by: John Park, January 31st, 2011
The Gospel Coalition blog has recently put out three helpful posts on the subject of evangelism in the past few weeks.
Evangelism for the Rest of Us (1/24/11) by John Starke provides helpful resources that seeks to build courage in those of us who find it difficult to share our faith.
Church Programs vs. Personal Evangelism (1/25/11) by John Starke describes briefly some of the debate going on between different methods of evangelism. It also has helpful resources, as well.
Evangelism and Apologetics (1/26/11) by John Starke provides helpful resources to answering some common objections to Christianity Christians run into when evangelizing.
Why Don’t I Evangelize (1/27/11) by John Starke gives a helpful list of resources for those who are fearful of evangelizing.
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by: John Park, January 17th, 2011
I came across this helpful interview with Doug Wilson in which he answers questions primarily having to do with Christian apologetics (presuppositional and classical), but also questions having to do with everything from Christian education and atheism. Wilson also provides many good resources that have helped him along in his spiritual growth.
Read the entire article here.
[HT: jude3project]
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by: John Park, December 8th, 2010
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love that you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” – Rev. 2:4-5
For the longest time, I thought that these two verses meant: “Repent and love God… and then he won’t come and remove your lampstand (whatever that meant).” However, for the first time today, I noticed that Jesus says, “Repent and do the works you did at first” which seems to imply that an action, rather than affections is involved here.
When I looked up G.K. Beale’s commentary on the book of Revelations, he writes this and gives us a hint as to which action in particular is being discussed here:
The idea is that they no longer expressed their former zealous love for Jesus by witnessing to him in the world. This is why Christ chooses to introduce himself as he does in Rev. 2:1. His statement that he “walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands” is intended to remind the introverted readers that their primary role in relation to the Lord should be that of a light of witness to the outside world.
I tend to agree with Beale’s conclusion (over and against those who would say that the Apostle was simply talking about love for the Lord or those only within the Church). Though those are involved, too, I think primarily, what the Apostle is speaking about here is the Ephesians’ loss of fervor in being the light of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In this light, this warning that Jesus gives to the Ephesians is one that hits close to home for me personally (and I would assume many other Christians, as well). He says that if we do not repent and “do the works” we did at first, He will come and remove our lampstands.
Prayer:
Father, I am one of those “introverted” Christians who know the truth of the Gospel, but, because of fear of man, am unwilling to be that light to this dark world. Forgive me for putting my hope and my trust in what others think of me rather than what you think of me in Christ.
I plead the blood of Christ, receive his forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and clothe myself with His righteousness. God, I deserve to have my lampstand removed and thereby, incur your righteous wrath. But, I thank you that in Christ, I have an advocate, the propitiation for my sins (1 John 2:1).
Help me now to boldly be that light that you have called us to be in this dark world. Give me courage upon courage to tell others of the greatest news in the world. Empower my words, Holy Spirit, for without your power behind those words, they are merely words.
In Jesus’ powerful name I pray,
Amen.
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by: John Park, August 31st, 2010
Just listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church, titled Slowing the Pendulum Swing. In it, he unpacks what it means to “walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time” (Colossians 4:5). He makes the point that, oftentimes, the Bible does not say much with regards to how Christians are to practically engage the culture that we are in (e.g. school, family, friends, etc.) with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- “Am I to be just like my non-Christian friends and do whatever they do so that they don’t think I’m some kind of religious freak?”
- “Am I to hang out with them, but just not do the ‘bad stuff’? If that’s the case, then what exactly are the ‘bad stuff’?”
- “Am I to not hang out with my non-Christian friends at all? But then, if I do that, how can I reach them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”
These are a few questions that may or may not arise when we start thinking about exactly how we, as sinners saved by grace, are to relate to non-Christians whom the Bible clear commands us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with.
To help us out, Matt Chandler referenced in his sermon a list of 11 questions to ask ourselves before we decide to engage culture – especially when it involves doing something the Bible doesn’t explicitly call out as sin.
This list of 11 questions comes from Mark Driscoll‘s book titled, Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out – a book I would highly recommend to all thoughtful Christians on how we are to – well… reach out without selling out. Below is the list of 11 questions:
- Is it beneficial to me personally and to the gospel generally? (1 Cor. 6:12)
- Will I lose self-control and be mastered by what I participate in? (1 Cor. 6:12)
- Will I be doing this in the presence of someone who I know will fall into sin as a result? (1 Cor. 8:9-10)
- Is it a violation of the laws of my city, state, or nation? (Rom. 13:1-7)
- If I fail to do this, will I lose opportunities to share the gospel? (1 Cor. 10:27-30)
- Can I do this with a clear conscience? (Acts 24:16)
- Am I convinced that this is what God desires for me to do? (Rom. 13:5)
- Does my participation proceed from my faith in Jesus Christ? (Rom. 14:23)
- Am I doing this to help other people, or am I just being selfish? (1 Cor. 10:24)
- Can I do this in a way that glorifies God? (1 Cor. 10:31-33)
- Am I following the example of Jesus Christ to help save sinners? (1 Cor. 10:33-11:1)
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by: John Park, June 1st, 2010
This past Sunday, looking at Mark 13:32-37, I made the point that Jesus Christ is calling us to live each and every single day of our lives with the following mentality: “Today could very well be my last day here on this earth before I stand before a holy and righteous God.”
Jesus, in Mark 13:32-37 essentially says, “Be on guard, keep awake because you don’t know when I’m coming back!” Also, James, in James 4:13-17, admonishes us to not boast about tomorrow because we have absolutely no guarantee that we’ll even live to see tomorrow. Instead, we “ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’ (James 4:15).
For Christians especially, this shouldn’t produce fear in us, but rather a deep joy because, in the end, this is a clear reminder that our good, gracious, and loving master, who paid for our freedom with his blood, is coming back (1 Corinthians 6:20; Mark 13:34-36). And because he’s coming back, we want to do everything to please our master and hear those glorious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21).
And so, this is a clear principle laid out in Scripture: live each day with the mentality that today could very well be the last day on this earth before we stand before a holy and righteous God.
But the question that inevitably comes up, then, is this: “Does that mean that we don’t plan for the future? Is it wrong to plan to go to college; to get a job; have a family; etc?” Simple answer is no.
Though the Bible is clear that we should live our lives with this mentality (mentioned above), the Bible is also clear that we should plan as best as we can. For example, the book of Proverbs is filled with practical advice about planning (e.g. Proverbs 3:29, 12:20, 15:22, 21:5, etc.).
And so the issue, then, isn’t “Do we plan at all?” – because the Bible is clear that we do. But rather, “After I’ve planned, am I living each day with the mentality that says, ‘Today could very well be the last day here on this earth before I stand before a holy and righteous God?’”
In other words, do I plan with the clear understanding that God can call me even before I achieve those plans? If not, then could it be that we’re living not “to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), but for our own?
May we live each day in anticipation of seeing our good, gracious, and loving master – who is infinitely more satisfying than even the biggest dreams that we plan.
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