Examine Yourselves...

I Got Saved Today…

William Franklin “Billy” Graham has featured several times in TIME magazine and will remain one of the most recognisable faces of the 21^st Century. A spiritual adviser to multiple American presidents and an avatar of Christianity on the six o’clock news. Billy Graham is believed to have preached in person to more people around the world than any other Protestant in history. It is said that as of 1993, more than 2.5 million people had “stepped forward at his crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour“. As of 2008, Graham’s lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped the 2.2 billion mark.

“Accepting Christ” and “making a decision” for Christ are clichés sprinkled all over church notice boards and statistics spread sheets and missions reports. These ambiguous yet glossy sounding expressions should always be run and tested by the Word of God to see if they align with sound teaching and doctrine. The modern day gospel has moulted and produced yet astronomically illustrious results highlighting numerous “decisions made for Christ.”

But what did Jesus tell Nicodemus? What did He say about being born-again? He spoke of a work that only God can do by His Spirit during that tête-à-tête. How then can we number new converts at the end of a mere sermon? Who can know the heart of man and declare him converted?

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:7-8

Well, looking back through early church history there was no numbering of new converts or signing of decision cards or calls to say a “sinners prayers” but “the Lord added to their numbers day by day those who were saved.” (Acts 2:47)

Furthermore, my concern is if we are getting results and sensational figures, what gospel are we preaching? If we are preaching a different gospel from the one we were given then our efforts will have been in vain. If we place much credit on the decision of man and not enough on the Grace and initiative of God, there will be multitudes of numbers “making decisions” but sadly no fruits of the Spirit but extremely high apostasy rates as conversions. Catastrophically, there will be no difference between any other religion and the modern day gospel we bear; for we would have devised yet another way that man can curve to reach his god-the figurement of his imagination.

A very large, or a major denomination of the United States which has 11,500 churches throughout the US – in 1991, their first year of what they called “the decade of harvest,” they got 294,000 decisions for Christ. They found that only 14,000 remained in fellowship. That is, they couldn’t account for 279,000 of their decisions for Jesus. And this is normal modern evangelical statistics when it comes to crusades and local churches. -True and false Conversion, Ray Comfort

The Altar Call

Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) was a preacher like no other. Modern day evangelism has been shaped by a great portion of his influence. Talk about decisions he knew how to help people make decisions. He introduced the most glorious of crutches to help see results-“The altar call”. The practice of urging men and women to make a physical movement at the conclusion of a meeting was introduced by Mr. Finney in the second decade of the nineteenth century. And hence the old adage “decision to walk” or “not to walk”.

This is not an attack on “the altar call.” No, not at all. For I am humble enough know that God is not limited and can even use a talking donkey or a brazen serpent to get a message a cross.

The counselling of “Decisional Regeneration” produces statistics that would encourage any Christian-until he follows up the so-called converts. In one heartbreaking experience forty “converts” of such counselling were contacted and only one person of these forty was found who appeared to be a Christian. One lady may have been reached, but what were the effects of the encounter on the other thirty-nine? Some of them may believe their eternal destinies were determined by their decisions, which is a fatal confidence if no change was wrought in their hearts and lives. -James E. Adams

Talking Donkey

Dr. Albert B. Dod, a professor of theology at Princeton Seminary at the time of Mr. Finney’s ministry, pointed out the newness of the practice and showed that this method was without historical precedent. In his review of Finney’s Lectures on Revival, Professor Dod stated that one will search the volumes of church history in vain for a single example of this practice before the 1820’s. Instead, history tells us that whenever the gospel was preached men were invited to Christ-not to decide at the end of a sermon whether or not to perform some physical action.

Folks, saying incantations or written prayers or walking down an aisle or putting up a hand or keeping your head bowed does not make you born again just like sleeping in garage doesn’t change you into convertible car.

Charles Spurgeon, also called the Prince of Preachers once said,

But I now do from my very soul call upon Thy name. Trembling, yet believing, I cast myself wholly upon Thee, O Lord. I trust the blood and righteousness of Thy dear Son…. Lord, save me tonight, for Jesus’ sake.’ ” “Go home alone trusting in Jesus. ‘I should like to go into the enquiry-room.’ I dare say you would, but we are not willing to pander to popular superstition. We fear that in those rooms men are warmed into a fictitious confidence. Very few of the supposed converts of enquiry-rooms turn out well. Go to your God at once, even where you now are. Cast yourself on Christ, at once, ere you stir an inch!

Despite methods Devised

James E. Adams said that the apostles taught that God saves His elect through the foolishness of preaching. All new methods devised by man can only fall far short of this ordained means of converting the sinner. The Church must forsake its carnal inventions and once again be guided by the teaching of Scripture if it is to expect God to bless its efforts and multiply its harvest. The Scriptural means of evangelizing is to “preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 1:23-24).

It is hard for us to understand why someone can hear the Gospel and not feel the least bit effected by it one time, and when it is presented at another time, it strikes conviction and is either accepted or knowingly rejected. At the times when there was no effect at all, we should realize that it is because it is not God’s will and timing for this person.To pressure for a “decision” at this point is nothing less than man’s manipulation and is not to be confused with God’s conviction. We run the risk of destroying the respondents hopes if they are declared “saved” when all they do is respond by just mechanically reciting a “sinners prayer.” -Jeff Paton

It is said that A.W. Tozer, while on his way home from work at a tire company overheard a street preacher say: “If you don’t know how to be saved… just call on God.” Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice and did just that. Five years after his conversion, and without formal theological training, Tozer accepted an offer to pastor his first church. This began 44 years of ministry, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

” The whole ‘Accept Christ’ attitude is likely to be wrong, it makes Him stand hat-in-hand awaiting our verdict on Him, instead of our kneeling with troubled hearts awaiting His verdict on us. It may even permit us to accept Christ by an impulse of mind or emotions, painlessly, at no loss to our ego and no inconvenience to our usual way of life.“ – A.W Tozer

How can a man be born again? How can a sinner who has broken the laws of God be made a new? How can he be saved? How can a grown man enter his mothers “tummy” again and be born a second time?

