Training Your Heart: Why We Must Evangelize

This is a paper that I wrote for the Evangelism class that I am taking at a local church. 

The day a person receives salvation is a wonderful day. We are very excited about our salvation and we bask in the glow of our direct experience with Jesus Christ. At this point, we usually do one of three things:

1. We run out and tell everybody that we know about Jesus.

2. We take all of that joy and excitement home with us, lock the doors, and wait for the rapture to come.

3. We do both. We start out excited. We go and tell a couple of people about Jesus. Then somewhere along the way life takes some wind out of our sails, and we begin to hold on tightly to our salvation as though it’s the only thing of value that we have in this world. We’re still saved; but we don’t tell anyone about it. We simply hold onto our gift, suffer in this “mean old world”, and wait to die so that we can finally be happy with Jesus in Heaven.

But no matter what we do, very few of us die immediately after salvation. That’s a good thing. The reason we don’t die immediately after salvation is because we have work to do. We have the wonderful opportunity to follow the mandate of The Great Commission. You can find The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20. It says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (niv).” The Great Commission gives us our purpose after salvation. We are to make more disciples so that as many people as possible will have the same opportunity that we did to receive the gift of salvation. The Great Commission gives us everything that we need to complete this task. It gives us the job requirement. It gives us instructions on how to complete the job requirement. And it gives us the support structure needed to motivate us while we are doing the job. It is these three things that I have chosen to focus on.

Our job requirement is to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. As a born again believer, it is our job to go back out into the world and make disciples. How do we do that? We simply tell everyone that we meet about the plan of salvation. We are required to tell the world that the wages of sin is death, but that the gift of God is eternal life. We need to let the people that we interact with know that they are a sinner, just as we are sinners. But we also need to let them know that they have the same opportunity to be free from that sin just as we are now free from that sin. This requires us to let down our own walls in order to show the other person exactly where our lives were before we were in Christ; and where our lives are now. It is important to understand that it is not our job to force them to accept Christ. Our job is simply to expose them to Christ so that the Holy Spirit will have an opportunity to convict them.

As we are completing the job requirement of making disciples, we will begin to perform the second part of The Great Commission. We begin to “teach them to obey everything I have commanded you”. In this phase of the process, we need to train the new disciples to live the life that we are living (should be living). And how do we do that? We need to make sure that they are growing in their spiritual walk with Jesus Christ. They should be growing and maturing a little bit every day just as we should be growing and maturing. It is very important during this phase of the process that we let the new disciple know that there is not a point of completion in our walk with Christ until we get to Heaven. We should be learning about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. This helps us to improve our relationship with God and understand the will of God in our lives. It is also important to let the new disciple know that we don’t have all of the answers. By revealing our struggles and successes we give the new disciple the freedom to make mistakes. But we also give them the opportunity to get up, dust themselves off, and continue the journey of their own spiritual growth.

The third part of the process is the most exciting part. It’s the part where Jesus tells us, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”. The first two parts of The Great Commission tell you what you are supposed to do. The third part tells you what Jesus is going to do. This life can be unfair, unkind, and unsupportive. Sometimes, it does not even appear that we have any support from our family or our friends. That can be discouraging. And it can also make us question if it is even worth it to continue trying. But Jesus said that He will be with you even until the end of this age. That means we have the strongest support structure in the world! We are not expected to complete this task by ourselves. We have the one and only Son of God with us, around us, and in us to help us complete the task. That also means that we are guaranteed to have the victory over this world because Jesus has already overcome the world. So as we continue to make disciples, teach disciples, and train disciples; we are assured that our support structure (Jesus) is there to equip us with the tools that we need in order to be successful in everything that we do for the Kingdom.

So as you go back to work for the Kingdom of God, I want you to remember these three things. Remember that you have the job requirement of making disciples. Remember that you have the instruction to teach them all the things that Christ is teaching you in order to continue spiritual growth. And remember that you have the best support structure in the world in Jesus Christ. As we and the new disciples continue to follow Christ, we will all continue in our spiritual growth with Christ. Lastly, understand that as long as we are diligently following the instructions of Christ, He will be with us. And if Christ is with us, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish for the good of the Kingdom. So go back into the world! Share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone that you meet. It is a wonderful present from God that you can constantly give away, yet never run out of. It is eternal life!

