Hey, thanks everyone for your support of jesusthirst.com.  I will be taking a break from blogging for about a week or two.  I will have infrequent updates but I strongly encourage you to browse the old posts.  During this time I will be reflecting and hopefully processing a few things through prayer and writing in my journal (hope I can find my journal!)

grace and peace to all who are in Christ!

As the hour and a half conversation unfolded, it was made apparent what advantage the person who believes in Jesus has.  And why I MUST share the Gospel.  Jesus says in John 9:4-5 and later in John 12:35-36

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world…The light is among you for a little while longer.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.

Jesus was saying that part of his ministry on earth was to shed light in some pretty dark places.  As it was in the ancient world,it is today – there are all sorts of misconceptions about who God is, what he does, and who he wants us to be and what he wants us to do.

While Jesus, God in the flesh, was on the earth he shed as much light as possible into these various arenas of life.  Jesus said that by seeing what he does, and hearing what he says we are seeing and hearing from God himself, the Father himself.  And furthermore, Jesus taught what humanity should put at the centerpiece of its thought:  love for God and love for people.

The reason I care, the reason at the very core of my being that I hope to be sharing the Gospel with my last breath, word typed and action done, is because I believe that IN JESUS CHRIST GOD HAS SPOKEN TO ALL HUMANITY.

Jesus has made it clear.  Jesus is the light in this dark world.  Without Jesus the person of God and the duty of humanity are hopelessly lost in the dark.

grace and peace in Jesus

I HONESTLY HAD NO ANSWER.  I WAS COMPLETELY SPEECHLESS.  But my partner began to speak to the man saying to the effect, “We live in a sinful world and God is holy.  He sent his Son Jesus into the world that we can know him and live with him for all eternity.”

The guy then said, “Yeah, I know the facts – I went to Catholic school for twelve years.  I am curious to know what at your very core drives you to share your faith?  Beyond the facts, why do what you do?”

I am thankful that our lack of answers didn’t cause the conversation to come to a standstill.  In fact we ended up talking for an hour and a half.

Tomorrow I’ll share what I think my answer would be now based upon this conversation.  But right now let me say this again…just about every week I go into Chicago someone will inevitably say, “I used to be Catholic BUT…” 

What is the Church DOING? (and this certainly doesn’t exclude Protestants)  It seems like our presence in the world is hurting people and not helping them!  Besides the question of, why do we do what we do as Christians?  We need to also ask ourselves, if someone only had my life to see and know Christ- would Christ be shamed or glorified?  I heard one pastor say,

Most of the time, before people follow Christ they are going to follow us.

grace and peace

This past Friday, so it’s still burned into my mind, my partner and I were walking, and walking, and walking looking for someone to talk to.  Eventually we came upon a street where I knew that no one would be.  So I said this is our moment of decision – we can either start talking to people right here on the street or we can go back to the street we started on.

We decided  to go back.

As we were heading back, there was a man sitting on his stoop smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer.  We decided to cross the street and talk to him.   We introduced ourselves and explained why we were out.  We asked if we could pray for him.  He neither needer nor wanted prayer.  But then asked if he could ask US something.  We said sure and then he asked

WHY ARE YOU OUT HERE?  What makes you want to spend your Friday nights going around praying and talking to people?  From the core of your being what drives your desire for sharing your faith?

I believe that many Christian people should question why they do what they do in the name of Jesus Christ. 

I’ll see you tomorrow for the continuation of this story!

#3 The days of Billy Graham are OVER!!!

I believe the days of standing before a large audience of thousands, telling them how sinful they and this world are, and how awesome God is – might not draw the numbers anymore.  You need to understand, I have nothing against Billy Graham, I go to his college.  Most of my classes are in the Billy Graham Center – no beef with Billy.

And I do not think  anyone (including Joel Osteen) is the next Billy Graham.

But the world has changed.  And A LOT of the world has been burned by the church and it is going to take some time to heal.  Healing and helping people see Jesus and not some punk or jerk Christian is going to require some on the ground relational ministry.  Which leads to the last point for this week.

#4 A 100% Church.

Most churches have a schedule. A few days off, and really the only days  you are welcome to just hang out are on Sunday and Wednesday.  THAT’S NOT CHURCH.  Church is 24/7!  Around the clock we share, love, care for one another and our world.

Relationships are built when the other person knows that this “person” or environment is safe.  I believe that people will be attracted to the faith when they see a Church day in and day out LOVE as Christ called us to.  They will know we are Christian by our love, love can never again be shallowly limited to a Sunday morning and Wednesday night.

#2 In this same _______ you go out!

While in Denver I got an opportunity to hear a few testimonies of the difference Jesus has made in the lives of people through Sox Place.

I remember on one occasion sitting back quite arrogantly and thinking quietly to myself, That’s not real change.  How can you call yourself a Christian?  Lord, how can you save someone like that?

In the moments of tossing those thoughts around in my head, all of a sudden a thought came to mind, WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Like I said yesterday, there are problems and sins that I struggle with and if they were made public I could be labled all sorts of things.  And Christians who close their eyes to people labled as such would have totally ignored me.

Jesus says in the gospels, “Those who are forgiven much, will forgive much.”  It is like those who are shown mercy are obligated to show mercy.

