There Is Another Way

My family and I have had the privilege over the last seven years to take three vacations to Walt Disney World. With each trip, a lot of research is done to figure out the most efficient way to get around the parks. There are thousands and thousands of people there at the same time as you and you want to avoid as many lines as possible. One of the tips is to go to your left. Most of the population is right handed and when they walk into a building, the natural inclination is to turn to the right and form a line. If you go toward the left, the lines are shorter. Interestingly, this is a valid rule of thumb. It’s odd how people will see a long line and still stand in that line when there is another way.

Jesus once spoke about two ways people travel in their spiritual life…

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14).

Why do people travel down the path that leads to destruction, the pathway to hell? I believe there are a couple of reason, the same reasons people will stand in a longer line when they don’t have to.

• Everyone else is doing it. I’ve stood outside of Busch Stadium waiting to enter the gates to watch the Cardinals play baseball and I’ve noticed that most people will get in a line simply because it has more people. Spiritually speaking, some people feel that if everyone is engaged in a certain activity, then it must be safe. This is a foolish mode of thinking. As a teenager, you might see your friends participating in things that you normally wouldn’t, does that mean you HAVE to do those same things? Of course not, don’t conform to the world (Romans 12:2). As an adult, your friends make like to have a drink every now and again, that MUST make it acceptable, right? Never, according to the Lord (Proverbs 20:1).

• Some people just don’t know what’s right and when they learn the truth, they don’t want to change. Jesus said the path that leads to eternal torment is wide, this indicates it’s easy. There are no restrictions. A person engaged in sexual acts such as adultery, homosexuality, or pre-marital sex will read how these are sins against the God of heaven but they don’t want to stop. They will either reinterpret or ignore the Scriptures and then tell you they are “faithful” to God. How foolish!

The way that leads to heaven is narrow, we are to be diligent in our lives to stay on this path. It may be the path that few will travel, but it is most rewarding!

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.  They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.  There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:1-5).

Pickle Salvation

I recently did a word study on the word “baptism”, especially as it is used in Acts 2:38. The Greek word is “baptizo” and was transliterated and not translated. It was anglicized into baptize instead of rendered immersion because the King James translators viewed different modes of baptism i.e. pouring or sprinkling. They did not want to give the proper picture of what baptism is, an immersion.

I used the Blue Letter Bible app to do my study. It gave this illustration of the word baptism:

“This word should not be confused with baptô (911). The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be ‘dipped’ (baptô) into boiling water and then ‘baptised’ (baptizô) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change.”

I understand this analogy well. My grandmother once made pickles in her kitchen when I was a kid. Once the cucumber was immersed in the vinegar, it certainly would never be the same!

Baptism produces a permanent change in us! Paul writes:

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:3-7).

Baptism is not the washing of the dirt from the body, but it is the answer of a good conscience before God (1 Peter 3:21).

Baptism changes our direction in life, we have a new master that we obey (Romans 6:16).

Baptism provides the avenue to the blood of Christ that was shed to redeem all mankind (1 Peter 1:18,19).

Faith alone does not make a permanent change in your life! Confessing Jesus as Lord does not make a permanent change in your life! Professing repentance from sin does not make that permanent change in your life! Only after you’ve done these things and immersed in water will your life be permanently changed!

A Selfie Upgrade

Recently, my iPhone upgraded to the new operating system. It’s not unusual for it to do this. From time to time, Apple “tweaks” the look and feel of their products to keep people interested, so normally I don’t mind…that is until this last update.

In the photo section of my phone, there are several folders. A folder with pictures I’ve taken with the phone, a folder with pictures that my family shares, a folder with pictures from our trip to Disney last summer…and now a folder for selfies. That’s right, every picture I’ve taken with the front facing camera has automatically been put into this folder. I can’t delete this folder. I can delete the pictures but not the folder. Have we become so narcissistic in our society that Apple realized a “selfie folder” was a necessity on our iPhones? I guess so, and from seeing posts people put on Instagram and Facebook, I would agree.

Seriously, how many pictures do you need of yourself?

But this leads to a greater problem perhaps…a self-centered society. We no longer “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), we no longer “Love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbors as ourselves” (Matthew 22:37, 38). We now make sure everyone sees us, and not Christ. We make sure our lives appear in order, and not concerned about those that are struggling. Continual selfies are nothing more than a sign of self-centeredness and vanity.

Dr. Ken Eisold writes, “There are many reasons for taking photos, of course, but I think a common thread running through them all is that the photos add a sense of importance. Documenting our lives with them helps make them seem, well, worth documenting. The pics and tweets don’t actually make us more important, to be sure, but they create the illusion of importance.”

