Let's Get Back to The Gospel

I try to post a wake up call about "The Gospel" as often as I can. We can warn the church of false truths and crumbling foundations of unbiblical doctrines. But we need to step back and sure our measurements with the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. First is a posting from Truth for Life Blog by Alistair Begg: http://http//www.truthforlife.org/about/the-gospel/
Right is two videos from Wretched T.V.http://http://wretchedradio.com/

I encourage to let the Gospel be first place and the filter of all your thinking.

What is the Gospel? How do you become a Christian?

There is Something to Admit

First of all we have to admit that we are all sinners. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

Each of us has failed miserably when it comes to keeping His commandments. We haven't honored our parents as we should, we have tolerated untruthfulness, we have been envious of our neighbors and while we may not have actually committed murder, we have tolerated murderous thoughts. Our natural tendency is not to acknowledge our sin. We are prone to blame our circumstances or our genes. We are keen to gain comfort in the assurance that we are not as bad as some people.

So what brings us to the place where we know that we must admit we are sinners? This is something God does. Jesus explained to His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit, "When He comes, He will convince the world of the meaning of sin, of true goodness and of judgment." John 16:8

There is Something to Believe

Jesus is the only Savior from the sin to which we have just admitted. We may have begun our journey fairly convinced Jesus was a "good man," but as we considered the evidence we were forced in a different direction. We certainly did not set out predisposed to believe. So we find ourselves agreeing with this statement: "Faith is forced consent. That is to say, when evidence is judged by the mind to be sufficient, the state of mind we call 'faith' is the inevitable effect….whenever the reasons are judged sufficient, faith or belief is induced." (John Murray "Collected Writings II" p237)

So we come to believe that God has made provision for our sin in the person of His Son. "We see real love, not in the fact that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to make personal atonement for our sins." 1 John 4:10 JBP.

There is Something to Consider

We need to come to terms with the cost of following Christ. He said,"If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps, he must give up all right to himself, carry his cross every day and keep close behind me. For the man who wants to save his life will lose it, but the man who loses his life for my sake will save it." Luke 9:23,4.

Now be careful not to misunderstand this. The only thing we 'contribute' to our salvation is the sin from which we need to be saved. One way to learn the important distinction is to remember that while entrance to the Christian life is free, the annual subscription is everything we have!

There is a cost involved in saying no to sin.

Jesus said, "The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!… Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Notice that His first call is to 'repentance' This means to turn from sin to God. There are certain characteristics which Sinclair Ferguson points out are commonly present in repentance.

A sense of shame, such as when David cries to the Lord after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba. "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…" Psalm 51:3,4.
This leads to humbling. Instead of jumping to our defense or trying to blame our actions on people or circumstances, we acknowledge our accountability.
There is an accompanying sense of sorrow and regret. If we had been in the corner of the bedroom of the prodigal son on his first night at home, I think we would have heard the sobs and seen the tears and watched in wonder as he kneeled by his bed and mourned the wasted years and the squandered privileges. The memory of sin is distasteful to the truly penitent.
There is also a recognition of God's pardon. It is the kindness of God which leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). While we are emphasizing the need for repentance at the gateway of faith, this is something which continues through our entire life.
There is a cost involved in saying no to self.

What we mean by this is simply that Christ comes first, before everything and everyone else. This has a peculiarly challenging ring in the midst of a culture that has gone to great lengths to bolster self-esteem and make much of the individual. It means that my time and my talents and my relationships and my career will all be brought under His jurisdiction.

There is a cost involved in saying no to secrecy.

When a man or woman discovers the freedom Jesus brings, they will be ready and willing to let others know. The Bible confirms this in a number of places. "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

While coming to trust in Christ is undoubtedly a personal matter, it is not private.

There is Something to Do

Genuine Christian faith is more than saying,"I believe Jesus is who He claimed to be." After all even demons are orthodox when it comes to this, but clearly they are not Christians! (James 2:19)

Faith means accepting the facts can be trusted, and acting upon what you believe to be true.

Alister McGrath uses an analogy which you may find helpful. Imagine I am suffering from blood poisoning and there is a bottle of penicillin sitting on my bedside table. What are my options?

