THE DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST - PART TWO .... THE GOSPEL

 

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” – Mark 1:1

 

Now that we have established who Jesus is, let us turn our attention to why He came.  Should we be left with any doubt after reading Matthew, Mark makes it clear – Jesus is the Son of God!

Jesus once asked His disciples, “Whom do ye say that I am?”  Hear the big fisherman named Peter stand and say “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus responded by saying that Peter did not come to this realization on His own, but it was revealed unto Him by the Father (Matt. 16: 15-17).  The Father proclaims the Son; in fact, He is still proclaiming the Son!  We have the Holy Bible in which the Son is revealed in both testaments.  The book of Revelation’s central theme is Jesus Christ being revealed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Make no mistake – Jesus is the Son of God!

“For God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).  This was the first Bible verse that many of us memorized as children.  Thank God for saints who stressed to me the importance of memorizing scripture as a child.  But I am afraid that our familiarity with it has caused it to lose some of its power in our lives – our fault, not His.   It’s time to take a fresh look at this verse again, and let it say to us what we need to hear.

God loves the world…that includes you, me, and everyone who has ever lived or is going to live.  He loved us before we ever loved Him or even knew Him.  How do we know?  Because He gave His Son – Jesus Christ, born of a virgin – to die as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.  Once and for all on the cross, Jesus paid the ultimate price for the sins of humanity – that includes you and me.  Just as the sins of the people were placed upon the sacrifice each year as an atonement, our sins – yours and mine – were placed upon Jesus on the cross.  The shedding of His blood brought atonement for them.  By placing our faith in what Jesus did upon the cross, we receive remission of sins and eternal life.  That, my friends, is the gospel!

Some will say, “It can’t be that simple or easy.  There must be more to it than that.”  Friends, if it takes something else in addition to what Jesus did on the cross, then He died in vain.  That’s all there is to it.  Anyone who says that it takes something more is preaching a false doctrine!  Paul dealt with this in his letter to the Galatians.  False teachers had crept in, and were teaching the people that in addition to being saved they had to follow Jewish law and be circumcised.  Paul, who himself was circumcised, offered his opinion on the matter.  “Oh foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?” (Gal. 3:1).  He said if anyone, even an angel from heaven, preaches any other gospel, let him be accursed (Gal. 1: 8-9).  Our faith is not to be in anything other than the finished work of Jesus.  If we are placing our faith in anything else, we are in error.

What is the gospel?  It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is this gospel that we are commanded to proclaim to the world.  “Repent and believe the gospel!” was the message of the early church, and it should still be ours today.  A quick glance at religious programming on television, however, reveals those that preach another gospel.  We find those that I refer to as “prosperity preachers.”  If I send in $25, God will send me back $100.  My friends, that is nothing but a message of manipulation and God cannot nor will He be manipulated.  God is calling men everywhere to repent – not to be rich.  The message of the true church has never changed nor will it.  Do I believe in giving to God what is His?  Absolutely.  But what I won’t do is think that I can use God like a return in the stock market.  He’s not a 401k, He’s a consuming fire. 

Let us go back to preaching the gospel!  May the message of John the Baptist be our message – “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the whole world.”  Have you believed?  This is not just about believing that He’s real, or even that He is the Son of God.  The demons believe that…and they tremble.  Believing is about putting your faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross.  It’s about repentance.  Have you repented of your sins?  I’m not talking about turning over a new leaf – or even a turn around.  I’m talking about falling before God in what the scripture refers to as godly sorrow.  When you see yourself as God sees you, for that is what true confession is – agreeing with God that we are sinners and there is absolutely nothing we can do within ourselves to change that.  Friends, THAT’S why God sent His only begotten Son – to pay the ultimate price for our sins so we could go free.  Through what He did at Calvary, His righteousness was imputed to us because on our own there is no righteousness that makes us good enough.  Again I ask – have you believed?

