How Can I Help

For those of us who know what it is like to find ourselves in a serious need for help, it is a big relief to hear the words, "How can I help?" It doesn't matter what the situation is, money, physical labor, encouragement or a ride to your destination. I have been in need of all of these things in the past and probably will be at some point in the future. So many times, we do not consider people's situations or the need they might have regarding those situations.

Let's consider the words of Jesus in regard to helping others,

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  MK 10:45

If our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, did not consider Himself as one who should be served but should be one who serves others, even to the point of dying for us, then why should we think we don't have to help those in need? Now, this doesn't mean we should spend all day every day looking around for someone to help. But when we are aware of those who  do need some kind of support, we should be ready to offer help.

There are some great Christian organizations out there who are always ready to respond to major disasters to provide relief for those affected. Samaritan's Purse is a well known relief effort which has been responding to locations around the world as a result of earthquakes, flooding hurricanes and many other local disasters. Calvary Relief is another which provides the same type of help and when these organizations hit the ground, they are there doing God's work.

When Houston was devastated by Hurricane Harvey, a local Christian relief team helped pull damaged carpet and furnishings from homes. This would have taken each resident days and weeks to do but these people were there to help and many residents didn't understand why they were doing it. That opened the door for these people to tell them why they were doing it. It was an opportunity to tell them about Jesus.

But we don't need to wait for the next disaster; I'm sure there are people in churches across this country who are in need of help right now. Many are either too proud or embarrassed to ask for help so we might need to approach them. This can be done by showing love for them and their needs. We shouldn't embarrass them or shame them when we approach them and don't push if they say no.

Of course, there are always going to be those who will attempt to rip people off in the name of Jesus or the Church. We live in an evil world and we need to have discernment  if we are going to reach out for help. I can remember helping a widow reframe some of her garage following a fire. A friend of mine told me about her need and we offered to help. The local church where she attended knew about the fire and she was approached by a couple of men who told her they would help. But when they showed up to survey the damage, they presented her with an astronomical bid to do the work. This is not the kind of help I am referring to.

We are not always going to be able to provide the kind of help which might be needed in every circumstance and if we can't, the Lord understands. He would never expect us to provide funds which we don't have, perform work we are incapable of doing or anything else we just can't do. In 2 Corinthians, Paul gives the church there the following advice concerning this,

Give in proportion to what you have.  Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 2 Cor 8:11-12

Of course, Paul, here, is speaking of money but I think this would apply to any type of help. If you're are not an electrician, please don't attempt to help repair an electrical problem in someone's home. This could result in it's own disaster.

In our local churches, there is probably at least one person who needs some kind of help and we should always be aware of providing help if we are able. I have been involved in many projects which concerned helping the elderly church attendees or those who simple didn't have the ability to make a repair or correct a situation. But this also should extend beyond the church family. I'm sure we all know of neighbors and co-worked who have a need and this is where they can have the opportunity to see Jesus through that work and help.

We all know the story of the good Samaritan (LK 10:25-37) and how this man helped someone who considered him, the Samaritan, to be of a lower culture and less than a full blooded Jew. But the Samaritan helped him anyway. That's an excellent example for those of us who are Christians. Of course, Jesus tells this parable in relation to the command to love your neighbor as yourself and then tells us we need to do exactly that. If Jesus sets the example of how we should be ready to provide for the needs of others, why then shouldn't we?

It's not so much about only helping those who are close to us but those we know who are in need. It's not always money; it can be food, repairs to a home, transportation needs or simply just sitting and listening. When we offer our help to those who don't know Jesus, it's an opportunity for them to see the love of Him through us. And, we never know when, just like the residents in Houston, they will ask why.

I was reminded this week of a man and his daughter we helped years ago. He had a van which had been stranded at an exit from the interstate in town for about a week. I had went past this van everyday that week and wondered what was wrong. I saw him and another man working on it and decided everything was being taken care of. But the following Sunday when we were coming home from church, I noticed the van was now parked on the street which we lived on. He had thought it was fixed and limped it down this busy street and turned onto the street where we lived and parked.

I made the turn and saw the van parked there and I knew I had to stop. I also know it was the Holy Spirit who prompted me to stop. I asked what was going on and if I could help. He told me he thought the van had been fixed but as it turned out, it still needed some work. It was just him and his daughter who was about ten years old and they had been stranded in that van for a week. I just felt so bad for them and told him to follow me up the street to our house. Even though I couldn't help him with his van, I had a friend who could take care of his problem.