We don’t need validation from others about our worth, God has already told us how worthy we are, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26).  We are His creation, no number of “likes” on a selfie compares to how God views us!

And by the way, that stick looks dumb.

Division Over Opinion

“Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions.” Booth Tarkington

There is no possible way a person can be in complete agreement with every other person on every topic. That’s one of the things that make us unique. We have different opinions and those opinions are based on our personalities, our like and dislikes, our understanding or lack of understanding on a topic. From time to time, we may disagree in politics, sports, or any other of the hundreds of topics in the world. I was once given a question on a test in preaching school that asked “what is your opinion” on a certain passage of Scripture. I wrote my opinion and it was marked incorrect! It sad to see people torn apart by arguments over trivial issues but it’s even sadder to see people torn apart over matters of opinion in religion, but need not be the case:

“Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.”Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” Acts 15:36-41

In matters pertaining to the faith, salvation, worship, nature of God, conduct of Christians, God has stated the fact of those matters and there is no room for opinions. However, as in the case of Paul and Barnabas, there is a place for opinions. What was the attitude of these two men that disagreed sharply? We are still brothers in Christ, there is still work that needs to be done and their opinions would not be a test of fellowship in the church.

Too often, Christians destroy one another over their opinions. Articles are written in papers, gossip is spread through the church and nothing good comes from such hatred. We are striving together for a common goal….heaven!

What Do You See At The Cross?

I assume most people are aware of the crucifixion of Jesus. If not, I would encourage you to stop now and read about it in the four Gospels…Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It doesn’t matter how many times I read it, the emotions that swell up inside me are overwhelming. I literally get teary-eyed when I read about the pain and suffering my Lord went through to save me from my sin. It’s a story that never gets old, it feels new each time I read it.

But have you ever thought about what feelings the crucifixion brought about in the people involved? I know this leaves a great deal of room for assumption, but follow this thought for a moment…

The Jewish historian Josephus records several crucifixions that took place at the hands of the Roman authorities. On one occasion, he writes about 2000 people being crucified on one day! The Romans must have been re-using crosses. Have you ever given thought that the cross Jesus was nailed to might have been used before? Reason tells us that the Romans would not have cut down a tree and make a new cross every time. And to add to that point, they must have had a place to store all the upright and cross beams close to Jerusalem, how else would they be prepared to crucify three people one afternoon? Could you imagine being the person that was in charge of storing the wood? Knowing what these were used for? Putting them away, covered in blood?

Also, with so many crucifixions that took place, it stands to reason that Jesus saw people die this way in the past. Can you imagine what was going through His mind each time He saw a person crucified, especially after He began His ministry? Each time He sees the cross, He knows that is where He is headed. Is it any wonder the agony Jesus felt in the Garden of Gethsemane was overwhelming?

What about Joseph of Arimathea that requested to remove the body of Jesus off the cross to bury. Have you ever given thought about how he did it? How he must have stood there for a moment, looking at the battered, bloody body of the Lord, working out the way he would remove the nails. How the tears must have rolled down his face as he slowly and lovingly wrapped the Lord in a clean, linen cloth.

And how could we forget about the mother of Jesus, Mary? The thoughts going through her mind as she sat at the cross watching her oldest son die. Maybe she recalled what Jesus said when He was 12, after frantically looking for Him only to find Jesus in the temple, “Don’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?” Maybe she thought about what the angel told her when she was pregnant. How could she forget, how could she understand?

Do you realize that most historians tell us that when a person was crucified they were probably less than a foot off the ground? There would not have been any reason to hang a person 20 feet in the air. If historians are correct, can you imagine what those that stood by and watched might have thought? Being able to look at Jesus eye-to-eye, seeing the pain, not only from the scourging and the nails, but the sin…the sin of the world, that was squarely on His shoulders. A guilt Jesus had never felt before.

Oh…there is so much more to the story…

What do you see at the cross?

The End Is Near!

I don’t know if there is any one subject that irritates me more than religious leaders claiming the end of the world is near. Recently, John Hagee has promoted that the coming fourth “blood moon” will bring about the end of the world…and people have listened! This false teacher has spread his poison doctrine so well, a google search of “blood moons” yields 11 million results!

It irritates me because others have predicted the end of the world as well. Here’s a list from the 20th century:

1914: Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

1915: Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

1918: Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

1920: Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

1925: Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

1941: Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

1975: Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

mid-1970s: David Wilkerson: Worldwide economic depression

1977: Pyramidologist Adam Rutherford: Beginning of the Millennium

1978: Jim Jones took his cult with him.

