A Testimony of Salvation!

26 Feb

This testimony is from Taborah, a young woman who attends my college.  After meeting a woman downtown during our street evangelism time one Saturday afternoon,  Taborah was fortunate enough to gain a great friend, continually share about the love of Christ, and see God work mightily in a life for His glory!  Here it is:

I met Heather while doing street evangelism in the downtown area of Spokane last September. It was my first day out. I confronted her and we ended up talking for about forty minutes. At the end of our conversation we exchanged phone numbers. Not long afterward, I called her and we set up a time to meet downtown. Since then, we have been meeting at a small coffee shop once a week and God has slowly been working on her heart. Over the past 6 months, she has become more comfortable with me and began to share her daily struggles. We have been doing a devotional called “Jesus Calling” and we are now starting to lightly go through the book of Romans.Up until just recently, I was not sure of Heather’s spiritual state, but during our meeting last week God softened her heart and made it possible for me to clearly present the Gospel. It had been presented before but she had not grasped it. She still believed that she was saved by being a good person and doing good things. So that day I used the Ten Commandments to show her that she and I are both sinful at heart. At this point she didn’t think she would go to heaven, so I shared with her the hope that I personally have because of my relationship with Christ Jesus. Upon hearing this and understanding how serious the whole ordeal is, she knew that she would go to heaven. She finally understood what it was that would save her! She then immediately started to worry about her husband’s life, for she feared that he did not believe on Jesus as savior in the way she then did. She asked me many questions about the end times so we read a little bit of Revelation. I encouraged her to be a light to her husband and her friends, if not with words then certainly with her actions. We also talked about the fruits of the Spirit and what they are in a believer’s life. That day, I did not say the “prayer” with her because she told me that she had already accepted Christ. I believe that she had, but did not fully understand the Gospel in its entirety. I am praying that God would use me to keep reaching her.

We praise God for His faithfulness and mercy!  The Gospel is often misunderstood because it is so prevalent for people to think that they are saved by simply being a “good person.”  Those who regularly evangelize know this and also know that it truly takes an act of God, in His mercy, to remove the veil from an individual’s eyes in order that they can comprehend at the heart-level just what Jesus has done for them.  But God IS faithful, so please know that He has placed people who are seeking truth in YOUR life, hoping that you will respond to His urgings and reach out to them.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful and completely relevant to the lost and dying generation among which we live.  Let’s share it!

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Destroying the Love of God

20 Feb

I often hear Christians say, “the kindness of God leads people to repentance.” This statement is taken from the second chapter of Romans and is completely true. But in almost every instance in which I hear it recited it comes coupled with the idea that due to this verse, and the lavish benevolence found in the ministry of Jesus, Christians must only speak of God’s “goodness” in moments of evangelism. It is widely thought in current times that warning people about hell and speaking of God’s wrath is obsolete this side of the cross. God’s love must be all that is proclaimed to a lost and dying generation, for that alone will compel people to repent and put their faith in Him.

But I wonder if such an idea is in accordance with the teachings and examples of Scripture, particularly that of the New Testament. In order to determine an answer, we should first examine the passage which is most frequently quoted concerning the topic, which is Romans 2:4. But before simply looking at that one verse, it is important to understand that any teaching derived from the Bible should take context and the entirety of the particular author’s thought into consideration, in order to avoid manipulating Scripture to fit our interpretive desires. So, when one reviews Romans 1, the reader sees that every human being is guilty before God. The apostle Paul communicates the wickedness of mankind in very straightforward terms, with statements like “they(humans) are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, etc” (ESV Romans 1:29-30). Understanding this backdrop, we can now venture into the next chapter of Romans and fully grasp what the Lord is trying to communicate.

In the second chapter, Paul moves on to those who think that they are somehow better off than the wicked mentioned in the previous chapter, although they too participate in the same sinful activities (many scholars believe that Paul is speaking to the Jews at this point). In this passage comes the verse of ubiquity, which I will quote in its entirety: “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” I will also quote the next verse, which is pertinent to understanding his argument: “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (ESV, Romans 2:4-5).