Why do we share the gospel?  Why do we build relationships and friendships so that more might come to faith in Christ?  When we spend just a moment reflecting upon where Jesus has taken us from and what we currently struggle in, we have to open our mouths for our Saviour.

In the same love we have experienced, we go out.  In the same forgiveness that was shown to us, we go out.  In the same joy and peace and hope that was given to us, we go out.

We do not go out because we are commanded.  Rather we go out because…How could we not?  A ”Christian” who has trouble sharing Christ is a “Christian” that has not experience the love of Christ.  Furthermore, a Christian who has trouble sharing Christ spends no time truly reflecting upon all that Christ has done for them.

grace and peace

#1  Leading in weakness not victory.

There are sins and other problems (unrelated to sins) thatI have been struggling with for the majority of my Christian life.  I have been asking God for victory and taking steps to completely do away them.  But it seems like these sins and problems are here to stay.

While I was in Denver and got to hear Doyle Robinson’s, a.k.a. “Sox” of Sox Place, testimony I was convinced that I had been going about this all wrong.  He talked about how there were issues in his life that he, in his older age, is still struggling with.  But all you have to do is look around and see all that God has enabled him to do for the homeless youth in Denver.

The greatest testimony to my generation will not be someone who miraculously overcame all their addictions, or someone whose life came together all of a sudden.  The greatest testimony for my generation and those who follow is the young man and young woman who in their addictions and problems wake up each morning saying, “This day is yours, Jesus.”

It was amazing to see Christians that were not Christians!  What I mean is, it was amazing to see Christians who were saved right in the place they stood.  They had chosen Christ but were not forced to look or talk or even behave like the rest of the Church.

For Church to “work” for my generation we are going to have to lead from a place where moment by moment we are depended upon Christ not for victory but for strength to live each day with our weaknesses.

I think that of all the sermons I hear (which isn’t that many compared to Richard who listens to about 37 sermons a day), the ones that convict me the most almost always involve speech. It’s not that I’m some crazy perverted mess; I just tend to notice ways which negative speech affects people.

In high school, I had a friend who I would often insult with the intention of being funny. Soon this joking turned into actual insulting, in which I started to think he was incapable of doing anything well. I would get angry at him and use words I had previously intended for humor in a tone that said, “I don’t like you.” I’m pretty sure these things bounced right off him, but the words I used definitely shaped the way I treated him.

This relationship shaped the way I think about communication with our friends. In fact, I taught myself to remove that type of speech from my vocabulary. But I’m not healed of my problem. Like I said, I stopped saying mean things to people, I stopped being so negative, and I stopped putting down my friends. I willed myself into cleaning up my act. Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t end there.

The phrase, “out of the (overflow of the) heart, the mouth speaks,” is thrown around a lot. Considering it’s in the Bible, I tend to wonder if there’s something to that statement. This is the part that gets me every time: I was able to pretty much stop using negative speech, but as soon as my defenses are down, the gross hurtfulness comes right back. On top of that, I’m not very good at encouraging. I don’t believe that my willpower will ever be strong enough to control all of these things.

Here I believe our relationships break down. Because we do not bring prayer, inspiration, and encouragement to our relationships, we have no bond with our friends and our relationships fall apart. Although we continue striving, we cannot on our own change our hearts to properly value our friends.

Instead, only through the Holy Spirit changing us by the blood of Christ will our hearts be transformed to love well through prayer, inspiration, and encouragement.

——————

So thanks again for reading these last three posts. I’ve really enjoyed writing them. I hope they’ve proved valuable in some way, if even as small reminders.

Oh, and bonus points to anyone who noticed the “PIE” acronym. I love bad acronyms.

I can name several things in my life that have been influential to me spiritually. These include specific events, truths I have heard, and, of course, relationships I have had. I believe that many of the ways that I approach the Lord have been inspired by friends who were passionate about Jesus. Often I noticed my friends’ passion for the Lord and desired that same passion. But it doesn’t end there. I can also name specific ways in which friends have intentionally challenged me toward growth in relationship with God. I hope to learn to do this for other people, and that is why I’m writing about this topic.

I think first about the references in the book of Proverbs to “walking with wise men,” such as verse 13:20. Among other places in the Bible, the book of Proverbs emphasizes the influence our relationships have over our lives. The author repeatedly commands his audience to make wise decisions about relationships because of their powerful effect.

This post was influenced by a sermon by Andy Stanley entitled “Providential Relationships” as part of his “Five Things God Uses” series. In this message, Stanley talked about the potential in our relationships to inspire others to faith in Christ. He used an example of a young boy who pursued an adult couple and through his perseverance and God’s perfect leadership, this couple eventually became followers of Jesus.

I’m taking the idea further than Stanley did, though, and suggesting that relationships are influential for more than just evangelism. This is something I believe we often miss. We ignore opportunities to inspire our friends to a greater love for God. Instead of challenging our friends to more strongly pursue the Lord, we remain stagnant in our relationships and expect to receive inspiration without giving any. Think about this, and you will see that what I’m suggesting is something to which you can relate.

We must inspire our friends. As I suggested above, I have been influenced both by friends who simply were passionate about God and by friends who purposefully challenged me in a specific area of my life. We must do these two things: (1) We must live in such a way that others are inspired toward the Lord, and (2) we must intentionally speak to the places in our friends’ lives in which they could more boldly pursue Him.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds

Hebrews 10:23-24, NAS