We told them to take showers and cool down; my wife made them some food and washed their clothes. I was able to get hold of my friend, who is an excellent mechanic, and he came to the house and took care of the problem. We offered to let them stay with us that night since it was late in the afternoon but he insisted they needed to get on the road and get home. I understood that.

I don't tell this story looking for a pat on the back or any kudos. It was a blessing to be able to help them and I wanted to and understood how discouraging it was to be stuck in that van, in the desert heat, for a week. It had to be miserable and this father had to be feeling so bad since he couldn't solve this problem and get his daughter out of it. And that's why Jesus had me stop and help these people. I told the guy where we were coming from and I told him I believed Jesus had me stop and help him. I didn't take advantage of the situation and jam the gospel down his throat. I could only pray that seeds were planted in his heart and mind and that someone would come along and cultivate those plantings and harvest them.

I know in our society today how dangerous this can be. So many people have been carjacked, robbed and even murdered when they stop to help others. We have to be careful when we consider helping strangers and that's sad but if we keep our hearts and ears tuned in to the Lord, He will let us know when and where to help those strangers in need. The Lord has always done that for me and other Christians I know.

The biggest item we hold back on is not money but time, our time. There are many times when people will just throw money at a problem when it's really their time which is needed. If it's a repair that is needed, money might buy the material but if the one in need can't make the repair, then the money has been useless, in a sense. We all too often consider our time as an item we just can't part with. People work forty, fifty and sometimes sixty hours a week and they just can't give their time or won't give their time. I understand that working sixty hours a week doesn't allow for much time left over but if a person is working forty hours a week, there is a few hours available to provide some help.

I spent a lot of time in bi-vocational ministry and I know what it is like to work fifty hours a week and still put in time in the evenings to listen to someone with problems. The Apostle Paul worked at every stop he made on his missionary journeys. He had some long days and some long walks as he ministered from one place to the next. I'm not saying we all need to do that. I just saying we can manage our time so we can budget some of it for that individual who might need our help.

Christians in the Church today are, at times, very reluctant to offer any help for any situation. I mean the help which is seriously needed by those around them. I'm not referring to standing behind a table on Sunday morning for a half hour to hand out flyers for some activity. Some local churches have made this a ministry in the church and there is an awareness of those in that church who need help or those outside the church also. It's a good idea and a simple way of providing the help which is needed.

We all have busy lives but as Christians, who are we living for? Are we living for ourselves or are we living for Jesus? Are we living to fulfill our own needs or are we living to share Jesus with those who need Him? If we are so involved in our own lives that we can't be there for those in need, we are on the wrong path in this life. Jesus isn't our co-pilot, He is the pilot and we need to yield to Him in all things in our lives. Believe me, I need to hear this as much as anyone and I'm not innocent in this area. But I strive to pay attention to what Jesus would have me do, where to go and who needs help. Helping others is a true blessing and if I can paraphrase what our Lord said, "It is better to give than receive."

What We Really Deserve

I'm sure we are all familiar with phrases like, 'life's not fair' or  'I deserve better than this' but do we ever stop to consider what we really deserve?  People will tell you, "Life is what you make it" and maybe that is true to a certain point. But in the Christian life, what is fairness all about? Was it fair for one man to die because of the sin of every other human being who was or ever will be? I'm sure you might have been told by a nonbeliever that if God sends people to hell, that's not fair. And, the proper response to that statement is, God sends no one to hell. He sent His Son to die on a cross so no one would have to go to hell.

Here's what we have to understand, we were born with sin; you had no say in it because Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord's command and opened the door for sin to come into the world. Every person ever born from that point on was born with a sin nature or a natural desire to sin. I know, many will say, "I'm not a sinner, I'm a good person." Yeah, well that won't get you into heaven or into a right relationship with Jesus. Blame Adam and Eve and accept it if that makes you feel better but we must come to Jesus and ask Him to forgive us for our sin, confess to Him we are sinners and need Him as our savior. He turns nobody away, there are no qualifying factors other than acknowledging to Him you are in sin and need His forgiveness.

Probably the most quoted verse in the Bible is John 3:16 but the verses which follow are just as important. Look at what the passage says,

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”  JN 3:16-20

Basically, what this passage says is that Jesus died for us to save us from our sin. He didn't come with judgment the first time, He came to save us (judgment comes with Him when He returns at the second coming). But the passages also says that there are those who will reject Him because they enjoy their life of sin more than wanting to be saved by Him. So, in that sense, some people do make life what it is and in this case, it is life without Jesus.

