Letter to Family
Topic: Evangelism
Dear (Their Name),
Small Talk….Catching Up On Things…ETC.
I also want to share a story with you. What would you think of a fireman, who sat in the fire truck at a fire? His engine got the call; he got his equipment on and got in the truck with the rest of the crew. But once the truck got to the fire, he sat in his truck and listened to a new CD he had just bought and sang along to the songs. He was also reading a good book at the time and said, “I just couldn’t pull away from it.” Meanwhile, there was a family of five inside the fire who was screaming for help. They were on the third floor and couldn’t get out. He heard them calling but still stayed in the fire truck and sung along to his music while reading his good book. What would you think of such a fireman? What kind of punishment does he deserve? Does he just deserve to be dishonorably discharged or does he deserve jail time? If jail time, how long? Or does he deserve to get the death penalty? Surely this fireman would be one of the most uncompassionate people you had ever met, right? If he told you that he loved the people who were in the fire, would you believe him? I know I wouldn’t, because love is showed with actions, not just words. For this reason I have to share the following:
While we are on the subject of death, did you know that 150,000 people die each day? WOW! That’s a lot! And the problem is that we never know when we are going to die. Most people think that they will live to be 70, 80 even 100 years old. While that may be true for some of us, it won’t be true for most of us; especially in this day and age when so many things (supposedly) cause cancer. New diseases pop up everyday and the pill industry can’t keep up with it all. Think about the people who died in the terrorist attack on 9/11. Do you think any of them thought they would die that day when they woke up? Of course not! None of us want to think about death. A wise man once said, “If you look at the dates on a tombstone, your life is but a dash between two dates.” He is so right! In fact, I can guarantee every one of us that we will live much longer on the other side of death then we will live on Earth. In fact if you were to stretch out a 3,000 mile tape measure from Los Angeles to New York and compared that to life on Earth and eternity, the first half an inch would be your life on Earth compared to the rest being eternity.
With that in mind, shouldn’t we think so much more about what will happen when we die, rather then about what will happen tomorrow? There are too many of us who think and worry about things that just don’t matter. We worry and spend our lives at our jobs, in the pursuit of “happiness”, buying more things and seeking pleasure. When really what we should be worried about the most is eternity and where we will be when we die. For that is where we will be the longest. So the big question for us to ask ourselves is, “Where am I going to go when I die?”
The Bible says that we can know the answer to this question by taking a look at the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are God’s standard of goodness and it tells us how “good” we are. Each morning you wake up and look into the mirror to see how much damage was done in the night. You see that you need to take a shower, brush your hair, brush your teeth, put on make up, etc. Well the Ten Commandments are a sort of mirror to show us how messed up we really are, so let’s take a look at a few of them.
The 9th commandment is “Thou shalt not lie.” Have you ever lied before? Surely you have. If you said “no” to that question, then that is at least your second lie. “Sure I have stretched the truth, told a white lie or a fib before,” you say. That is just a way of us justifying ourselves. If you have lied, even once, that makes you a liar. It only takes one lie to be a liar. It is not ten lies, a bell rings and they write a big “L” on your forehead. One lie and you are a liar.
The 8th commandment is “Thou shalt no steal.” Have you ever stolen before? It doesn’t matter how long ago it was or what the value of the item was. If you have stolen anything from anyone (definition: something that doesn’t belong to you-even answers on a test, tax money, piece of gum, pen from work, etc.) you are a thief. All it takes is stealing once to be a thief.
The 7th commandment is “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Then Jesus said that if you have looked at someone with lust in your heart for them, that you have already committed adultery with that person in your heart. Ever lusted before? If you said “no” to this than you surely ARE a liar. Ever had sex BEFORE marriage? That is called fornication and falls into the same category. If you have lusted even once then you are an adulterer at heart.
