Be an evangelist

Being a parent is hard enough, but passionately desiring to see your daughter and your son grow up to be servants of Christ is even harder. How do you handle a situation where your child is planning on doing something that will probably cause some waves, but it is a good thing to do?
My daughter is apparently an evangelist. Of this I am proud!! Still I am a little nervous. She is planning to tell people about Jesus at the school talent show using her ventriloquism. She was simply going to have her dummy (Carlos I think) tell everyone about Jesus. My wife is helping her do it in a more humorous way. Either way she is trying out for the talent show on Wednesday.
How do I handle this? I encourage her, and I get ready for battle. Satan can not be happy with this. To be honest, there is a part of me that hopes there will be a fight. I can't help but think that God would use that kind of a fight for His glory.
Well, let's just wait and see.

Winning is Everything

In the interest of full discloser, I am, by nature, a very competitive person. Over the years my competitive nature has gotten the best of me more times than I can count. My tendency is towards competition. To be honest, I hate it that I am not the best at everything I do, I have had to come to terms with this since there are probably people who are better than me at almost everything (I have come to terms by living in denial). Still the saying, "winning isn't everything" should be forbidden. Sure, we can and should learn from losing but we should never play to lose. It seems ridiculous to do anything without the intention of winning. Why start a business if you plan on going bankrupt? Why play a game if you plan on losing or simply don't care? There are times when winning isn't everything, like in a back yard volleyball game, but there are other times when winning is everything! And I really do mean everything. There are times when losing means death, or worse yet someone else's death. There are times when losing is the worst possible outcome. This is true for our soldiers who face death in a very real way, this is true for our police, our fire fighters, and it is definitely true when it comes to Jesus.

I coached little league baseball a couple years ago. I have to admit, I wasn't out to win the league championship. For a guy who has embarrassed himself by yelling at a few umps (only to apologize for my sinful actions later) at softball games this is quite and admission. Still, there was something more important for me to accomplish. I wanted to help these kids become better ball players even if they lost. I wanted them to enjoy the game, and I wanted them to learn what it meant to work hard for something. Winning wasn't everything. For the record we did win our share of games, but more importantly we learned to enjoy baseball. I might point out that this is the exception rather than the rule. There is a spiritual application to this train of thought.

Too often we look at Jesus like we look at 7 year olds playing baseball. Sure, we want them to win, but if we are honest we realize there are more important things in life than winning a little league baseball game at the age of 7. We treat church like its little league, we don't play to win, we play to feel good. Church and Christianity in this sense has been feminized (please don't send me angry emails ladies, I know some of you are very competative it is simply a generalization). The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9 that we are to run the race like we want to win!! The church isn't little league, and it isn't a back yard volleyball game. The church, Jesus, God, the Kingdom of God is the major leagues!! Anything less than winning the world series isn't enough. Jesus didn't send us into the world to make disciples when we have time or when we feel like it. He sent us with a goal to be accomplished, a battle to fight, and a victory to win. He gave us the task of making disciples of all nations starting in our own back yards. This isn't a joke and I promise both God and Satan are keeping score.

It is time we stopped trying to make everyone feel good. It is time we drew the proverbial line in the sand to find out who is really fighting to win and who is just taking batting practice. Spring training is over. It's time to stop playing for fun and start playing to win!!

What Evangelism Isn't

There is more evangelism methods, books, and seminars than I can shake a stick at. Heck I even have my own method of evangelism. In the end evangelism is only one thing, it is telling sinners who need to repent and be forgiven the true story of Jesus death and resurrection. The gospel is the atonement, it is the cross, it is the resurrection.

I have noticed that my story doesn't supply forgiveness, it is only an example of it. My story doesn't supply atonement, it is only about how I have received it. My story doesn't have any of the things in it necessary for it to be the gospel.

Christianity Today has published part of mark Dever's book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism. It echo's this concern that I have had for some time, check it out.

Gospel Base Aplogetics

I have been working on something for some time, and I had an opportunity to try it out the other day. I want to share the idea (in a limited way) and suggest a new approach to apologetics that I think is better than anything I have seen (I am not trying to blow my own horn, I stole the idea from a great book called the Bible).

The idea is simple, perhaps so simple it has been overlooked by a lot of people. It starts with the gospel as a story. This is not new, there are many people, groups, and organizations that have begun to share the gospel in a narrative way. I want to thank them, they have done me a favor. The gospel is the primary story and message of the church. It is laid out in all of the Bible!! It starts at the beginning and ends, (you guessed it) at the end. In other words the gospel story starts with creation and ends with a brand new creation (new heavens and earth).

As I began to process the story it seemed to me there was another aspect of the gospel story that was missing. It was a more complete understanding of who God is. I know this sounds like it would take an hour just to explain the story, but what if we were able to tell the gospel story in a narrative way and still focus on the primary characteristics of who God is?