Do I have to recite a “Sinners prayer” or “The Roman Road” or “The Candle in the Wind”?

A couple of years ago, when I was in Primary school we had a lovely God fearing head teacher. And every Tuesday morning, we faithfully said communal prayers. The assembly meetings always ended with invitations to accept Christ into your heart as a young person so that your name would be written in heaven. And sure every week we “accepted baby Jesus into our hearts.” We sincerely repeated the words asking Him to come into our hearts week in and week out but lived like the devil for the rest of the week. There was no fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives, no sign of regeneration and we blissfully carried on with our lives…in our sins. The lovely head mistress I guess never got tired of hearing us announce every week,“I got saved today…again!”

Made a Decision?

It was later in life that I realised what salvation is all about. Its not about acknowledging that your are a sinner. Its not even about accepting Christ in your heart. Its not even about saying a “sinners prayer” or filling a Decisions card.  An acknowledgement of our sinful state is important, but it is different from Repentance. You dont hear much about Repentance these days or even the cross and why Jesus died. On him God placed your sin as he faced the Cup of God’s wrath; in exchange God imputes  on you Jesus’ righteousness or goodness. The good news in all this is by grace your fine was then paid. One cannot come to Christ in hopes of His precious gift of life with the intent of remaining an enemy of God while refusing to let go of their sin. Only the Spirit of God can create a new man in Christ. God in His grace gives men new hearts. Who can rightfully declare that a person is saved? A preacher or some man? Or the Holy Spirit? When a person is born-again they will know it! The Holy Spirit will dwell within them and be a witness to their hearts that they are a child of God. Salvation is by Repentance and Faith in Jesus Christ. Then begins the new life of following Christ. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”

The heart is deceitful; who can understand it?

While we can give people hope that they can be saved by faith, it is an error to declare them saved apart from the witness of the Spirit, and the evidence of a changed life. When God regenerates a soul, the person is changed. If one continues on unchanged while declaring that they are “saved,” they are deluded and deceived. -Jeff Paton

Charles Finney, the grandfather of “the altar call” and “decisional evangelism” sadly noted at the end of his days of ministry:

I was often instrumental in bringing Christians under great conviction, and into a state of temporary repentance and faith . . . . [But] falling short of urging them up to a point, where they would become so acquainted with Christ as to abide in Him, they would of course soon relapse into their former state.

B.B Warfield one of Finney’s contemporaries confirmed the catastrophic and embarrassing impasse when he lamented:

During ten years, hundreds, and perhaps thousands, were annually reported to be converted on all hands; but now it is admitted, that real converts are comparatively few. It is declared, even by [Finney] himself, that “the great body of them are a disgrace to religion.”

Ten Reasons To Not Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

By Todd Friel of Wretched Radio

The music weeps, the preacher pleads, “Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.
Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.
Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, “Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” You lead her in “the prayer” and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.
Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.
Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.
If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.
1. It is not in the Bible. There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.
The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone’s heart but to have fellowship with His church.
Even if the context didn’t tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn’t knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.
The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.
2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense. What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds
us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.
3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.
4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).
Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.
5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

Read the rest of the article here.

10 Reasons Not To Invite People to Follow Christ at Your Church

By Craig Groeschel

You are afraid of rejection.

You think everyone at church is already a believer.

You wouldn’t dream of offending someone.

You don’t really believe the gospel changes lives.

You are so busy preaching about “sex” or “how to have a better life” that you don’t have time to present Christ.

You would rather tell another joke than spend time explaining the gospel.

Read the  rest of the article here.

Can I Skip My Lunch Break?

This page has been created for that bruised and battered soul who needs to listen to a quick short encouraging evangelical sermon jam during a 5 minute lunch break.

1. 7 Miles

2. Church Growth

3. Treasuring Him

4. Doctrines In The Last Days…

5. The Wrath?

6. UnAshamed

7. Got The Word of Faith

8. Love For Christ

9. Died in Our Place

10. Depraved and Decieved

11. Ten Point Test

12. Scripture Memorisation

13. Which Way To Heaven?

14. How Do You  Know You are Saved…

15. Innoculated to Gospel

16. Prosperity Gospel

17. Sin

18. False Teachers

19. Death

20. The Prayer That Damns Many…

21. Are You a Bad Person

This page will be updated regularly; keep checking for more sermon jams. But more than ever search the scriptures and see if what is preached is true. Examine your selves and see if you are in the faith. (2 Cor 13:5)

“I am That Man.”

“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveller to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

For some this story is familiar; well it is  Nathan the prophet having a chat with King David. David has just made a royal cover up and taken Bathsheba as his wife after arranging the murder of her husband, Uriah. This was against a back drop of an adulterous affair. Nathan, first indulges the king in a intriguing allegory.  (2 Sam 12)

David listens intently to the story and on hearing of such a gross miscarriage of justice tells Nathan in no uncertain terms, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

Nathan then sadly tells David, “You are that man!”

A lady  decided to post the old family  Bible to her brother. At the Post Office she was asked as to whether there was anything breakable in the parcel she was about to post. Thoughtfully she replied, ‘Yes, only the Ten Commandments.’

