There is evil in the world. We see it everywhere on a macro level – kids shot in their beds in random drive-bys, over fifty million aborted babies in America alone, greed so mountainous that it brings down a country’s economy. We see it in our own lives, too, as selfishness, anger, lust, and the desire for position and prestige wreck relationships and our future. Let’s learn about the one who is pushing this agenda of evil and how to protect ourselves from him – we can do it with God’s help.
The Enemy
The Bible tells us that this evil in the world has a commander whose name is Satan, the devil, the evil one. He has hosts of demons (the Bible calls them “unclean spirits”) at his command and they do what he says. He opposes God and offers people counterfeit gods (idolatry) instead such as fame, money, and power that become substitutes for a real relationship with our only true God.
You can know a lot about the enemy if you read Genesis, 1 Chronicles, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah in the Old Testament. Satan is referred to as a person in Scripture and has a personality, emotions like anger, desires, and a will. This spiritual commander not only exists, but is active 24/7. The Bible tells us that even Jesus was tempted by Satan (Matthew 4: 1-11) but stood strong against temptation.
The Deception
Satan opposes the truth of Christ and the grace of God and offers people fake alternatives instead. He makes the counterfeits oh-so- attractive. He wants us to conform to society’s pressures and lifestyle – maybe we’ll crack under the pressure.
He wants us to hide our selfishness and pride by trying to fool or lie to others. An addict craves the seductive high he experienced in his very first experience with a drug – he will never find it – the evil one knows how to keep an addict on the hook. His intention is to destroy us, prevent us from finding our way to Christ’s salvation. This is no joke. People die of his influence every day. He likes that very much. Do not underestimate him.
Satan offers alternate religions that deny the joy, abundant, free gift of salvation through Christ alone. He offers instead life that leads to exhaustion and death. Maybe you’ve heard some of his options, “there’s no real truth,” “whatever works for you is just fine,” “just work all your life to be good and God might receive you,” “if it feels good, do it, consequences won’t happen to you,” “nobody will ever know,” “you don’t need any God – you’re doing just fine on your own.” “God is not real.” Don’t buy these options to the truth of the Word of God. They are all lies.
Category: Featured, Reflections
Tags: enemy Holy Spirit new believer
Recently I was teaching at the Word of Life Bible Institute in Schroon Lake, New York. I’ve been teaching there since the year 2000 and thoroughly enjoy it. There are a great group of students who are very eager to learn how to be more effective in speaking to others about Christ.
After class one day someone asked me a question that I’ve been asked many times. That is, “How do you talk to someone who doesn’t see themselves as a sinner?” The girl who asked that explained that she had a friend she was trying to witness to but the friend disagreed that she was a sinner and simply saw herself as a good person. The girl who talked to me mentioned that it didn’t matter what she showed her from the Bible, the non-Christian remained unconvinced. She tried everything she could to get her unsaved friend to see her need for Christ but nothing seemed to help.
I advised her, “Pray! Pray! Pray! And the thing to pray for in particular is conviction.”
I mentioned that it was a situation where the Holy Spirit had to do His work before she could do hers. Spurgeon use to say that before you could get people saved you have to get them lost. If a person doesn’t see their need for Christ they’re certainly not going to be open to the Gospel. They have to see themselves as a sinner to understand the need of salvation, but only the Holy Spirit can show them who they are. We can do all the explaining, illustrate as much as we can, and speak persuasively, but only the spirit of God can convince them of their sinful condition and need of a Savior. John 16:8 says, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”.
I encouraged the girl to keep praying and remain in close contact with the person because someone who doesn’t see their need today could see their need tomorrow. God has all kinds of ways of getting through. She simply has to continue to be faithful in being a friend to her and explain the gospel at every opportunity that arises. Then as the Holy Spirit works, she may have the privilege to lead her to Christ.
Category: Featured, Lifestyle
Tags: Holy Spirit prayer sinner Word of Life
There is just nothing like the pace that begins to ramp up at the beginning of September in anticipation of the 4th quarter of every sales year. In many companies more than half of their revenue is achieved in the October – December timeframe. Vacation is absolutely OVER and for good reason.