Peace and Love,



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Every Christian an Evangelist

There is a doctirne in the United States Marine Corps that is known as "The Rifleman's Creed". It states that every enlisted Marine, regardless of their military specialization (MOS), is trained first and foremost to be a rifleman. And every Marine officer, regardless of MOS, is trained as an Infantry Platoon Commander. This doctrine is in place so that no matter what happens in combat, every Marine and officer is prepared to continue the mission to close with and destroy the enemy. This way if a cook is in the kitchen and a fire fight breaks out, he or she can stop cooking, grab a rifle and help their fellow Marines deal with the adversary.  Hoo-rah!!

The Christian should have a similar mentality in life.  We should use "The Evangelist's Creed".  That means that every Christian (whether a Pastor, Deacon, Elder, or Layperson) is first and foremost an Evangelist.  We should all be able to communicate the plan for salvation to our peers, regardless of our age, position, or location in the church.  Evangelism is not just the job of the Pastor.  It is the job of every born again believer to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone that we run into.  We should not only be prepared to witness to the world, we should desire to run into unsaved people so that we can share the good news with them.  Notice that I did not say that we had to convert everyone that we ran into.  It is ultimately up to the individual whether or nor they accept Christ.  But we have to actively expose them to Jesus so that the word of God can penetrate into their heart.  How can we make sure that we are prepared to do this?  We need to know the truth for ourselves.  We need to spend time with God ourselves.  And we need to want the person to receive salvation. 

Just as the Marine is always ready for combat, we should always be ready to witness.  It is the only way that we will be able to defeat the enemy.  Hallelujah!!

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Closing Ratio

In the business world, salespeople are usually evaluated by their closing ratio.  What is a closing ratio?   A closing ratio is defined as the number of completed sales that a person makes in relation to the number of sales presentations that he or she makes in a given timeperiod.  As an example, let's say that you speak to 10 people about a product and 8 of them buy the product from you.  Divide 8  by 10 and you get .8 (or an 80% closing ratio).  What if you only sell 1 of them?  Then your closing ratio is 10%.  Guess which closing ratio  would be looked upon more favorably at a sales job; and which one would get you reprimanded?  The 80% closing ratio would be considered a huge success. 

Now, I have recently left the car sales business (thank you Lord!), and an average closing ratio for a car salesperson was about 25 to 30%.  If you were really good, then your closing ratio would be around the 40 to 50% range.  That still means that you had a lot of people tell you no.  Every car sales manager that I know would tell you that your closing ratio is always going to land somewhere around that 25 to 30% range.  That's not a bad thing.  But what that means is you need to talk to a lot of people if you expect to sell a lot of cars.  The sales manager does not expect the salesperson to close every person.  They just expect them to try to sell to as many people as possible.  So if you speak to 100 people and have a closing ratio of 25 to 30%, then you will complete the sell 25 to 30 times.  If you only speak to 20 people, then you will only complete the sale 5 to 6 times.  The key in sales is not always in how many you close; but how many you talk to.

So what does this have to do with God?  Some of us believe that evangelism is like a sales job.  We think that we are only successful if we convert the person that we witness to.  If they don't accept Jesus Christ as Lord right at that moment, then we think that we have failed.  But that's not true.  God does not look at us by our success rate (closing ratio).  He only wants us to tell people about Jesus.  The Holy Spirit is the one that works on the person's heart to change them.  Our job is simply to give the presentation. 

Here is a biblical example.  Jonah was told by God to go to the city of Nineveh and preach against it.  God told Jonah that the city's wickedness had come up against Him.  He never told Jonah to convert the city.  He (God) simply told him (Johah) to tell the people that they would be destroyed because of their wickedness.  After Jonah's disobedience, punishment, and repentence, he did go to the city and preach against it.  When the people heard the word of God from him, they repented.  And God forgave them.  Never once did Jonah try to coerce them into repentence.  In fact, Jonah did not want the people to be saved.  It was because of the Holy Spirit that the people of Nineveh were converted. 

Here's another example.  Matthew 28:19-20 states,  "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  The responsibility is for us as Christians is to go and make disciples.  A disciple, by definition is a follower.  We are to go and make followers of Christ.  If you try to make a follower and the person doesn't want to follow, don't take it as a personal failure.  The person is not rejecting you.  They are rejecting God.  But because you witnessed to them, they have been exposed to God.  And once they are exposed to God, the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to work on them.  And it is the Holy Spirit that closes the deal; not us as witnesses.