We hear so much talk today about race relations, Gay Rights or the rights of those who are Trans Gender or just those who believe they are owed something because of who they are. Here's the wake up call: We all deserve to die an eternal death. Jesus didn't have to go to the cross for us; He could have just took a pass and He and the Father could have easily moved on and left us all to die in our sin. But He didn't. God loved us so much, He sent His only, sinless Son to die in our place (JN 3:16). Most people can't comprehend that kind of love because our sinful nature will always want to put ourselves first and not others.

 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?"  Jer. 17:9

That's the heart we were born with; it's a heart that is wicked and sinful and only desires the things of this evil world. But when we accept Jesus as our savior and He becomes Lord of our lives (not as a dictator), our hearts are changed and the love He has for us, we will have for others. We no longer think in the worlds terms that we are special and deserve special treatment. We no longer complain about not getting what we think we deserve because we know what we really deserve and that is eternal death. (Well, we shouldn't complain; Phil 2:14)

So, someone might ask, "What is eternal death? I thought dead was dead." The term, eternal death, refers to those who  die without knowing Jesus as savior. I don't believe in using scare tactics when telling people about Jesus and the salvation He provided for us but I do believe in telling the truth. The truth is, for those who die without Jesus, die an eternal death in hell. The torment is burning in the fires of hell for eternity without being consumed by the fire. Again, I don't say this to terrorize but to inform and make people aware of what happens when a person dies without knowing Jesus as their personal savior.

But that is what we really do deserve and if not for the love which God has for us, His creation, it is what our fate would be. So, when I hear terms like, white privilege or Gay rights or I deserve, I just cringe because I know I have no rights without Jesus. I deserve eternal death without Jesus. I have no righteousness without Jesus.

For those of us who are Christians and understand what I have said, we need to think as Jesus would have us think when we consider those in the world who don't know Him; those who believe they deserve better. They need to hear about and know Jesus; He is the only answer to any and all problems we might face in this world. Consider what they really deserve if we don't tell them about Jesus. Don't just invite them to Church because Church won't save them. Tell them about Jesus and do it in love.

Everyone thinks they have an answer for the hate we see in this world today but there is only one answer and that is Jesus. I know, people will say that is my answer but it's not only the answer, it is the absolute truth. It has been tested for centuries and has never failed. It has been tested since the beginning of time and has never failed. Jesus is real and He is the only answer to the many problems we see in this world today.

Consider this: Why are Christians killed and persecuted worldwide? Why does the Muslim religion hate Christianity so much? Why do the Chinese forbid any church except the one approved by their government? Why is Christianity so feared by these governments around the world? If it is just another religion, why is it so threatening to them? Why has Christianity been kicked out of the public school systems in this country when other religions are given more tolerance? Why can the five pillars of Islam be taught in a public school but the Ten Commandments are forbidden?

The answer to all these questions is because the devil hates Christianity and this world, right now, is ruled by Satan himself. He drives the hate and bigotry and murder in this world. He will not tolerate the name of Jesus in any of his establishments around this world. The following passage explains this very well.

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  Eph 2:1-3

Don't be fooled by the ways of this world and don't buy into the beliefs of so many in this world. The truth lies in Jesus and He will expose the evils of this world and the light will overcome the darkness. Not knowing Jesus brings what we all really deserve and that is eternal death because He didn't have to save us from our sin. But He did and the good news is if you don't know Him, He is waiting with arms wide open.

The problem with the worldly view of considering what we deserve and the Christian view is the understanding of what sin is and how it affects us. It brings death but Jesus brings life. Thinking about what we deserve from a worldly point of view is all about material possessions and money. But as a Christian, knowing what we deserve is totally different and also we know that our needs are met by Jesus. Not our wants or what we think we deserve but what we need and there is a big difference.

Who's Serving Who?

What if you were to go into a restaurant for lunch today and when you sat down, the waiter/waitress came to your table and sat down saying, "I'll have a sandwich and a cup of coffee." What would be your first response? Wouldn't the question come into your mind, "Who's serving who here?" The word serve in the Greek is, Diakoneo, and it means to render any kind of service. It is also a derivative of the Greek word, Diakonos, which is where we get our English word, Deacon, from. A Deacon's work, as recorded in 1Tim 3, is a service ministry. A good example of this is in Acts 6 where seven men were selected to oversee the distribution of food to the widows in the early Church.