A 2008 survey of behaviours with moral overtones among adults conducted by The Barna Group over a one week period revealed that 19% of adults had viewed pornography, 11%  had lied, 9% had engaged in sexual intercourse with someone to whom they were not married and 28% had used profanity.

‘The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff.’  -Ambrose Bierce

The question is do the Ten Commandments have a place or platform at all in this post modern world of the 21st Century? Well The Bible says that man is depraved and hates God in his thoughts and deeds. It also says we have all  blown it and fallen short of the standard. Any deviation or flaw from that moral standard is called sin.

” There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10; Ps. 14:3).

Nathan holds a mirror to Davids face. David  sees a skewed and flawed “rich” man killing a “poor” mans lamb but its not just a story about the other man. Its a running commentary of his own skewed life. His conscience immediately  comes to a halt when he realises Nathan pronounces the same conclusion that his conscience is drawing…wait a minute. “I am that man”.

Sin is transgression of the Law

What is sin? Sin is lawlessness; it is the transgression of the Law of God says the Bible. (1 John3:4) Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. If it had not been for the Law or the Ten Commandments, I would not have known what sin is. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” Or to lie if it had not said, “You shall not lie” or to fornicate or commit adultery if it had not said “You shall not commit adultery”. Jesus went further and expounded that who so ever looks upon a woman to lust after her, commits adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus said that there is none good except God. Yeah, not even the Prime Ministers or the Presidents and Kings. We all fall short of the mark…sometimes, every time and all the time. And the sad thing is even if we kept all the Laws of moral perfection but stumble  at one point we are as guilty of the Whole Law.

Its sometimes easy to feel temporarily penitent or show remorse and even shed afew tears only because your deeds have been exposed by another man or the media. Caught with the hand in the cookie jar sheepishly we feel remorseful. But confession or acknowledgement of sin is not what a Holy God requires. Confession or acknowledgement does not absolve the sinner of sin. This is just part of the process of conviction of sin. At this point I will say take a deep sigh and say lets read on ever so gently…(Below are three excerpts that have been shared just because they are general knowledge and are already in the public domain).

In 1996 President William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton was re-elected into a second term after receiving 49.2% of the popular vote.  Just within two years and before the ink could even dry on the inauguration oath, whispers of indiscretions and philandering with an intern began to seep through the walls and tight doors of the White House.  Faced with an overwhelming mirror of evidence, Mr William Jefferson Clinton, the 42^nd President of The United States of America finally admitted to the nation:

“Indeed I did have a relationship … that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible.”

Scripture tells us that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Those who have a humble heart, who recognize their sin and see their desperate need for God’s mercy, will understand the gospel of grace. But the proud and self-righteous—those who proclaim their own goodness (see Proverbs 20:6)—don’t see their need for a Saviour. The self righteous man does not see his error or skewed ways for he denies that there is a norm or standard that he has departed from. Take another sigh…

Born late December 1975, Eldrick Tont Woods, better known as Tiger Woods has credentials that make every male of his generation cower into the woods. As a prodigy in his own right, he is the youngest and most charismatic of golfers in history to ever achieve the career Grand Slam. His immaculate hand-eye coordination has netted achievements which have ranked him as the most successful of golfers of all time. A doting father and role model to the “Cablinasian” (a syllabic abbreviation he coined from Caucasian, Black, (American) Indian, and Asian) due to his mixed ancestral heritage. However cracks in Mr Woods’ glossy, squeaky clean family-man façade began to appear late November 2009 with tabloid allegations of extramarital affairs. As the testimonies began to be made public through print and television, a contrite and apologetic press release by the once adored golfer was issued. It read:

“I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart, I have not been true to my values and the behaviour my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect.”

God’s Law alerts the sinner to the malady of sin. It widens his complacent eyes and causes alarm. It brings the diagnosis proving to the patient that he is terribly and terminally diseased. It helps him to understand sin and its result, so that he will then appropriate the cure.

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. Rom 2:15

As a pastor, teacher and evangelist Jimmy Lee Swaggart, in the 1980s reached over 3,000 stations each week and was being viewed by more than 500 million people worldwide. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of evangelism through television (televangelism). In 1988, lurid photos of the married man of God were leaked that showed him in the compromising company of a local Louisiana prostitute. Such rank deceptive hypocrisy made the pudding of media frenzy. Jimmy knew his secret sins had been brought to light. No body doubted how much he knew of a God who holds His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor. This time the threshing floor was to be his heart. He had on countless Sundays passionately preached of how the Lord would gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. That infamous Sunday as he faced his wife, family and congregation and the world wide fellowship was best described by People magazine, Jimmy Swaggart’s televised confession was “the most tortured public display of contrition in recent memory”. He tearfully confessed:

“I do not plan in any way to whitewash my sin. I do not call it a mistake, mendacity; I call it sin. I would much rather, if possible — and in my estimation it would not be possible — to make it worse than less than it actually is. I have no one but myself to blame.  I have sinned against You, my Lord. And I would ask that Your precious blood would wash and cleanse every stain, until it is in the seas of God’s forgetfulness, never to be remembered against me anymore.”

“Coming clean” or confession or acknowledging sin is just the first step to restoration. Sadly for many its the only station they stop at before turning back into the same trend of skewed flawed habits that they once decried openly. Man is depraved and flawed. The fabric of decay and sin is tightly bound to our nature. Its by the mercies of God that we are not consummed. His mercies are new every morning. Yet God has every right to unleash his wrath and like a vapour reduce us all to an after thought. If we look at our selves in light of the Ten Commandments we realise we are caught like a deer in the head lights of an on coming train. The Law was given “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

When David replies Nathan, he simply whimpers: “I have sinned against the Lord.” David started by breaking the tenth commandment (coveting, Ex. 20:17), then the seventh (adultery, Ex. 20:14), and then the sixth (murder, Ex. 20:13), while the Lord silently watched his lawless behaviour. You could also say he dishonoured his father and mother (fifth Commandment) and showed he did not honour God (first Commandment) through his deceptive behaviour (ninth Commandment).

