tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13088476688459966442024-03-06T08:35:47.352+08:00Living Waters Asia - ArticlesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-28679484935836578672011-02-14T19:57:00.002+08:002011-02-14T20:06:48.223+08:00ASK DENNIS Feb. 2011: How Gospel Tracts Distribution is Done<div style="text-align: justify;">ASK DENNIS is back! And for our first edition this year, we will show you how we give away Gospel tracts. Dennis Mark Y. Aglosolos recently used a spy video camera to record how he goes about sharing the Gospel through tracts. You will see what he says to people to entice them to accept the tracts and what he says when his tract is rejected. This video will really bring you to the thick of things.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="450" height="283" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dB_6ZDV9Xhk?rel=0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-50615989332903495372010-12-19T22:28:00.003+08:002010-12-19T22:34:12.969+08:00Ask Dennis Dec. 2010: Why is CHRISTMAS significant?<div style="text-align: justify;">Everyone has their own say on the significance of Christmas. Their opinion ranges from the very material to the very spiritual. LWA explains the biblical significance of Christmas through a poem. Watch the clip below featuring several of the volunteers working at Living Waters Asia:<br /><br /><object width="450" height="362"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ouctIpCn1Ak?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ouctIpCn1Ak?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="450" height="362"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-9879153291936777162010-10-14T18:58:00.003+08:002010-10-15T16:05:36.785+08:00ASK DENNIS: What do you say to someone who does not believe in hell's existence?<div style="text-align: justify;">In sharing the Gospel, we aim to make people realize what danger awaits them if they continue in sin. But what if the person you are trying to convince to evade the danger awaiting him does not believe in the existence of hell? This month's edition of ASK DENNIS will give you two arguments you can use to people who take the principle "To see is to believe" when it comes to that scary place in eternity called HELL.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ycq8fmve7hM" width="450" frameborder="0" height="283"></iframe><br /><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-73932598324722044942010-09-15T20:21:00.003+08:002010-09-15T20:29:48.504+08:00ASK DENNIS: What are the personal benefits for the Christian who shares the Gospel?<div style="text-align: justify;">The statement, "Evangelism is a difficult task" probably is one of the biggest understatements about the Christian life. We often hear of persecutions of Gospel ministers in countries who are still not open to the truth about Christ. Many Christians who are preaching the Good News in public have suffered ridicule upon ridicule from people who do not understand the danger awaiting them in the afterlife. But despite these sad experiences of our brethren, there are also benefits to be enjoyed by the Christian who faithfully heeds the call of the Great Commission. This month's ASK DENNIS talks of these benefits. We hope this month's edition will be a big encouragement to you.<br /><br /><object width="450" height="286"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kvcez9bR8xQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kvcez9bR8xQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="450" height="286"></embed></object><br /><br /> <br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-47666328494685086022010-08-16T19:27:00.006+08:002010-08-16T19:45:13.308+08:00ASK DENNIS: Why is the modern gospel message unbiblical?<div style="text-align: justify;">For this month's <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ask Dennis</span>, Dennis Mark Y. Aglosolos explains why the modern gospel message that says<span style="font-style: italic;"> "Jesus will give you love, joy, peace, fulfillment and lasting happiness"</span> or in short, <span style="font-style: italic;">"God will give you a wonderful life if you will have Him in your life"</span>, is NOT Scriptural. Dennis explores the true reason why Jesus came to Earth and how He accomplished the task given Him by the Father.
