When we preach the gospel, are we adequately preparing people for the Christian life?
"Why do 80-90% of those making a decision for Christ fall away from the faith? What is the principle that Spurgeon, Wesley, Whitefield, etc., used to reach the lost? Why has the Church neglected it? Don't let anything stop you from listening to this incredible teaching."
http://www.livingwaters.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2:hell\'s-best-kept-secret&Itemid=305&lang=en
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Searching for Treasure
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;
to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Prov 25:2
Knowledge and wisdom are priceless. “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her” (Prov 3:13-15). People have commended me as one is both wise and knowledgeable, and while I do not deny that I do indeed have the spiritual gifts of knowledge and wisdom, I do not feel that I am somehow special and worthy of such praise. I appreciate the sentiment, but I was not born with an innate gift for knowledge and wisdom, rather, I learned them. They did not come naturally to me. What did come naturally to me was a hunger for the knowledge and wisdom of God, but only after asking the Lord to give me that hunger.
Anyone can be wise and knowledgeable in the Lord. What it comes down to is how much you value truth. It has been my own experience that knowledge is not something that falls into your lap, you have to seek it out. However, I do not believe truth is far from any of us. It is not in God’s nature to withhold good things from those who ask Him. “Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov 2:3-6).
to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Prov 25:2
Knowledge and wisdom are priceless. “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her” (Prov 3:13-15). People have commended me as one is both wise and knowledgeable, and while I do not deny that I do indeed have the spiritual gifts of knowledge and wisdom, I do not feel that I am somehow special and worthy of such praise. I appreciate the sentiment, but I was not born with an innate gift for knowledge and wisdom, rather, I learned them. They did not come naturally to me. What did come naturally to me was a hunger for the knowledge and wisdom of God, but only after asking the Lord to give me that hunger.
Anyone can be wise and knowledgeable in the Lord. What it comes down to is how much you value truth. It has been my own experience that knowledge is not something that falls into your lap, you have to seek it out. However, I do not believe truth is far from any of us. It is not in God’s nature to withhold good things from those who ask Him. “Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov 2:3-6).
Sunday, May 1, 2011
A City with Walls
“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim 2:24-26).
In my early college days, I was known among my friends as the truth-teller. Now that title might sound good, but trust me, it’s not. I was opinionated and passionate, blunt and direct. Everything was black and white. And since it was black or white, I had to be right, I couldn’t be wrong, there was no gray. It was everyone else who was wrong. That meant that I had the right to present the truth to them in a forceful way. I would argue with them until they would see things from my-point-of-view. Can you guess how that worked? It didn’t. You can’t argue someone into the truth.
What struck me when I first read the above passage is that it is within the context of being right. Nevertheless, it instructs us to gently rebuke or correct those who oppose us, in hopes that they will come to see the truth and repent. Even when we are right, it does not give us the right to present the truth in such a way that shows a disregard for the feelings of others. We must communicate the truth in a way that is honoring and gentle, preserving the dignity of the other person. “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions” (Prov 18:2). We are not merely to air our own opinions, however right we may feel they are; we are to seek to understand where the other person is coming from because the communication is not one-way, it is two-way.
In my early college days, I was known among my friends as the truth-teller. Now that title might sound good, but trust me, it’s not. I was opinionated and passionate, blunt and direct. Everything was black and white. And since it was black or white, I had to be right, I couldn’t be wrong, there was no gray. It was everyone else who was wrong. That meant that I had the right to present the truth to them in a forceful way. I would argue with them until they would see things from my-point-of-view. Can you guess how that worked? It didn’t. You can’t argue someone into the truth.
What struck me when I first read the above passage is that it is within the context of being right. Nevertheless, it instructs us to gently rebuke or correct those who oppose us, in hopes that they will come to see the truth and repent. Even when we are right, it does not give us the right to present the truth in such a way that shows a disregard for the feelings of others. We must communicate the truth in a way that is honoring and gentle, preserving the dignity of the other person. “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions” (Prov 18:2). We are not merely to air our own opinions, however right we may feel they are; we are to seek to understand where the other person is coming from because the communication is not one-way, it is two-way.
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