Those of us laboring for the Lord at work know the pressure, just like everyone else, don’t we? And yet, under all the pressure there is a peace for the children of God that is not known by people who have not trusted Christ for their salvation. It is the peace of knowing that no matter what, our eternal destination is wonderful and certain. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who takes up residence when a person is made a new creation in Christ that helps us hold onto our peace.
Sharing an office with the Holy Spirit is an interesting experience. He is the one who makes the situation of our friend down the hall a matter of concern to us. He is the one who helps us be faithful to our spouses and protector to our children. He is the One whose power, which raised Christ from the dead, works to move a person you may know, who is blind in their sins, to see the truth of the gospel, and trust Christ alone for salvation.
Maybe you’re a leader in your group, no matter your age. Maybe your tweets get retweeted more than anyone you know. Maybe you have real charisma. Maybe you’re steady and solid. Maybe people come to you for advice. Maybe God has given you a quick mind, or more tenacity, or a better view of strategy. Maybe you can get the details done when other people are scratching their head. All good. Now use it for Him and make a push in the last quarter.
If you’ve been waiting for the best time to share the gospel with your buddy, just go ahead this quarter and get the job done. Christmas is coming – he could really celebrate it for the first time! Thanksgiving is coming – think about the joy of that day for him? Why the hurry? Well, no one is promised tomorrow.
Here’s your 4th quarter challenge – hear the word, accept it, produce a crop – the Holy Spirit’s got your back. You share the gospel and leave the rest to Him. I promise I’ll join you in the challenge. Send us your stories; comment on the blog when you come back to visit!
“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.” Mark 4:20 NIV
Category: Featured, Workplace
Tags: Holy Spirit Workplace
Our ministry operates on a June 30th fiscal year end, so we are only about a month and a half into a new year. Seems like a good time to talk about back to work evangelism tips. As I reflected on the past year, several thoughts popped into my head:
- Not good enough…not by a long shot. Here we are in an evangelistic training and outreach ministry and most of the staff who submitted their annual self evaluations to me (and that includes, well, most of the staff) felt they were not doing enough personally to evangelize to those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior (I must admit I listed this one myself). Some would look at us as the professionals in this field (in my book, not a good term to use in the context of evangelism), but here we struggle quite the same as everyone else. It is a privilege to be permitted by our Lord to evangelize, to be His vessel to others, yet all of us struggle. Take comfort, you are not alone…not by a long shot. It is hard to do but, oh so worthwhile.
- Even the most successful can fail…in evangelism. In a training session, I watched one of our donors, a very successful business person, a very generous and philanthropic business person squirm over a lack of personal evangelism, squirm with coming to grips that opening one’s checkbook is not a substitute for fulfilling the Great Commission. Model sound Christian behaviors in ethical business dealings, of course. Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself, absolutely. But we are called to spread the good news, and even a high powered business executive can stumble around in a spectacularly inept fashion with this one. Just focus on bringing Christ to people and let God do the hard part as He promises to.
- No one should keep score…because God isn’t keeping score. Business folks are all about keeping score. A great love of metrics permeates the American workplace. Measure it if you can and figure out how to measure it if you can’t. Here is the good news, with evangelism you just get to do it, and do it. No keeping tabs if you are acting like a good and faithful servant. You just get to do it for the glory of God.
Evangelizing in a secular workplace can feel intimidating and lonely. But remember that you are not alone, when you share the good news of Jesus; you are empowered by the Holy Spirit. An unbeatable team, and remember it is so not because of anything you bring to the table.
So don’t think of it as workplace evangelism, think of it as part of your ministry (because we are all ministers where God places us to live and work in the world). Do not think of it as part of your workday, make it part of your life.
Category: Featured, Workplace
Tags: Holy Spirit success Workplace
To Read
[Pray] also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains.
—Colossians 4:3
To Consider
You want to talk to a person at work about Christ, but you just haven’t found the right opportunity. Correction. You want to talk with many people about Christ, but the opportunities just don’t seem to present themselves.
Have you asked God to open doors for you to share the gospel?
