GOOD AT THE ‘WHY’—BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ‘HOW’?

     I started the Soulwinnersr.us website a couple of years ago to motivate myself—and perhaps others to be more intentional in sharing the Gospel with lost people. But I’ve hit some snags along the way. Part of the reason, I think, is that I understand the 'why' of sharing the Gospel, but I lack the 'how' to effectively share it. Let’s look at these two facts a little bit more:

1. First, let's look at The why of sharing the gospel.

• Simply put, people need the wonderful love of Jesus to live for and with him now, and then forever with Him in heaven. If they don’t accept, know, and live for him, they are lost and headed toward an eternity in hell. A very blunt verse that struck me this week is found in John 3:36: 

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life, instead, the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36           

Let that sink in—"the wrath of God remains on him.” I want to remember that fact often as I encounter lost family members, and as I encounter people in the community that may be lost.

2. Secondly, let's look at the how of sharing the gospel. This, I think is where the church may be lacking. I'm not here to dog the church. But is there something we're missing?

• We as Christians are encouraged to in a sense emulate the famous Nike commercial that says “Just Do It” in sharing the gospel.
• But I think what holds us back is that we lack the “how”. Therefore, we don’t even know where or “how” to start. What can be done about this dilemma? Following are some possible steps:

• Learning to “live In the Spirit”: In the Bible, there are examples of the Fathers of the faith who were led by the Holy Spirit to go to certain places and to speak to certain people. Could we as Christians learn more about how to focus on the Holy Spirit within us, and spend more time praying in the Spirit as we engage the people around us?
• Increasing confidence in witnessing: I think that for Christians, including myself, to become more confident in witnessing, it would be helpful to learn the strategies that work for each of us individually. Let's look at baseball pitchers. Each one develops different pitches at various speeds and angles to achieve the desired goal of getting the batter out. No two pitchers develop exactly the same pitches. They learn from coaches, by collaborating with other pitchers, and by day-after-day practice to develop pitches that work best for them. They increase confidence as they develop and refine their pitches.

     What would it be like if church leaders acted as coaches to help each Christian develop and refine their own strengths and pitches, if you will, to share the Gospel? Christians could also collaborate to pick each others' brains about what each one finds effective in sharing the Gospel. And then we all might practice individually over and over again to develop our own unique style of witnessing to lost people the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

     What do you think? Am I on to something that might help us reach unsaved people? I for one, know I need a lot of help in this area.

     So, in closing, I think most of us understand the why of sharing the gospel. But, could we as a church body take steps to improve the how of sharing the gospel?

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A CITY?

     Some people love city living. They enjoy the hustle and bustle of a city and the spots where they can see new sights and experience new things. I have a niece who loves to visit cities with friends, her mom, and even by herself.
     I’m more of a country bumpkin. I dislike traffic jams, worrying about encountering crime, and being a miser that wants to avoid the higher cost of inner-city living.
     But there is one city that I am looking forward to living there. Hebrews 11:10 said of Abraham about this city:

“For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

     Hebrews 11:13-16 went on to say the following about many other Israelite men and women of faith in the Old Testament:

“These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

     Chapter 12:1-2 gives some details on how to get to the city:

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

     Hebrews 12:22-24 then gives us the reason why all of us should want to go to the city:

“Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.”

     If you want to learn more about the new heavens, the new earth, and the city the writer of Hebrews was talking about please read Revelation 21. I think your mind will be blown away by the wonders explained there about the New Jerusalem to come for men and women of faith. 

     The New Jerusalem is not a city where we have to worry about traffic jams. We won’t encounter crime there. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we don’t have to worry about the high cost of living—because our mortgage has been paid up in full—by Jesus!
     My question then is, “Are you looking for that same city?”

IMMORTALITY: WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

     I came upon the word "immortality" several times in the last few weeks. I hadn’t thought very much about the word before. What’s the first thing you think about when you hear the word immortality?

    My mind immediately goes to science fiction or horror movies. Following are two that come to mind:

1. “Dracula” is a tale of a human-vampire who has a consuming desire for eternal life that drives him to feed on the blood of living people. He wants to love people and not kill them, but he knows that to do so he would have to give up his quest for immortality.
2. My wife occasionally talks about the second movie, “Soylent Green”, a 1973 Charlton Heston futuristic movie that she and her late husband watched one time. I haven’t been able to bring myself around to watch it. The premise of the movie is that amidst world famine a seemingly innocent global food company has come up with a way for people to survive, to extend life, if you will. The food company’s name is Soylent Green, which makes life-sustaining green wafers. It's like a miracle food. But the green wafers they manufacture to extend life are found out by Heston’s character—to be made of—don’t be too appalled--dead human bodies.

     Research has been going on for several hundred years to figure out ways to extend life—to achieve immortality. Theo Zenou of the Washington Post wrote an article on May 1, 2022, entitled “The Long and Gruesome History of People Trying To Live Forever”. It’s about the fact that people over the centuries have spent millions and even billions of dollars trying to reverse the aging process.

     Zenou wrote that even today researchers are trying to find a way for people to live forever. He wrote that the total cost of the research is thought to be around 610 billion dollars. Big tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal have each funded and developed separate research companies to try to achieve—immortality.

     The definition of immortality from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is the following: “The indefinite continuation of a person’s existence, even after death.” What then is the only way that immortality comes about? Let’s look at what the Bible says about it:

1. Paul wrote in Romans 2:6-7 the following: “He will repay each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality.”
2. In 1 Corinthians 15:53, he wrote this: “For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.”
3. Lastly, in 2 Timothy 1:10 Paul wrote: “This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

     So, to make a long story short, movies about immortality might be interesting, scary, and fun to watch. Researchers might find ways to yield some short-term benefits to extend life just a little bit.

     BUT—true immortality comes from only one place!

DO WE HAVE 'BURNING HEARTS'?

     Last week one morning I read Jeremiah 20:9 where Jeremiah said:

“But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.”

     Jeremiah was so stirred by the message that God gave to him that it burned in him so much that he could no longer hold it in.

     My pastor a couple Sundays ago preached a sermon entitled “Burning Hearts”. It was based on Luke 24:13-35 about the time after Jesus was crucified on the cross, was buried in a tomb, and Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James the next morning encountered two angels at the tomb who said, “He is not here, but he has risen!” Peter then ran to the tomb and confirmed that all that was in the tomb were Jesus’ burial cloths.

     The story after that was an amazing encounter. If we can, put ourselves in the place of the two followers of Jesus on the seven-mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Luke wrote that the two men were “discussing and arguing” over the previous day's events. On the long walk, they encountered a man they didn’t recognize and began to talk to him about what happened.

     They were startled that the man questioned about it, and was seemingly “the only visitor in Jerusalem” that didn’t know about the crucifixion of Jesus.

     Imagine again yourself and a friend walking seven miles with this man—SEVEN MILES! Picture the longest walk you have likely ever taken. I can remember my brother and I riding our bicycles from our house on the Charm Road in Holmes County, Ohio five miles south to Charm, Ohio to visit Grandma. That seemed like a long way—and we were on bicycles!

     So, the men didn’t recognize the strange man as they walked, likely up to two and one-half hours according to some sources. Two and one-half hours of walking and talking! Just imagine it for a moment. The man told them toward the end of their seven-mile walk, “How foolish you are, and slow to believe all the prophets have spoken!”

     They noticed something different about this man. So as they approached their home in Emmaus toward “evening”, they urged him to come in and get something to eat and drink after the long walk. Luke wrote that the man “took the bread, blessed it, and gave it to them.” Then their eyes were immediately opened, and they recognized him, but he instantly disappeared from their sight.

     The two men said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the scripture to us.” They finally realized that the man they spent a couple of hours with was the same Jesus that they began the long walk “discussing and arguing” about.

     They didn’t even take time to sleep that evening. They immediately returned seven miles in the dark back to Jerusalem. Because of their ‘burning hearts,’ they walked another two and one-half hours—or possibly they almost ran, and it took them perhaps one and one-half hours because of their excitement.

     Think of a time that you or I acted off adrenaline. We were so exhilarated by what we were doing that taking time off to rest wasn’t possible. We were likely going to crash later with exhaustion—but for now, we couldn’t stop.

     Following are two questions we need to ask ourselves:

1. “Do you and I have ‘burning hearts’ like the two followers of Jesus on the Emmaus road tell others our wonderful story?”
2. “Do we have ‘burning hearts’ like Jeremiah who tried—but it wasn’t possible—to hold in the message God had for the people?”