knowledge of Jesus? The answer to that question is maybe.

I think this type of Christ sharing is like shooting a machine gun. You put out a lot of bullets and hope something gets hit. Or, it is like fishing. You make lots of casts and hope to catch something. Or, to use a biblical illustration, it is like sowing seed. Much of that seed might fall on useless ground. But maybe, just maybe, the seed of the gospel of Jesus might just fall on good soil. Soil that comes to faith in Jesus, and yields a bountiful harvest of fruitfulness for the glory of Christ.

I don't know what God might do. Imagine a scenario like this. I put a tract into the hands of a man from Timbuktu. He is drunk, has no idea what's going on. He wakes up the next morning and sobers up. He can't believe what he did the last few nights. He finds a piece of paper stuck in his pocket. He pulls it out and reads it. It is the gospel tract telling him about Jesus Christ. He realizes how deep his sin truly is. The man gets on his knees, repents and places his faith in Christ. Then he goes home and tells his family about Jesus - they come to faith. He goes on to live a life that glorifies God and leads many others to the throne of grace.

Could something like that happen? Absolutely. And since that is a possibility, that is all that matters.

Snow At My House

Heaven and Hell

The great attraction of heaven is the unbroken presence of Christ.

The great pain of hell is the unbroken absence of Christ.

(which includes the eternal torment of hellfire, and is a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.)

Tim Tebow Superbowl Ad

With all the hoopla leading up to the superbowl, the debate about Tim Tebow's ad caught my attention. All the pro abortion groups were all over the media complaining in some form or fashion. Even though, they had never seen the ad.

When I saw it during the superbowl I thought it really made all those complaints look foolish. I think the story of Tim and Pam Tebow is compelling and amazing.
Here is the ad, and be sure to go to the Focus on the Family website to see the whole story. It's great.

Don't Forget Being Saved: The Tragic Story of Abraham Shakespeare

Abraham Shakespeare was a humble man of with not much means. He was an assistant truck driver and still lived with his mother in a rural area near Tampa, Florida. He didn’t have much and never really did. An article in the AP writes that he could hardly read and had a criminal record.

His friends reported that they were pleased when they saw Abraham join a local church. He seemed to have a new interest in spiritual things. He was even baptized at the church.

It was shortly after this that Abraham’s life took another turn. He won the lottery. Literally, he purchased and won $30 million dollars from the Florida Lottery. He took the lump sum payment and instantly pocketed $17 million dollars. Whoa!

And that is exactly what everyone who ever knew Abraham thought. They showed up in droves at his door with hands outstretched. He was generous and did give some of his wealth away. He bought a million dollar home and other things.

It was then that Abraham got into a relationship with a swindler named Deedee. She pilfered his money, and then took his life. Abraham went missing and was recently found. He was buried 5ft below ground, in a slab of concrete – dead!

That is not even the most tragic part of this story.

Listen to this quote, “Meanwhile, friends and family puzzled Friday over Shakespeare's rapid rise and fall. Jones said his friend lived a humble life, and just before he bought the winning ticket he joined a church and was baptized. "When he won the lottery," Jones said, "he forgot about being saved."

1 Timothy 6:9
"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction."

Matthew 13:7; 22
“A sower went out to sow, and some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them…
“As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”

AP story here.

Here is a link to the story from the NY Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/01/06/2010-01-06_30m_lottery_winner_abraham_shakespeare_feared_murdered_for_his_jackpot.html

It's not a difficult story to find, all you have to do is google search abraham shakespeare.

Southwestern Gets Some Dead Sea Scrolls

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth recently acquired some pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

You can read an article in the Star-Telegram about the acquisition.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the late 1940's in some caves beside the Dead Sea. The writings found were well preserved and contained some of the oldest copies of the OT scriptures ever found.

What is so significant about the scrolls? By the late 1940s we had the Old Testament for a long, long time. But, the majority of copies of the OT text were not nearly as old as the scrolls found in Qumran. What is remarkable is that the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm that what we have is an amazingly accurate copy of the OT.

I can't wait to view them the next time I am down at the Seminary.

