“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.
Hello Friends:
This week I watched the 2022 Dove Awards. For those who don’t know, Dove Awards are awarded for the top Christian songs, albums, and artists in the past year. It’s a big event, attended by a large number of people.
I told my wife that in a way I’m jealous of the people in the Christian music industry that get together frequently to collaborate on writing and performing songs—a place where there’s some action and excitement related to Christianity.
Dee, my wife quickly brought me back down to earth saying that she dabbled in the music world in college, and most times it’s not as glamorous and exciting as it seems. She said that musicians are on the road many weeks a year, and if the musician is married with a family, the many weeks away from home are a hindrance to maintaining a healthy family. Not to mention the dog-eat-dog music world of trying to compete with others to come up with the latest and greatest sound and song.
Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. Last time we talked about the Cosmic Battle in which we are engaged. Most of us think of Christianity as being fairly humdrum. But the battles in the cosmos that Christians face make the Lord of the Rings movies pale in comparison.
I titled my post this time “Discipleship Point 7: An Exciting But Sometimes Dangerous Journey!” It’s about the fact that the enemies of Christianity sometimes attack Christians, and portray them as needy, pitiful creatures. They think that we're weaklings that depend on a book filled with fantasies to help us to cope with the difficulties of life.
Jesus told us in John 15 and 16 that people would hate us for our faith in Him. He said that people hated Him first, so we should expect nothing less than for them also to hate us, and even go so far as trying, and succeeding in some cases, to kill us.
You may ask me, "Arlen, where is the excitement in people hating us and even going so far as to plot to kill some of us?" All of us long to be liked by others, right? There's no harm in wanting to be liked. But what's better than being liked? I would venture to say it is to be respected for not backing down from our faith in the face of persecution.
People might be frenzied to spew hatred and disgust toward Christians, as in the case of Stephen in Acts. But you know at least one person that was changed dramatically after Stephen was stoned. We might think that Paul, whose name was then Saul, would have hesitated when called by Jesus to follow Him as one of Jesus' staunchest ambassadors. Paul, after all, saw firsthand what people did to Stephen, a lover of Jesus.
Paul, however, jumped in headfirst to follow Jesus after his encounter with Him on the road to Damascus. Nothing would dissuade Paul from the exciting—but sometimes dangerous journeys he was about to embark on. Yes, I said exciting! Don’t let anyone persuade you otherwise.
Last time we talked about a cosmic battle going on. I’m often amazed by people, sometimes famous, who jumped at the chance to go to war against Nazi Germany in the 1940s. Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart were two established actors, and Ted Williams and Bob Feller were two baseball greats. All four interrupted lucrative acting and sports careers to face possible death in wartime. Why did they do it? I can only speculate, but I think they were willing to go to battle for the good of others.
So, the bottom line is that I may never be involved in something as popular as a song awards show like the Dove Awards, But I CAN BE involved in the exciting—but sometimes dangerous journey of following Jesus' instructions in the Bible—of winning souls for Jesus.
So, until I see you next time, keep sharing the wonderful love of Jesus,
Arlen
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.
Hello Friends:
Did you realize that we as Christians are engaged in a cosmic battle? We'll talk about it in a little bit.
Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. Last time we talked about fruit production, based on Jesus’ discourse in John 15. In that chapter, he likened himself to a vine, and we as Christians are the branches that bear much fruit if we abide in Him. I think the topic of fruitfulness is needed and interesting, but perhaps rather boring.
I just finished watching the “Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” TV movie series. I’m not suggesting it as a must-watch series. Some of you might question the fact that I watched it at all. The redeeming quality for me is the struggle of good against evil. I would suggest to you, however, that the intensity and importance of the Lord of the Rings TV movies pales in comparison to reality.
I think it’s amusing that movie lovers and gamers live vicariously through movies and games such as Lord of the Rings. They watch and follow movie and gaming heroes, and don’t realize there is a bigger drama—or game in play. They resort to a shallow make-believe world, instead of the hard-hitting reality that is facing them squarely in the face, but they don’t realize it.
Satan has done a very good job of making us not think of the cosmic importance of our lives. We think that life on this earth is all that we have—and we don’t realize that our very lives and the lives of our loved ones are teetering on the brink of disaster.
I entitled this post “Discipleship Point 6: Engagement In A Cosmic Battle!” It’s not a physical war with guns and weapons, but the implications of this war are not just earthly. The Bible says the implications are cosmic, which is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “relating to the cosmos, the extraterrestrial vastness, or the universe in contrast to the earth alone.” In other words, if something is cosmic, it’s much greater than anything we experience here on earth, or in the case of Lord of the Rings, “middle earth”.
We as Christians aren’t engaged in just some namby-pamby exercise. We can’t just be nice and sweet, and the world will come to us for answers to the tough questions they face. Jesus and His disciples had an edge to them. They weren’t going to back down when the lives of people were at stake. They realized they were in a war of cosmic proportions.
Paul described it in Ephesians 6:10-18. Here it is:
“Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints."
There you have it! Do you believe that today’s battle for the souls of people is more intense than the one staged on Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings? This is because Lord of the Rings is just fantasy fiction, albeit very intense and dramatic. It was written by J.R.R. Tolkien, a friend of C.S. Lewis, who also wrote the very famous Chronicles of Narnia Christian fantasy fiction.