When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he was a prisoner of the Roman Empire, most likely handcuffed to a Roman soldier twenty-four hours a day. No doubt Paul had the opportunity to share Christ in prison. At the same time, Paul and his coworkers, Timothy and Epaphras, were limited by the nature of their situation. So he asked fellow believers to pray “that God would open to us a door for the word.” He requested prayer for opportunity.
Opportunities for evangelism on the job come in numerous ways. They are as varied as the workplace itself.
- A coworker might come in one morning, trembling with the news that his wife has just been diagnosed with cancer. Your offer to pray for him may result in a future opportunity to share the gospel with him.
- A woman may confide in you as a another female that she has discovered her husband is having an affair. An offer to talk after work may give you the opportunity to comfort her, explaining that although she may feel rejected right now there is One who won’t reject her.
- Forgiveness extended to a person who misrepresented you may cause her to ask, “What makes you so different?”
- Volunteering a ride to work one morning—particularly one that takes you considerably out of your way—may be a great way to let others know that you care.
Acts of kindness like these may allow you the opportunity to talk about the One who cared for us even to the point of dying for us.
God will open doors for you to share the gospel. But are you asking Him to do so? And are you willing to put forth the effort and respond?
To Illustrate
A policeman I know trains as many as thirty officers at a time in tactical deployment issues such as those relating to mass shootings. He consistently has the opportunity to tell those he trains, “The thing we must remember about what we do is that when we leave in the morning, there is no certainty we will come home. Although that is true of any profession, that is particularly true of us because of the danger we face. But even though you cannot be certain you’ll come home to a house on earth, you can be certain you will go to heaven.” Then he shares his testimony.
What an opportunity—God has opened a door for my friend to share the gospel out of the work he does every single day.
To Meditate
Reflect on the unlimited power of God. Our God is so powerful that He can open a door today that was closed just yesterday.
To Pray
Ask God to give you an opportunity this week to share the gospel with a coworker, and then grasp the opportunity when it comes.
Category: Featured, Workplace
Tags: opportunity prayer Workplace
As I said earlier in the week, what makes your testimony an effective way to share the gospel?
It’s YOUR story.
• edited by you,
• filtered by you,
• qualified by you,
• told by you.
You can tell it anywhere.
It includes how YOU came to Christ, and how THEY can come to Christ also.
How can you craft your personal testimony beginning with only three words?! It’s easy.
Choose your first word to describe your life, feelings, situation, thoughts, etc. before you placed your faith in Christ:
Consider one of these:
Angry Independent Manipulative Miserable Hopeless Empty Addicted Aimless Restless Striving Confused Insecure
The word I chose for myself here is ambiguous.
Choose your second word to describe how you came to place your faith in Christ. When you get to this point it’s important to include a clear presentation of the gospel, which I have done in my story below.
Consider one of these:
Creation Studied Concert Grew Bible Friend Trouble Observation Evangelist Spouse Loved
The word I chose for myself here is awakened.
Finally, choose your third word to describe your life, feelings, situation, thoughts, etc. now that you have placed your faith in Christ:
Consider one of these:
Approachable Peaceful Generous Loving Brave Caring Teacher Mentor Servant Elder Hopeful Compassionate Confident
The word I chose for myself here is assured.
Once you have your three words, you’re ready to come up with one- two sentences for each word. Just provide a brief explanation of how each word relates to your story.
Here are the sentences I came up with for my 3 word testimony:
Although I believed in the existence of a God, and even knew the story of Jesus, I didn’t fully understand how it all fit together. I was ambiguous about the nature and character of Jesus as God and how He had provided a way for me to be reconciled to the very Creator of the universe!
Through a series of conversations with new Christian friends in college, as well as exposure to some Christian music with meaningful lyrics, I came to understand Jesus as savior. I was awakened to the reality that Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead.
Now I am assured that through my trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation, I have an unbroken relationship with the very God who created the universe and everything in it. This relationship is for eternity and my life with Him will not end when my time on earth does.
3 words…
1-2 sentences per word…
3-6 sentences to tell your story.
Category: Evangelism Training, Featured, Lifestyle
Tags: 3 words personal testimony