Jesus said you must be born again.  This second birth is a spiritual birth and it means to be born from above.  The Spirit of God comes in and transforms your life.  But you must repent of you sins with godly sorrow – agreeing with God that you are a sinner and without Him there is no hope for you.  That’s what Peter meant when he preached “repent and be converted, that your sins be blotted out!”  Believe the gospel – put your faith in what Jesus did on the cross – and by faith believe that His word is true and that He will forgive your sins.

Have you been baptized?  Baptism is not an option, it is a commandment.  It is the first act of obedience that shows you have repented and put your faith in Jesus.  It identifies you publicly with the body of Christ.  Remember, Jesus said that if we are ashamed to confess Him before this generation, He will be ashamed to confess us before His Father in Heaven. 

Take up your cross – daily – and follow Jesus.  Following Christ means that you will follow Him in suffering and persecution.  Jesus said that if the world hated Him, it would hate us.  If we don’t take up our cross and follow him, we can’t be his disciple.  We can’t live our lives our way and follow our own path and then claim to follow Jesus – it just won’t work.

Chris, why are you saying all of this?  Who would even want to be saved after all that?

Because there are people all over the land who have a hole in their heart they just can’t seem to fill.  Are you one of those?  You’ve tried everything.  You’ve done all the right stuff – gone to church, maybe taught Sunday School or done other work in the church – you’ve been baptized, you’ve taken communion, you’ve done it all.  But something is still missing and you just can’t put your finger on it. 

See yourself as God sees you – a sinner without hope in this world.  Repent and put your faith in Christ’s work on the cross – not just something you celebrate on Easter.  Let Him fill that hole in your heart and transform your life.  He will do it!

 

The Evangelist

THE DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST - PART ONE

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” – Matt. 1:1

 

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.  He is the beginning of all things, and the end of all things.  How appropriate that the first verse of the New Testament declares Him.  How fitting it was that John ended the Revelation with “Even so come Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).  But who is He really?

If we are going to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, then our hearts should know the answer to that question – for Jesus is the only hope this world has.  There is a great day coming, a day of reckoning when the world will be judged by God.  At that point it will be too late to get them the gospel.  We must do it now!  Now is the accepted time – today is the day of salvation.!  Remember, our delay is their loss.

The Old Testament closes with a promise of the coming Messiah, while the New Testament opens with the fulfillment of that promise.  Matthew declares Him to be Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  What would move a Jewish tax collector to write such a statement?  The question is not “what?” but “who?”  It was the Holy Spirit that directed Matthew to write those words.  Since all scripture is divinely inspired, we know that men wrote as they were moved upon by the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, it is the glorious Spirit of God who makes this declaration.  He is still proclaiming it today, and He is moving upon us to declare it as Matthew did.  The question for our generation is… will we obey?

In order for us to understand the magnitude of this statement, we need to look back at the beliefs of the people who lived during the first century.  What did the Jewish generation of Matthew’s day believe about the Messiah?  In Deuteronomy 18:15, the Lord told Moses that he would raise up “a Prophet” from their midst.  The Lord said He would put His words in that prophet’s mouth and He (the prophet) would speak all that the Lord would command Him (v. 18).  Therefore, they believed He would be a prophet.  They also read from Isaiah that He would be born of a virgin, and that His name would be called “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6).  Being born of a virgin meant that His birth would be of supernatural origin and man would have nothing to do with it.  God would become flesh and live among them.  Then what? 

Jewish citizens of the first century looked to other scriptures which said that when Messiah came He would sit on the throne of David and His kingdom would last forever.  Let us remember that the nation of Israel had not had autonomy since the Babylonian army came in and conquered them centuries earlier.  Following the Babylonians, they would be ruled by the Medes, the Persians, the Greeks, and finally the Romans.  Therefore, when the Messiah arrived on the scene, He would restore Israel to its place of prominence among nations.  In order for that to happen, they reasoned that the Messiah would have to throw off the chains of Roman rule.  From His throne in Jerusalem, He would rule the nations with a “rod of iron” and establish everlasting peace.  Their expectation was certainly understandable.  If you and I had been living in the first century, no doubt we would have shared their preconceived notions that the Messiah would deliver them from their political captivity.  I know this because we blame government today for the ills of our society.  Either it isn’t doing enough or it is doing too much.  We have it as wrong as they did.  Breaking away from Rome would never free them from their true captor – sin!