It's time to get mad at the enemy of our souls. Galadriel in Lord of the Rings got mad at Lord Sauron, the evil enemy out to destroy the elves, dwarves, Harfoots, and Southlander and Numenorian humans who tried to get in his way. Sauron wanted to establish the dark kingdom of Mordor, inhabited by savage Orcs and other evil followers.
Satan is, however, much eviler than Lord Sauron. He wants to lull people into a stupor—then destroy them and send them to an eternity in hell.
In Lord of the Rings, the prevailing thought of many was to not resist the inevitable. Many people today joke about hell, saying, “At least I’ll be in good company.” They don’t have a clue what they’re dealing with—and with whom they’re dealing!
All seems rosy and good now, but are we aware of the evil forces at work in the world? We are in a world where leaders propose war, destruction, and killing of innocent human lives to get what they want. How would it be if a tank went rolling down your road ready to annihilate you if you resist—and even annihilate you if you don’t resist?
What about the unease in the Middle East? What about the hatred of Israel, a country about the size of New Jersey? You may say, “Arlen, those things are far away from us.” Well, then let's get closer to home.
What about the killing of innocent people in our cities, and even in our own towns? I knew a young woman that was killed by a serial killer in Ashland, Ohio where I worked. I was very angry at the man who took the life of this vulnerable woman with mental illness—who was even paranoid on a good day.
Also, my brother one year older than I got shot and blinded in 2001. It was the same year evil men used planes to kill people in the trade towers and the Pentagon. Their goal was to bring terror to the people of the United States by killing many, many people in one day.
I know that when my brother was shot I was devastated. Then about two months later I found out that he had become 100% blind. That was almost too much for me to bear. All because one evil man decided to kill and destroy the lives of people that got in his way.
I also had cancer in 2001. Cancer is another evil destroyer, and thankfully God spared me. My first cousin, however, had the same type of cancer and died.
Evil forces are all around us, whether we want to believe it—or not. Whether we have experienced it—or not. The reality is that we are all going to experience evil forces at some point in our lives, whether we want to admit it—or not.
This is not a time for “the power of positive thinking” that many people promote and believe in. We are in a battle of cosmic proportion. Are we going to rise and meet the challenge as Paul encouraged in Ephesians 6? Or, are we going to stand passively by and let Satan continue to kill and destroy us and those around us?
I want to—and pray that many others of you--choose the Ephesians 6 option to do as Paul said. I want to join forces with you and many others, to engage in a cosmic battle to combat, as Paul said, "the cosmic powers of this darkness."
So, until I see you next time, keep sharing the wonderful love of Jesus,
Arlen
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.
Hello Friends:
Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. Let’s recap the last discipleship post done several weeks ago entitled, “Discipleship Point 4: Heading Toward the Celestial City!” That post talked about the second why, the “good why”, if you will, of discipleship. Before that, we talked about the “bad why” of discipleship, although it’s a necessary “why”. And that was encouraging and teaching disciples to avoid riding on the “Long Black Train” toward an eternity in hell.
But the “good why” of discipleship is to stand alongside and encourage disciples to take the wonderful, but sometimes fraught with danger journey to The Celestial City. The Celestial City is the term John Bunyan used in the book “Pilgrim’s Progress” for what Revelation 21 calls the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is a city where disciples of Jesus will go when they either die or are caught up in the air with Jesus when He returns.
The walls of the city are made of jasper stone and gold. The main street is paved with pure gold clear as glass. The twelve gates that surround the city are twelve solid pearls. The river of the water of life flows from the throne of God and the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street. The New Jerusalem will be amazing beyond belief!
Today we’re going to talk about a very key component of discipleship. I entitled the post “Discipleship Point 5: Produce Fruit—Produce Much Fruit—Produce Fruit That Will Last.” It’s about Jesus’ discourse in John 15:4-16 where Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” He said in verse 4 that if we as Christians stay connected to Him, the vine, we will “produce fruit”. Not only will we produce just a few pieces of fruit, but He said in verse 5 that we will “produce much fruit”. Lastly, not only will we produce much fruit, He said in verse 16 that when we stay connected to Him, the vine, we will produce “fruit that will remain" (or “last” as it says in other versions).
What in the world did Jesus mean about producing fruit—producing much fruit—and producing fruit that will last? I don’t think He’s talking about fruit from a tree or a plant, or even what Paul referenced about “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23. There Paul was giving a contrast between living evil lives and godly lives. The fruits of the Spirit Paul talked about were “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” They were contrasted with the evil acts of people described earlier in the chapter. These evil acts were, and the list is long, “sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar." So, the fruits of the Spirit are ways to live holy and godly lives. They are internal acts that occur within a person. The fruit production that Jesus was talking about in John 15, on the other hand, are external acts that the person accomplishes, with the help of being connected with Jesus and His Holy Spirit.
In Matthew 7 Jesus talks about knowing people “by their fruit.” I think what He said might have something to do with the “fruit of the Holy Spirit”. But I’m more convinced than ever, after studying the topic of fruit production, that it has more to do with leading people to Christ, and discipling them along the way.
Jesus wasn’t verbally specific about what He meant in John 15 and Matthew 7. But I’m firmly convinced that producing fruit—producing much fruit—and producing fruit that will last, was clearly about you and me as Christians making and teaching disciples to follow Him, and stay connected to Him for all of eternity.So, until I see you next time, keep sharing the wonderful love of Jesus,
Arlen
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