Tag Archives: evangelism

Ready

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

100_3338

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,  I Peter 3:15

I have had more than a few conversations of late about our need to be ready for the future that is sure to come. To be honest, there are many outside forces sparking these conversations: Wars and rumors of wars; The increasing wickedness of the nations. Upcoming elections. The Brexit. Our eyes are certainly turned toward the sky watching closely to see the breaking of clouds that will usher us into the next age of the planet Earth. And this is the right posture.

Jesus said, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.” Ma. 24:42

That said our watching is not to be a passive thing. It is to be a watching filled with work. We are called to have a hand on the plough and an eye to the sky. We are, in light of our understanding of Scripture, to work because we know a dark night is coming.

Our work according to Peter is to be always prepared to give an answer for our hope.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what we, the people of the church, must do to prepare to give that answer. I have come up with four answers.

First we must focus on hope not fear. We alone have the hope of eternal life. Let’s act like it. IS THERE SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO ADJUST IN YOUR HEART TO TURN FROM FEAR TO HOPE?

Second we must revere Christ as Lord. This speaks to obedience An old church saying reminds us that “God cannot work through dirty vessels.” Our hopeful answers will only ring true if our lives reflect the principles of God. IS THERE SOME LIFESTYLE CHOICE YOU HAVE TO CHANGE TO BECOME A MORE BIBLICAL PERSON?

Third we must actually think about what we will say to people when the opportunity arises. Spiritual conversations are the most important conversations we ever have. Why then do we allow them to catch us unawares. We should always be intentional about what we will say to people who ask and how we will say it. HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND ASKING GOD TO SPARK SPIRITUAL CONVERSATIONS AND HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND PREPARING YOURSELF TO HAVE THEM?

Fourth we must prepare our attitudes to stay sweet. I am watching as much of our Christian rhetoric across the internet, in public forums and even in personal encounters quickly dissolves into self-protectionism, argument and sadly even hate speech. Folks we don;t wrestle against flesh and blood so we ought not to act as though we do. When we speak we need to determine in advance to keep our cool no matter how malicious or hateful the person across the aisle might get. HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND PRACTICING PEACE WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE?

The truth is we are called to be ready to give an answer for our hope at all times. It is part of our waiting and watching for the Lord’s return. ARE YOU READY?

The Road Through Romans: The Miraculous Method

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles, Uncategorized

100_5431

We continue our discussion through Paul’s letter to the Romans. Today we are discussing Romans 1:16,17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

My  fellowship, the Assemblies of God has 16 fundamental truths that every one of our churches adhere to. Of those 16 fundamentals there are four cardinal or primary doctrines.

  1. Salvation by grace alone through faith alone
  2. Healing spiritual, emotional and physical is found in the atonement
  3.  The baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues is an experience available to every believer in the church past, present and future
  4. Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead and shall set up His eternal reign on Earth.

Each of these doctrines speaks of an incredible, miraculous manifestation of God’s grace and presence in the lives of men and women across the face of the globe.Of all those miraculous interventions into the lives of people the most miraculous is the salvation of man from his sin. Jesus died and rose again to perpetuate this miracle in our lives. That alone is an incredible thought.Yet one of the most miraculous things about the miracle of salvation is the way it is applied to the life of a man or a woman.The power of salvation is applied to a person’s life through the gospel. A person gets saved when someone else tells him the story of Jesus and he chooses to believe it.

Paul said it this way, “21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ” 1 Cor. 1:21-24

Preaching the gospel as we have said in earlier posts is not just a job for professional ministers. It is the job of every Christian.You may not feel qualified to share Jesus with other people. Honestly who is? We are sharing GOD with people! What ex-sinner could ever be qualified for such a job? That’s part of the miracle, don’t you know? God could have chosen angels to preach. He could have chosen to use supernatural visions or dreams to proclaim the gospel. He could have made the mountains sing it  if He so desired. Instead He chose to use sinful people to proclaim righteousness to other sinful people so that righteousness could be formed in them all!