Jonathan Edwards in his famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God warns of how we sinners take every day for granted. Perchance a loving and gracious God is giving you one more day of mercy before you slip out of his hands into eternity and face the wrath of a Holy God:

Their foot shall slide in due time.(Deut 32:35) They are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.

Nevertheless I have not come to stick a finger in my nose and gloat over other peoples sins or laugh in their face.  For in the mirror of the Ten Commandments, “I am that man” too. I am as much a sinner as the biggest mass murderer. I am as guilty as that adulterer. Telling one lie makes me as much a law breaker as a Barabbas. In Gods eyes we all fall short at moral perfection.

We have not one but ten Nathans pointing fingers at us. With exquisite precision each emissary makes our conscience scream reminding us of our depravity. What can appease a perfect judge who already set the penalty for sin as death? (Rom 6:23)

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Rom 3:20

The Good news of this excursion is here: Jesus was perfect in thought and deed; he fulfilled the requirements of the Law. But God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God(2 cor5:21). Jesus had your sin and my sin imputed on him to the point he became sorrowful unto death. He faced God’s wrath on the cross. He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world through his suffering and death on the cross. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

The Hymn How Great Thou Art sums it all:

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin  – Carl Gustav Boberg (1859-1940)

My depraved self righteousness, my lies and sexual sins and “warts and all” were imputed upon a perfect man and in exchange God gives me Christ’s righteousness! Jesus died my death! He paid the penalty!  This can only be the best news that I can share with any man big or small, footballer or golfer, Prime Minister or President.

To appease the wrath of an infinite and perfect God, God Himself killed his own infinite and perfect son so that the helpless and imperfect sinner can be pardoned. This shows how Gracious and Good God really is! There is indeed none Good…no not one except God.

Oh! There be some of you to whom conscience is as a ghost, haunting you by day and night. Ye know the good, though ye choose the evil, ye prick your fingers with the thorns of conscience when ye try to pluck the rose of sin.-Charles Spurgeon

The Bible says Salvation comes through repentance and faith in the work that Christ did at the cross. It is by faith that you are saved and that is not of your selves lest any man should boast. God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. The Ten Commandments are a moral mirror; they help man to realise that we are wretched and depraved. But the Good news is in the Gospel -For God sent his Son into the world  in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

God’s cross hairs are on every man through the Ten Commandments. He could take you out with one shot and say “Thou fool, thy soul shall be demanded of thee this night.”  His salvation is only through Repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. How then shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?

If you are going to boast, make your boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to you and you to the world.

Paul said:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I  have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Phil 3:8-9

At the cross your fine was paid. Your sentence commuted.  Today Jesus gives you a chance to start anew. In Christ, you can say…“I WAS that Man!”

Watch this Clip. Let me know what you think.

What Would God Tweet…on Christmas?

Twitter is overall probably best known for its celebrity users and you’ve-seen-me-on-MTVs who discuss and indulge other lesser mortals with gold dust bits of their lives down to the most trivial detail.

It’s a crisp wintry December morning, a few more days and it will be Christmas. Seven days to Christmas to be exact. As the snow falls and blankets the beautiful country side landscapes in Britain, The Daily Mail runs a heart rending story of a said to be distraught mother from Merritt Island, Florida who posted serial messages on Twitter as emergency medical teams tried to resuscitate her dying son. The 30 year old started by sending ‘tweets’ just minutes after her two-year-old was found floating face down in the family’s swimming pool.

As the paramedics tried to revive the lifeless son, she continued to ‘tweet’ and post: ‘Please pray like never before, my 2 yr old fell in the pool.’

Five hours later, after he was pronounced dead! She duly kept her blog up to date with, ‘Remembering my million dollar baby’.

She then took it to another level much to the chagrin of her 5,000 followers when she uploaded photos of her son!

Nobel Peace Award

Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness. Proverbs 20:6 KJV

The growth of micro blogging sites is due to people wanting to let others know about the good and wonderful things in the world they are in. They will ‘tweet’ it, ‘facebook’ it ‘my space’ it. Sometimes the deeds are worthy of bigger recognition than a micro blog. For these we have different awards, statues and wax works. Not to mention the walks of fame with names and faces engraved in them and we all love it. But…What about if there was a different standard of measurement of human achievement and humanity. Say a higher standard? When God looks at our best works and deeds, does He have the same jubilant expression of delight?

The story goes that God will throw a house party this Christmas in Heaven and has invited every body to it. Yes, even Santa and Rudolf are supposed to be there. Nobel Prize winners and Terrorists have all been invited together with commoners. But there is only one condition on the invitation card and it reads: Please come with your best foot forward: You have got to prove you deserve to be at my party. What would you do to deserve a date with the King?

Use Gods Moral Law

The best way to avoid embarrassment would be to use the mirror of God before darkening the steps of his steeple. The mirror of God is his perfect moral law-The Ten Commandments.

Have you lied? How many times have you stolen? Have you unjustly hated your brother-Jesus says he who hates his brother is guilty of murder in his heart? How about taking the name of God in vain-that is blasphemy. That is just four out of ten commandments.