I may accept that this bottle of penicillin exists.
I may trust that it is capable of curing my illness, but I shall never cure my blood poisoning, unless -
I act upon that trust and take the penicillin. Acceptance and trust prepare the way for the final component of faith - entering into the promise, and receiving what it offers.
Mere mental assent to these facts without any corresponding action no more brings us to personal faith than memorizing a menu allows us to enjoy a meal. True faith means moving beyond the awareness of the existence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to a living personal relationship with Him.

If God has shown you your need and given you this desire, then you must forsake everything and trust Christ NOW! There's a time coming when it will be too late.

So here is the most crucial question you will ever face: "Do you take this Savior?"

If your answer is "yes," then let me encourage you to deal with the matter immediately. You may want to find a quiet place to seal your commitment. God is not so concerned with your ability to articulate your thoughts as He is aware of the sincerity of the response of your heart. A simple prayer such as this may be of help to you in marking the moment. Depending on the kind of person you are, you may want to write this in your journal or the fly leaf of your Bible. This is a unique occasion.

"Lord Jesus Christ, I confess that I am a guilty, lost and helpless sinner. I want you to save me, to take your rightful place as Lord of my life. I want to turn from my sin and trust only in your atoning sacrifice. I give my life to you. Take charge of it all and help me by the power of the Holy Spirit to follow after you."

It is important for us to recognize the mystery which surrounds this. Jesus referred to this when he was talking with Nicodemus about being born again. He said, "The wind blows where it likes, you can hear the sound of it but you have no idea where it comes from and where it goes. Nor can you tell how a man is born by the wind of the Spirit." John3:8 JBP.

This recognizes the amazing wonder of God's grace whereby Jesus comes to where I am, calls me by my name and changes me. So this life-changing encounter takes place both mysteriously and individually.

Faith is the gift of God, and we may be confident that having given it, He will not take it back. Allow me to offer you the same encouragement Paul gave to the believers in Philippi, "I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil.1:6

So What Should I DO Now

There are two very important things you should now do.

Get yourself a Bible and start reading it. The gospel of John is a good place to start. The Bible is the Word of God and He gave it to us that we might learn more about following Him. Set aside a time each day for reading your Bible and talking to God in prayer.
Find other Christians and tell them what you've done. If you know other Christians, then you could go to church with them. If not, then find a Bible-teaching church that you can attend. It is important now that you grow in your walk with God. Spiritual food, that is fellowship and teaching, as well as your own Bible study, will help you grow.
"Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is no other."

Isaiah 45 : 22

Part 1: What is the Gospel?

What is the Gospel? part 2

How To Share the Gospel to a Muslim

I understanding what my Christian brothers were doing through all of the events in Dearborn, Michigan. But next time can I suggest to share the Gospel? Ray Comfort has a book called Religion in a Nutshell. This is what he states how to share the Gospel to a Muslim.

From the excellent sermon, "True and False Conversions".

"To make an important point, I am going to teach you how to witness Biblically to four groups of people: a Muslim, a Roman Catholic, a Homosexual, and an Intellectual. So listen very carefully; this is a wonderful principal.

Okay, I'm sitting in a plane. There's a gentleman sitting next to me. I say, "Hey, how 'ya doing?"

He says, "I'm fine."

I say, "Where you from?"

He says, "India."

I say, "Oh. Did you get one of these? It's a gospel tract."

He says, "I'm a Muslim."

I say, "Oh yeah, would you consider yourself to be a good person?"

He says, "Oh yes, a very good person."

I said, "Well, can I ask you a few questions to see if that's true?"

He says, "Yeah. Go ahead."

I said, "Have you ever told a lie?"

He says, "Yes sir."

I said, "What does that make you?"

He says, "a liar."

I said, "Have you ever stolen something?"

He says, "Yes sir."

I said, "What does that make you?"

He says, "a thief."

And I say, "Jesus said whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart. Have you ever done that?"

He says, "Yes sir, plenty of times."

I said, "Well, what's your name?"

He says "Orem."

I said, "Well, by your own admission, Orem, you're a lying, thieving, adulterer at heart and you've got to face God on Judgment Day."