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<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If you have comments regarding this month's video blog, send them at comments@livingwaters-asia.com. And if you have a question related to evangelism that you want Dennis to answer next, you can email him at AskDennis@livingwaters-asia.com
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<style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> <span style="font-family: verdana;"> For this month, Dennis Mark Y. Aglosolos will answer why REPENTANCE is needed in order for God to accept the faith a person is showing Him. Be ready with your pen and paper as this edition of Ask Dennis will give you the verses that will prove the necessity of repentance.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YtKS6fNyhWA&hl=en_US&fs=1?color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YtKS6fNyhWA&hl=en_US&fs=1?color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
<br /></span></span></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-22712272176533837712010-06-16T20:24:00.006+08:002010-06-16T21:06:45.407+08:00ASK DENNIS: Purgatory and how long before one gets to his eternal destination<div style="text-align: justify;">The concept of an intermediate place between Heaven and Hell like the purgatory has given many people a false of hope of another chance to get things right if in case they fail in their first try to reach God's standard for entry into Heaven. There are also those that spread teachings that say that man, after he dies, has his soul roaming around places for a period of time before he gets to his rightful eternal destination. Both beliefs make getting right with God less urgent for a person.<br /><br />So what does the Bible really say about these beliefs? This edition of ASK DENNIS exposes the errors of these teachingss.<br /><br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SjaWaHBqYI0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SjaWaHBqYI0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:78%;">For your questions related to evangelism, email us at<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">askdennis@livingwaters-asia.com<br /><br /></span></span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-56356079544084890202010-05-13T20:13:00.005+08:002010-05-15T06:08:49.300+08:00Ask Dennis --- Why Use the Law?Starting this month, instead of a written article, Dennis Mark Y. Aglosolos will be posting a monthly video of him answering issues in evangelism. If you want Dennis to answer your question, don't hesitate to send it at askdennis@livingwaters-asia.com.<br /><br />For this month, Dennis will answer why we need to use the Law whenever we are witnessing to the unsaved. We hope that this video will be of help to your evangelism efforts.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/V1eWAXnEO0w&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/V1eWAXnEO0w&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And here's a bonus video for you showing how man, on his own, can never be good enough to get to heaven. The video shows that if Jesus' goodness will not be imputed on us, our efforts to be good will only bring us to eternal damnation.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XrLzYw6ULYw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XrLzYw6ULYw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">If you want to give your comments to this month's video, send us an email at<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); font-style: italic;">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-80797881264202077182010-04-15T22:42:00.004+08:002010-04-16T11:56:29.977+08:00Drawing close to God<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKrIMlVgf-oWQgtGIjwsH1rk41uuYH6ZazIT99Vdfvc7pRfPuQDSt1HzWqw1c7ihYF1AVMPJ9UTWggfEHCbMsP6ANcyM0qh49-C7-uhbgq-9fl6fDxuuIuFj7PFyqyqLem597FZFiN_kH/s1600/worshipper.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKrIMlVgf-oWQgtGIjwsH1rk41uuYH6ZazIT99Vdfvc7pRfPuQDSt1HzWqw1c7ihYF1AVMPJ9UTWggfEHCbMsP6ANcyM0qh49-C7-uhbgq-9fl6fDxuuIuFj7PFyqyqLem597FZFiN_kH/s320/worshipper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460375168605502514" border="0" /></a>Can we really accomplish things apart from God? The obvious answer is "NO". He is the power behind every effort we exert in the goal of glorifying Him. Every muscle in our body that works to make us move will not work if God will not cause it to work. Every idea we develop for the advancement of the ministry comes from the Lord and not a product of our intelligence. Gal 6:3 says it so plainly... "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself." Without God we can do nothing.<br /><br />So if we will never accomplish anything without God, how can we be assured that He will always work through us so that we can accomplish things for Him? The answer is "to draw close to Him". To draw close to Him is to acknowledge our helplessness and our inability to accomplish anything on our own. Our pride will always push God away from helping us. But the opposite happens when we draw near to Him in humility. James 4:6 tells us that "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble". It is His grace that grants us the power to do great things for Him. When we are proud, we sort of tell God that we can do away with Him because we believe that our strengths can easily get us through any challenge.