When read in its fullness, this passage teaches that the kindness of God is that he has not already poured out his wrath on us! We deserve his punishment for our rebellion and wickedness, yet he has not given us what we deserve. Thus, the very fact that we have not been destroyed by him is a testimony of his kindness and should compel us to run to his feet, crying out for mercy. The passage that is used to justify our avoidance of hell and the wrath of God in evangelism actually speaks explicitly about God’s wrath! Paul understood that God’s love toward his children could only be properly comprehended if they first knew his fierce hatred of sin and subsequent fury toward sinners.

Also in support, we would do well to study the sermons proclaimed throughout the book of Acts. One will quickly find that Peter told the crowd of Jews on the day of Pentecost that they were guilty of killing the Messiah, Paul told the Athenians that God commands people to repent and has appointed a day on which he will judge the world and Stephen told his listeners that by their actions they were actively resisting the Holy Spirit. These men were all led by the Spirit in these moments. They proclaimed the way of salvation, but were not afraid to speak the whole counsel of God, even those parts which are offensive to rebellious humans.

The message of salvation, the Gospel, is that although mankind has rejected God and by so doing has willingly become his enemies, he has provided a means of reconciliation by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are actually saved from the wrath of God, a truth to which Romans 5:9-10 attests. Jesus has taken the punishment that we have earned in order that we can receive all of the blessings appropriated by his obedience. By avoiding the message of God’s just punishment of sin and future condemnation of those obstinately against him, we actually undermine his great love for mankind. When one first understands God’s animosity toward sin, he or she can then truly gaze at the love of God in all of its glory. Although he is completely holy and by definition must hate that which is evil, he still did what was necessary for the atonement of our sin, even going to the measure of putting the punishment on his own son to satisfy his wrath. Those who put faith in Christ receive a full pardon from the penalty due them, which is the love of God in its purest and brightest form.

I do not want to limit God’s actions toward us solely to the salvation of our souls from his wrath, but I do want it to be known that this is the primary emphasis. Yet because of his tremendous benevolence and because he is, in fact, love, he does bless us in many ways. God is our healer and our provider, the one who sustains us in times of peace and turmoil. He delivers us from bondage to sin and from the tyranny of Satan, which is manifested in each of our lives in numerous manners. But these are ramifications of who God is and the very nature of his being. When he enters into a life, profound changes occur. When he comes upon an imprisoned soul, freedom occurs. When he sheds his light into a human mind, revelation occurs. God does many things that are astounding and beyond human capability, but when someone gets “saved”, in the sense which most Christians today use the term, they are not being saved from their physical circumstances or struggles. They are being saved from the wrath of God and from an eternity separated from him. They are reconciled to him, having their sins blotted out and being clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

The love of God in salvation is extravagant and can only be ascertained properly by an individual who has also been told of his wrath. By avoiding the truth of God’s holiness and wrath against sin, we belittle his love toward mankind and do an injustice to the great Gospel of Jesus Christ. God did not promise us that the Gospel would not offend or that it would be unanimously accepted, but he did promise that he would be with us in our efforts. Let’s trust in him, that the Gospel he has given us to share is powerful, able to save sinners, and is not in need of modification.

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Street Evangelism Testimony

20 Jan

This is a testimony from Liz, a girl at my school.  This occurred one of the Saturdays we went downtown to share the Gospel this past fall semester in Spokane WA.

 We saw a woman on the streets who was screaming and swearing and swinging her arms madly. I felt compassion for her and began to tear up, so I quickly asked the people with me to pray for her. When we finished I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I asked the others to come with me as I attempted to talk to the angry woman (who was also walking with a man a little way from her). We were pretty far behind her and I felt the Lord tell me to run to her. So I told the guys I was going after her and off I went. After chasing her down, I asked if I could pray for her. She refused and said that praying wouldn’t help. I then began to plead with her in tears, which caused a change of heart in her as she wept and even asked for prayer. I prayed my heart out and proclaimed truth and love to her. I told her she was loved and God was going after her. I told her He had a better life prepared for her. She cried even more and I asked her if she had any pain. I then prayed for her neck. My whole body was shaking as I prayed for her. She told me the guy walking with her was her abusive fiance and that she had no family. I said she could find a family in the church and then asked her if she wanted to do a Bible study with me sometime; She said yes. As we left she wept and hugged me.