The 3rd commandment is “Thou shalt not take my name in vain.” Ever used God’s name in vain? That means that you said “God!” or “God da*n!” or “Jesus!” or “Jesus Christ!” or even “Jesus H. Christ” in an irreverent way or where you weren’t praying to God or Jesus. Ever done that? If you have, then you are a blasphemer. What you have done is taken God’s name and used it as a cuss word. What would you think if someone was angry and used your name as a cuss word? I would be offended. And God is offended when you use His name as a cuss word, especially since He has given you everything good in life: life itself, breath in your lungs, your family and all the blessings in life and yet you use His name as a cuss word.
The 6th commandment is “thou shalt not kill.” But Jesus said that if you call someone a name (like fool or idiot or something worse) out of anger, that you are just as bad as a murder. The Bible also says that if you have ever hated someone before that you are a murderer. Ever called anyone a name out of anger or hated someone before…even once? Then you are a murderer at heart.
Well, how did you do? How messed up are you before the mirror of God’s Law? Did you break all five of the commandments that we went through? We could go through the other five…If you are guilty of breaking those five then you are a liar, thief, blasphemer and an adulterer and murderer at heart. And we all have to face God on our own personal Judgment Day. And you will face God as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, murderer and adulterer at heart. And that is how He will judge you. God sees every deed that we have ever done, whether hidden or out in the open. If God were to take all the sins you have ever committed in your life and put it on a DVD that could be rented, what would the world see? It probably wouldn’t be pretty.
Let’s just say that you are a “pretty good” person. You only commit two sins a day in word, thought or deed. Just two sins…that’s pretty good! Let’s take that over twenty years. That means that in just over twenty years, you have committed 14,610 sins (including leap years)! Over 40 years you would have committed 29,220 sins! And over 60 years you would have committed 43,830 sins! That is a lot of sins! What would happen to a criminal here on earth if he committed so many crimes? If he stood before a judge who was good and just (followed the law), he would either receive multiple life sentences or be put to death!
Transfer that back over to God and the Day of Judgment. How are you going to do in front of a Holy and Just God? If God is Holy and Just, as He is, then He MUST punish sin where He finds it. Sadly there are many people, who just because they aren’t receiving punishment for their sins against God while on Earth, think God is just ignoring their sins. Or they think that God is a “good” God and will just overlook their sins. Or they think that God will forgive them just because they ask for forgiveness. But, again, try that in a courtroom here on Earth. If the Earthly judge is good and just, then he will punish each criminal for the crimes they have committed. And it is BECAUSE he is good and just that he will punish each criminal for their crimes. If he didn’t, he would be considered a corrupt judge. The good judge is bound by the law to punish criminals for their crimes.
So how will you do when you stand before a Holy, Good, and Just God? Will you go to Heaven or Hell? Revelation 21:8 says, “Every liar shall have their part in the lake of fire.” If God gives you justice, He will send you to Hell. It is not an easy thing for me to say that. But I say that because I love you. I don’t want to be like that fireman who stood outside the fire and just watched the family burn. I hope you have come to realize that you deserve to go to Hell because of your sins against a Holy and Just God.
Now what do I say? Well, if that same building that was on fire, was Ten Stories high, and the fire had only reached the 4th floor, what would I say to the people on the 10th floor who didn’t yet know about the fire? I would tell them “Flee from the fire!” And if they didn’t believe me I would point their heads out the windows to see the fire and hope they would come to their senses and flee from the fire. And that is the same thing I will do for you!
Flee from God’s Wrath! Here’s the problem though: you can’t do ANYTHING to save yourself from God’s Wrath. You could try to be a “better” person, but the “good” deeds we do don’t make up for our sins committed. Again, try that in a courtroom. If you were obviously guilty of major crimes and the judge was about to pass sentence and send you to jail…but then you stopped him and said, “Wait! Judge, I am really sorry and I will never do it again!” Is he going to let you go? Of course not, unless he is a corrupt judge! He would probably respond like this, “That’s good that you are sorry, you should be! And I hope you Never do this again!” That is not going to save you!