Folks, we have all fallen short of the standard of God.(Rom 3:23). Just like the mother in the earlier story, the moral standard is too high to easily ‘tweet’ and boast about. The Bible says if we fulfil the whole  Law but break it at one point we are guilty of the whole Law. Our best foot forward is as filthy rugs to a Holy God.

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Isaiah 64:6 New Living Translation

Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 1 John 3:4 New Living Translation

I know we all have heard the saying that God is a loving God. That’s true. He is also a Just Judge who must punish Lawlessness and sin. The wages or the fine for sin is death.

There was once an Englishman by the name of Ebenezer Wooten. He had just concluded a preaching service in the village square. The crowd had dispersed, and he was busily engaged in loading the equipment. A young man approached him and asked, ‘Mr. Wooten, what must I do to be saved?’ Sensing that the fellow was trusting his own righteousness, Wooten answered in a rather unconcerned way, ‘It’s too late!’ The inquirer was startled. “Oh don’t say that, sir!” But the evangelist insisted, ‘It’s too late!’ Then, looking the young man in the eye, he continued, ‘You want to know what you must DO to be saved. I tell you it’s too late now or any other time. The work of salvation is done, completed, finished! It was finished on the cross.’

It was at the cross that God ‘tweeted’ his best message to humanity. He paid our fine by letting His own perfect son  face the wrath and fine for our sin. And He imputed His perfect son’s righteousness on us in exchange.

‘But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.’ Rom 5:8

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  The fine was paid. We exchanged our sin for his righteousness? If there were ever a message that God would have wanted to tweet to any people then it is the Good News that it was finished on the cross.

It is finished.

‘It is finished’ Jesus said from the cross. God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. Acts 3:19 KJV

The life you live is then by faith in Jesus so that when you reach that Pearly Gate for that divine ‘Close Encounter’, your best work has got to be faith in ‘God’s best work’. You can only be justified by faith. For to God if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation the old things have passed and behold all things are new.

WWGT-What Would God Tweet?

This Christmas I hope God is not tweeting, ‘Remember my son’. Truth is we have forgotten about the cross; which ironically is the very reason why there is a Christmas. If there are any updates on God’s ‘Twitter page’ then we should be searching them out and holding on to them. The Bible is the word of God. It contains all you need to know and all He wants you to know. Examine yourself and see if you’re in the faith it says.

The very last ‘tweet’ and very last words of Jesus recorded in the Bible are in the book of Revelation 22:20. This Christmas read them out to your sons and daughters, read them to your neighbours. And wish them a Merry Christmas!

It says, “Surely, I am coming soon.”

Gospel Lite- Shake Before You Drink…

Heads pawed, eyes claws-ed

Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” Jer 14:13 ESV

With heads bowed and eyes closed, the music was just right. The preacher shuffles and gently casts his gaze over the reverently silent congregation before he beckons, “Put your hand up if you have tried everything and now you want to accept Jesus into your heart. See, you have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” A hundred to two hundred hands go up in the air. They ask Jesus into their hearts that day-a decision they may well repeat a few more times through that year.

A  major denomination which has 11,500 churches throughout the US – in 1991, their first year of what they called “the decade of harvest,” they got 294,000 decisions for Christ. They found that only 14,000 remained in fellowship. That is, they couldn’t account for 279,000 of their decisions for Jesus. And this is normal modern evangelical statistics when it comes to crusades and local churches. Many converts don’t fall away. They get followed up and squeezed into a local church where they’re surrounded by a good social life, and they stay within the church given assurance they’re saved when there is no grounds for their salvation, because they do not have the things that accompany salvation. –True and False Conversions by Ray Comfort

God shaped hole in heart

When we hear Christian clichés like ‘Accept Jesus Christ as your personal saviour;’ ‘Ask Jesus into your heart;’ ‘Invite Christ into your life;’ or ‘Make a decision for Christ’ and find that such theology is not scripturally based then we realise something must have been omitted. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38).Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance and trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31, Heb 6:1). How could it sound so right, yet be so un-right? Yeah. Welcome to the shaken and stirred Gospel Lite!

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine…the offense of the cross has been removed. Gal 5:9-11

A short but memorable adage that holds some important fact of experience is that Gospel Lite has “Great taste, but less filling”. Gospel Lite is the diluted gospel. It preys on the scripturally illiterate and could it then be another gospel?

God shaped hole

For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 2 Cor 11:4

A new nationwide survey done by The Barna  Group revealed:

Most self-described Christians contend that their religious faith has significantly impacted their life. Almost six out of ten adults (59%) said their faith had “greatly transformed” their life, while 29% said their faith “has been helpful but has not greatly transformed” their life and 9% stated that their religious faith “has not made much of a difference” in who they are and how they live.- The Barna Group, Ltd, 2009.

Gospel Lite comes in many flavours to suit your taste. Another tangy flavour is “Come to Jesus and he will give you love, joy, peace and happiness”. Or “God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life”. This tangy smoothie assumes the sinner has no sin and there for doesn’t need to change. A sinner without a transformation therefore begins to bear good bouncy fruit. Well, these promises in themselves of course are half truths. They stem from the fruit of the Spirit that a believer will have as mentioned in Galatians 5:22. But should that be the launch pad for an evangelistic approach seeing that the sinner is dead to God and blind to spiritual things. Is that the whole of the gospel message? What is Christianity without the cross? What is salvation without knowledge of sin and a saviour?

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1Cor 2:2

Half truths are harbingers and easily pave the way for deception. Some have sadly been in the vineyard of half truths and gleaned small bits of “godliness” mixed with the leaven of material gain. And Voila! Prosperity De-Lite was born; decaffeinated and smooth. The most fatal of all Lites. And I will show you a still more excellent way to deception.