After that I felt the Lord tell me to go after the angry people that day. Soon we saw a homeless man yell in rage as he swore at a bus. We approached the man and said to him, “Hello. What’s going on man, you sound upset? What’s wrong?” He said, “Whoa, why are you guys talking to me? I’m not anybody.”

Then we told him that we heard him yelling and that we were out to share the Gospel. Once I mentioned that, He said, “Today’s the day I’m going to give myself to God.” So I said, “Why?! Don’t do it. God loves you, He made you. He does not want you to die.” He then said, “God told me today is the day I’m going to die and I can’t stop that.” I replied, “No. That is a lie. The Lord wants you alive. The Lord is not a liar but whatever is telling you that you’re going to die today is the liar. It is the devil.” Then he told me he was going to die once again as he went to his backpack and pulled out a razor. I was terrified and ran into the store . I literally thought I was going to die. I told the lady at the store to call 911. Then I tried to trade my Bible for his razor but he just put the razor back in his backpack. At this time a group of teenagers walked passed us and one of them looked at him. He reacted very angrily and almost went charging at them. I told him that his worth was in the Lord and only in the cross and that his worth couldn’t be found in a job or having a house, or what kind of clothes he wore. He was astounded at this and started to cry and his face just looked so amazed.

Then a security guard came and asked what the problem was. The man said there was no problem and ran away. We ran after him and would not let him go. We chased him and watched him as he threw off his gloves, hat, coat and backpack. He was running and charging into the street and trying to kill himself. I cried out and stood in front of him and so did Ryan (one of the other students with me) and told him “No!”. I screamed out truth and proclaimed that he was remade in Christ. I told him that the Lord knew he was going to be messy and fall into sin even after he was saved and he still went to the cross for you. Eventually he stopped running into the street. He was still talking about suicide. He told us about how he lived in and promoted apostasy for 13 years after his wife left him and his kids were in a foster home. He then pulled out his veteran card and said, “I killed people while I was a Christian how can God forgive me?” So I told him the truth of the Gospel again: “When Jesus died for you He knew every sin you were going to commit; He knew every sin after salvation and before.” He began to weep. He asked me if I ever wanted to kill myself and I said, “Yes. A lot of people struggle with depression. Even Christians can struggle with that.” I encouraged him with my own testimony and told Him how much the Lord loves him.

He fell to his knees and wept and confessed he was a sinner and he was scared of going to hell. He confessed Jesus died for him and that He was the Son of God. He said he was sorry for his unbelief. Then we put our hand on him and prayed for him. He started shaking and coughing and we thought he was having a heart attack. He fell over and we were so scared. Then he got up after screaming at God, “What the he** was that!!?” He said he felt all the chronic pain in his body leave him and he was amazed! He then told us how he asked if he could just talk to God today because his Bible had been stolen and he was sick of all the voices. His Bibles have been stolen three times. I told him I would give him mine and He began to weep. He was so amazed. He told me he had a job and I said, “I don’t care! I want to bless you and show you Christ’s love!” He then began to weep louder; He was overcome with joy and amazed! He even agreed to start a Bible study with us!

Please pray for this man and woman, that God would work in their lives and that Liz would be able to regain contact with them, because we were away from Spokane for about six weeks due to our winter break.  Thank you!  May His name be glorified!

- Shawn

 

 

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Does Belief in God Make One Intellectually Inferior? Pt. 1

12 Jan

I have spoken to many people on the topic of God’s existence and often I encounter individuals who discard even the possibility of a higher power because they have a “scientific” worldview. In other words, a common belief is that if one is a rational and intelligent person, and takes into account modern scientific findings, he could never descend to belief in a physically imperceptible God. I label this a common “belief” because that is the proper category in which it belongs.