1979-1980: John Todd: Installation of a world government ruled by the Illuminati, with Jimmy Carter as the anti-Christ.

1980: Pat Robertson: “A year of sorrow and bloodshed that will have no end soon, for the world is being torn apart, and my kingdom shall rise from the ruins of it.”

1981: Hal Lindsey: Pre-tribulational rapture.

1982: Pat Robertson: Great Tribulation.

1985: Pat Robertson: Worldwide economic collapse.

1988: Hal Lindsey: Second Coming.

1988: Edgar Whisenant: Second Coming.

1988: Colin Deal: Second Coming.

1989: Edgar Whisenant: Second Coming.

1990: Elizabeth Clare Prophet: Global thermonuclear war.

1991: Louis Farrakhan: The looming Gulf War would be the “War of Armageddon which is the final war.”

1992: Rollen Stewart: Second Coming.

1992: Mission for the Coming Days: Second Coming

1994: Harold Camping: Second Coming.

1994: Some Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

1997: Heaven’s Gate: Earth changes and a UFO abduction coinciding with the Hale-Bopp comet. Mass suicide in the hopes of hitching a ride on said UFOs.

1997: Jehovah’s Witnesses: Armageddon.

1999-2000: David Wilkerson: Worldwide economic depression.

2000: Y2K: Collapse of civilization. Christian preachers in Papua New Guinea predicted the end

This is not an exhaustive list, as a matter of fact, the predictions of the end go on into the next century, way past this weekend, when Hagee “claims” the end will come. Here’s the issue, we DO NOT KNOW when the end will come!

When asked about His return by the apostles, Jesus gave this answer, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Did you catch that? If the angels, who are in heaven, don’t know when Jesus will return, and since only God knows when that day will come, how can John Hagee or any other false teacher know?

But what about the prophecy in Revelation 6 that Hagee uses? The Bible reads, “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.”

We should be reminded that the book of Revelation contains a great deal of imagery. The Christians in the first century were under great persecution from the Roman Empire. A majority of this book deals with what they were to expect, how long the persecution would last, and how it would all end. The imagery in this verse, as well as in the book of Joel, indicates the promise of God’s judgment of a sort, but not the final judgment. The judgment in Revelation would come upon the Roman Empire, showing that the greatest nation  in the world at the time could not stand against the justice of God. This was fulfilled in 476 AD when a Germanic prince won control of the Empire and not something to be fulfilled later this month!

It should be noted what the Bible says about those that prophecy, “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken is presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:22). Anyone that makes a prediction, claiming Biblical authority to do so, and it does not happen, they are to be recognized as a false teacher and avoided. When October rolls around, John Hagee and people of his ilk should be bankrupt. 

Shame on you if you continue to follow him!

Will Jesus ever return? Yes. He told us He would in John 14:1-6.

When will He return? I don’t know. Peter tells us it will be like a thief in the night, that is, unexpectedly in 2 Peter 3:10.

Should I prepare for that day? Absolutely! “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is” (Mark 13:33).

Lost in Translation

How many Bible’s do you own?

I’ve been asked this before. Perhaps the best answer is one, but I have different translations of the Bible. The Bible is a collection of 66 books, the Old and New Testaments, that reveal to us the mind of God and His will for us. The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew and the New Testament primarily in Koine Greek, the common Greek language of the time. Since most people do not speak or read Hebrew and Greek, translations into other languages are required.

There are some translations that are called “word-for-word” translations. This means whatever word is used in the original Hebrew or Greek is used in the translation. While the most accurate, this can become difficult to read because sometimes  the arrangement of words in the Greek sounds like gibberish in the English.

There are some translations that are called “paraphrase” translations. This would be the other side of the translation spectrum from the word-for-word translations. These are not the actual text but the Bible in a narrative form. The danger with these translations is that they have been dumbed down and the translators interject their own thoughts into the text.

There are some called “though-for-thought” translations. These are right in the middle of the translation spectrum. While they contain the text of the original, the translators also interject what the “thought” of the text means. This could be a real change to a portion of Scripture.

Twenty of the most popular Bible translations fall along this spectrum, as shown below:So the question becomes, which translation is best for me? Personally, I would not want to go any further right on the chart than the Holman Christian Standard Bible. The closer to the word-for-word interlinear (original Hebrew or Greek) a person can be the better. However, we must have a translation that we can read and understand. For that reason, I use the New King James Version translation. It is true to the text but eliminates archaic words found in the King James Version. Instead of “superfluity” in James 1:21 the word “overflow” is used. Instead of “concupiscence” in Colossians 3:5, the NKJV uses the word “desires”. It makes for an easier reading and understanding of the verses.