And I shut him up under the law. I make him tremble before the God of creation. I let his conscience accuse him. I make room for the Holy Spirit to convict him of sin, which is transgression of the Law, righteousness, which is of the Law, and judgment, which is by the Law.

I tell him he's an enemy of God in his mind through wicked works, that the wrath of God abides upon him, that he is by nature a child of wrath. I leave him with no hope; no means of escape, hanging by a spider's web over the pit of hell, and then I say, "Oh, there is one name under heaven whereby you may be saved, and that is Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He came to this earth, God in human form, perfect, sinless man who gave His life as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. And all your sin was laid upon the Savior. And neither is their salvation in any other. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."

Now if you don't like that principle, if you don't like that method, for want of a better word, you can find a website with 10,000 pages of questions and answers when speaking to Moslems. That's serious.

But personally I don't believe that you have to bury your head in the Koran to witness to a Moslem. You just have to bury your head in this. This tells us how to do it: God's Word."

Ray Comfort also has some good information in the Evidence Bible.

How to Witness to Muslims

In Acts 17:22–31 the apostle Paul built on areas of "common ground" as he prepared his listeners for the good news of the gospel. Even though he was addressing Gentiles whose beliefs were erroneous, he didn’t rebuke them for having a doctrine of devils— "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God" (1 Corinthians 10:20). Neither did he present the great truth that Jesus of Nazareth was Almighty God manifest in human form. This may have initially offended his hearers and closed the door to the particular knowledge he wanted to convey. Instead, he built on what they already knew. He first established that there is a Creator who made all things. He then exposed their sin of transgression of the First and Second of the Ten Commandments. Then he preached future punishment for sin.

There are three main areas of common ground upon which Christians may stand with Muslims. First, that there is one God—the Creator of all things. The second area is the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet of God. The Bible makes this clear: "And He shall send Jesus Christ,…For Moses truly said to the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up to you of your brethren, like to me; him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say to you" (Acts 3:20–22). The Qur’an (Koran) says: "Behold! The angel said ‘O Mary! Allah giveth you Glad Tidings of a word from Him. His name will be (Christ Jesus) the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah’" (Surah 3:45). In Surah 19:19, the angel said to Mary, "I am only a messenger of thy Lord to announce to you a gift of a holy son." Surah 3:55 says, "Allah said: ‘O Jesus! I will take you and raise you to Myself." It is because of these and other references to Jesus in the Qur’an that a Muslim will not object when you establish that Jesus was a prophet from God.

This brings us to the third area of common ground. Muslims also respect Moses as a prophet of God. Therefore, there should be little contention when Christians speak of God (as Creator), Jesus the prophet, and the Law of the prophet Moses. Most Muslims do have some knowledge of their sinfulness, but few see sin in its true light. It is therefore essential to take them through the spiritual nature of the Ten Commandments. While it is true that the Law of Moses begins with, "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before Me," it may be unwise to tell a Muslim, at that point, that Allah is a false god. Such talk may close the door before you are able to speak to his conscience. It is wise rather to present the Law in a similar order in which Jesus gave it in Luke 18:20. He addressed the man’s sins of the flesh. He spoke directly to sins that have to do with his fellow man.

Therefore, ask your hearer if he has ever told a lie. When (if) he admits that he has, ask him what that makes him. Don’t call him a liar. Instead, gently press him to tell you what someone is called who has lied. Try to get him to say that he is a "liar." Then ask him if he has ever stolen something, even if it’s small. If he has, ask what that makes him (a thief). Then quote from the Prophet Jesus: "Whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:27). Ask if he has ever looked at a woman with lust. If he is reasonable, he will admit that he has sinned in that area. Then gently tell him that, by his own admission, he is a "lying, thieving adulterer-at-heart." Say, "If God judges you by the Law of Moses on Judgment Day, will you be innocent or guilty?"