Described in Proverbs 5:3-6

For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.1 Tim 6:10-11

Prosperity Gospel De-Lite

Prosperity Gospel De-Lite is the potent umbrella portion touted and purveyed by over eighty percent of Christian Broadcasters, media outlets and publishers, televangelists and at present is fast gaining notoriety in many mega churches of the West and the shanty poverty stricken suburbs of Latin America, Africa and of late South eastern Asia. Selling out faster than Starbucks coffee, with more outlets than MacDonalds and glossier than your Sunday flea market. The Bible clearly has several words to describe such “exciting and colourful” messengers, who “think that godliness is a means to financial gain” calling them “men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth” (1 Tim 6:3-5).

“Jesus will give you health, wealth and prosperity” is the promise. How it works is really simple. Be obedient (read donate) and faithful (read pay regularly), and give to the Lord bountifully (read give to the prosperity preachers and their ministries). The more money you give, the more you will prosper financially, the more your health will improve, the more success you will have and the more your family and relationships will be blessed. Financial prosperity is a sign of spiritual success, “name your seed”, “hundred fold blessing returns”, “debt breaking anointing”, “debt cancellation offerings”  are concepts that form the bar codes for the Lite. You can have your cake and eat it too; live your blessing filled best life now. These are concepts that are not scriptural. The flipside to this is error is that if you are poor, sick with illness or lost your means of earning then you have little faith.

On January 4, 1987, Oral Roberts launched his most notable campaign to date. Roberts told his followers that if he did not raise a total of 8 million dollars by March, God was going to take his life. Roberts begged not to let Satan defeat him.

“God clearly told me he needs me here on earth. And here’s why — because of all the ministries, this ministry is the only one God has on this earth that owns a medical school.”… Some time later, his son, Richard, took pen in hand to warn of his father’s impending doom. Without “the additional $4,500.000.” explains Richard, “God will not extend Dad’s life” He then pleads, “Partner, we cannot let this man of God die. There is no reason for him to die” … After sternly warning, “IF YOU NEGLECT TO PAY ATTENTION … then Satan will take advantage and hit you with bad things and you will wish that 1985 had never come, “ Roberts closed his letter with a hard sell. Sending a seed-faith gift will not only enable you to “STOP SATAN IN HIS HATE TO BRING YOU DOWN,” it will also “help you get your hundredfold return.” (Roberts raised the money and did not die.) – Christianity In Crisis, Hank Hanegraaff

For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Rom 1:21

What i confess...i possess.

The earliest proponents of positive thinking were spiritual innovators like Phineas P. Quimby and Mary Baker Eddy, founders of the New Thought movement and Christian Science, respectively. By the turn of the 20th century, Essek William Kenyon, a pastor and founder of Bethel Bible Institute, had incorporated similar ideas into his preaching on the finished work of Christ. Kenyon wrote that Christians could make a “positive confession” to bring emotional and physical desires into being. “What I confess,” he is purported to have said, “I possess.” –Christianity Today Magazine

“Rhema Doctrine”, “God told me”, and “Word of Faith” spin-offs of Gospel Lite are convenient, positive sounding and winsome aberrations. Just like any Lite brand always appear hypoallergenic, more tolerant, and market-savvy. It makes “Christianity” more appealing. Lite requires a partial spiritual contribution to the things of God and never a total commitment. Mainstream Christianity is becoming increasingly affected by it. The notion that God rewards faith with money is spreading in both conservative and moderate churches. This is part of that age old battle between Good and Evil; God and Satan; Jesus and mammon.

For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone…

2 Tim 4:10

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 1 John 2:19

Gospel Lite excuses or better still excludes sin, the depravity of man and God’s wrath. Its indeed easier to talk in broad strokes and shades of a “God shaped hole in your heart” than to say “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”. Lite does not call the wretched sinner to repentance. It does not address pertinent issues of righteousness and coming judgement. It does not talk about the Law of God. How would we know that we had sinned had it not been for the Law of God? With a hopeless sinner on collision course with a Just God; Gospel Lite numbs the conscience of the sinner by encouraging good works of service and charity.

The good news of God to man is that for our sake on the cross, Jesus became a substitute in that he was made to be sin (who knew no sin), so that in him by faith we might become imputed with his righteousness.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Eph 2: 8-9

A pastor of an African down town church was asked about selling out and changing his message. He would triple his membership by promising wealth. “But if that is all I am teaching, then I have lost the message,” he says. “The kingdom of God is built on the Cross, not on bread and butter.”

Lite adds a smooth spin and a laid back buzz to Christianity. There is no cross to carry and therefore no self denial. Life is easy as can be. Be positive, live positive and confess positive. Speak faith to your situation the buzz rings. It leaves the “believer” with more pseudo mystic lingo and spiritual terms like “He saved you for greatness, to fulfil a destiny or a purpose that is beyond anything you could ever ask or think!” This pursuit of self esteem, self respect, self dignity, self worth and potential are the pearls of spiritual fruitfulness making the Lite franchise a multi million motivational golden calf both among the secular ponds and Luke warm niches. Humility is not a virtue but becomes a vice.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Matt 16:24

For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. Matt 13:15

With unrepentant hardened hearts and dulled ears, tightly shut eyes its only the grace of God that can rouse any way ward Lite-ists remnants from such deep slumber. When the Holy Spirit exposes sin in light of God’s Law the first words that the awakened heart has always whispered have been “Woe is me. I am undone. God be merciful to me, a sinner.” It is at this point that the soil is moist and the seed of the Word begins the process that will take it through the seasons of life with gratitude till it yields forth fruit worthy of repentance.