But, what if when they were about to haul you off to jail for a LONG time, a man stepped in that you didn’t even know and said this, “Wait Judge! This person doesn’t know me, but I just sold my house, car, everything to pay his/her fine and I will take his/her jail time for him/her.” This man had never committed any crimes himself, but decided to pay your fine and take your punishment for YOUR crimes. The judge will now allow you to go free based on the fact that justice has been satisfied and the fine has been paid. How would you feel towards that man? Grateful? Relieved? Like a new found friend? Like you couldn’t accept him doing that for you?
Well, that’s what Jesus Christ did for you, me and the rest of the world 2,000 years ago. He stepped into the courtroom of God’s Justice and took the punishment for our sins. He had never sinned once, never broken God’s Law, yet He took the punishment that we deserve for our sins. And the Bible says that if you will Repent of your sins and put your Trust in Him, you will be saved. However, people don’t usually understand what Repent and Trust mean, so let me explain.
Repent means to turn from your sin, not just confess it. If means to think differently which turns into acting differently. It means to think the same about your sin as God does. God hates sin and if we have repented, we should therefore hate our sin as well. And if we hate something then we want nothing to do with it. I am not by any means saying that you will never sin again, but that should be the attitude of your heart. Your desire should be to never sin again.
Faith or Trust doesn’t just mean mental agreement or intellectual ascent. It is kind of like this: if you were to jump from an airplane that is 30,000 feet in the sky and I gave you a parachute, what would you do with the parachute before you jumped out? You would put it on of course! You wouldn’t jump out of that airplane without it on, would you? Just believing the parachute exists, or just believing that it CAN save you won’t save you. You have to put it on. Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ means to “put Him on.” It means to be “born again.”
And the Bible says that the moment that you do those two things: Repent of your sins and put your Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ, you will be saved. You will pass from death to life. You can know with full assurance that you have eternal life when you die, whenever that may be. You don’t have to guess and say, “I think I will have a chance.” And the fact that you have eternal life and will go to Heaven isn’t based on anything you have done. It is based solely on the Grace of God. NONE of us deserve to go to Heaven and ALL of us deserve to go to Hell. But, God, in His loving kindness sent His only Son to take the punishment for our sins. He did this because He desires none to go Hell and all to have Eternal Life. And the moment you do this, God will give you a new heart and new desires, to do what He wants you to do instead of what you used to do.
But, make no mistake, He will send you to Hell if you don’t Repent of your sins and put your Faith in Jesus Christ. You have the choice: either you will take the punishment for your sins or Jesus Christ will. If you won’t Repent and Trust Jesus then it is a sad thing. Really, what you are saying is, “I love my sin and my unbelief more than I love my own life.” And you prove that you don’t mind going to Hell. That you’d rather hold onto to your pride and go to Hell, then humble yourselves and come to the foot of the cross for mercy.
Lastly, you may ask, what about all the people who say they are a Christian and don’t act like one? They may be a hypocrite. Just because someone says they are a Christian doesn’t make them a Christian. Just like standing in a garage doesn’t make you a car. Jesus said that you know a tree by its fruit and you will know who the True Christians are by the way they act. If I told you that I had an orange tree in my backyard, but when you went out there you saw a tree with apples on it, would you believe me? Of course not! It is an apple tree if it has apples on it. So, if you do Repent of your sins and Trust Jesus, it will show by how you live your life.
If you desire to do this pray a sincere prayer like this, “Dear God, I repent of all of my sins (name them). This day I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me and grant me your gift or everlasting life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.” After you have done this, get a Bible and read it daily. Obey what you read and God will never fail you. If you have any sincere questions about what I have written to you, please call me and ask me. I love you and will do by best to answer any question that you may have.
I hope that you realize that this wasn’t an easy letter for me to write. I DO LOVE YOU and that is WHY I have written this. If I believe these things, and I do as a Christian, and didn’t tell you what I have told you than I could say that I TRULY DON’T love you. Please think very seriously about the things that I have written because NONE of us are guaranteed tomorrow.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)
Where Are You Preaching This Week?