That’s why Messiah had to come, and that’s why the Holy Ghost moved on Matthew to pen this declaration we read as his book opens.  The people of the first century needed to know His real purpose, and so do the people of the twenty-first century.  We haven’t figured it out either.         

This first verse tells us three things:  (1)Jesus is the Messiah;  (2)He is the son of David; and (3) He is the son of Abraham.  Let us take a quick look at Abraham and the promises given to him.

In Genesis 12:3, God promised Abraham (then called Abram) that in him should “all families of the earth be blessed.”  And so they have – every kindred, tongue, and nation – all the families of the earth have been blessed because of Jesus.  Matthew 1:2-16 traces the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham.  The Jewish people of the 1^st century would only accept the Messiah if his lineage could be traced to Abraham.  The Holy Spirit confirmed through Matthew that Jesus was truly the Messiah.

However, there would be more to the story.  Jeremiah 23:5 tells us that he Messiah would be a descendant of David.  Isaiah prophesied that of His government and His peace there would be no end (Is. 9:7).  No wonder that people reacted as they did when they understood that Jesus fulfilled every promise given concerning the Messiah.  At one time they even tried to take Him and force Him to be king (John 6:15).  Even the disciples were expecting Jesus to sit on David’s throne in their day.  After His resurrection and just before His ascension, they asked Him “wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).   They reasoned that after everything which had transpired, now was surely the time that all things would be fulfilled.  But their work was just beginning.  Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until they had received power from on high, and that they would be witnesses of him unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).  Remember that it was prophesied that the gentiles would trust in Him.  For that to happen, the gospel would have to go out all over the world, which is the great commission given to the Church.  It is our one and only mission.

Last, but not least – in fact, FIRST – is the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.  "Christ" is not His last name, it's His title - He is the anointed one, the Messiah!  He demonstrated that through His power – He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, even raised the dead.  He is God, which is why Isaiah proclaimed that He would be “the Mighty God.”  John began his gospel by calling Him the “Word of God”, and the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…” (John 1:14).   Nicodemus proclaimed Him by saying “no man can do these miracles…except God be with Him” (John 3: 2).   But there is even more.  John the Baptist called Him the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.”  In order to be Messiah, He would be the ultimate sacrifice, one that the Father would accept as an atonement for all sin.  ALL – mine, yours,’ everyone who has lived or will live. 

That’s why we must get this gospel out to the whole world.  What could be better news than our sins can be forgiven.  The price has already been paid, for Jesus paid it on the cross.  This is the one true doctrine, not just a theory, or a method, but a life-changing proclamation that when grasped can change the world.   

Onward Christian Soldiers! Onward – while there is still time!  Let us work while it is day, for the night is coming when no man can work.

Onward!

Part two coming soon!

 

The Evangelist

 

THE DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST - AN INTRODUCTION

The Doctrine of Jesus Christ – Introduction

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” – Matt. 1:1

This is not an attack upon denominations.  Throughout my life I have been in different types of churches, and I can say for sure that I have met true saints of God in each of them.  This is just something that has been on my heart for a long time.

Have you ever considered how many Christian denominations there are?  I couldn’t possibly name them here and I will not claim my breakdown is accurate, but it looks something like this:

Christendom is divided between Catholics and Protestants (no offense to my Greek Orthodox brethren out there).  Protestants are divided into various subgroups such as Evangelicals (which is the largest), Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and a couple of others (all have factions that also claim to be Evangelical).  Evangelicals are divided further into various kinds of Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Presbyterians, Churches of Christ, Nazarenes, Churches of the Brethren, Apostolic, Holiness, Churches of God, etc.  Forgive me for leaving out some, but I think you get my drift. 