This is where the apologetics part comes in. Over the last several decades apologetics focused on good solid research, numbers of manuscripts, archaeological finds, etc... Thanks to amazing guys like Josh McDowel, Norman Geisler, J.P. Morland and others we have had a wealth of important information to help us defend and proclaim the good news. Unfortunately many of these guys are, well, smarter than the rest of us. They have devoted their lives to studying these things. For the rest of us we need something a little simpler. In my experience most people don't really want empirical evidence as much as they want good answers to the most obvious philosophical questions in life. Above all people want to understand a loving God who allows evil in the world.

Most of the time people don't accept the free gift of salvation because they don't understand who God is. They don't understand the gospel as a complete story. So how does this work??

I don't want to give this away, because I am considering publishing the idea in book form and possibly in a video curriculum form as well. What if you could share the gospel story (an over view of the whole thing) using characteristics of God (like Justice, love, mercy, righteousness, etc...) in five minutes? What if at the same time you did this you were able to answer the most common questions people have by simply going back to the story and the characteristics of God?

That is the general concept. I did this with my neighbor just two weeks ago. He was going through a tough time so he knocked on my door. He interrupted my dinner plans with my family and then took my ear for the next hour. I shared the gospel with him as the answer to the questions he had. He asked the most common question about evil and a loving God with the precursor that no one had been able to answer that question in a satisfactory manner. I went back to the gospel story and the characteristics of God and explained why evil things happen. He looked at me in amazement and said, "no one has been able to answer that question, until now!"

Scared to Disagree

I work at Caribou Coffee part time. For the most part I enjoy the job. I like talking to people and the coffee is pretty good too. Recently, however, I was informed that there are several people who don't like to work with me because I like to debate. I have to admit, I like to debate and have important conversations.

When I heard this I wasn't sure what to think, for most of my life I have been well liked by those I am around. Over the past several years I have become more bold in talking to people about controversial issues. I like to talk about them because there have been too many times where I have left important things unsaid. It seems like most people don't like to talk with people about things where they might disagree. Instead they would rather go through life ignorant and blissful. They have opinions simply because someone somewhere told them something was true. They arrive at these opinions and hold on to them strongly without ever questioning their validity. They don't really think about things as much as they feel about things.

So what now? This is tricky because for the most part I have a reputation based on only a few select conversations. I also have this reputation because I have allegedly said certain things that in reality I never said. Some of them were said by the person I was talking to and then attributed to me. First, I am not going to stop having these conversations, they are important ones and I would rather place questions in other peoples minds about important issues than be liked. Second, I am going to listen carefully not to their words, but to there emotions. This is going to be hard. Our world is full of thin skinned people. Unfortunately the only way our society will ever learn to have conversations about difficult issues is by having them. It's a lot like building up calluses when you are learning to play guitar.

Are You A Concealed Carry Christian?

In most states it is legal, once you have jumped through the appropriate hoops, to carry a concealed weapon (usually a gun). Recently there was a shooting not too far from my house (the shooting took place in Coon Rapids) between an officer and a civilian who was carrying a gun. In spite of how this blog entry has started it is not necessarily about guns, but instead about being armed in another way.

The entire concept of concealed carry is keeping the weapon concealed. In other words people who have a permit walk around armed but the people around them don't know they are armed. Simply put, the concealment gives the armed citizen the ability to better defend themselves because an attacker would not know they are armed. Smart people (in my opinion) would not advertise the fact that they have a permit or carry a weapon. It would defeat the purpose.

Christianity is different, it is not a concealed carry religion. Still I would argue that many Christians live in such a way. They may not completely conceal their faith, they may tell people they carry, but they are afraid to bring out the weapon. People should not carry a weapon if they don't know how to use it or if they are unwilling to use it. I might suggest the same is true of Christianity. It is the responsibility of every Christian to seek out training that would help them use the weaponry God has given them to accomplish God's purpose. Not only must they know how, but they must practice in real life situations.

What kind of Christian are you?

The Cost of Kindness

It's hard enough to be nice, at least for me, but when added costs reveal themselves it becomes less of a difficulty. Go ahead and read that again, it might not have said what you expected it to.

I was on my way home and I saw a car stalled in a very busy intersection. I decided to be a good Christian and turn around. I helped the guy push his car through the intersection. I returned to my car and started on the way home. I soon realized I could not find my phone. It was well after dark, so I went home and got a flash light and returned to the scene of the "Big Push."

I found my phone. Of course you can see the picture above. Of course I don't have insurance on the phone, so it cost me $150 to replace it. Yes, I use a pretty versatile phone that allows me to do many things. I have to admit although I hated to spend the money, I did not get very frustrated. Yah, kindness can be expensive, but there is something about knowing you did what you should have that makes the expense worth it.