Privacy Please, Pt 3

“No church for me, because my faith is private.”

Another way this excuse manifests itself is with church. Some people have quit the church and their reasoning is “my faith is private”. These people are claiming that they can have a private relationship with God and, therefore, do not need to go to church.

People have a plethora of excuses for avoiding church. There are also some wrong reasons for attending church. There are two false ideas that I battle against when it comes to church.

False Idea #1 – Church is my ticket to heaven. This is false, and yet many people buy into this idea. They go to church a lot, but they do so because they think it somehow earns them credit towards heaven. This is patently unbiblical.(Eph. 2:8-10) Salvation is not found on a church attendance chart. Salvation is found only through the blood of Christ. Attending church cannot save anyone.

False Idea #2 – I don’t need church, faith is a private matter. This idea is the other end of the spectrum. People who espouse this idea don’t want to go to church and rationalize it by the claim that “faith is private”. This, too ,is false.

This group of people really don’t want to be inconvenienced with church. It is too much of a chore to get up so early on a Sunday morning and spend a couple of hours worshiping the God who loved them so much that He gave His life for their very soul. They don’t want to be bothered with fellowshipping with other believers who need their help in their walk with Christ. They don’t want to waste time being obedient to God’s command to assemble with His family. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

No! This excuse is one of selfishness, pride, and laziness. It is unbiblical. Church is not optional and your faith is not that private.

It might sound like I am trying to have it both ways. On one side I am saying that just going to church is not good enough. On the other side I am saying that if you don’t go to church that is not good enough. How do I answer that charge?

It is really rather simple. If I have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ who died for my sins to save my soul; then obeying Him in all matters, including church, is not a chore and it is not a check mark. It becomes a privilege that I can obey my Lord, worship Him among the family of God, and be involved in His service to others.

If your faith is THAT private, it might not exist.

Privacy Please, Pt. 2

You can’t see my faith because it is private. My faith is a private matter.

I’ve heard this expressed in different ways. “He is just very private about his faith.” “They are quiet about God.” “They believe, but they are just not very religious.” “I believe, I just don’t show it like others.”

The problem with this excuse is that it is an attempt to justify something that probably doesn’t exist. James addresses this very issue(James 2:14-24). If someone claims to have faith, but there are no outwardly visible indicators of faith in action, it is not biblical faith.

I believe that it is impossible for someone to have truly experienced the power of salvation by the Almighty Lord Jesus Christ and it have no outward effect on their life. It just ain’t so! (See also John 15:1-5)

If your faith is so private that it has no public demonstration, it might not be a true, biblical faith.

Privacy Please, Pt 1

I have heard people occasionally say something like this, “My faith is a private matter.” Or, “they were private in their faith.” Or, “Don’t ask me about my walk with God, it’s a private matter.”

Is it true, that faith is a private matter?

There is an aspect of faith in which you could say it is private. But, I don’t think the way most people use that sentence is true.

If you are truly a follower of Christ, i.e. soundly saved, there are some aspects, but not all, of your relationship with the Lord that are personal and private in a sense. If I commit a sin by having a thought in my mind, I need to confess that sin, but not to you. That is a private aspect of my walk with God. Jesus said, that I am to go into my “prayer closet” to pray, instead of standing on the street corner for all to see. There are times for corporate praise of God, but there are also private moments of praise between just me and the Lord. Those are a few examples of how faith can be private. Your confession of sin, and praise of the Lord, or the things that the Lord speaks to your heart, does not have to be published for the entire world to see. In that sense, your faith can be a private matter.

I do not think that is what most people mean when they refer to their faith being private. Most of the time, “private faith” is a bad excuse. Many times it is the retort of someone who claims to have faith but doesn’t have much in their life to back it up.

Stay tuned for more to come

A Little Sound vs. A Powerful Voice

A man's word is a little sound, that flies into the air and soon vanishes; but the Word of God is greater than heaven and earth, yea, greater than death and hell, for it forms part of the power of God, and endures everlastingly; we should, therefore, diligently study God's Word, and know and assuredly believe that God himself speaks unto us.


quote from Martin Luther