In our religious world today this is normal – but it isn’t scriptural.

There is only one church…THE Church….otherwise known as the body of Christ – also referred to as the Bride of Christ.  Everyone who has their name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life is a member of that church, beginning with the Apostles and continuing through modern times.  Please keep reading:

The Catholic Church isn’t going to heaven.

The Lutheran Church isn’t going to heaven either.

The Baptist Church isn’t going to heaven, nor is the Methodist, or Presbyterian, or Church of Christ, or Church of God, or Assembly of God.  Nor are non-denominational churches going to heaven – by being “non-denominational” you are a denomination by default. 

Churches don’t go to heaven – people do.

People…you know… human beings with eternal souls – saints of God who’ve had their sins washed in the Blood of the Lamb – those who make up the Body of Christ – they will be in heaven!

“Well then Chris, what happens to the churches?  Let me guess, they go to hell, right?”

Relax, churches don’t go to hell – people do. 

And that my brethren is THE point.  I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of people dying and going to hell.  There are enough people in hell already, and I want to do everything I possibly can to see to it that no one else goes there.  Don’t you?

 Do you know that there are all kinds of people in hell?  Hell is occupied by both men and women.  Goodbye gender gap.  The aged are there, and so are the young.  Therefore the generational gap is gone too. There are white people there, as well as red, yellow, and black people.  Think about it, there is no racism in hell.  The racists are there, but no racism.  In the midst of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, no one will care what color your skin is.  There are both rich men and poor men there, each begging for a drop of water to cool their parched tongues because they are in torment.  There are educated people there, as well as uneducated people.  They are equal in hell.  The atheist will stand shoulder to shoulder with the religious person, and both will be totally alone.  There are Americans there, and there are Chinese, Japanese, Germans, French, Canadians, Africans, Egyptians, and Iranians there – as well as others – all were on the losing side of this war.  There are people in hell who’ve been there since Caesar was king, and there people there who only died last week.   Let that sink in.

We have work to do!

We must get the gospel out to the world, and time is of the essence.  Again, I don’t’ mean to slam denominations – that isn’t my point.  It’s time for all of us obey the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ and take the gospel to all nations – and we need to obey Him as brothers and sisters in Christ and members of His body.  Do we know what the gospel is?

The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And we need to know who this Jesus is that we are taking to the world, for He alone has the power to change lives.

The doctrine of Jesus Christ should be a good place to start! 

 

Do The First Works

Do The First Works – Rev. 2:1-7

This is not just about going back to “the basics.”  We are not a sports team returning to “fundamentals” because we’ve lost some games, nor are we looking for the key to happiness and success.  We can’t win at the game of life because we are part of the human race... and we were born to lose.  There is only one real hope for us – the Cross.  It’s time for us to come home.  We must come back to Christ and what He did for us at Calvary if we are going to survive.  Then, we must take up that cross and follow Him.  Make no mistake – this is a matter of life and death.  Why?  We have a sin problem, and it is destroying us.

After warning the Church of Ephesus to “remember” and “repent,” Jesus told them to go back and “do the first works” (v. 5).  There is no indication given in scripture that the Ephesians were bad people.  In fact, they were commended by Christ for their good works (v. 2-3).  You might say that they “oozed” goodness.  But they had left their first love (v. 4) – meaning they had departed from what defined them as Christians in the first place.  The faith that they had once placed in the finished work of Christ on the cross they were now transferring to the works they were doing in the church.  Jesus was now sending them a personal letter through John to warn them what would happen if they didn’t repent.  He said he would remove the candlestick out of its place (v. 5).  Keep in mind what a good church this was.  They were solid in their doctrine and had rejected sectarianism (v. 2, 6).  Jesus also commended them for laboring in His name without giving up (v. 3).  I think you and I would have been proud to have been members at the church at Ephesus!  But, no matter how good our church is, if we’re not preaching the gospel, then it’s all for naught.  When I say preaching, I mean that preaching which is anointed by the Holy Spirit and done with boldness.  Without Him, we might as well nail up the doors and windows and turn the building over to the dirt daubers and wasps because we no longer have a church.

The Ephesians were just like us.  There is something within human beings that causes us to feel as if we can accomplish anything we set our minds to.  We have been taught – and we’ve raised our children to believe – that hard work pays off.  Call it the success principle – setting high goals with a good dose of determination and self belief will bring success in the financial world, the sports, world, and any other part of life in which we want to use it.  Any part of life except one - this principle won’t work with God.  There is absolutely nothing we can do that is good enough to earn His favor.  The Bible is very clear that our righteousness is as filthy rags (Is.  54:6).  That’s why Jesus had to die.

The Ephesians were full of good works.  Let us not be too hard on them - we should remember that they were smack dab in the middle of a pagan world.  Perhaps they thought that their good works would distinguish Christianity from the other religions of their day.  If they could just do enough good, then they could convince the world around them that Christianity was the true religion.  However, the only work powerful enough to bring about such a change is the finished work of Christ on the cross.  Only the gospel can change hearts and lives.  Good works, even by the saints, can never atone for sin.  The LORD said that “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Lev. 17:11)  When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God in the Garden of Eden, they hid themselves because of their shame.  I am afraid the significance of what happened next is often lost on us.  The LORD took animal skins and clothed them to hide their nakedness (Gen. 3: 21).  That means that blood had to be shed so that their sin would be covered.  At that moment He established the principle that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.  In the next chapter we see Abel offering a proper sacrifice that was pleasing to the Lord (Gen. 4:4).  Where else could he have learned that principle?  Throughout the Old Testament, especially the first five books, the nation of Israel was commanded to make sacrifice after sacrifice.  Reading through the books of Leviticus or Numbers can leave even the most dedicated Christian full of questions.  Was all this bloodshed really necessary?   This is one of the reasons for the many critics of Christianity – how could we follow a God that is so bloodthirsty?  Why would such an all-powerful God need the blood of innocent animals to appease his anger toward human beings?  The answer is a simple one – the LORD was trying to teach man something wonderful.  Forgiveness of sins WAS possible, and one day the ultimate sacrifice would be paid.  The law is a schoolmaster that shows us our sinful condition (Gal. 3:24).  It points men, women, boys, and girls to the Lord Jesus Christ.  God would send Him into the world as the final sacrifice to pay the ultimate price for the sins of all humanity.  He loved us so much that He was willing to offer His one and only son as the atonement for our sins (John 3:16).  That was the plan of God from before the foundation of the world.  While on earth, Jesus taught that His purpose was to die for our sins.  That’s why He came – to die in our place as a sacrifice. 

The LORD told Adam that the day they ate from the tree they would surely die (Gen. 2:17).  Eventually they did die, but not that day.  Why?  Wasn’t that what God said?  Certainly, it would have been justice for them to die the very day they sinned because the wages of sin is death. Instead, God in His mercy provided a substitute to die in their place.  Blood of animals was shed, and the skins of those animals were used to cover Adam and Eve’s shame.  He would do the same thing for Isaac many years later when he was to be offered as a sacrifice by his father Abraham.  Rather than Isaac’s blood be offered for the sins of the people, God provided himself a sacrifice and Isaac was spared (Gen. 22:13).  Do you see the pattern forming here?  This was the principle of the substitute sacrifice.  Then one night in Egypt as the death angel passed through, He instructed the children of Israel to offer a sacrifice and place the blood on the doorposts of their houses.  When the angel came through and saw the blood on the door, he would pass by that house and all within would survive (Ex. 12:13-14).  They were told to keep that day as a remembrance and never to forget it.  When the law was finally given, blood sacrifice was to be used to atone for the sins of the people.  That is, until the Messiah came to save the people from their sins.

Sin is the REAL problem.

Many people of Christ’s day thought their messiah would come to deliver them from Roman domination.  But it wasn’t Caesar that they needed to be delivered from, it was sin.  That’s the reason Jesus came.  Not only for their sins did He die, but for yours and mine as well.  Without Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we would be eternally lost.  There have been some in the church who have taught that the original plan was for the Messiah to come and the people to accept Him which would usher in the Kingdom of Heaven.  It was only after the Jews rejected Christ that God came up with the cross.  That teaching is false!  Scripture makes it clear that Christ’s purpose in the world was to die for our sins and that purpose was established before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20).  Jesus was not martyred, nor was he assassinated.  He was a sacrifice.  It wasn’t an amendment to the plan of God, it was THE plan!

Are we getting this? Have we left our first love as the Ephesians did?  We establish programs on top of programs to bring about church growth.  We center all of our efforts on building churches that will be attractive to the multitudes.  We “compel them to come in” and make them comfortable.  Are we supposed to be comfortable at the house of God?  Doesn’t the scripture teach us that judgment begins there?  I know that people say it’s a slaughterhouse religion and you can’t reach people that way in today’s world.  Remember the words of Paul who said that the preaching of the cross was foolishness to those that perish (1Cor. 1:18).  I don’t know about you, but as a believer I was begotten by the word.  Let us hear the preaching of John the Baptist as he exclaims “Repent and believe the gospel!”  Repentance is not only having a change of mind and making a 180 degree turn, it comes about through godly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:10).  Our good deeds alone will never cause someone to call upon the name of the Lord.  They must hear the gospel of Jesus Christ!  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the church doing good works.  Certainly we are to help the poor, feed the hungry, and heal the sick.  In fact, I would argue that these things are not the responsibility of the world or the government, but rather the responsibility of the church!  However, the only thing that can change the hearts of people is the gospel of Jesus Christ.   Like the church at Ephesus, have we forgotten what the gospel is?  Have we set the preaching of the cross aside in order to be less offensive to the world?  Make no mistake, there is only one gospel message, and that is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no other gospel. The shedding of His blood at Calvary is the means of our salvation.  Not only are we saved from the punishment of sin, but we are freed from the guilt of sin and delivered from the power of sin.  The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sin!

Let us heed the warning that Christ gave to the church at Ephesus - Let us do the first works - go back to preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified!

The Evangelist

What Is An "Evangelist?"

“and some evangelists,”

 

Sometimes people will ask, “What’s an evangelist?”

An evangelist is one who takes the gospel, the “good news” of salvation to the world.  It is one of several gifts mentioned in the scriptures. The Holy Ghost bestows these gifts upon believers to equip them for service and to build up the church of Christ.  Spiritual gifts include not only evangelists, but apostles, prophets, pastor/teachers, healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc.  Every believer is indwelt by the Spirit and receives spiritual gifts.  Our gifts may differ from one individual to the other, but we all have them.      

There’s a lot of confusion in today’s church about spiritual gifts.  Many confuse gifts with talents.  A talent is a natural ability someone has that sets them apart from someone else.  These can be the result of genetics or training and can be used for any purpose, spiritual or non-spiritual.  For example, I have an uncle on my father’s side of the family who is musically talented and can play any instrument he gets his hands on.  To my knowledge he has never had a single music lesson nor can he read musical notes.  Yet he’s been able to play music since the first time he picked up a mandolin.  Uncle Gerald would be the first to tell you that he has been blessed with the gift of music.  He wouldn’t get any disagreement from me because I have seen him use his talent to encourage and uplift scores of people over the years. But he could have chosen to use his talents for a secular purpose and probably made lots of money.  Instead, he chose to use them to be a blessing to people in his family and community.  He did have a choice, which makes it a talent.

On the other hand, gifts are the result of the power of the Holy Spirit.  According to Paul in the fourth chapter of Ephesians,  such gifts are for “the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4: 12)  This verse gives us the litmus test for spiritual gifts and tells us why spiritual gifts are given.  Their purpose is not to set us apart from other believers or to show divine favor. They are to glorify God.  Anytime glory is being directed at a man or a ministry, what’s being demonstrated is not a “gift” but a “talent.”  These works will not stand the test of fire at the Judgment seat of Christ and will be burned up.

There aren’t many references to evangelists in the scripture.  The most common one is Phillip who is referred to as “the evangelist.”  We know from the book of Acts that Phillip was led by the Spirit of God to take the gospel to different places.  Most of us remember him as the one who met the Ethiopian Eunuch and led him to faith in Christ.  Therefore, an evangelist is someone who makes disciples for Christ, which is the great commission.  That’s why Paul told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.”  Whether it’s taking the gospel to one person at a time as Phillip did, or to thousands of them as Billy Graham has done over the years, the gift of an evangelist is to be used to lead people to salvation.

We often use the term randomly to apply to a visiting preacher who comes to a church or a community to preach.  I can remember attending revival meetings where a pastor from another church was invited to come and preach for a week or so to our church.   This person was usually referred to as an “evangelist.”  Certainly they were doing the work of one.  But the evangelist is a separate spiritual office from a pastor, and therefore their ministry differs from other offices.  A pastor must guide the flock of God, whereas an evangelist follows Christ’s teaching in reaching out to the “lost sheep.”  However, pastors must do that too, so their duties tend to be more broad in scope.  The ministry of the evangelists is more specific.  It needs to be understood that no one gift is greater than the other.  What has caused so much confusion in the church today is that the emphasis has been put on the gift rather than the gift giver.  All spiritual gifts are given freely and are to be used to further the ministry and uplift the name of Jesus.  Anyone who is not using their gifts for that purpose alone is taking the name of Christ in vain.

It was late in 2001 when I answered the call to be an evangelist.  It had been on me for a long time, and I struggled with it like all preachers do I suppose.  You sit and wonder if the call is real, and why is it upon you instead of someone else.  Another preacher who I had confidence in said that one way you could tell was to do what was close to your heart.  I had a burden for my country, that was intensified because of 9/11.  I still have that burden.  That’s not meant to ignore people all over the world who are searching for peace.  But this is my home, and I truly believe that the nation who’s God is the Lord will be a blessed nation.  If we can win America to the gospel, then God will bless her and use her to spread the gospel to the rest of the world where there truly is a famine for the Word of God.

It is my sincere hope that God can use this blog for that purpose, and I can win people over to the Cross of Christ – one person at a time, one family at a time, one community at a time, one nation at a time. 

The Evangelist

Where I'm Coming From

About me...

I was raised in a Christian home.  As a teenager I was "born again."  I realize for many that phrase is outdated or inaccurate.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion but here is how it happened to me.  I sat under Holy Ghost anointed preaching and fell under conviction.  It felt like I had a weight sitting on my chest.  At the end of the service when the alter call was given, I could feel something pulling at me and knowing I needed to respond.  I fought it for a long time until finally I gave in.  I don't remember what I said or prayed and I don't even remember walking up to the front of the church.  But afterwards I felt like I had a bath on the inside.  Our church had no baptistery, so one Sunday after church we drove up to a spot beside a creek simply known as "the old sycamore tree."  My uncle was the pastor of our church, so he and I walked out into the water and I was baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

It was those days as a young Christian where I learned to study the Bible.  When I was 18 I was asked to teach the senior adults class at church on youth Sunday.  That was scary to say the least.  I took my friend Scott with me for emotional support.  After the lesson, he said I did well, except for my 140 "you knows."  Hopefully I've improved since then.

As I grew, I got more involved in church.  I started out as an usher, then later became an assistant Sunday School teacher.  In the meantime I graduated from high school then college, got married and started a family, and became more active in church.  At one point I was the teacher of the adult Bible class, Sunday School Superintendent, and I even led the Wednesday night Bible study during the months when our church didn't have a pastor.  Then the day came when I felt like God was calling me to be an evangelist.  I told the church one night, and afterwards started preaching.  Things were going as well as I could expect. I suppose it may sound like I'm bragging but keep reading.  I did everything right, or as right as I knew to do them.  That's when the bottom fell out of it.

Divorce.  I never expected it to happen to me but it did.  Me - a preacher - was getting divorced.  How could I face people?  What would happen to my ministry?  I never admitted it, but I was angry at God.  After all, I had done everything right - and now it was all gone.  How could he let this happen?  I laid the preaching aside and decided I would put my focus elsewhere.  After I did, I never felt like my life had any stability.  I was blessed enough to find someone who would love me as I was.  But my preaching was always at the back of my mind when it should have been at the forefront of my life.  I let go of the zeal for Bible study that I once had and my life took a bad turn.

Now here I am some years later, and for some reason the zeal for Bible study has returned.  Some won't understand what I am about to say, but others will.  I've started getting sermons again - like I used to.  I've sat up many nights when I was younger as the Spirit of God gave me sermons and messages to deliver.  For a long time that was gone, but it's back now.  I can only think that God still has a work for me. 

I know what many will say.  "You can't do that - you've been divorced."  I've heard it all before.  In fact, I was told by my pastor at the time that my ministry would no longer have any effect.  So I thought - "What's the use?"  But there must be some use left in me.  The world needs the gospel, and we are commanded to make disciples of all nations.  I have a responsibility - regardless of what anyone else says. You can disagree, but that isn't going to stop me from being obedient.  Maybe I'm entering the fields at the 11th hour, and I know there will be obstacles.  Yet, I am comforted to know that God is the God of a second chance.  I must respond, and I will. 

My first blog in a long time......

Have you ever said, "I'm going to _____________ (fill in the blank) if I can ever find the time?"  The truth is that in our busy world most of us never make the time to do whatever it is we want to do.  We get busy with our kids, our jobs, and our lives.  One day we will look back and wonder how time escaped us without seeing the fulfillment of our ambitions.  One such ambition for me is writing, and this blog is an attempt to make up for some lost time doing something that i truly enjoy.  I won't claim to be a great writer or even a good one.  Hopefully this blog will help me improve upon that.

A shout out to my friend Keebo.....who inspired me to resurect my writing and probably doesn't even know it.  I must say he puts me to shame in his zeal for the things of God.  I have watched him grow as a youth leader as well as a Christian and I am honored that he calls me his friend.

On with it...

I want to use this blog for several things.  First of all, I want to use it as a forum to speak on things close to my heart.  Don't be surprised if much of concerns the Word of God.  Other times I may write about my life or my job.  I might even degress into silly stuff  such as politics, sports, or cell phones.  This blog will also be useful in my study of the Bible.  In that regard, it might be more appropriate to call this a commentary rather than a blog.  Either way, I hope it benefits me as much as anyone who reads it.

I also want to vent here.  Everyone needs a forum to express their discontent, anger, or frustration with the things going on around them.  Many of us feel guilty when we complain but we shouldn't if it makes us feel better.  I think it's about being heard more so than it is being a complainer.  When someone asks me "How are you?" or "How's it going?" I often respond by saying "no complaints."  To be honest, I probably could complain if I wanted to, but I know that's not what the other person wants or needs to hear.

Finally, perhaps any who reads might learn more about me.  I'm aware that I'm a difficult person to get to know.  I'm a private person, and my mother often said that I was a "loner."  The truth is that being known makes me vulnerable and I don't like that.  I probably need to get over it.

So my friends, my countrymen, my kin, read on.  Do not judge me, accept me for who and what I am.  I may fail you often, but forgive me when I do. 

On with the show.