Missing The Kill Shot

In Minnesota this year there were an estimated 500,000 deer hunters headed to the woods this week. I was one of them. Deer hunting is a lot like watching the squirrel in your back yard run all over the place looking for food. Most of the time it is pretty boring. The effort put in to sitting perfectly still and remaining completely silent is very tiresome. Combine that with getting up at 5 AM and wondering into the woods in the pitch black and you have a perfect recipe for sleeping no matter how uncomfortable you are. I often find myself struggling to keep my eyes open between squirrel sittings.

The effort and focus required to accomplish the amazing feat of staying awake with freezing toes and fingers can instantly change to heart pounding adrenaline and heavy breathing when a deer wonders by. The toes are no longer cold and all your focus and concentration is directed towards controlling your breathing and thinking clearly so you can take the best shot. You don't want to ruin meat or take a shot that will only wound the deer. Occasionally the deer may see you or smell something and suspect danger. Your heart really pounds when the deer starts pawing the ground and barking out warning signals that sound like a violent intentional sneeze from only 30 yards away. The hardest thing to do is pass up a bad shot. This happened to me on Sunday. This deer knew something was wrong, but couldn't quit figure it out. It put on a show for what seemed like forever. Eventually the deer took off, but I could have shot the one following it. I had it in my scope, all I had to do was pull the trigger. Sure it was left handed and over my right shoulder, but it was there. I passed up the shot. I didn't pull the trigger.

Evangelism can be very similar to deer hunting. You can have someone in your sights ready to pull the trigger, but maybe the shot isn't right. If you take the shot you might end up just wounding the target. When it comes to evangelism too many Christians take bad shots. Sometimes it is as if they just go into the woods and start shooting till the gun is empty hoping they hit something (there are plenty of those kind of hunters in the woods as well). Unfortunately they don't usually hit much and when they do, there is nothing left to salvage.

In deer hunting and evangelism the hunter must spend time in the woods. They need to know where the deer are going to be, where they find food and water, as well as where they find shelter. Hunters don't live in the woods, but they spend enough time there to understand it. They know how to fit in. Deer are used to certain smells, sounds, and movements. If there is anything out of the ordinary they panic. Un-churched people are the same way. Just like hunters go into the woods so evangelist must go into the world. A good hunter will know when to shoot and when to wait. They don't pass up shots because they are scared or nervous, but because they understand there are appropriate times to wait and appropriate times to engage. Inexperienced hunters have difficulty deciphering when it is the right time to do both. The only way to get better is to spend time in the woods, study the deer, and take some shots.

About 45 minutes after passing up an opportunity to take a bad shot I had another opportunity. A better shot presented itself and I took it. The hunting analogy does break down at certain points, but there is a real sense in which we are hunting.

You need to be prepared to go into the woods, but you need to go. Get some experience, take some shots, and learn from your experiences. Be patient and understand that sometimes you can take a good shot and still miss. This happened to me on Monday.

Witnessing Frustration

I just finished speaking with some JW's and I am frustrated. This is the third time they have been to our house, and I always invite them in and talk to them. This time they evidently knew what they were in for. My wife spoke with them the first two times without me. The second time she made one of them cry. I think it was actually a good thing because this time that girls aunt and another lady who had been to our house before came.

I know their hearts are hardened, and I know the chances of them believing the truth are slim, still unless something changes they are headed to hell. Although I have spoken with JW's on a variety of occasions, this time was significantly more frustrating. I think this time I saw just how tightly the organization grips these people and suffocates them. They are manipulative and conniving.

Part of me wonders if it is even worth it to talk to them, but on the other hand if I don't who will?

Christian Living

I love reading, sort of. I read and I love what I learn, but I don't like the activity of reading. I wish it was more like the Matrix where I could just download everything into my brain. Every time I talk to someone they recommend a book. If I tried to read every book recommended to me all I would ever do is read. Actually it is kind of ironic that I am sitting here writing this expecting someone to read it.

Every time I enter a Christian book store I have to wade through the Christian living section to find the section I am usually trying to get to (the theology section). It never ceases to amaze me how many books one person can write saying the same thing. Don't get me wrong, some of these books are good books and communicate an important message. It just seems like the Bible should be our Christian living book. If we went to the Bible Helps section or the theology section and spent as much time studying the word of God as we did reading Christian living books we could probably throw away a lot of those other books.

Maybe we should all consider how much we could be learning about God and His word if we spent as much money and time studying Him through His word as we did reading Christian Living books. There are 9,764 titles in the Christian Living section at www.christianbook.com. To the contrary there are only 574 titles in Bible reference and 5,641 titles in theology. I am sure many of them are good and even helpful, but maybe we should spend a little more time studying the way of the sword!