So how should you witness to an unbeliever?  One great way to witness to people is by using by using The Roman Road to Salvation.  Another method is to ask five simple questions.  But I've also found that one of the best methods to use in witnessing to people is to simply let them see the love of Christ in you.  The way that you interact with people on a daily basis will have a greater impact on them than anything that you can say.  Simply live the life that God would have you to live.  That will be your most powerful testimony.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike






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Servant Partners

The Servant Parteners San Antonio team:  from left to right Levi Thomson, Molly Unruhe, Rev. Carrie Lewis, and Lewis McNeel


There is a wonderful organzation that joined my church a year ago.  The Servant Partners is an organization whose purpose is to share the love of Jesus with people all over the world.  They move into urban areas that have experienced a season of decline and seek to build them up by becoming an active part of the community.  They hold community meetings, bible studies, and neighborhood cleanups (among other things).  Our church partners with the San Antonio team by allowing them to use our church and resources to further their cause.

I have spent time with the members of the San Antonio team and have found them to be a source of great inspiration.  The team leader is Rev. Carrie Lewis.  The rest of her team consists of Levi Thomson, Lewis McNeel, and Molly Unruhe.  The program requires the members to make a committment to live in the neighborhood for a certain number of years.  At this time, Carrie has a five year commitment and Molly has a three year commitment.  In the past year they have accomplished quite a few things in the neighborhood surrounding our church.  They have established a prayer meeting group, they have completed phase one of the neighborhood clean-up program, and they are beginning to hold community meetings that allow the residents of the neighborhood to express their concerns about the neighborhood and address them together.


    

The project has had its share of interesting experiences.  The team has told me numerous stories of success and stories of amazement.  One incident occurred when they offered to pray for a woman that had a multitde of problems.  Her father has alheimers, and she has a teen aged daughter that was beginning to act out as she has been getting older.  The mother was completely stressed out.  They talked and prayed with her and left.  A couple of weeks later, the woman saw them out during their "prayer walking" and told them that the daughter has been acting better and has been doing a better job of helping out with her father.  The situation is not completely perfect now, but the woman expressed a spirit of thankfulness that it has become a little bit more tolarable.  She said that the team must have been sent by God because they crossed her path right when she was feeling overwhelmed by everything.  My personal opinion is that people appreciate it when they know that someone else cares about them without having an ulterior motive. 

Please take a look at the San Antonio Team's bio here and the complete Servant Partners website here.  The San Antonio team will be looking to expand it's size to include two more team members.  If you are interested, please send me an email or leave a comment on this site and I will pass it over to Rev. Lewis.  If you would like to join Servant Partners in one of its established communities or possibly start a local team in your community, see the website.
 

prayer walking in the neighborhood



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Five Simple Questions

I have five simple questions for you.  When you get done, please feel free to ask your friends and acquaintances.  You can even copy and paste them to an email and send them out if you want.  I have no ownership rights.

1.  Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God?
2.  Do you believe that Jesus died for all of the sins of the world; yours and mine included?
3.  Do you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead?
4.  Are you willing to let Jesus be the Lord of your life?

Romans 10:9-10 states,"That 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

Last question...
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V




5.  Are you saved?



Check out the Roman Road to Salvation as a reference.

Peace and Love,






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Perfect From Imperfect? I Don't Think So

We have always been taught that all men were born sinners and that all men have sinned. And we are taught that Jesus was born as a human baby to Mary and Joseph. But we have also been taught that Jesus was the only man to live a sinless life. Although I have always believed this fact, I had a hard time putting it into words if I had to explain it to someone. I mean, how can that be correct? If Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph (born of man), and man is always born a sinner, how can Jesus be born of man and not be a sinner at birth? Did God do something to keep Jesus from being a sinner? The answer is a resounding yes!