Gospel Lite never yields any fruit worthy of repentance- it’s just fizzy and has Great Taste, Less Filling. It is a some what modern day reiteration of that same old saying in Exodus chapter sixteen,“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

In the 1930s Kenneth Hagin Sr added E.W Kenyon’s teachings to his Pentecostal beliefs to create the “Word of Faith” and “Rhema” movements which taught that christians could get rich by mustering enough faith. “Say it, do it, receive it, tell it,” he said. He touted the “Rhema doctrine,” which held that words spoken in faith must be fulfilled, spawning slogans like “name it and claim it.” In 2000, three years before he died he wrote in The Midas Touch: A book that denounced prosperity gospel, the concepts of “name your seed”, “hundred fold return” and “debt breaking” anointing.

“There is not one bit of Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I’m afraid it is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all involved.” The Midas Touch, Kenneth Hagin sr.

God requires truth

Beloved, God desires truth in the inner parts. All this deception will not endear us to God. There is a great need to get back to basics of searching the scriptures and being Bible Based in doctrine like never before.

And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. Jer 14:14

The Sparrow’s Guide to Prosperity Gospel

Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matt 12:31 ESV

Look at the sparrows, they neither sow...

Faith in God has never been any more difficult than in the perilous times that we live in today. There are self help gurus, talk show hosts, pastors, life coaches and pastors who prefer to be called life coaches. Where do you find comfort in times of despair?

I was glimpsing through the Christian Best Seller List the other day. I was just simply pondering what my fellow sheep were mauling in their green pastures and by their quiet streams. The CBA Best-Seller and category top-seller lists are compiled from actual sales in Christian stores as reported through CROSS: SCAN. I believe a comprehensive list like this should beable to give you a general feel of what the latest christian fad is. Iam so naive about this post modern christian world; I had hoped to see  a title like ” The Guide to Street Evangelism” or “Evangelism in the work place or bus stop” or “Witnessing on the Train Made Easy”. Well, umm…in no particular order here are a few titles in the top twenty CBA Best Seller List: The Shack, Crazy Love, Fearless, The Purpose Driven Life, Forgotten God, Living with Confidence in a Choatic World etc

Where do Christians get comfort in times of despair? I would suppose it is in the Word of God that we should delight ourselves. Jesus said the words I speak to you are spirit and life. This is not to say one should not read anything else. But in times of worry and fear what will give life to your hurting and hopeless spirit will dictate your outcome. But with little to anchor ones faith; there is hardly any resistance when then winds of trials and tribulations come. A weak and feeble foundation never weather the storms. To demonstrate Gods providence in times of worry and anxiety, Jesus simply said:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matt 6:26 NIV

Stressed? Not me...

Birds and sparrows never worry where their shopping list or provisions for the day or season will come from. Come to think of it; I have never seen a bird stressed and pacing with a frown about what the next day will be like. Even when there is no food in sight there is a calm assurance that its cares are laid on the bosom of a higher Power. God. For even if it collected enough food for a week or month or season, where would it keep all that food? Well, suppose it got that place then and hid that food. Then the next step would be to worry that it would not forget where it hid it or that some other bird of prey would discover her flight path and lie in wait to harvest her own life. Worry breeds more worry. It all centres on fear that God may require of us to trust Him. Why is it easier for a bird to trust God than God own children to trust Him?

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  Matt 6:19

If we built the biggest steel bunkers and tunnel the deepest excavations and hoarded up a fair amount of supplies to last a presidential term will that make us more faithful to God or more faithless? When your bank balance rings several digits of available credit does that offer more contentment and reassurance about tomorrow? What if there is nothing in the barns, what if like Habbakuk we realise there can also be a day when the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls.

We can never experience Gods providence until we realise that even without the banks and barns He is still sufficient enough to show himself as El-Shaddai.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2Cor 4:17-18 ESV

The other day I read with concern about how Christians in India were being exhorted by a local pastor. Those who gave larger denominations of money and offerings would see God make them wealthy with bountiful “business blessing plans”. Prosperity gospel theology sadly removes man’s focus from God. It waters down faith in God’s word, elevates man’s works above his faith in Christ. Man then has to please God through his works of giving money to a “man of God” so as to get favours, “breakthrough annointings”  and “business blessing plans” from God. I always thought we are crucified and dead with Christ and th e life we live is by faith in Christ. Not by works lest any man should boast.  This Gospel Lite creates a false sense of godliness and many have been hurt and despaired because their barn did not fill up. Reminds me of how Paul started the first verse of Galatians chapter 3! I promised I would not quote that verse today…

Laying up treasures on earth

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 1 Tim 6:6-7

In 1905, Civilla D. Martin and her husband while temporarily passing through New York came to meet a Christian couple. The wife had been bedridden for the better part of twenty years; the husband was “an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from” in a wheel chair.  Nevertheless despite their afflictions they lived extremely happy lives and delightfully inspired and comforted all those who knew them. When asked what the secret behind their bright hopefulness was, the bedridden lady gently smiled: “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me”. Déjà vu! These words began to doodle in sequence through Civilla’s mind like a needle being threaded and stringed together through flutters of feathers. The next day she mailed the poem as it were to Charles Gabriel who supplied the music to birth the Gospel hymn, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow”.