<br /><br />There's a saying here in the Philippines that goes like this, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Tinutulungan ng Diyos ang tumutulong sa kanyang sarili" </span>(God helps those who help themselves). I remember my late grandfather, Rev. Telesforo B. Yague, Sr., during my childhood years, explained to me that this belief is so erroneous as God helps those who come helpless to Him and not those who appear to be very much capable of doing things on their own. This is so evident, even in the salvation we received from God. Are we saved by our efforts to look good in the eyes of God? No! Ephesians 2:8-9 makes this very clear. It is only by God's grace that we are saved. The same goes for whatever we accomplish in life (or should I say, <span style="font-style: italic;">whatever God allows to be accomplished through us</span>).<br /><br />So how do we draw close to Him? My answer is by focusing on Him. And how do we focus on Him? By spending intimate and uninterrupted time with Him through the reading of His Word and through prayer. The more we read His Word, the more we hear from Him. The more we spend time in prayer with Him, the more we acknowledge to God how weak we are. I believe that the reason why we hear less of God is because we are too caught with the affairs of this world. Remember how Jesus rebuked Martha for her preoccupation of doing what she thought should be done and how He commended Mary for listening to Him? He was telling Martha that every task must take a backseat when His lips are uttering words. Why? Because His words is life. In Matt. 4:4, Jesus himself declared that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". It is His words that make us alive! Imagine how full of life every Christian will look if all of us would just keep our mouths shut for even just a while so that we can hear what God wants us to understand about Him.<br /><br />That's what happened to us when we (the people behind Living Waters Asia) recently spent almost a whole day in prayer and fasting. Oh, the things God made us realized when we allowed Him to speak to us! God really exposed our hearts and showed us the things we've been doing that we never thought was so displeasing to Him. He also impressed to our hearts what other things He wants each of us should be doing for Him when all along, we thought that we were already doing everything He wants us to do. Not only that. He also strengthened us to do more for Him and in fighting sin in our lives. All of these things we experienced just because we stopped and gave God the microphone for about 16 hours.<br /><br />But I believe, the power to do things for God we receive is not the biggest benefit of drawing close to Him. I have proven during the weekend we prayed and fasted that the greatest benefit of keeping ourselves close to God is the satisfying experience of feeling more of His presence and seeing more of His glory. Nothing could ever beat that. When God's presence and glory is so evident, you can't get enough of it. You want more. Do you understand what I'm saying? You are so satisfied and yet you can't get enough of Him. That's what's great when He is close to you. That's the reason why you are able to forget hunger when you are praying and fasting. He becomes everything for you when He is close. You will understand why Moses wanted to still see God's face when He was already talking to Him in person in Exodus 33 once you get even a small taste of His glory.<br /><br />A lot of Christians sadly are seeking to be satisfied with material things when the very Source of satisfaction is already in them. The Psalmist expressed very well what is in store for us when we are in His presence...<span style="font-style: italic;"> "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore"</span> (Psalm 16:11). Oh, if just all of God's children will seek His face!<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><br /></span></span></span></p><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-18237771541680412662010-03-15T20:43:00.003+08:002010-03-16T21:06:38.836+08:00Results or Obedience<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj27fPhp8wEvEbf31nwCkX7wxxwqQgPF-0_zD9bhn4RU6HXvcVndMKxIy4KoxGgI2qGLs5_eVLOWFdHhuazs2BXV6PXYIu6G0DmLUMASuqd-TQDrXuqJwLk1sERo5kN-qszeTiJebsbcIUI/s1600-h/AltarCall.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj27fPhp8wEvEbf31nwCkX7wxxwqQgPF-0_zD9bhn4RU6HXvcVndMKxIy4KoxGgI2qGLs5_eVLOWFdHhuazs2BXV6PXYIu6G0DmLUMASuqd-TQDrXuqJwLk1sERo5kN-qszeTiJebsbcIUI/s320/AltarCall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448841229420594162" border="0" /></a>Here's a question for everyone--- In your effort to share the Gospel, what is more important? Results or your obedience to the Great Commission?<br /><br />In a world that gauges success by business principles, most would answer that results are more important than one's obedience to God's call for every Christian to share the Gospel. And so, evangelism success is measured by numbers. How often do we hear in our churches, after a whole afternoon of street evangelism, reports like "Christian X was able to lead 5 people to Christ making our conversion total to 30 for this afternoon." In evangelism crusades, the number of commitment forms gathered from people that went forward to the altar when the invitation was given is the basis for the success of the event. I once heard of a Bible seminary that requires its students to lead a certain number of people to Christ every semester. Someone I know who went to that seminary told me that students, out of desperation to reach that number, would cheat their records so that they will not have to be punished for not reaching the target.