Soul Winning or Ministry - Is there a difference? - (part 3)

Soul Winning is the work of every follower of Christ!

We cannot stay stuck on ministry alone.  Christ started with ministry but ended with soul winning! 

"Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, 'Follow Me.'" 

Christ (1)mingled, (2)showed sympathy, (3)ministered to needs, (4)won confidence, then (5)instructed them in 'following Him'.  Many of us minister real good.... music, ushering, youth group, etc... but we don't bid them to 'follow Jesus' and we certainly don't teach.

Check this quote out!
"The destruction of souls is the regular employment of Satan and his agents upon the earth. The salvation of souls is the work of every follower of Christ, however weak." ("This Day with God", E.G. White, p171). 

I don't care who you are - if you profess to be a follower of Christ, it is the work of every disciple of Christ to save a soul, no matter how weak your walk with Jesus is.  If you start to do what He commands, you will find that your spiritual walk with grow in proportion.

Are you determined to make soul winning a priority in your life?

Or are you an agent of Satan? - Check out part 4!

Soul Winning or Ministry - Is there a difference? - (part 4)

Are you an agent of Satan?
Wow!  What a question!  How dare you ask me that?  Well, friend, when I ran across this quote, I messed me up.

In the book This Day With God, Page 171, the author has this incredible quote:

"The destruction of souls is the regular employment of Satan and his agents upon the earth. The salvation of souls is the work of every follower of Christ, however weak. When [a man’s or woman's] selfish interest is made first and the salvation of souls comes secondary, if at all, that man is working on Satan’s side, ...

Wow! That means if you put your own selfish interests before working on soul winning, you are working with Satan??  Well, remember when the preaching said that we need to be saving souls, and you said "AMEN?"  Ahh, so then, if you are not putting soul winning at the top of the list, like Jesus did, then you are only professing to be a follower of Christ.  That's what the quote says!!

Why?  What's the big deal?
The quote continues:

"...for his very pretensions are a snare to lead others off the track, that they shall not consider the kingdom of God and His righteousness first. Satan is getting the start of all such workers. The salvation of souls comes first, always, for Satan as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. We must snatch souls away from his path. We must have clear foresight, discernment, and faith, and work as if to save a perishing life, of which some carelessness on our part might be the cause of death."

A true disciple is always concerned about soul winning and looking at ways to win souls.  Doesn't matter if one is at work, in the store, in the community, playing basketball, getting your hair done, etc...   A soul winning is always thinking of how I can reach the person in my path for Jesus.  But just think about it is not enough.  We must do something about it.

Ministry is critical, but it does not end there.  You've only done a half job if you stop at ministering alone.  Take it all the way to soul winning as your spiritual goal!

How can you get involved with soul winning?

Soul Winning or Ministry - Is there a difference? - (part 2)

Two Aspects of the Great Commission Many don't realize that there is two aspects of the Great Commission that Jesus gave to his disciples. The well-known verse found in Matthew 28:19,20 is the major text used to reiterate Christ's command to us. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

This text clearly tells us that we are to "make disciples" by teaching them. Becoming a disciple means to become a follower of Christ - by denying self, taking up your cross daily, and following Jesus (Matt 16:24; Luke 9:23) But in that verse, is there anything about getting people saved? Is making a disciple the same thing as getting someone saved?

Mark 16:15,16 is the parallel verse for Matthew 28:19,20. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.

But what is the person to believe? It is the gospel!!! But what is the gospel we are to preach and teach? It the "everlasting gospel" found in Revelation 14:6,7. The same gospel Jesus preached.

How do we get people to believe the gospel? By teaching them. Once they believe and are baptized, they are saved, and must continue as disciples of Christ - winning others by teaching them of salvation!!

Are you willing to become a soul winner?

See part three!!

Soul Winning or Ministry - Is there a difference?

Ministry versus Soul Winning
I believe we often confuse ministry with soul winning, but there is a difference.