Excerpt from “His Eye Is on the Sparrow”:

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,

When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

I sing because I’m happy,

I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me - Civilla D. Martin

Probably this is what Paul discovered, the sparrow’s guide to true prosperity when he said, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Indeed its immensely comforting to know that even when times get tough and you get hard pressed on very side, you will not be crushed as God is working behind the scenes. Jesus remarked that are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without God knowing. Even the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Banned!? Asleep in the Light by Keith Green

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28: 18-20 ESV

John Wesley died on the 2nd March 1791. On horseback, preaching two or three times a day. He was well travelled. It is said he rode 250,000 miles, gave away 30,000 pounds and preached more than 40,000 sermons. In one of his famous sermons he exclaimed:

Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.

Keith Green

21^st October 1953, saw the birth of a man who was yet to catch the fire and enthusiasm for evangelism in a whole new dimension. Burn indeed he did. An evangelist at heart and a musician by gifting, Keith Gordon Green however died young at the tender age of twenty eight in 1982.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. – 1Co 9:24 ESV

However short Keith Green’s life was, his music and lyrical content are the stuff of legend. No wonder he was taken early to join in worship in that celestial city he sang of that God has been working on for the last two thousand years. But his memoirs remain with us to inspire and beckon us to bring others to the knowledge of God’s grace. Songs written by Green include Your Love Broke Through, You Put This Love In My Heart, and Asleep in the Light, as well as the popular modern hymns O Lord, You’re Beautiful and There Is A Redeemer.

In the words of Mark Anthony in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, here indeed was a gospel lyricist, when comes another? This day I pay tribute to the one song that I consider his swan song and an evangelist’s anthem, Asleep in the Light.

Asleep in the Light is a song that should be banned in any church that has sold out with out reaching out. Its a song that should not grace any i-pod unless you want to remain awake in the night wondering what ever happened to that sales man who knocked on your door that you will never see again or that bus driver who took you to work.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Rom 10:14 ESV

Excerpts from Asleep in the Light:

“Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord”

You know it’s all I ever hear

No one aches, no one hurts

No one even sheds one tear

But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds

And He cares for your needs

And you just lay back

And keep soaking it in,

Oh, can’t you see it’s such a sin?

The world is sleeping in the dark

That the church just can’t fight

Cause it’s asleep in the light

How can you be so dead

When you’ve been so well fed

Jesus rose from the grave

And you, you can’t even get out of bed                  By Keith Green (1953-1982)

In Keith’s life there was never an option called compromise.  After reaching unprecedented success and fame following the release of his first album, Keith was later to write the following extract:

At concerts I get countless questions about this, and I also get lots of letters and even some long-distance phone calls from many people who feel they are only “called” into the music “ministry.” One day I began to ask myself why so few have ever asked me how to become a missionary, or even a local street preacher, or how to disciple a new believer. It seems everyone would prefer the “bright lights” of what they think a music ministry would be, rather than the mud and obscurity of the mission field, or the streets of the ghetto, or even the true spiritual sweetness of just being a nobody whom the Lord uses mightily in small “everyday” ways.

My answer to their question is almost always the same. “Are you willing to never play music again? Are you willing to be a nothing? Are you willing to go anywhere and do anything for Christ? Are you willing to stay right where you are and let the Lord do great things through you, though no one may seem to notice at all?”

ARE You?

“This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!” – K. Green

Youtube: Asleep in the Light

Links: Last Days Ministries

Me and Alexamenos worshipping…his God

"Alexamenos worships his god"-Alexamenos Graffito

The Alexamenos graffito discovered in 1857 also known as the graffito blasfemo is an inscription carved in plaster on a wall near the Palatine Hill in Rome. It is generally thought to be the earliest known pictorial representation of the crucifixion of Jesus.The crude drawing in no uncertain terms depicts the said Alexamenos worshipping a Bart-Simpson-esque man with a head of an ass. Comical…but sadly blasphemous.
I wonder if Alexamenos was a christian. I wonder if it was a work mate or a former lover who engraved  the repugnant inscription. Could it have been a self portrait in his moments of soul searching? Had he been reading that verse that Paul wrote to the greeks in Corinth:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Cor 1:18 ESV

Had Alexamenos been preaching the word of the cross? Was he an evangelist or a new christian? I wonder. Maybe we are not meant to know.

Today’s modern day evangelical will site a pathetic car bumper sticker saying “God Loves You…” as their best attempt at evangelism and reaching the world around them. Never is there a mention of a cross…sometimes a fish symbol may sneak up as a lapel pin. Nevertheless this in its self cannot be far from the truth. It is a half truth that is left hanging. Whatever happened to preaching Christ crucified? You cannot talk about the love of God without talking about the bloodied cross. The cross was and is an item of shame and contemptuous foolishness both to the Jew and the Gentile. But to those who are saved, it is the gracious love of God displayed.

God His son not sparing, sent him to die...

The Old Testament  said cursed is he who hangs on the tree. It further asserts that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Jesus went to the accursed cross and had all my sin put on him because He loved me enough to die for me. Surely He has borne my sicknesses and carried my pains, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for my transgressions, He was bruised for my iniquities, the chastisement for my peace was upon Him, and by His stripes I am healed.

Today when you hear some one say “God loves you”, remember this:
For God so loved so loved the world, that He gave his only son that who ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life- John 3:16 ESV

In 1859, two years after the discovery of the Alexamenos graffito, Carl Gustav Boberg a Swedish poet was born. Carl, was yet to pen the foundations of the now reknown famous christian hymn How Great Thou Art. I dream of meeting Alexamenos in Heaven one day. I can imagine the emotion in his voice as he belts out that verse of the hymn that goes:

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;

How great Thou art, how great Thou art! - Carl Gustav Boberg

It will probably be at this moment that the penny will drop as the Alexamenos graffito will be re-enacted one more time. Only this time me and Alexamenos will be worshipping his God!