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">"Professions of faith" have become the more important thing instead of changed lives caused by the Gospel. And so, churches have focused on bringing people in their services even if the means are unbiblical. If numerical results are gained by making the Gospel message less offensive (but in truth, less effective), then that's what is done. There are even churches that have succumbed to the temptation of conforming to the ways of this wicked world out of a deep desire to show numerical results to others. To make matters worst, they would carelessly declare the people whom they've coaxed to attend their services as Christians just because they have attended the church several times already. And what have Bible seminaries done to add to the injury? They've replaced subjects dealing with doctrine with subjects that deal with marketing the church.<br /><br />Was Jesus concerned about numbers when He was doing His ministry on Earth? I don't think so. If He was then he should have quickly led the rich young ruler to what we call today as "the sinner's prayer" when the later asked, "How can I have eternal life?" instead of showing him how he has failed the first of the Ten Commandments (Matt. 19:16-22). The encounter ended with the rich young ruler leaving Jesus because he could not bear the thought of him selling his possessions to give to the poor. If Jesus was all about getting the attention of people so that He had numbers to show His critics to prove that He had followers, then he should not have told one person he had healed not to tell others of what He did to him (Mark 1:40-45). If Jesus was all about selling Himself as a charismatic leader worthy of people's affection, then He should not have called His audience "vipers" one time when He preached (Matt. 12:34). Clearly, Jesus was more concern about the inner change that could take place in a man's life if he repents.<br /><br />Results are good if they really are the results we're hoping to have. A big congregation will be something to be happy about only if everyone in the church have been truly converted to Christianity, proof of which are changed lives. Honestly, will we be happy about numbers if most of the people in our churches whom we've cleverly brought to our services someday still end up in Hell? I don't think so.<br /><br />This is the reason why I believe, obedience is more important than results. How should obedience be reflected? First, in heeding Christ's call for all of us to be engaged in sharing the Gospel. I completely agree with Ray Comfort when he once said that "the success of our evangelism program should not be measured by the professions of faith we generate but instead, by the number of Christians in our churches that join the pastor in sharing the Gospel." Come to think of it. If I want to report to my pastor that I was able to lead someone to Christ, I can pressure anyone to follow me in prayer even if he/she is not sincere about it. Or in a crusade, I can tell everyone to follow me in a simple prayer of "acceptance". I then ask everyone who followed the prayer to raise their hands, I count every hand raised, and there you go, I have numbers. C'mon! The Bible says that it is "by their fruits that we shall know them" and not by their raised hands. <br /><br />We must also realize that obeying God's command for us to share the Gospel to the unsaved with us putting no pressure on ourselves to deliver results gives God the glory if ever a soul experiences conversion. Preoccupation with us delivering numerical results is another way of saying that it is us that saves and not God.<br /><br />Second, we must be obedient (and faithful) to Christ's way of sharing the Gospel. Biblical evangelism has always been "Law to the proud, Grace to the humble." If I will just give grace to everyone I witness to even if that person is self-righteous, I will just set that person to the path of destruction unknowing to him. People should be shown how they have offended God with their sins if we really want them to repent of their sins. It is only after they have seen how wicked they are that they can appreciate the grace of God.<br /><br />It will be great to have both results and obedience seen in our Christian walk. But we should realize that (true) results do not come all the time. Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and three thousand got saved. Not the case with Noah though. He preached for so many years before the flood and yet, he had only his family to show as results of his preaching. But we can be obedient to God at all times. Obedience always brings delight to God. But the numbers we call "results" do not impress God all the time, simply because, most of the time, they're just that, numbers. So in the debate of results vs. obedience, it's a no contest. Obedience to God must always be the focus.<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><br /></span></span></span></p><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-13672424345051700892010-02-15T20:46:00.004+08:002010-02-15T22:14:44.194+08:00Reaching the rich and powerful<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLMyTnfPPP73LnzuTkfwMabMTyqYgEe-TPnD17_9EglE2XbAKD2xjW0X3nhBfrzVDaqiPlAgFgnQbclbZ-qh0W7XrZgRQra9g3F3V8qH3NE5krlEbEC8l9X9-fv_x3VwuczjRgHADNTYs/s1600-h/pancho_malonzo+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLMyTnfPPP73LnzuTkfwMabMTyqYgEe-TPnD17_9EglE2XbAKD2xjW0X3nhBfrzVDaqiPlAgFgnQbclbZ-qh0W7XrZgRQra9g3F3V8qH3NE5krlEbEC8l9X9-fv_x3VwuczjRgHADNTYs/s320/pancho_malonzo+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438453973351929922" border="0" /></a>Mark 10:25 tells us that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. This verse gives the reality of the difficulty of reaching the rich, and also the powerful and famous, for Christ. If you've come across rich and powerful people and got to know them more closely, you will find out that their power and wealth give them a false security. You may not hear them directly saying this, but you will observe that the worldly things they have make them less interested with spiritual things.