You see, way back in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam that he could eat from any tree except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And of course we know how that turned out. The serpent talked Adam’s wife, Eve into eating the fruit of the tree and she gave the fruit to Adam to eat. It was when Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that sin entered the world. It did not matter that Eve ate the fruit. God specifically told Adam not to eat of the fruit. That is important to remember. When Adam ate of the fruit, sin entered into the world. At that point, Adam became infected with what I would like to call a “sin gene.” A gene is “a hereditary unit consisting of a sequence of DNA that occupies a specific location on a chromosome and determines a particular characteristic in an organism.” That means that a certain characteristic that is inside of an organism can be passed onto another organism. These genes can be passed on from a parent to their child. Some examples of this are character traits like eye-color, baldness or sickle cell anemia. Because Adam was the one that possessed the sin gene, he passed it onto Cain and Able (his sons). And because babies are born from the result of a man and woman, the gene is passed from the parent to the child(male or female) in every situation; resulting in all children being born sinners. So I get back to my original question. How can Jesus be born as a human and not be born a sinner? And how can someone who is born a sinner from the start be perfect? The answer is in the fact that God did do something to keep Jesus from being born a sinner.

Remember that Mary was a virgin when she became pregnant with Jesus. She had never had sex with a man therefore the “sin gene” that all men carry was not passed onto her unborn son, Jesus. Because Jesus was born directly from the Holy Spirit, He avoided being infected with the sin gene because Mary herself could not pass it to Him. Thus, it was possible for him to be born as a human baby, with a Heavenly Father, a virgin mother, and a pure and sinless body. Why is this an important point? The Bible tells us that the wages of sin equals death and the only way to pay for sin is through a blood sacrifice. The sin sacrifice in the Old Testament was typically an unblemished lamb that did not have any flaws. Because Jesus had to die as a sin sacrifice for us, He needed to be pure and unblemished. God had to follow His own laws to the letter. Because sin entered into the world, God needed a way for sin to be defeated in the world. And that way was through the perfect death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike





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Can Anything Good Come Out of Ruston, Louisiana?

In John 1:43-50, Jesus began to call men out of their trades in order to make them disciples for Him. Some of those men immediately dropped what they were doing and followed Him. Others... not so immediately. One of those men was Nathanael. In fact Nathanael, after hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was coming his way asked the question, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?". Nazareth was a "no where's land" in the middle of the "no where's town" of Galilee. As a result, some people found it difficult to think that the savior of the world would come out of such a desolate, unfortunate place. There was not much respect for the little town of Nazareth.

It's kind of like my hometown of Ruston, Louisiana. Ruston is a collage town that exists primarily on the money generated by it's local universities, Louisiana Tech and Grambling State University. Both of these universities draw students from many parts of the country and the world. I attended Grambling State University. And I met many people from the much-talked about cities of Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and New York. And I can't remember how many times I heard people tell me, "You're from no where's Ruston, Louisiana! This little city ain't nowhere! And they would tease me and my friends because of our pride in our little city.

But here's something cool that I have noticed about my little hometown. By my count, little "no where's Ruston has produced about five ministers that are around my age including myself. I have a friend in the Ruston/Grambling area that just preached his first sermon this past Sunday. The other three were also friends that grew up with me: one was my age, one was a year younger, one was a year older. Are we all Pastors in mega-churches? No! To date, one of us is a Pastor, I am an associate at my church, and the others are active associates in their churches. But we are working diligently for God in the capacity that He has placed us in during this time. Now I know each of the people personally that I mentioned. I played highschool football with them, I worked at Wal-Mart with one of them, and I got into trouble constantly with two of them! And during those high school and collage days not many people would have guessed that we would ever turn out to be ministers. Trust me on this one.

But God saw it in us. Just as he saw fit to bring Jesus out of Nazareth, He also saw fit to bring ministers out of Ruston. God also saw fit to bring you from the city that you came from as well. No matter how large or how small your hometown was, God saw fit to make that hometown your frame of reference. There are people in every city that need to see God in us. And we all have the wonderful opportunity to give our testimonies to them. If you didn't live in your city, who would witness to the people there? Who would show the love of God to them? So take pride in your hometown. And take pride in whatever position God currently has you in. He has placed you there for a reason. I am reminded of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-29: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." We are all spread out throughout the world so that we can fulfill the Great Commission. And I want you to know that you are exactly where God needs you to be. So no matter what your circumstances, understand that God is with you. And understand that you are on the right path.

Peace and Love,

Rev Mike






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Be an Encourager: You Have a Comforter!

Be An Encouager is a group that I contribute to on Facebook that was created by some friends of mine from college. It follows the instruction of Hebrews 3:13: "Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”. This is one that I did on July 1st of this year.

Be Encouraged! You Have a Comforter!


