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A Second Chance

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Are you in a spiritual crisis? At some time or another, most people come to a place of crisis in their faith. Maybe you used to be on fire; you were excited about Jesus Christ; you were joyful; you loved talking about the Lord.

Then, like a slow leak in a tire, you began to lose momentum. The joy disappeared; and the fire fizzled out. Now youre settling for a mediocre existence, and the last thing you think about is evangelism!

Does any of that describe what youre going through? If so, dont despair – there is hope for change! The answer is found in Romans 12:1&2. In this passage, Paul urges believers to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy, pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”

What does this look like? It means you come to the Lord. You confess to Christ where youre at. You fall on your face and present yourself as a living sacrifice to God. Its a re-commitment, in a sense, of your life to Christ.

And then, as Romans goes on to tell us, Jesus begins transforming your mind and heart so that you desire what He desires. His passions become your passions. His priorities become your priorities – including Christs heart for the lost.

Our Motivation

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II Corinthians 5:14 explains what I call Gods rescue operation for mankind. The apostle Paul writes that Jesus Christ “died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them, and was raised again.” That, my friend, is the incredible rescue operation that took place on the cross when Jesus died for our sins!

God rescued us from ourselves – you notice it says – so that we would live no longer for ourselves. That really is the main enemy that we face. Satan is an enemy, yes; the world is an enemy, too. But the worst enemy is our very own sinful flesh.

Living for ourselves is selfish living. And selfish living leads us away from Christ. It leads to all sorts of problems in our lives. Yet, thankfully, Jesus Christ freed us from our past, gives us joy in the present, and hope for our future.

So what does this have to do with witnessing? Everything! The love of Jesus – His sacrifice in dying on the cross – is the biggest motivation for us to tell others about Him!

So think about the reality of Gods rescue operation in your own life. Then ask the Lord to help you tell your story — to your world.

Lives Changed by Missionaries

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Recently I was honored to speak at one of the worlds largest

gatherings of believers seeking to enter the missions field. Missionaries from all over the world came to share their stories of sacrifice and service. Anyone who believes that a Christian life cant be exciting and purposeful should spend some time with these courageous ambassadors for Christ.

I have great love and admiration for missionaries. My father, my five sisters and I were each led to the Lord by overseas missionaries, and my wife Pat and I spent our early years in missions work throughout Latin America. Our sons have since joined us in our pursuit of the Great Commission – to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world – and I pray that several of our grandchildren are not far behind.

In John 20 we hear the words of Jesus – resurrected from the grave – as He challenges His disciples to share Gods love with the lost. “As the Father has sent me,” He says, “so I send you.”

Most of us have come to faith through the outreach of someone sent by God. As you grow in your faith, the Lords heart for the lost will become your heart as well. When that happens, whether its in your own neighborhood or in some distant land, you too will become a missionary – an ambassador for Christ.

Loneliness for a Greater Call

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We all want to reach our world, dont we? Well, sometimes it can be very lonely. Verse 3 of the hymn Ive been sharing with you this week says, “So send I you to loneliness and longing, with hearts a-hungering for those we love and know. Forsaking kin and kindred, friend and dear ones so send I you to know my love alone. ”

There are some people who are called to remain single- and some of them are called to remain single and go to a foreign country to give the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yes there is loneliness, yes there is longing and hungering to be with those you love and know, yes you want to be with family, with friends, with dear ones, but you know, somebody has to get out there and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I have one wife, four sons, four daughters in-law and ten grand children. And for all of our lives, weve had to be separated from each other week after week, month after month, year after year. One day we calculated wed been separated for 15 years, to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But somebody has to do it, somebody did it to bring me the Gospel down in South America, and I love those missionaries who did it.

So yes, there is loneliness, and theres longing and hungering for those we know, but in the end, the result of people going to Heaven, and knowing Jesus Christ is worth all the sacrifice and all the effort – on behalf of the one who died on the cross all by Himself.

A Demand for Sacrifice

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This week Im trying to talk to you about reaching your world, through the words of a famous old hymn, called So Send I You. Here goes verse 2, “So send I you to bind the bruised and broken, or wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake, to bear the burdens of a world a-weary, so send I you, to suffer for my sake.”

You know, witnessing for Christ is a wonderful experience- it is positive, it is joyful, and many times it brings fantastic and beautiful results. But theres one thing we must never forget. It is also a demand for sacrifice.

It is also sometimes suffering. Many a person has died physically just for sharing the Good News and the love of God in Jesus Christ. Many of us have not been physically beaten up, but we have been insulted or psychologically manipulated, or made to feel inferior, or extremist, or as some people say, a fundamentalist- just because you share the love of God and the cross of Christ, and His resurrection, and His power to change their lives. But we must be ready for that.

My mother always taught me that verse in St. John, “In the world you will have tribulations, but cheer up, I have overcome the world.”

So when you share the Good News you must be ready to expect somebody to look down their noses at you. But on the other hand Jesus Christ says, “ah, you are doing it for my sake, I love you, I will reward you.