When we are saved and begin our Christian lives, we read and study the Bible and each day learn more about God and how to serve Him in this life. As the Lord begins and continues to sanctify us and we grow spiritually, He will call us into a specific service for Him. Some are called to be pastors and teachers and some to the mission field and some to clean bathrooms. None of these callings is greater than the other; in answering the call to any of these types of ministry, we are serving God and His people.(His call is not limited to the above mentioned)

A pastor is not the top dog in the local church, he is a servant. The pastor is a servant to all who are a part of that local church. The usher in that same church is also a servant. He assists and helps people as they come through the door. The custodian who cleans the bathrooms is providing a service to God and His people. None of these people, in these positions, is any greater than the others. We are all in service to the Lord, if we are doing His work.

I'm reminded of a story which Pastor Chuck Smith used to tell and I won't attempt to quote him but I will give the main point. He arrived at the church one morning and noticed that there were cigarette butts scattered around the parking lot. He mumbled his displeasure and began to pick them up but complaining about the butts in the parking lot and how he disliked that. While he was picking up these butts and complaining, the Lord spoke to him and asked, "Chuck, whose Church is it?" Chuck responded by saying, "It's yours Lord." The Lord had reminded Chuck that it was His Church and Chuck was serving Him by picking up those butts.

I think we sometimes loose sight of who is really serving who as we go about our daily Christian lives. I have met and talked to a lot of Christians who had their view of God and our relationship with Him turned around. Some of them thought they should never have to suffer or go through any type of affliction. Whether they had been instructed on how to take scripture out of context, or even twist it to meet their ideas or not, was having an adverse effect on their walk with God. This happens a lot of times with Christians who have not disciplined themselves to reading and studying the word of God.

I'm not picking on Christians or attempting to be harsh and critical, but instead, I'm being honest about a problem which exists in the Church today. Far too many Christians don't read their Bibles and have got the idea of service turned around. They believe and think that God should be serving them. When they have a problem, they demand that God show up and fix it. When they are in need, or want, of something, they think God should present it at the snap of their fingers.

This really reminds me of the Positive Thinking doctrines and the older Word of Faith Movement (which has pretty much morphed into the New Apostolic Reformation movement or NAR). The latter was always referred to as the 'name it and claim it' or 'blab it and grab it' movement. I've heard some of the claims these teachers have made when it comes to demanding from God the things they 'want' in their lives. Of course, it's all based on how much faith you have in God and if you don't receive it, your faith was too weak.

This false doctrine bled into prosperity and health. God will bless you with riches and wealth if your faith is strong and you just ask Him. That's not the way it works. Many of these false doctrines and lies are based on scripture taken totally out of context. There are many scriptures which refer to the riches of the Lord and these are skewed to meet these false teachings. As an example,

True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life. Proverbs 22:4 

But the word of God also tells us this,

 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.  1 Tim 6:17

The problem with this teaching, well one of the problems, is those who teach and following this teaching and practice it, are expecting God to work for them. They demand that God give the things they want, they demand wealth and riches and they expect God to heal and provide them with 'divine health'. God doesn't work for us and He doesn't serve us and provide for our every whim. He provides for our needs and heals according to His will, not ours.

How many stories have you heard concerning people, even children, dying because they believed these lies? Children being taken off of insulin or other required medication and the results are death? Even adults have had this happen and they made the decision for themselves. God provides for what we need regardless if its medication or money to buy milk. I remember my mother telling me how much she trusted in the Lord to provide food for us during hard times.

She told me about a time when we had very little food in the house and there were eight of us at the time. She wasn't sure what she was going to do for supper that evening and she started to pray and there was a knock at the door. When she answered the door, there was a man there with a huge sack of potatoes. God knew what we needed that day and my mother didn't have to make demands to get it. She simply prayed and asked God to provide. George Mueller was famous for this; he depended on God to provide food and the other needs for the orphans he was taking care of. He believed in the power of prayer and believed without any doubt that God would always provide and He did. There are far too many accounts to record here but there are recorded in his story, George Mueller, Moody Press.