Matthew 5:4 states, “Blessed are those that mourn, for they will be comforted”. Those are the words of Jesus during His Sermon on the Mountain. I think it is safe to say there has been some mourning going on this past week. We are mourning the loss of some significant people in our lives. We have lost celebrities like Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays. We have lost countrymen, troops from the United States and the world who have sacrificed their lives for their nations’ sake. Some losses are closer to home: fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers. These are people that we could touch and hug, laugh and cry with. We are left to bear the heartbreak of their absence. I want you to know that it is okay to mourn. Mourning allows us to focus on the beautiful lives that we were blessed to spend time with. I don’t want you to think that your grief is permanent, or unending. You see, the second part of that fourth verse of Matthew, chapter five illustrates our blessing as believers. It states those that mourn will be comforted. And that comfort comes from the Holy Spirit.

Just as Jesus Christ is our door to God, the Holy Spirit is God’s comforter for us. The Holy Spirit soothes us during those times that we are desolate, and during those times that we are hurting. When we go to God with our problems, He will give us peace. The Holy Spirit is the deliverer of that peace. We can take great comfort in the fact our loved ones are no longer suffering, as well as the fact that they are in Heaven with God. And here is more good news- you still have time to receive God’s comfort for yourself. All you have to do is follow the instructions of Romans 10:9-10. “That 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” It is through that belief that we are saved, and with salvation comes the comfort of the Holy Spirit. So be encouraged and take advantage of the wonderful opportunity from God to experience His comfort for yourself. You will surely be blessed by it!

Be Encouraged! Your Joy is in the Lord!






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Questions and Answers

My wife and I had an interesting conversation with our son this week. I don't remember how it came about; but he began to ask us questions about Heaven and Hell. Now if you know my son (and many of you do), then you know that he is a typical five year old. That means every question that you answer is typically followed by another question.

Son: "What happens if we don't go to Heaven?"

"Then you will go to Hell," my wife answered.

"What happens when you go to Hell?" was the first follow-up question.

"You don't want to go to Hell," I told him hoping that that would be the end of the topic.

"But what happens if you do go to Hell?" He was not going to let it go.

"You don't want to go to Hell," I repeated as my Reverend Thompson character began to emerge. "If you go to Hell you will suffer eternal torment,".

"What's eternal torment?"

I should have known that would happen. Suddenly, I realized that I was in a corner. I was like a boxer trying to survive the first round, but having a hard time doing so because the other guy wouldn't stop hitting me. Do I go into my limited bank of intelligence to explain the fear that has been injected into every Christian's subconscious about total damnation, lake of fire, and all that other stuff? Do I tell him that a red monster with cloven hooves and a pitchfork is going to drag him off to be tortured forever and ever? Or, do I do like many of us do in the modern church and just tell him to be quiet and trust me on this one? I decided to fight out of my corner.

"Eternal torment is a lot like being tickled forever and ever without stopping," I said. My son hated to be tickled and I was trying to get him to grasp the concept of endless torture. To prove my point, I grabbed him and began to tickle him until he was rolling on the floor, laughing and trying to get away from me. After a killer fifteen second tickle attack he lay on the floor trying to get his breath back. When he recovered, he sat up and looked me in the eye.

"But what's eternal torment?", he asked again. So my wife and I tried to figure out a way to explain eternal torment to a five year old. And then something came to me.

"If you go to Hell," I told him. "You won't get to see me or mommy anymore."

That got his attention. "Why not?"

"Because mommy and daddy are going to be in Heaven. And if we are in Heaven and you are in Hell, then we won't see each other anymore. Does that make sense?".

Son: "Yes".

Me: "So what do you think? Do you want to go to Heaven or Hell?"

Son: "I want to go to Heaven,(yes!)".

But I couldn't let it stop there. I asked him who he thought Jesus was, what was Jesus' relationship to God, and did he believe that Jesus died for our sins. He answered me back correctly on all questions. He believed that Jesus was God's son. Yes, he believed that Jesus died for our sins. Yes he believed that Jesus was in Heaven with God. And then he went back to playing on the floor.

