I'm currently reading a book called "One Thing You Can't Do In Heaven" by Mark Cahill. It is a book about witnessing, and I think that he makes a lot of great points, so I have decided to share a few with you.
300 million years from now, what will matter? Will it matter what car you drive? What promotion you got? Who asked you out? Who thought you were cool? No. The only thing that will matter, is who is in Heaven and who is in Hell. So if that is all that will matter, shouldn't it be one of our MAJOR concerns right now? How come we worry so much about things that will mean NOTHING when we die and when people we know die? You see commercials on TV that say "You and 4 friends could win a trip to paradise for a week" and you think *Wow, that would be nice, who could I take? hmm I wish I could take everyone* Well God gave us the opportunity to tell and invite every single person we have ever met and will ever meet to ETERNAL paradise. And yet, we see the trip to take a friend to church as a burden to US. How selfish can we be? to keep something like this all to ourselves.
An interesting point of view that Mark takes in his book is he sees witnessing as a GET TO thing. Not a HAVE TO thing. Whenever we think of witnessing or sharing the Gospel we think, "I guess i'll mention Christ to him since that is what good christians have to do" But that is SO WRONG. That is what we as christians GET to do! We have to opportunity to share with a person the most important news that they could ever hear. Tell them the most encouraging thing that they will ever hear. And we don't because it might be awkward, or they might think we are weird. If trying to share the love of God with others is weird, why would we EVER want to be normal?
Three things could happen when you share the Gospel. The person could accept the news, Reject the news, or a seed is planted. It's a win win win situation. If they Accept the gospel, that is the greatest decision they will ever make. If you plant the seed, it could always grow. And Luke 6:22,23 says "Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven..."
If the person laughs at us for trying to fulfill the commandment that our LORD has given to us, great is our reward and we should rejoice in that. If you ask me, Witnessing sounds like a sweet deal.
I'm not going to go through every little detail that this book has brought to light *if you want that, buy the book*. But it really put a new light on witnessing and made me realize how selfish i was every time i thought "Maybe somebody else will tell them". Why would i want somebody else to do it, when the pleasure of bringing someone to the LORD or at least planting that seed in their heart could be mine?!?!?! It seems absurd. I have a LONG way to go in my witnessing "career" and still do not put in all of the effort that i should. But through God, I am becoming a strong warrior for Him and hope to be able to fight bigger and better battles for Him in the future. GODBLESS.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The importance of his word. Devotion tips.
There are a lot of things that are stressed to us as we grow up in the faith from or parents and teachers. Things such as praying everyday, staying pure, being respectful, not cursing, and loving others. Those are all good things and very important to having a close walk with Christ. But in my experience, above all, we have to be in the word constantly and live by what we read. Admittedly, i've gone a whole week and only prayed a few times. And through that, I noticed a wall between me and my God. But if I go a week without reading my bible or having devotions, I don't find a wall, I find an ocean separating me from my Savior. It really is a huge difference. When we aren't in the word, we aren't hearing the only direct form of communication that God gave to us. And in turn, we are trying to live a life FOR Christ WITHOUT him. Simple Logic tells us that won't work.
Anybody I talk to who says that they struggle with being close to God, also says that they do not have regular devotions or time in His word. I never judge them for this because it is something that I CONSTANTLY struggle with. I try not to give advice as if I am an example. I try to give advice with Jesus as the example. If anyone follows my example, they will fail. However, I have discovered several tactics to having more consistent devotions.
For me, I love music. I love listening to music, playing music, and making music. SO, in turn, I figured that I should combine my love for Christ with my love for music. I made a playlist of my 5 favorite CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) songs. They are *Rise-Shawn Mcdonald: Blessings-Laura Story: Whatever You're Doing-Sanctus Real: Praise You In This Storm-Casting Crowns: East to West-Casting Crowns* These are five songs that really encourage me every time I listen to them and are not very fast paced or exciting. They have a very calm feelings and put me in a contemplative state. With each song being roughly 4 min. long, that is 20-25 min. of good christian music. I start that playlist and put the volume on my I-home down low to where it is background and use that as a timer for my devotions. Once the music is playing, I spend the first 3rd of my time reading the bible *You can read whatever you want, but it's good to have a plan, either read a chapter of proverbs, or through the psalms. But don't just open and read, have a plan!* But I read whatever I am supposed to that day. For the second 3rd of my time, I read a chapter of a christian book that I have (Right now it is "One thing you can't do in heaven") A great book on witnessing. And then for the final 3rd, I pray. I pray for 5-10 min. Just until the music ends. Even though my prayer often goes over because once you start talking to God it's hard to stop. But that isn't a bad thing. I pray that I can apply what I read about. That I will be brave for Christ and for friends, family, health, and any other prayer requests. Its just nice contemplation time.
This is what works for me. And I hope it helps you as well, or at least gives you some ideas. This is my first blog post so if it is spastic and random, i'm sorry. I just type what I think. Am planning on adding another entry very soon.ENJOY :D GODBLESS.
Anybody I talk to who says that they struggle with being close to God, also says that they do not have regular devotions or time in His word. I never judge them for this because it is something that I CONSTANTLY struggle with. I try not to give advice as if I am an example. I try to give advice with Jesus as the example. If anyone follows my example, they will fail. However, I have discovered several tactics to having more consistent devotions.
For me, I love music. I love listening to music, playing music, and making music. SO, in turn, I figured that I should combine my love for Christ with my love for music. I made a playlist of my 5 favorite CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) songs. They are *Rise-Shawn Mcdonald: Blessings-Laura Story: Whatever You're Doing-Sanctus Real: Praise You In This Storm-Casting Crowns: East to West-Casting Crowns* These are five songs that really encourage me every time I listen to them and are not very fast paced or exciting. They have a very calm feelings and put me in a contemplative state. With each song being roughly 4 min. long, that is 20-25 min. of good christian music. I start that playlist and put the volume on my I-home down low to where it is background and use that as a timer for my devotions. Once the music is playing, I spend the first 3rd of my time reading the bible *You can read whatever you want, but it's good to have a plan, either read a chapter of proverbs, or through the psalms. But don't just open and read, have a plan!* But I read whatever I am supposed to that day. For the second 3rd of my time, I read a chapter of a christian book that I have (Right now it is "One thing you can't do in heaven") A great book on witnessing. And then for the final 3rd, I pray. I pray for 5-10 min. Just until the music ends. Even though my prayer often goes over because once you start talking to God it's hard to stop. But that isn't a bad thing. I pray that I can apply what I read about. That I will be brave for Christ and for friends, family, health, and any other prayer requests. Its just nice contemplation time.
This is what works for me. And I hope it helps you as well, or at least gives you some ideas. This is my first blog post so if it is spastic and random, i'm sorry. I just type what I think. Am planning on adding another entry very soon.ENJOY :D GODBLESS.
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