<br /><br />This does not mean though that we should not anymore try reaching these people to Christ. Jesus died for them too. If they die without Jesus' righteousness imputed on them, their wealth and power will not be able to buy them a ticket to Heaven (Prov. 11:4). And so, we should try our best to deliver the Gospel to them.<br /><br />Prayer, as always, will play a significant role if you do want to reach them. Why? Getting to them will be a big challenge. You can't just expect a very rich and powerful person to give you an appointment just because you ask for one. You have to pray for that opportunity to come. I believe that prayers for opportunities like this is something God enjoys answering. The Bible says that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us (1 John 5:14), and it is very clear that God is not willing that any should perish (including the rich and famous) but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). So if we ask for an opportunity to share the Gospel to basically anyone, that is in line with God's will and we can be sure that He will hear us. In the past 3 years, I have prayed for opportunities to share the Gospel to rich and powerful people from the president of the Philippines to Manny Pacquiao, the boxing pound-for-pound king. All the opportunities I'm asking have not arrived yet, although God has allowed me to give out tracts to a few of them like sports and TV personalities. I'm confident that God will someday give that one chance for people I'm praying for to hear the Gospel. I really don't care if that will be through me or through another Christian as long as they hear the Gospel.<br /><br />Once given the opportunity, we must be sure that we do not preach a prosperity gospel to this people. Please be reminded that they have everything that they want in life and any more prosperity promises you give them will just make you foolish in their eyes. And "NO", they don't have a God-shaped hole in their heart that only God can fill. What they have is the same as what any person has--- a wicked heart that God hates looking at. And so, it is crucial that our presentation focuses on man's standing in front of a just and holy God. If you can make them understand that despite their wealth and power, they don't look lovable to God's eyes because of their sins, they have all the reason in the world to listen and consider what you are telling them. The Gospel will appear very desirable to them once you've made them understand their true state before God.<br /><br />Then after that, continue praying for them.<br /><br />In the past 5 months, God has given me opportunities to deliver the Gospel to the rich and famous. The picture above is an example. Last December, God allowed me to be in the same restaurant wash room as former actor and politician, Rey Malonzo. I'm not a fan of his or his martial arts skills but when I bumped into him, I appeared as starstruck as I can so that I can hand him a Milion Dollar bill tract. I was so happy to see him later in the lounge of the restaurant reading the tract. Just a week ago, I handed a congressman from Bulacan a Giant Money tract which he really liked when we shot a video of him giving his well wishes to graduates of the school I work at. I also wrote a letter each to Bill Gates and Warren Buffet explaining their need for Christ. I have no knowledge if the letters reached them, but I'm praying that God would make a way for them to read my letters. <br /><br />Maybe you also know some rich and powerful person out there. They also need Christ just like all of us. You can do something to deliver the Gospel to them. All it takes is a little initiative. Yes, the camel has a better chance of passing through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter into Heaven. But we can help them. Let's give them a little push.<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-477151651102167062010-01-15T21:29:00.003+08:002010-01-15T21:40:47.157+08:00A Time to Wake Up<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8elpOLzxsVU0VqIMBGJ6iCwgkN1BincNONE3Kb1nQbiiMrv4lm8nnFv1mH1J3xNV9aQHdqSBM_pPredfugIFhyphenhyphenJykHt68eb0kJaE0BjN0ekcxWHx7s3EpZrmzg3JvHBF3eJ68r3dtMzU/s1600-h/haiti.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 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table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: verdana;"> Year 2010, the start of a new decade.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Despite that it’s another new year, life is, for all of us, still uncertain, in terms of what will happen on a daily basis.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking back at 2009, we can’t help but be amazed with how many times we woke up to something that either surprised us or shocked us.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Life can truly be described with one word… UNPREDICTABLE.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">