But here's the thing. I don't know if he completely understands the concept of Heaven or Hell. And I know that he doesn't understand the concept of the Trinity. Some adult Christians don't know that. But my wife and I have tried to answer as many of his questions as honestly as possible in order to build upon his Christian foundation. Was our approach to his questioning the best? I don't know. But here's why I went with the separation from Mother and Father. Do you remember when Jesus was on the cross in Matthew 27:46, and he screamed out "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"(niv). That question occurred because Jesus had experienced separation from God from the very first time. For my son, separation from my wife and me is the absolute worst thing that could happen to him. The most effective punishment we can do to him is not to spank him; but to make him sit in his room by himself. We have tried spanking by the way. So by making him realize that he would be separated from us forever, we created in him a desire to go with us to Heaven. I know he should be focused on being in Heaven with God, but gimme a break... he's five! We can transfer that focus to God more and more as he gets older.

But I learned something about myself during that conversation. I began to think about what it would be like for me to be separated from God. Imagine, not being in good relationship with God and hearing Him say "...Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me,"(Matthew 25:41-43). That's not a conversation that I want to have. By having to answer my son's questions, I essentially had to answer one of my own. Why don't I want to go to Hell? Simple. I don't want to be separated from God the Father. Not a bad lesson to learn; even if you already knew it.

Peace and love,

Rev. Mike







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Throwing Matches

Do you have someone in your life that needs encouragement? How about someone that you need to witness to? I think we all have these types of people in our lives, but maybe we don't want to barrage them day after day with why they need to be saved, or why they need to come to church, or come to Sunday school, or begin tithing, or get stronger for the benefit of the kingdom, and on and on and on... Maybe we don't want to club them over the head everyday, but we can gently nudge them on whenever we have opportunity. It's kind of like throwing matches into a dark room. The dark room represents the improvement that needs to be made in the person's life. The match is the little bit of encouragement that we try to send on a daily basis.

Just imagine that that the person that you are encouraging is a completely dark room filled with fire wood. The fire wood is the realization of the individual that they need to improve some aspect of their life. But that fire wood will not catch fire without some help. That's where you come in. It is your job to throw match after match of encouragement, correction, and instruction to your family and friends. Notice that I said match, not torch! The more that you try to beat people up, the more they will resist. My approach is to gently nudge and allow the Holy Spirit to take over the situation. There will be opportunities to throw that torch every once and awhile. But don't feel bad if you can only throw a match. Many a blaze has been started with just one simple match. So just keep throwing matches at you friends. Eventually, you will set them on fire.

Peace and Love

Rev. Mike





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The Trinity

I watched the documentary "Religulous" last week. It was exactly what I thought it would be... But I did learn something useful. Our faith teaches us that the Trinity consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Chapter three of Matthew shows the greatest example of the Trinity during the baptism of Jesus. You have Jesus in the water with John. You have the Spirit of God descending from heaven in the form of a dove. And you have the Voice of God saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." Well, during the movie, I learned another great analogy of the Trinity that you can use in your discussions with believers and non-believers. You are having those discussions... aren't you? Anyway, there was a actor in a passion play that described the possibility of three separate entities being one in this way: Look at water. It can be water, the liquid form. It can be ice, the solid form. And it can be steam, the vapor form. I thought that was a very cool analogy. Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost being compared to water, ice, and steam. So simple, yet I never thought of it that way. Pretty cool, huh?

Peace and Love,

Rev Mike





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Use Your Gifts

There was a young man that attended a church for as long as anyone could remember. The rumor was that he had mild mental condition, that left him slightly off kilter. He didn't talk much, but he had an interesting method of leading other people to Christ. Every Sunday, he would attend his church's service. Every Sunday he would sit in the same seat. Every Sunday, no one would pay attention to him. That is, until the invitation to join the church. Every Sunday during the invitation to join the church, the young man would get up, walk down the aisle, and sit in the chair reserved for those who desired to join the church. He was always the first one to sit down. After the young man sat down, other people usually walked down the aisle as well, sometimes for prayer, sometimes for testimony, and sometimes to accept Jesus Christ. It seemed easier for other people to come down because they knew that they were no longer the first one to have to move. After everyone had spoken, the young man would go back to his seat, without giving a testimony, asking for prayer, or anything thing else. You see, the church knew that the young man didn't have anything to say on Sunday mornings. But his desire was to take away the anxiety of being the first one to have to walk down the aisle and join the church. His ministry was helping others to feel easier about making that final decision to join the church. Pretty cool, huh?