Ain’t that a hoot?

If you have missed any of our previous conversations they can be discovered on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE

The Road Through Romans: The Holy Obligation

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

100_5431

We are continuing our discussion through the Book of Romans today and we are moving on to verses 14 and 15 of chapter 1 which reads,

I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

I am interested in the word right at the beginning of the verse, “obligated”. What does Paul mean when he says he is obligated?

I am also interested in who Paul is indebted to. He is indebted to the Greeks and the barbarians; that is the people of Greece and all the  Gentiles beyond the influence of the Roman empire.

Why is Paul indebted to all these people? Is it because they have been so nice to him?

By the time Paul writes his letter to the Romans he has been stoned by the Ephesians, whipped and unjustly imprisoned by the Philippians, sued by the Corinthians and unjustly arrested by the Jews who also plotted to assassinate him. The debt he owes cannot be one of gratitude.

Could he be talking about a cultural obligation. Is he saying “The Greeks have created western culture! They are so awesome I feel obligated to them!”?

Nah! Paul was a Jew a Pharisee even associating with Gentiles was something frowned upon, never mind considering their culture as something to be admired and feel indebted to them about.

So what did he owe the Greeks and barbarians, money?  I am being totally tongue-in-cheek.

The word “obligated” here is the word, opheiletēs. It refers to a person who owes someone else a debt. It refers to someone who has wronged another and must make amends.

Had Paul somehow wronged the Greeks and Barbarians? No he was not a debtor to any of them strictly speaking. The debt Paul owed was to God. It was a debt he could never pay back. Jesus had taken Paul’s sin and paid for it with His life and Paul owed Jesus, God the Son, an eternal debt of gratitude.

God had transferred Paul’s debt to the Greeks and the Barbarians. Paul owed them the right to hear the gospel not because he owed them but because he owed God.

Every Christian today  owes that same debt to God. God has done the same thing with us that he did with Paul. God has transferred the debt to those people around us. You see God needs nothing from us but they do. They need to hear the message of salvation from us. We owe it to them not because of who they are but because of who God is.

Sharing the triuth we know is an obligation not an option. It is a duty not a choice.

If you have missed any of our previous discussions on the Book of Romans they can be found on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Mission Netherlands #missions # missionaries #funding

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

Hello WordPress  followers. My sister Brenda is a missionary to the Netherlands. She is currently home itinerating (raising funds for the mission). She has a little over 3,000.00 in monthly support to raise plus a sizeable cash budget. She needs a financial miracle. She needs to have the funding raised and be back in the Netherlands by November. We are believing with her that God is big enough to get this miracle done.

Here are some ways you can help:

  1. PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WOULD GET BRENDA BACK TO THE NETHERLANDS ON OR BEFORE NOVEMEBER
  2.  SHARE THIS POST WITH YOUR NETWORKS. THE MORE VIEWS THE LARGER THE PROSPECTIVE GIVING BASE
  3.  GIVE.  THE VIDEO ABOVE EXPLAINS BRENDA’S MISSION AND HOW TO GIVE TO GET TO HER WEBSITE TO GIVE.
  4. IF YOU ARE A PASTOR IN: MA,CT, RI, NH, VT, ME, NY NJ OR AL CONSIDER HAVING BRENDA IN. SHE ONLY HAS TWO MORE SUNDAY MORNINGS BETWEEN NOW AND NOVEMBER BUT SHE HAS SUNDAY NIGHTS FREE AND WEDNESDAYS AND IS OPEN TO PARTICIPATING IN MISSION CONVENTIONS. SHE IS ALSO A DRAMA TRAINER AND DOES WORKSHOPS TO HELP LAUNCH DRAMA MINISTRIES OR TRAIN EXISTING ONES

WOULD YOU CONSIDER HELPING?