Please also understand that no translation is without it’s problems. Men are still fallible and men still translate the original text. When a person studies the Bible, if there are passages that seem out of context, it’s wise to refer to the original language to get the meaning. From time to time a word is used improperly, for example:

“Easter” in the KJV instead of “Passover” (Acts 12:4).

“Sexual immorality” in the NKJV instead of “fornication” (Matthew 19:9).

Also, there are no “authorized” translations from God. He gave us his word, written down by the inspired writers, faithfully and accurately copied and translated through the ages. Older does not always mean better. Newer does not always mean better. Remember, publishing companies are trying to make money and want to sell you a different translation. Find one that is faithful to the original text, one that is easy to read and understand, and not quibble over which is better.

An American Tragedy

Consider these scenarios. 

An elderly couple receives news that they are going to be parents for the first time. This comes as a small shock since they are both past child bearing age, but they are excited since a child is something they have wanted for a long time. However, there may be complications. The wife is older and her life may be in danger as she tries to give birth. Besides that, they are both old and would probably never be able to raise the child to adulthood and the child would become a burden to another family. They are told that aborting the baby would be best for them and the child.

Another scenario deals with a young, unmarried couple. They are truly in love and expect to be married in the near future. The soon to be husband finds out that his fiancée is pregnant. He knows that the child is not his…she must have been unfaithful. This young man and young woman understand the shame that is involved with being pregnant and not married. How can they face their friends and family in light of this revelation? An abortion, done quietly before anyone knows, would solve their problems. After all, they are young and can have children after they are married.

In both circumstances, these couples would be applauded in our modern society for having the courage to abort their children. Fortunately, both of these women did not live in our modern age but in the first century. By giving birth to the “voice crying in the wilderness” (Matthew 3:3) and “God with us” (Matthew 1:23) the world has been changed for the better.

Abortion is defined as “The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks” (Oxford Dictionary – Abortion). Since the legalization of abortion on demand, Randall O’Bannon, editor of the National Right to Life News Today website says, “Given the trends seen in recent national reports, National Right to Life now believes that there have been over 56 million abortions since 1973” (O’Bannon).

Since the passing of Roe vs Wade, which gave women the legal right to abort their baby, 57,762, 169 abortions have taken place. This is an average of:

– 1,375,290 per year

– 114,608 per month

– 3,820 per day

The question that needs to be asked is when does human life begin? There are some that claim it begins at conception, when the sperm fertilizes the egg, and others claim it begins when the child breeches the birth canal and breathes the world’s air for the first time.

There are some who claim that abortions have been going on for decades and even Jesus did not condemn abortions, therefore, the fetus inside the womb is not “human”:

Women have been terminating pregnancies since the very beginning. Throwing themselves on the ground, falling down heights, branches, herbal remedies, horse riding, wearing corsets that restrained their uteruses so tightly that a pregnancy was all but impossible, and in the last century, wire coat hangers and back-alley butchers and lifelong “fixers”. The prostitutes whom Jesus Christ Himself befriended had to be terminating their pregnancies as a necessary task to keep working, and yet Jesus Christ never said one word to them about doing so being a sin (Life Begins at Birth).

Wayne Jackson, taking a position from the Bible, writes:

The Hebrew Old Testament uses the word zera’ (seed) both literally and figuratively. In a literal sense it may be used of seed planted in a field. “The most frequent metaphorical use of . . . zera’ (seed) is employment to designate human seed, i.e., offspring and descendant(s)” (VanGemeren, 1152). The word can signify an individual person, as in the case of the coming Messiah (Genesis 3:15), the people of the nation of Israel (Genesis 15:5; 22:18), or, prophetically, Christians (Psalm 22:30; Isaiah 53:10; cf. “children” –Hebrews 2:13)… A Greek word corresponding to the Old Testament zera’ is sperma (seed). It is found 217 times in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint; LXX), and 44 times in the Greek New Testament. Likewise, it is employed metaphorically for a person; and this “seed” (person) commences at “conception” (see Hebrews 11:11). Both Elizabeth and Mary are said to have “conceived” a “son” — not mere tissue (Luke 1:36). It will             scarcely be denied that “son” in this context indicates a person…By the time the embryo reaches the uterus, it already has developed into a conglomerate of some 50 to 150 cells. This tiny organism exhibits all the characteristics of a living body. It has independent movement. It experiences true growth, the multiplication of cells. It responds to external   stimuli. It is capable of metabolism, i.e., it breaks down products outside of itself for the production of energy. The fact that it is so small in no way nullifies the reality that this is a living body. (Jackson)

The Bible declares the value of human life, from inside the womb to outside the womb:

1. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5
2. “For You formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:13, 14
3. “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:26, 27
4. “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Psalm 127:3

When a society devalues human life, the savage killing of the innocent will seem but a light thing, but in the eyes of the Creator of life, it is murder.