For centuries, belief in a Supreme Being, often labeled God, has been a staple among great minds. Although not exposed to the scientific data currently in circulation, these individuals were in no way intellectually stunted or inferior to the outstanding thinkers of today. Every contemporary inhabitant of Western Civilization would do well to know something about those massively influential persons who shaped the thought patterns of entire cultures and also to know that the common beliefs of today have likewise been conditioned by a select few.

But why is it so common to not believe in God in our country? Is it not because we have been intellectually enlightened and have seen the errors of simple-minded blind faith? Or might there also be contributions of men unknown to most, whose quest for truth and knowledge led them to conclusions that would generations later be the default mindset of the common man? If we live in locations and times in which knowledge is abundant and easily accessible, and we pride ourselves on being “scientific,” we may want to live out that which we claim. Indeed, most people in modern advanced civilizations such as ours have a worldview that has been shaped by Rationalism, Empiricism, and Skepticism, just to mention a few of the heavyweight contributors. Many points of these philosophies include a radical departure from traditional thought; they are rooted in and founded upon doubt. If doubting is the genesis of my thought process, how convenient is it for me to doubt away a God whom I cannot see, especially One whose moral standards make me cringe? So when one claims that the idea of God is intellectually inferior, usually the person is simply indicating that he is a product of this age.

If you choose to be an atheist, please do some research and decide just what your reasons are for this conclusion. Recognize that you are not above influence and discover why you think in the manner that you do. Using broad stroke statements such as “I believe in science” does not competently justify atheism. Science does not point to an absence of God, but when employed instead exposes many areas of life (such as its origins) concerning which we are baffled and have no good explanations. The existence of a God fits nicely into the glaring areas of inexplicability with which we are faced. I have found that many, when confronted with the rationality and reasonableness of a higher power, still remain adamantly in opposition to this viewpoint. This is not normally due to the strength of logic used in their argument, but rather illustrative of the human propensity to avoid recognizing God for who he is and accepting the accountability such knowledge necessitates.

Part 2 of this post will give a more detailed description of how those who claim to only accept that which is proven scientifically in reality participate continually in the same assumption-based conclusions that they condemn.

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Overview of the Fall Semester

6 Jan

Greetings

The work that God has been doing in Spokane this past semester fills me with excitement as I wonder what lies in the near future. I first want to thank all of you who have been praying for me and those of us contending for great things in this city; you are a blessing and I am grateful for your hearts of sincerity and desire to see the Gospel proclaimed far and wide. And to the students of our Bible college who have stepped up these past four months in prayer and pursuit of the Great Commission: thank you for your dedication and hunger for God. Although we have been together just a short time in the city thus far, it has been great serving the Lord with you!

A Testimony

This entry will be a brief overview of that which the Lord has accomplished this past semester. I will begin with a testimony of a young man I will call Roy (I will not use his actual name online). I met him last year on a Saturday when I was downtown. He was sitting outside of a shelter, hunched over and passed out, with a puddle of vomit between his feet. A fellow student and I spoke with the young people there, and as we did Roy regained consciousness. We offered to buy them some pizza and they accepted. So we walked a few blocks to the mall and on the way I spoke with Roy. Almost immediately we began talking about the things of God and it was clear that he had an unusually robust knowledge of the Scriptures for someone who was not living in accordance with them. He sought to justify his lifestyle of drug use and partying, but I continued to confront him with the truth. I knew that Roy fully believed the Gospel but was running away. Because of this, I was very blunt and let Roy know that God was going to shut every door on him until he submitted his life. He heard what I had to say, but seemed much more interested in the pizza than my lecture.