Pressing In and Pressing On

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

I am on the road today, picking up my son in New Jersey so he can begin the next leg of his journey towards the nation of Korea. I drove the 6 hours yesterday with God as my copilot and He had me thinking on many things.

In our worship leader’s meeting Sunday afternoon two themes arose that seem to be directions for our church’s worship:

1. A move of repentance

2.The need to press in and press on.

A third theme came to mind as I meditated on the Lord yesterday and that was, the need for a transcendent God.

Like never before we need to comprehend that we have a God who is not controlled or determined by the forces of this world. Like never before we need to draw close to Him and away from the world’s ways. This act will cause us automatically to advance into the work He has given us to do (pressing in and pressing on), and that work is massive.

I have heard a lot of talk in the church world about how Jesus may be coming this fall. In sincerely hope He doesn’t. While I really want to see my Savior, at the moment only 2% of the population in my area (New England) reports themselves as born again. If Jesus should come in September 98% of New England would by their own admission not go with Him into glory.

The church has a lot of work to do and little time to do it in. We need to turn from our entertainments and press in and press on with a God who is big enough to help us with this work.

Who will join me ion the harvest field? Your help is needed. We are about to lose the harvest!

Be A Champion

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

100_1084

 

 “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” MA. 9:37,38

Here in New England the harvest is apparent as well as abundant. With church attendance in the six state area hovering just over 2%,  just about everyone you meet on the sidewalk is part of the harvest and with a 98 to 2 ratio the Lord’s acknowledgement that the laborers are few is something of an understatement (granted the numbers are far better than when he walked the Earth… but still).

I find no lack of good ideas within the church walls as to how the church should reach the multitudes with the message of the gospel. But when it comes right down to it we don’t need more ideas we just need to take a couple of those good thoughts and perform them.

Here’s the thing; Suggesting an idea to the pastor of your church and then not being willing to participate in the carrying out of that idea is not helpful. Pastor’s do not need more ideas. Most of us are swimming in a sea of ideas which have no method of implementation. What ideas need are champions to carry them out. And if God gave you the idea then perhaps you are the champion of that idea. Yes you need pastoral support. Yes you need to be realistic about your own abilities and limitations;  But in the end if God is giving you an idea about how to work in the harvest field, that idea is your responsibility to carry out; Just giving it away to someone else and shrugging your shoulders when it doesn’t get done because “those other guys have no vision” does not release you from the responsibility of the idea. God gave it you! See it through! Be the champion of your harvest idea!

Here are some champions I currently see working in our church:

Deb Maciorowski, VP Special Touch REACH New England Chapter

Deb Maciorowski, VP Special Touch REACH New England Chapter

Amanda Lillie Buddy Barrel Coordinator kids church

Amanda Lillie Buddy Barrel Coordinator kids church

Ray Parker, Cornerstone Testimonial Newsletter

Ray Parker, Cornerstone Testimonial Newsletter

 

What do you need to do to champion your harvest cause?

Pastor Wrinkles: The Lenten Journey Pt. 9

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

Today’s lent meditation has to do with evangelism. Here are the questions to ponder:

On a scale of 1 to 5 (i meaning I am just at the beginning and 5 meaning I am well-developed in this area)…

How am I doing at intentionally cultivating relationship with un-churched friends and family?

How am I doing sharing my spiritual story with un-churched friends and family?

How am I connecting un-churched friends into my group of believers?

How am I allowing God to use me cross-culturally?

How am I regularly investing in the spiritual life of another person or group?

Y’know I thought this evangelism meditation was going to be a big old scary ponder-pot for me. Yet as I got into it God showed me that  while there are definitely things I can work on where my unbelieving family is concerned, He has opened doors of effective ministry across the world through blogging. For anyone who shares on this venue you have to know you are touching the world,believers and non-believers . You are working cross-culturally. You are regularly investing in the spiritual life of other people and groups! Now my last question for the day is…How can we do it more effectively?