That story I heard from a friend. This story I have been watching with my own eyes.
I work at a car dealership. There are cars there. We have a porter who is responsible for making sure the cars are presentable for the customers. These responsibilities include cleaning the cars, gassing up the cars, and taking care of the lot. He spends a lot of time in each car. I can always tell when he has been in a car because the radio is always set to FM 93.1. For those of you not living in San Antonio, this is a Christian radio station called K-LOVE. The tagline is Positive and Encouraging! Some people love the station, some people don't. But imagine how many people have been exposed to some type of encouragement via the radio by hearing Christian music. You may or may not like that type of contempory Christian music. Doesn't matter. What matters is that you were exposed to something that could possibly make you reconsider your relationship with Jesus Christ. Sounds like a stretch doesn't it? But the key to ministry is that people are exposed to Jesus. It doesn't matter how much, or how long. It only matters that the people are exposed. The Holy Spirit will take over from there. Today, I want you to try something. I want you to try to find some way to expose people to Jesus. It doesn't have to be a large exposure. Just a little one. Then let the Holy Spirit take over.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike

P.S. To the memory of Pastor CWB Jr.
Rest in peace





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A Diverse Ministry

Take a look around your church next Sunday. How many different types of people do you see? I would guess that you have blue collar workers, white collar workers, young people, old people, energetic personalities, and laid back personalities all in the same church. Do you notice that some groups gravitate toward each other, and that some people have a special influence or ability to connect better with one group as opposed to another? Believe it or not, that is actually a good thing. The modern church is going to be exposed to a diverse group of people. The diversity in the church and in it's leadership is neccessary in order to supply all of the ministry needs that a diverse congregation needs.

Here are some examples: A Christian that has never dealt with alcohol addiction may not be able to reach an alcoholic because they cannot understand what the addiction can do to a person. A single man may not be able to relate to the stress of a working wife with children. A Christian that is sixty may not be able to relate to a fourteen year old who knows right from wrong, but still wants to have their cake and eat it too. A 25 year old Christian may not relate to a sixty year old Christian who has the joy of Christ regardless of circumstances. All of these different people exist in the modern church. As church leaders and members, we all have different backgrounds and experiences that can be beneficial to other Christians. Note that I did not say "every" Christian. You will not have a close, personal relationship with every Christian. Nor do you have to. God will give you a group of people that you can grow stronger with and be encouraged by. It is my desire for you that each member of your "group" grows stronger and stronger every day. Because if every group in the church gets stronger, then the church as a whole gets stronger. And a stronger church produces stronger Christians, stronger ministries, and stronger communities. And that is the will of God.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike





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The Roman Road to Salvation

I found this version of the Roman Road to Salvation on this website: allaboutgod (I wanted to make sure that I gave proper credit). Remember that as Christians, we have a responsibility to witness to those who are not saved and show them the path to salvation through Jesus Christ. There are several ways to witness to someone. This is just one of many. Please feel free to share your thoughts. And remember, I am reminding myself that I need to be a better witness for God as well.



Just remember that the Roman Road provides a detailed map for our salvation and eternal fellowship with God. Just follow these steps:

1. We must acknowledge God as the Creator of everything, accepting our humble position in God's created order and purpose.


Romans 1:20-21 states: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

2. We must realize that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness. None of us are worthy under God’s standards.
Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”

3. God gave us the way to be forgiven of our sins. He showed us His love by giving us the potential for life through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

4. If we remain sinners, we will die. However, if we repent of our sins, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will have eternal life.

Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

5. Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you are saved.

Romans 10:9-10: “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

6. There are no other religious formulas or rituals. Just call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved!

Romans 10:13: “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

7. Determine in your heart to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life today.

Romans 11:36: "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."

The Roman Road: Are You Ready?
The Roman Road shows you the path – are you ready to accept God’s gift of Salvation now? If so, believe in what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, repent of your sins, and commit the rest of your life to Him. This is not a ritual, just a prayerful guideline for your sincere step of faith:

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”
"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

If you decided to receive Jesus today, welcome to God's family. Now, as a way to grow closer to Him, the Bible tells us to follow up on our commitment.
• Get baptized as commanded by Christ.
• Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
• Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time.
Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word.
Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible.
• Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing
friends to answer your questions and support you.
• Find a local church where you can worship God.

I realize that this is a long post, but I think that it is also very worthwhile.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike