"You Are Not Far From the Kingdom of God"

     I really don't have the exact blog space to put this in, but this is the closest one. I hope this will be helpful to you. The reason I am writing this is because I am concerned about people becoming false converts. I don't mean to sound condescending or judgmental, but I care about people.
    There seems to be an epidemic of people who seem to have an understanding of the Gospel and would profess to be Christians, but there is something lacking in their understanding when you continue to ask more questions. And the fruit of salvation seems to be missing.
Here is a story in the Bible, where Jesus was talking to a Scribe. The situation is recorded in Mark 12: 28-25. The Scribe asked Jesus what He thought was the most important commandment. Jesus answered, "To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength." He also said that you should love your neighbor as yourself. There are no commandment greater than these two. The Scribe agreed. He acknowledged that God is one. He also said that loving God and people were greater than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. The Scribe had the right idea. He was beginning to understand the Gospel. The lights had come on for him. But he was not there yet. Jesus told him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God'. The Scribe was not in the kingdom of God. He was close to it though.
   There is a big difference between being close to the kingdom of God and actually being in it. A person may experience being close to the light. God might be working in his heart. The person might have questions about God. He may even be on a 'God quest'.  We sometimes confuse this stage, with the actual stage of receiving the Gospel. If the lights come on for someone concerning the Gospel, it doesn't mean that they are saved yet necessarily! We have to be very careful to not think of that as genuine fruit of repentance and faith in itself.
  People sometimes think they are a Christian because God did a miracle for them. Or they may have had an experience with God, or in a setting where God was moving, but that doesn't mean they have had saving faith activated in their hearts yet.
  I remember hearing a story of a Jewish man who was in our church, whose dad was not a believer. Somehow, by God's grace and mercy, God miraculously healed the father of an illness. He never came to know the Lord though. It would be easy for us to think that since God healed him, it must have meant he was saved, or going to be saved. God works in mysterious ways, for sure, and we don't always understand what He is doing. We just need to be careful to make sure we are in Christ, and proclaim the Gospel to others so they can be in Christ too.

Evangelizing Children

Almost 40 years ago (wow that sounds like a real long time ago), I was taught how to evangelize children. One of the methods of telling the story of the Gospel was by using different colors that correlated with different aspects of the Gospel. Gold=heaven, black=sin, red=blood of Jesus, white=clean heart, green=growing things. I used a plastic nut that had a rolled up ribbon inside of it with those colors. I would go up to children and ask them if they had ever heard a nut that told a story. Then I would proceed with telling them the Gospel using my nut with the wordless story colors.
   I believe the idea of using colors to tell the Gospel story with came from Charles Spurgeon. The organization called 'CEF' (Child Evangelism Fellowship) was started by a man with the last name of Overholzer. I can't remember his first name, but when Mr. Overholzer was 12, he asked his Christian parents about how he could be saved. His parents responded by telling him that he was not old enough yet. Mr. Overholzer went to college, and he was still wanting to know God. Once he came to Christ, he was driven to start a ministry for children so they would be able to come to know the Lord. (I just read this story somewhere, but I can't remember where it was!).
  I would still love to go out with my nut and tell the Gospel story to children and grownups, and whoever else wants to listen. I don't know where my nut is now, and I can't find another one, but I can use anything that has those colors in it. Here is a blog page explaining the meaning of the colors: http://thecolorfulstory.blogspot.com . I also found another web site that ministers specifically to children: Children Desiring God   
  Children can understand the Gospel and God can reveal Himself to them, but we do have to be careful to not create false converts also. It is easy for us to think that if a child does certain things or says certain things, that he must be saved. We can get the children to give us the right answers to the questions we are asking. We really do need to look for true fruit to come out of this. Even if the child is searching, he still might not 'get it' yet. We keep working with him or her until he does understand. God is the One who makes His word come alive to the child. His word is activated by the Holy Spirit working in the heart. We can't make it happen.
   We want to reach children with the Gospel. We want to reach old people with the Gospel. We want to reach college age kids with the Gospel. Everyone needs the Gospel. Let's practice as often as we get opportunities to open our mouths and preach the Gospel to everyone around us.

What Do You Do When You Don't Get to the Gospel?

I didn't get out much this week to do a whole lot of evangelizing, but here's what happened today; I went to go get my hair cut and there was a guy standing in front of the store he worked at. It looked like he was on a break. I went up to him and offered him a tract. He politely said that he didn't need one. I asked him if he knew what was on it. He indicated that it was probably something religious. I asked him if he ever thought about where people go after they die. He indicated that he didn't want to go there right now. I told him that he would be interested one day and it might be too late to find out then. He then said that we will all know one day. He wasn't willing to talk about it, so I told him that I would be praying for him. I pray that God would reveal Himself to him before his time on earth is over. I pray that he would be concerned about where people go after they die. I pray that someone else will be able to share the Gospel with him, and that God would make his heart open to listening. I pray that God will not let him alone until he finds the Gospel (and that God would always work in his heart even after that). I pray that when all that happens, he will know that there is a God who is reaching out to him, so that he can hear the Gospel and be saved. Will you pray with me for him? His name is John Doe. I did not get his name, but God knows who he is. I will call him John Doe, and pray for the man who was standing in front of the store he was working at, on September 21, 2012.

The Free Gift That Will Cost You Everything

We could never add even a cent to atone for our sins.
The gift of salvation is completely free. Yet, in having this
gift, it will cost us everything we have. It is totally free, in
one sense. In another sense, it is very costly. Are you willing
 to count the cost? Gospel Conversation    Take the Good Person Test

"Orlando, Prepare to Come Home"

I only heard this story one time, so the details are sketchy, at best. But it is a good story, of an event that really happened, in Central Florida, years ago. It shows God's sovereignty and loving kindness in ensuring the Gospel message be given to those who are His.
A man would do evangelism on the streets on a Friday or Saturday evening. One particular evening, as he was preparing to go out, God put an impression in his thinking. He heard the words "Tell Orlando to prepare to come home". This detail is a bit sketchy because I really don't remember what the exact words were that this man was to give to Orlando. Obviously, he was going to be talking to a man named Orlando that evening.
  He met Orlando, and found that Orlando was a homeless man, who used a bicycle for transportation. The evangelist ministered the Gospel to Orlando, and gave him the message "Prepare to come home". Orlando responded to the Gospel and was planning on going to church the following Sunday morning, as the evangelist was going to pick him up and take him to the church meeting.
The Sunday morning came around. The evangelist came to pick up Orlando, at the particular area where he was staying. When he arrived, there were emergency vehicles everywhere, and a lot of commotion. Something was definitely going on, and the evangelist couldn't get to where Orlando was. The evangelist found out that Orlando went on his bike to the store to get breakfast, and got hit by a car. Basically, he was killed that morning. Isn't it a good thing to hear God's voice? In this case, I am sure Orlando is grateful to the evangelist who ministered the Gospel to him that Friday evening (or Saturday). Orlando got to hear the Gospel message just in time. His days were numbered, and the number for him was up. But God made sure that Orlando heard the Gospel, and caused him to repent and be saved. Thank God for His mercies and loving kindness!

Is There Hope For This Man?

I have permission to share this little story from my friend, who is a missionary in Guatemala. It goes something like this:
After the church meeting in NYC, they were walking down the sidewalk, which was kind of dark and late at night. There was a series of meetings going on in this city during the evenings. While walking on the sidewalk, a large dark figure was approaching. He recognized my friend and said, "Pray for me". But something strange and mysterious was happening. While this man was desiring prayer, some kind of force was dragging him in the other direction. It was invisible. But the dark figure was pulled away. And then he was completely out of view.
A couple of days later, the missionary from Guatemala was speaking in this New York City church again. He and his wife had not seen the mysterious figure since the night they saw him on the sidewalk. But this evening, his wife espied him in the audience. So, he tried to find him and talked to this dark, large figured large man that met him on the sidewalk, and when he did, he said 'Pray for me'. Somehow, the mysteriously figured man was pulled away again. What was that all about? What was God up to in that?
Fast forward two years later. The missionary from Guatemala encountered this mysterious man, and the man asked him if he remembered him. He told the missionary man what had happened. After the night in the meeting where he attended, and asked for prayer for the second time, then disappeared, he went back home and repented. You see, he was a warlock. He was living with a witch, and he left that kind of lifestyle and actually told authorities on himself for some of the crimes he had done. He came to Christ and was radically saved. He was sent to prison, where he served during that two year period. He was able to minister to those in the prison while he was there. He did get out and ministered the Gospel to people. The last report on him was that as he was ministering the Gospel, he was injured so badly that his leg had to be amputated.
We really don't know how effective our ministering is while we are serving here on earth. I remember one person, who was asked, "When you die, are you 100% sure that you will go to heaven?" That question triggered his thinking and God used it to bring this man to Himself. Another person was having a conversation with some people, and one person, probably not even a believer asked, "How do we know we exist?" For this man, it involved his researching the Gospel until he found his answer. You just never know what God will use to minister to people with. One more example was George Whitefield, who did open air preaching to thousands of people, who had a heckler. The heckler would mock George and everything he was saying. He used motions like George and even had his own little audience. Well guess what God did? This heckler repented after the message was given and came to Christ! God has a sense of humor and will reach people in whatever ways He deems best.

What's in the Folder?

Everyone has folders of some sort. We all have places to categorize our stuff. Some people have folders in bins. Others have folders on their computers. How comfortable would you be if someone suddenly came into your room and demanded to look at your folder?
  That actually happened to a person I know. Years ago, my husband was at work. It started off as a day like any other day. No one expected any surprises. Around 8:30 am. some people were wondering out loud if there was a special event happening in this place of business. No one knew anything that was planned. But the man dressed in their suits got out of their cars. They headed inside the building, then proceeded to the business department. No one knew who they were or why they were there. Not too long after that, my husband was faced with a man with a badge and a gun. This man ordered my husband to step back and not touch anything. He proceeded to look in all the drawers and throughout the room in all the nooks and crannies. He came across a folder. The man carefully looked through the folder. What was in the folder? The contents of the folder contained cards and love letters from me! Wow, what if there were something else hiding in the folder? My husband passed the surprise inspection. There wasn't anything to hide.
  Contrast this with another story that really happened. A recently widowed woman wrote to Dear Abby. It was a very sad letter. She and her husband seemed to have a fine marriage, from what she could tell. But she had a surprise after her husband passed away. His drawers were being cleaned out at his work place, and what was found was most disturbing. This man had another woman in his life, all along. The poor widow had no idea. Can you imagine that kind of shocking news? What kind of emotions would she have toward her now deceased husband, whom she thought she loved and trusted?
   I wrote all this to say that, one day, all of our drawers are going to be cleaned out. Every file and folder will be open for everyone to see. Are we hiding anything now? Do we not understand that one day everything that we do will be open to the public? We think we are hiding things now, but they are not hidden from an Omniscient, holy God.
  There is large percentage of murders that are committed, where the murderer is never found. Guess what? They will be found and brought to justice, one day. We may be able to elude people, but we can never hide from God. We might be able to deceive others, but we can never fool God. God knows every thought that we have thought, or will have thought in our lifetimes. He knows every act we have committed or will commit. We might think we are getting away with something, but we aren't. It's only a matter of time before we get caught.