The Lord provides for our needs, not our wants,

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  MT 6:31-33

With a promise like the one above, why would we expect God to work for us or to answer to our demands? Why would we feel the need to demand? It's not about getting what we can from God but as the passage above states, if we seek Him and His kingdom first, He will provide what we need.

To make this even easier to understand, when we are saved, we begin to grow closer to Jesus and we learn as we read and study His word and the time we spend in prayer. As we grow and get to know Him more and more, we have a desire to serve Him in the way He has called us. As I mentioned at the beginning of this writing, we serve Him and His people in many different ways. We are gifted by His Spirit, as we read in 1Cor 12, and in these ways, we are doing His work. It's all done out of love for Him and those who are around us, saved or not.

Don't ask God what He is going to do for you today, He already saved you from eternal condemnation. He didn't have to send His Son to die in our place; He didn't have to provide us with a means to salvation. It was because He loves us so much, He sent His Son to die for us and save us from our sin. We all deserve to end up in hell (nobody wants to hear this truth) but He died for us and extended His grace and mercy so we wouldn't have to suffer for eternity in hell.

So, if God did all of that for us, why should we think He should be working for us? Why would we believe He should be serving us and catering to our every whim? For those who might be guilty of this, stop and drop, to your knees, and start praying and ask Him to forgive you and show you the way. We serve God out of love, not because we are forced to or because we have to. There is no other way.

 

  

Straddling The Line

Christians who still have one foot in the world and one foot in their Christianity are straddling the line. If they come to me for advice or with a problem concerning their Christian life and I pick up on this, I will tell them. Many Christians suffer from this practice and it's not uncommon but can be dangerous. So, what is this all about?

A Christian straddling the line hasn't left behind the things of the world which are now cluttering up the individuals Christian life and pursuit of living for Jesus. I've been there; as a newer Christian, I had baggage trying to pull me backward and activities which held me back from being all in for Christ. I am not speaking of the things in our life which we need to continue doing such as our job or career or taking care of our family (providing it doesn't take the place of God). We don't cut ourselves off from the world but we don't allow the world to influence us either.

Jesus has called us to live a holy life; He has called us to live a life which glorifies Him and what He has done and is doing for us. At the heart of Christianity is love. Jesus displayed that love while He was here on earth. He healed the sick and lame, restored eye sight to the blind and drove the demons out of people. Did He do this to get pats on the back or to be a social hit with people? No, He did it out of love for all of us. His love for us is so great that He put Himself on a Roman cross to die for our sin. Can you understand how extremely painful it is to be crucified?

I understand crucifixion hasn't been used as a form of execution recently but the experience is very painful. All the weight of your body is hanging as your arms are outstretched, which makes it difficult to breath. In order to get a good breath, the person needs to push up with his feet but if the legs are broken, as was the case with the two thieves hanging there with Jesus, it is almost impossible and after a period of time, the individual suffocates from lack of breath.

But in Jesus' case, He had been beaten and scourged which ripped His flesh raw on His back. You can imagine the pain He must have experienced when they laid Him on that cross. The roughness of the wood gouging into that torn flesh and then when they lifted Him up, just the movement of His body on that cross would have been excruciating. He probably lost more blood before He was placed on the cross than He did while on it. His death was extremely painful and the one thing a lot of people don't understand is, He didn't have to do it. He did it because of His love for us.

Is that message preached enough today? Is it heard by Christians sitting in the local church on Sunday morning or Wednesday night? Does the hard truth of the gospel have a chance to be slipped in between a social gospel message and a feel good about yourself sermon? I don't have the answer to that question because I don't know. It's a question which points to the apathetic approach to the gospel in many churches in this country. You see, some churches can also straddle the line.

I'm not trying to be critical, I'm trying to point out there's a problem in the way some churches have watered down God's message to us. The Bible isn't even mentioned in some of the churches in this country; it's a sermon on how to be better, how to love ourselves more, how prosper and how to have better sex with your partner. There are far too many professionals in the pulpit instead of God called servants. Revivals are scheduled for certain times of the year but rival doesn't happen because you can't schedule revival. God schedules revival in the hearts of individuals not churches.

Martin Lloyd-Jones had the following to say about the Church following his period of ministry when he did a lot of writing. 

The Christian church today is failing, and failing lamentably. It is not enough even to be orthodox. You must, of course, be orthodox, otherwise you have not got a message. . . . We need authority and we need authentication. . . . Is it not clear that we are living in an age when we need some special authentication — in other words, we need revival.  -Martin Lloyd-Jones, The Sovereign Spirit, 1986

Lloyd Jones had preached for 30 years and had a good grasp on the state of the Church when he wrote this. Again, the same types of problems are still plaguing the Church over 30 years later. Of course, some are more intense and more serious such as the Gay agenda, which has infiltrated the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian USA church. These organizations have ordained gay ministers and the latter approves of same sex marriage. I'm not even going to get into the movement which is slowly gaining approval and entrance into many local churches which openly endorses the sin of homosexuality as being OK with God. God doesn't approve of this sin anymore than He does any other sexually immoral sin such as adultery or fornication.

Satan has been in the Church since the first doors opened. But today, he is boldly proclaiming his rightful presence inside. Forget about whether we should play ball on Sunday afternoons or take part in secular activities which some would consider to be on the edge. Forget about all those things which your grandparents thought were unforgivable (although many of them still are); today, the world is making more advances in the Church than the Church is in the world. How many local churches include secular music, videos and other practices to enhance the service time?

How many local churches sit back and wait on the unsaved to come to them and their church instead of them going to the unsaved? Where is the outreach ministry in some churches? Do those churches even know what that means? Summer missionary trips to Mexico or to Native American reservations are more about getting credits or brownie points for college than for spreading the gospel. Church youth groups go and don't even understand why they are going. Maybe to them it's a trip to get away from home and spend time with friends. Has the Youth Leader even explained what the purpose of the trip is? Is it about digging ditches or repairing buildings or is it about telling people about Jesus?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with making trips like this but it needs to be done for the right reason. Ditches can be dug and buildings can be repaired and the news about Jesus should be at the heart of all of that. It should be done out of love for the people, showing the work is being done for Jesus. This will get people's attention. They might be wondering, "Why would these strangers come and do this for me?" They have to be given the answer, Jesus.

The world makes the Church and Christians look like a bunch of fools. Hollywood loves to mock God, Christians and the Church. It will always show an extreme view of Christianity and the viewers suck it up. In television programs, Jesus is mocked and Christians are depicted as narrow minded bigots. In a TV drama, it will always be the crazy Christian who is the bad guy or the parents who allowed their child to die or any other extreme belief they can slap on the Church in one hour.

Abortion is running wild in this country and has reached new lows on the morality scale. How does the Church feel about this? Many Bible believing, gospel preaching churches have spoken out against it but a lot of the liberal churches have sided with those who believe it is the right of a woman to commit this act. To understand there is a heartbeat and life inside the womb and still commit this act is barbaric. It is the taking of a life, regardless of it's stage of life, it is murder. To kill a child at birth is murder and this thinking and action is demented.

I could go on with other issues but I need to point out that the solution for all of this is a serious commitment to serving God. It's about spending more time with Him than with the world. It's about pastors preaching what God's word says and not about saying what itching ears want to hear. It's about taking Jesus to the world and not waiting for the world to come to us because the world wants nothing to do with church. We have to tell them about Jesus; inviting someone to church won't get it done.

Jesus has opened up so many avenues to Him, so many ways to hear about Him and yet, we fail to take advantage of those. It's not the pastors responsibility to tell our unsaved friends about Jesus, that's our responsibility. And, that is where the problem lies; we don't want to tell people about Jesus. It is so easy and so simple to do that. We are afraid people will yell at us, call us names or just tell us, "Get lost, I don't want to hear that." So, if they tell you that, fine let them go because you can't force them to listen.

Finally, the solution to all of these issues and problems is the Church needs to be more active in its outreach to the world. The Church needs to be more concerned with reaching the lost of the world instead of entertaining Christians. Real ministry is outside of the walls of the church building. The secular work place is a great place to reach the lost. Pray for those you work with who are not saved and ask Jesus to open a door for a conversation and an opportunity to tell a co-worker about Him.

We need to be able to reach friends who are not saved, neighbors who are not saved and family members who are not saved. We need to look for those opportunities to reach the lost souls who God might just be sending our way and we need to be ready. The Church is not just a group of believers who gather one or two times a week, we are those who are serving Christ and we are to be His instruments and tools to reach the lost in this weary world.

I speak in terms of this country in which we live when I speak about these things concerning the Church. It's time for the Church in this country to wake up and get to work. It's been too long of a nap and we gain nothing from sleeping when we should be working. There are far too many Christians who are still straddling the line between Christianity and the world.