As church members, we spend time working with the usher ministry, prison ministry, music ministry, senior ministry, urban ministry, family ministry, personal ministry, and other such ministries, which are very important in the work of winning souls.  Christ gave the gift of pastoral leadership, prophecy, evangelism, and teaching.  Pastors and church leaders, in turn, are supposed to equip members with the work of the ministry based on Ephesians 4:11, 12 - "....For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"

Church members are content with helping in their favorite ministry or the ministry where they can use their spiritual gifts. And usually, that is where they stop.  Just doing good ministry.

But the great commission does not tell us to "...go and do ministry".  In Matthew 28:19-20, Christ commands us to: " ¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  ²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Jesus did ministry, but He didn't stop there.  Christ commands us by "Teaching them," which means to "make disciples", which is done by deliberate teaching, as Jesus did.

Are you making disciples?  Or are you stuck on ministry only?

I invite you to be involved with soul winning.
Check out part 2:

Change Your Perception!

I learned our prejudice towards people is based on our perception.
 
See, our perceptions is based on how we šee things in the world based on our own persona set of values that we have learned throughout our life.  Everything we ecperience in life addes go our perception - our worldview, how we interpret reality.

If we are going to be better christians and better people, we have to change our perceptions of other, especially the negative perceptions.  Let's look at the postitive in people, at we main obtain grace from Christ.

The Law and Grace Nobody's Fault But Mine

I heard a excellent message about the balance between the Law of God and the Grace of God.

Elder Harris started off by explaining that many modern teachers and preachers strain themselves on TBN, the Word Network, and other stations to teach us that 1) we no longer have the do the will of God, 2) we don't have to follow his standards, and 3) we don't have to follow the Law of God.  He said that the only set of law that has been stricken down were the ceremonial laws - laws related to sacrifices - because they pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the Word, died for our sins, once and for all.

In heaven, Satan chose not to follow God's standards and tried to place himself above God, and was ...kicked out.  Why do we think we can disobey God's law and still go to heaven?

Elder Harris reminded us that "if we die and our soul is lost, ....we can't blame momma, daddy, sister brothers, work, church, privileges, pastor, elders, the board, trustees, being poor, being uneducated, ....It's nobody's fault but mine!

What's wrong with going to the movies?

Right before we had our devotional reading from Exodus and prayer for bed, one of my children asked me "what's wrong with going to the movies". Wow, what a controversial subject... We had a brief discussion about movies in general, both at the public theater and at home. Then we read the Exodus chapter 9, we prayed, then I sent them to bed.


After everyone was settled, I turned on the TV to CNN and was shocked. All I can say is ---- there are some crazy folk going to the ...movie theater on a nightly basis that we don't know *anything* about. We don't know their mental state, their intentions, nor their moral character. Yes, tragedy can happen anywhere, but at least at home, I'm in charge. I own the remote control, the DVD player, the computer, I pay the TimeWarner bill and NO crazies are allowed in my house!!

It is so terrible to see these shooting tragedies happen so often. Truly, "Satan is as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." I know how I was raised and I can't turn my back on what God has revealed through the Holy Spirit of prophecy, especially when I know better.

The signs of the time is all around and we should heed the counsel God has given to us through His Word and not dismiss it as something archaic because the theater is air-conditioned, no smoking, and its clean. Praying for those in Lafayette Louisiana and praying for my peeps.

In the midst of your foolishness...

Adam and Eve must have been crazy to disobey God's command and eat of the forbidden fruit.
Yet, in the midst of their foolishness and folly, God still gave them hope.

In the midst of our foolishness and folly, God still gives us hope.

I have done some crazy stuff and I do some crazy stuff sometimes now.
My friend, I need hope today to make it.
I've discovered that the Lord gives Hope
Jesus is my Hope!

It does not matter what you have done, what you have said, or how you are living.  Jesus can give you hope, if you let Him.  Without Hope, there is no future.  But with Hope..., hope in Jesus...., there is a future!  If you can't see past the problems of today, turn your burdens over to Jesus and hope will begin to shine in your heart.

Question:  What are your thoughts on this?  How can we turn over our foolishness, folly, and problems over to Jesus, in a real way?

Hope Available When You Need It!!

"He was the Redeemer before as after His incarnation. As soon as there was sin, there was a Saviour."

I believe this is a profound statement of hope because it reminds us that even before the cross, before even sin was committed in the garden of Eden, Christ was our Savior.  Knowing that this crisis would eventually come, God the Son and God the Father has already had the plan of salvation organized.

Jesus was our redeemer before his incarnation and as soon as Adam sinned, he was the savior, and he is still in the redeeming business.  This is the hope that we have in Christ.  That even before we get into a sticky situation,  even before the outlook is gloomy, even before all the doors are closed, he has a plan to redeem us out of our circumstance, and ultimately to save us - if we are willing.

Hope is always available when you need it.  I need it all the time.  You need it too!!

Question is -- are you willing to accept hope in Jesus Christ???

Gardening: Secret Weapon for Winning the Squash bug War

I love yellow squash, with onions and butter.  Mmmm!!!  As I have been learning how to grow my own vegetables, and if you have tried to grow squash, you will probably encounter squash bugs, as I have.  I can't stand squash bugs.  In 2014, I did not realize how terrible they were and allowed them to live in the garden.  They ended up destroying my thriving squash plant.  

This year, I plan to win the war against the squash bug.  I did not want to use commercial herbicides, since I am trying to be organic.  I tried the oil, soap, pepper spray mix but it ended up damaging my plants too.  In a gardening book, I saw the design for a straw & jar vacuum thing, to suck up insect pests, but the fear of sucking a bug into my mouth bothered me.

So, the next best thing was to buy a Dirt Devil cordless hand vacuum.  I took it to the garden and sucked up all the nasty little squash bugs I could find.  It worked very well!!  Dumped those guys into a collecting bucket and I plan to go out every day or so to collect as many as I can.

I hope to win this war and keep the number of squash bugs down so that my squash will produce those delicious vegetables I like so much.

Do you have a natural/organic method of managing pests in the garden?

Pluto's Young Surface points to Young Universe

I ran across this article about Pluto. If you haven't heard, there has been a lot of hype about the images of the planet Pluto from the New Horizons space probe.  Dr. Danny Fulkner of answersingenesis.org reports that the researchers have found very few craters on the planet.

This is significant because space scientists believe that old planets have a lot of craters from the debris floating in space.  And if the planet has existed since the big bang and if the solar system were 4.5 billion years old as many proclaim, the planet should have been hit hundreds or thousands of times, thus showing the age of the planet.

Some planets have active volcanos, such as the ones on Jupiters moon Io, which cover up craters, but Pluto does not have such volcanic activity.  If the facts are true, this easily leads to a conclusion that Mission scientist John Spencer stated that "Pluto has a very young surface."

In Genesis, God said he made the heavens and the earth in six literal 24-hour days, with mankind being created on the sixth day.  And with the historical record of the Bible, this points to a young universe that is only a few thousand years old.  More often than not, science actually supports the Bible.  I trust the Bible.  Do you??

Can You Imagine Living Forever??

I was laying in the bed thinking about my wife, children, house, etc. when it came to me that one day, if Jesus does not return, that would face death.  What would that feel like?  What would my experience be?  Not to see my children, or my grandchildren.... what would that be like?  A great sadness came upon me in facing the finality of death.  Tears began to well up in my eyes.  I don't want to be separated from my wife and children - even if they work my nerves sometimes.  I love them!


Then I began to think about living forever.  Being able to be with my wife and walk with her.  Seeing my kids and their spouses.  Enjoying the beauty of the earth made new.  Oh, what a wonderful joy came to me.  I could be with my family for eternity.  WOW! What a wonderful feeling!  My tears faded away and my sadness turned to gladness as I lay in the bed.  Really, the comfort of Christ came upon me as I experienced the hope of salvation.


Can you imagine the glorious day of the resurrection?  When Christ returns to take the saints back to heaven.  To see the righteous changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye?  Wow!  What a great and wonderful feeling!  This is the hope that we have!  Living forever.


Have you ever imagined about living forever?   Were your thoughts happy or sad?

What is the foundation of the Gospel?

Any way you look at it, the gospel of Christ is built on the hope of salvation.  Hope is essential to the gospel because it is the good news about eternal life.  See, some people view hope as wishful thinking, but hope from the scriptural standpoint, is an assurance that we gain from Jesus.


Because he was a (1) real person, (2) died a real death, and (3) there is real proof that He was resurrected from the dead, we have assurance -- we have hope in salvation because He lives today!  I have hope in salvation.  I have assurance in salvation.  The problem we face, is having faith in that hope.  I am praying for more faith in the hope of the gospel.  Are you praying for that kind of faith?  How can you and I build our faith in the hope and assurance of salvation through Jesus?

Homeschool Parents Don’t Have Formal Training in Education?

An advantage for homeschooling over public schooling is the opportunity to gain a degree as early as sixteen, such as from a community college.  Sometimes homeschoolers take shortcuts in education because they are not part of a structured educational matriculation path.

Likewise, individuals may question the experience and training of homeschooling parents stating that their lack of training in education may be a disadvantage to homeschooling students.

Over the years, I have come to discover that many homeschooling families comprise of a mother and father who have college degrees, and some even have advanced degrees.  Many equate professional teaching degree with quality teaching.  As many of you know, just because your teacher has a teaching degree, doesn't make them a quality teacher.

 There are fantastic educators in the public school system and I have been taught by some great teachers.  Correspondingly, as the facts also indicate repeatedly, the extra advantage of homeschooling often equips students academically without the experience of trained teachers in the public school environment.

Do Homeschoolers lack collaborative learning skills?

Because Homeschoolers are usually taught by one or both parents, they have an advantage over public school and private school because of the one-to-one ratio of teacher-student ratio.  This is the advantage that homeschoolers have because it is similar to have a private tutor, which is known to give a student an academic advantage. 

Yet, it is argued that homeschooling does not reinforce collective or collaborative learning techniques.  The answer is to participate in a homeschool co-op, which brings the best of both worlds.  Homeschool co-ops allows for collaborating with other homeschooling parents helps with Christian character development, service projects, public speaking, science, and fellowship within a collaborative learning environment.   Being part of a weekly homeschool co-op, where parents tutor in a multi-student classroom environment, contribute to the children’s overall education, and also build relationships between homeschooling moms and their related families.  It’s a win-win!

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Are Homeschoolers Prepared to Deal with the ‘Real World’?

In Comparing and contrasting Homeschooling with public schooling, there are some important aspects that home schooling parents need to keep in mind to educated their children for not only in the classroom but out of the classroom situations.

While homeschooling is a safer environment to protect children from bullies, predators, violence, shootings, and ungodly values, public schooling can potentially be an environment that prepares a child for future threats and can potentially teach a child what the ‘real world’ is like. 

However, as I have never smoked a cigarette or drank alcohol, I was taught that those things were bad and did not have to experience it.  A parent can prepare a child by teaching sex education, abstinence from drugs and alcohol, race relations, dealing with bulling, and handling other socially deviant behavior should part of the homeschool curriculum, and can be taught in a Christian, and yet realistically practical way.   

What are some ways to teach these aspects of life in a homeschool setting?

How Does Homeschooling Compare to Traditional Public Schooling?

Often, many people wonder how homeschooling compare to public school.
Did you know that there are two main methods of homeschooling?
Dr. Gwen Dewar wrote an article takes a good look at advantages and disadvantages to homeschooling methodology and public school traditional methods and the results of comparing achievement testing.
 
Homeschooling Outcomes: How do they compare?

Raising Children - Dads!

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Every night before I shut out the lights, I check on the kids; pull their covers up, and tuck them in. They rarely know I do it, but I love to see the babies resting peacefully (-- and quiet after a bunch of noise). 

But it makes me thank God and reminds me of the awesome responsibility of being a father and raising my children. Big ups to those who are parents. Much respect to single parents, blessings to those who desire to be parents! Awesome privilege to take care of the gifts God entrusts to us. ---- Oh yeah, got to get into bed -- Good night!!!