Works Cited

Jackson, Wayne. Christian Courier. n.d. 19 September 2015 <https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1305-when-does-a-human-person-begin&gt;.

Life Begins at Birth. n.d. 19 September 2015 <http://lifebeginsatbirth.org/&gt;.

O’Bannon, Randall. NRL News Today. n.d. 19 September 2015 <http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2014/01/abortions-top-56-million-since-roe-v-wade/#.VfsFJjZRHIU&gt;.

Oxford Dictionary – Abortion. n.d. 19 September 2015 <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/abortion&gt;.

Voted In, Voted Out…

Recently, a 103 year old woman was sent a letter from the “pastor” (minister) of a Baptist church in Georgia. This letter stated that “by vote of the active members, any membership or associations that you have had with this church are now officially revoked.” This comes from, what the article stated, a six year battle over the minister’s preaching style. The elderly lady said his “holiness style” does not belong in the Baptist church. I’m not surprised or shocked.

Any religion that man can vote you into…man can vote you out of.

However, the church that one reads about in the New Testament, the church of Christ, has no such authority to “vote in” or “vote out”. I do read how “the Lord adds to the church daily those that are being saved” (Acts 2:47). The Lord adds those that believe in Him (Hebrews 11:6), repent of sin (Luke 13:3), confess Jesus as Lord (Matthew 10:32), and is baptized, immersed in water for the remission of sin (Acts 2:38). When a person submits to the plan that the Lord has required, the Lord adds us to His church.

When the Lord adds you to the church, the Lord is the only one that can remove your name from the Book of Life. This occurs when a person either adds to or removes from what God has said in His word, the Bible (Revelation 22:18, 19).

There may be times when a person, who behaves disorderly or sinfully, needs to be dealt with. Paul explains this in 2 Thessalonians 3:6, “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.” The “tradition” Paul talks about is not man-made traditions, but the doctrine that he received from God as an inspired apostle. Anyone that does not follow the word of God, that person is to be avoided, because, as Paul writes in another place, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). If the problems are not dealt with, the problems will spread to other members.

The problem’s many face in the denominational world are problems that come from man-made teachings and doctrines. The church Jesus built is perfect, the church man builds is not. The teachings of Christ are true and just, the teachings of men are not. The requirements from the Lord for membership in His church are divine and righteous, man’s requirements are not. Jesus once said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted” (Matthew 15:13).

If you are a member of a church that was started by man, don’t be surprised when man controls your membership.

Plant and Water

When Jesus called His disciples, especially the fisherman of Galilee, He called them to be fishers of men. No longer would they spend their days doing the work of catching fish, they would be sent out to teach people the good news of Jesus Christ. This teaching had its culmination in the great commission, when Jesus instructed these same disciples to take the gospel into all the world and convert people to the cause of Christ. However, not only was this command for the disciples then, it equally applies to us now. Have we gone from being fishers of men to keepers of the aquarium? Are we satisfied with our lack of evangelism? Jesus said there would be few that would be saved, but are we using that as an excuse not to teach the lost?

The Lord’s church must be busy in three main areas, edification, benevolence and evangelism. It’s an easy thing to lift the spirits of others and help those that are in need, but we fall short of the great commission. We cannot make excuses, the fields are white unto harvest and the laborers are few! Paul gave us a good description of how evangelism is to be done in 1 Corinthians 3:6:

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the increase.”

We must plant the seed, which is the Word of God (Luke 8:10), continue to “water” by not giving up, continue to teach and instruct at all times (2 Timothy 4:2) and God will add daily to the church (Acts 2:47). Notice it is not our place to do God’s work and He will not do ours! That may be why we are not as effective at evangelism, we confuse the roles. We can only do what is in our power to do, and that is to teach the Word of God.

Every day we come in contact with a lost and dying world, invite them to worship services. Encourage them to enroll in a Bible correspondence course. Hand them an issue of House to House/Heart to Heart. Let them know you care about them not just as a friend, but as a soul that need salvation found only in Jesus Christ!