At this point, he will more than likely say that he will be innocent, because he confesses his sins to God. However, the Qur’an says: "Every soul that has sinned, if it possessed all that is on earth, would fain give it in ransom" (Surah 10:54). In other words, if he possessed the whole world and offered it to God as a sacrifice for his sins, it wouldn’t be enough to provide atonement for his sins. Imagine that a criminal is facing a 50,000 fine. He is penniless, so he sincerely tells the judge that he is sorry for a crime and vows never to do it again. The judge won’t let him go on the basis of his sorrow, or his vow never to commit the crime again. Of course, he should be sorry for what he has done, and of course, he shouldn’t break the law again. The judge will, however, let him go if someone else pays the fine for him.

Now tell him that Moses gave instructions to Israel to shed the blood of a spotless lamb to provide a temporary atonement for their sin; and that Jesus was the Lamb that God provided to make atonement for the sins of the world. Through faith in Jesus, he can have atonement with God. All his sin can be washed away—once and for all. God can grant him the gift of everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ on the basis of His death and resurrection.

The uniqueness of Jesus of Nazareth was that He claimed He had power on earth to forgive sins (Matthew 9:2–6). No other prophet of any of the great religions made this claim. Only Jesus can provide peace with God. This is why He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

God commands sinners to repent and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, or they will perish. To try to justify himself, your listener may say something like, "The Bible has changed. It has been altered. There are many different versions, but the Koran has never changed." Explain to him that there are many different versions, printed in different languages and in modern English, to help people understand the Bible, but the content of the Scriptures remains the same. The Dead Sea Scrolls prove that God has preserved the Scriptures.

Tell him that the 100% accurate prophecies of Matthew 24, Luke 21, and 2 Timothy 3 prove that this is the Book of the Creator. Your task is to present the truth of the gospel. It is God who makes it come alive (1 Corinthians 3:6,7). It is God who brings conviction of sin (John 16:7,8). It is God who reveals who Jesus is (Matthew 16:16,17). All God requires is your faithful presentation of the truth (Matthew 25:21)."

These resources are available at:http://www.livingwaters.com/

The Cross is Everything

The Gospel

Before we go any further we need to go back to the Gospel. Here is Bob DeWaay explaining so well what the Gospel is. The Church of Today is attempting to trust in something else to reach God. This is adding to the Gospel.

Is Oprah and friends teaching Truth.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer wrote a book warning and informing Christians about the extra-biblical teachings of Oprah and many of her quest that have appeared on t.v, radio and Internet programs. What is alarming is the fact that many Christians add their teachings to their lives.

I encourage you to do your homework and get the book and listen to this video.

Matt Chandler speaks the Truth

It looks like Pastor Matt Chandler is going to have a time of recovery after having his brain surgery. Please pray for him and the church he pastors.
The Following messages are to the point. The point is , we are not reaching the lost in our churches. As Matt would say we can have precious people in our churches that are Inoculated to Jesus Christ. They are the De-churched.
This shook me with fear that I may be worshipping here in this church for 16 years and this may be a form of godliness and denying The Power. When is the last time that I checked everything that is going on in church with Gods Word. Could there be a possibility of Idolatry. It was a beginning of repentance and questioning. What am I being taught and why am I here. And for some reason when I questioned church practices and methods. Pastors get upset and angry at me. But at the same time. All I want is the Truth! Thats all!. Is that to hard to ask for from a Church!
Here are four videos that I hope will help in your search for TRUTH.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Paul Washer

It was the same year that I started Listening to The Way of the Master Radio Program. I had already made a decision to listen to as many sermons as possible between Sundays. I was not satisfied with the amount of Gods Word through the Sunday morning service. I hungered for more! The program played a clip of Paul Washers sermon to a youth conference. It really convicted me to the core. I heard a actual sermon that opened up my heart and broke it and the Word of God healed it over and over.

At the Top of the Blogs. There is a HeartCry window with sermons from Paul Washer. I pray that you will take time to listen. Here is the testimony of Paul Washer or should I say here is the Testimony of God and how He saved Paul Washer from Hell.

It will Cost you Everything by Steve Lawson

I thought this would be a good video to start with. Oh no! It is over 10 minutes long. I have a cure for you and me. Take your pulse and count how many beats your heart is pumping in one minute. Then count how many breaths you can take in a minute. And then thank the God of all creation for having enough Mercy to allow you to live long enough to hear the Gospel.