Topic: Evangelism
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles,
unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes,
and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins,
and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."
Acts 26:17–18
Where Are You Preaching This Week?
There was recently an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about a couple of street preachers who were arrested for being on a public sidewalk, holding up their Bibles, and talking with people about Jesus. Yes, you read that correctly. Not only was what they were doing 100 percent biblically correct, but it was 100 percent legally correct as well. We have the legal right in America to be on public sidewalks and hand tracts out and talk with people. It is our constitutional right as Americans to do that, no matter what anyone might tell you.
In the article, various city managers were asked if it was legal in their city to preach on the streets. One city manager stated, “If we got a complaint, we might ask them to move on.” He went on to say, “I don’t think we’ve ever had to deal with it. I think all of our preachers have stayed in the church.” Yes, the man said that. You can see the expectation of other people—You Christians keep your Jesus and your preaching in the churches, and let us be left alone out here. Why has this man never seen a preacher on the streets of his city preaching? The reason is because we have learned to keep our preaching in the churches and away from the lost.
What does the Bible say about all of this? Where do you find Jesus spending his time? It looks to me like He spent a great proportion of His time out in the world with the lost. You find Him out talking with the woman at the well, the rich young ruler, etc. He is out with the lost people, so He can reach them. You also find Jesus preaching in synagogues. Now that is a novel approach. I wonder how many of our preachers have ever preached in synagogues before? Did you know that some of the Jewish people in the synagogue were filled with wrath when they heard Jesus preach? Jewish people do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah as Christians do. This would not be friendly territory for preaching, but that is exactly where the gospel must be taken. It must be taken to the people who are not born again.
Psalm 96:3 says:
“Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.”
In the book of Acts, we see Peter talking with people at the gate of the temple. We see Philip preaching to the people in Samaria, Paul preaching at Mars Hill and speaking with King Agrippa. None of these events took place in a church. At times you see these great men of God speaking to believers to encourage them and equip them to go and reach the lost, but it seems a majority of their time was spent reaching the lost in the world for Jesus. Preaching Christ crucified to them. If we are supposed to turn people from the darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, to reach them we must be about the business of being with them in their world, where they are.
Acts 4:20 says:
"For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."
You see, nothing could hold those followers of Jesus back from speaking about what they knew to be true about Jesus—wherever they were. They knew lost people needed to hear this information, so they took it to them.
One night last week, I got the chance to witness to people from England, Afghanistan, and Korea, all in one night. I have gotten two phone calls in one day from a man that I met at an airport that said he couldn’t put down my latest book. I got the chance to witness to Ruben Studdard, the American Idol winner, the other day at the airport. At a gas station a couple of nights ago, I witnessed to a 19-year-old young man who is out on bail for murder charges. I think my chances of meeting these people in church were about zero percent. But my chances of meeting them out in the world were 100 percent.
Do you remember the game of tag as a kid? There was always the home base. The place where no one could tag you. The place where you were safe. That is how many of us look at church. We are safe there. We are away from the world, and those sinners can’t tag us. But do you remember when you took off running from home base to the next safe place? Do you remember the excitement and thrill at that point? Because now you could be tagged. You could be “it.” That is where the thrill was. That is where the excitement was. That is also true in Christianity. Many times the thrill is away from church on the streets talking with the lost. That 19-year-old out on bail and his buddy both said that they knew God had sent me to them that night. It was a thrill to watch God work.
Recently, I heard it said that preachers today preach in churches, and not on the streets. But 2,000 years ago, preachers preached on the streets and not in churches.
This week, I want you to ask your pastor the last time that he preached on the streets. See what his response is. A pastor’s job is to shepherd his flock. Somehow we have separated discipleship and evangelism in most churches today, but they go together in the Bible. But be ready because he might just come back and ask you the same question, so make sure you have an answer. What a country this could be when we get preachers and born again believers off the pews and on the streets. All I have to say is, let’s find out right now.
Until the nets are full,
Distributed by www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com