I saw Roy a few more times that semester as I continued to go downtown on Saturdays to share the Gospel. We would converse and I would bring up things of God, usually with a similar response of short answers and topic changes. But I believed that God was convicting him. Soon, I no longer saw Roy and the people he hung out with downtown, including his old foster brother, had no idea where he was and were concerned. The semester ended and after returning from my winter break, I ran into Roy my first Saturday back downtown. He explained that he had been away at a ranch used by a Christian ministry in order to get help! He had a Bible on him and was excited to share Scripture with me that he had been reading. This completely blew my mind and I was grateful to see fruit in his life. After this, I didn’t see him much because he wasn’t hanging out downtown anymore. Closer to the end of the semester, I crossed paths with him again and he was with a different ministry as an intern. I could tell that he was still struggling with certain issues, but his willingness to participate in an internship was promising. After this point, I did not see him and of course did not have any contact with him as I was in Connecticut on my summer break. But after I came back to Spokane this past fall, I still did not see him on Saturdays or speak with anybody downtown who knew how he was doing. I began to get worried, when on a particular Sunday near the end of the semester I saw him at my home church in Spokane at a special Sunday night event! He was there with the local group of Teen Challenge men. He let me know that he still didn’t feel strong enough to resist the temptation of going back to the streets so he decided to enroll in Teen Challenge, which is a year long Christian based program. I give this testimony as a praise to God for the amazing transformation he has worked in Roy, who has been saved and is in the process of sanctification. Please pray for him!

Downtown Evangelism

I first met Roy during a time of street evangelism on a Saturday of my first semester. When I came to Moody, I began going downtown on Saturdays specifically to share the Gospel and also invited students to come. This quickly grew into a group of ten and by the end of the semester around twenty students regularly attended as this time of evangelism was approved by the school to fulfill a ministry requirement for students called a PCM (Practical Christian Ministry). Many students have participated in this outreach over the past year and a half and have grown greatly in boldness and faith. This semester, many people have been engaged concerning the Gospel each week and out of the effort one Bible study has been birthed and a few students have built ongoing relationships with those met downtown.

Our Neighborhood

Although the downtown street evangelism ministry has been fruitful and a blessing, the main area of focus is on our own neighborhood. The Lord has blessed the school with a very unique housing arrangement. The campus does not have dormitories, but instead most of the students live in houses in the neighborhood of the school. There are 37 properties that are fully occupied by our students, all within an eight block area. We are close to one another yet dispersed among the community. Our neighborhood is filled with drugs, crime, broken homes and people desperately needing a Savior.

I am thankful that the school is very supportive of our outreach into the community. It is encouraging to be led by an administration and faculty that want to see God be glorified in our neighborhood! I was able to expose the idea for community outreach to almost all of the student population from an early point and throughout the semester have seen many students continually pursue the cause of Christ. I divided the neighborhood into sections, with each section having a leader. Each leader has been leading a weekly prayer gathering for their neighbors and the school. We have been praying for very specific things: revival at our school and in Spokane and the salvation of the lost in our neighborhood. Throughout the semester we watched God begin to answer these prayers. The desire to reach out has greatly increased among the students. By the end of the semester, there were seven different continual outreaches going on, whether that be cookie baking and meeting those in the community or weekly dinners for the neighbors.

Also, a certain student has been able to connect with many children that live on the blocks surrounding her. God has given her a great opportunity to pour into the lives of some young boys and girls who would not otherwise learn about Christ. Another student has a passionate heart for the homeless and is leading an effort to reach a group of men that sleep under the highway downtown. He sleeps with them on Tuesday nights and is inspiring other students to live in radical obedience to the Gospel. This young man lives across the street from an apartment building known for its drugs and violence. He has been spending time with some of the people there, including a man who goes by Greybeard (his real nickname). This man is bound by drugs and alcohol, but has been seeing great changes as the student has been reaching out to him. Greybeard even comes to the young man’s house now to ask for prayer and has a desire to get free from alcohol. Please pray for him and for the homeless men to whom this young man is ministering.

Looking Forward

Currently, we are on winter break and waiting for classes to commence. This upcoming semester, we will continue to pray and seek God for an outpouring of His Spirit while being faithful to live out what we pray. God has been stirring up hearts, as there are now about thirty-something students who are regularly praying for or participating in neighborhood focused outreach, and has been saving the lost (a few neighbors came to Christ this semester and more are seeking). Please pray for us! We need strength and wisdom from God to carry out His will. Please pray that we will be protected from the assignments of the enemy. And most of all, pray that God’s name would be glorified in our city. Thank you!

May every person know that God is alive and Jesus Christ is Lord.

- Shawn

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