<br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>This early in 2010, God has again demonstrated how shocking the next day could be.<span style=""> </span>Just days ago, the country of Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.<span style=""> </span>Buildings and houses collapsed that trapped and killed tens of thousands of people.<span style=""> </span>Up to this time, thousands are still trapped in fallen buildings and houses, hoping that rescuers would come and save them.<span style=""> </span>Not even the presidential palace of the country was spared, a testament that man’s power cannot counter God’s power.<span style=""> </span>In light of what occurred in Haiti, let’s see what God could be telling each of us.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span><i style="">
<br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><i style=""> To the non-believer,</i> God is showing you how He can just end life for you.<span style=""> </span>No matter how strong the fortitude you call your home may be, if He decides that He has given you enough time already to get right with Him and you did not, your precious life can’t be safe from the timetable of God in terms of when you’ll have to leave this world.<span style=""> </span>The event that happened in Haiti shouts at you, “You could be the next one to die!”<span style=""> </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">In the private school that I help manage, there was one graduating high school student that experienced how life could just end in a blink.<span style=""> </span>2009 was almost over.<span style=""> </span>Their class was already preparing for their annual Christmas party and looking to March 2010 when all of them will finally graduate from high school.<span style=""> </span>But the party and the graduation never arrived for this student.<span style=""> </span>On his way home driving his classmate’s motorcycle, in a matter of seconds when he felt the need for speed, they crashed against a vehicle that caused him to fly from his ride hitting another vehicle coming from the other lane of the road.<span style=""> </span>He was rushed to a hospital but to no avail as life ended for him after two days.<span style=""> </span>How I wish he listened and made a decision to get right with God the morning he was involved in that accident when I preached for the nth time the Gospel to our students.<i style="">
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<br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><i style="">To the atheist,</i> God could be introducing Himself to you.<span style=""> </span>For a long time now, you have denied His existence but instead, tried to explain how everything began using science.<span style=""> </span>And what do you have to show for?<span style=""> </span>Still a declaration that somewhere out there is the “missing link” that will prove your point.
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">This was not the first time God made Himself a reality to you.<span style=""> </span>Remember the complexity of the DNA.<span style=""> </span>That’s God telling you that He’s real.<span style=""> </span>Remember how you were confronted by the fact that the eye has 137 million light sensitive cells each with its own purpose for the eye to function correctly which you and Darwin concede its development is so difficult to explain via the theory of evolution?<span style=""> </span>Well, that’s God showing how intelligently He has designed the eye.<span style=""> </span>Do you want more?<span style=""> </span>Then look at yourself?<span style=""> </span>Do you honestly believe that with all your intelligence and abilities, you just developed randomly from a simple organism and that your nearest ancestor is an ape?<span style=""> </span>Look at yourself at the mirror now.<span style=""> </span>Do you now see God?<span style=""> </span>You should for the Bible tells us that we were created in His own image.<span style=""> </span>And the quake at Haiti?<span style=""> </span>Can’t you see how the science-oriented man with all its bragging of how great he is, up to now, has not found a way to prevent these natural disasters every time God decides to step in to wake us up a little from our failure to recognize His existence?<span style=""> </span>Unless you accept the reality of God now, you will someday have no doubt that He is really there when He in person brings His judgment to you on that scary day.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><i style=""><span style=""> </span>
<br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><i style=""> To the Christian,</i> God could just be simply telling you to “Wake up!”<span style=""> </span>From what?<span style=""> </span>From our failure to do our duties of worship to Him, to live a holy life, and to preoccupy ourselves in telling others of the Gospel.<span style=""> </span>You have lived a double life.<span style=""> </span>You’re God’s child but after some time living like one, you have decided to play with this sinful world.<span style=""> </span>Yes, you still go to church from time to time and still pray, especially when things aren’t going well for you.<span style=""> </span>But have you truly loved the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength all your Christian life?<span style=""> </span>When was the last time you really cared enough to tell another person about his true state in front of a powerful, just and holy God and how His judgment to a sinful man could be evaded?<span style=""> </span>How dare you call yourself a “Christian” when all that is important to you is yourself.<span style=""> </span>See the quake at Haiti.<span style=""> </span>It calls you to once and for all live like a true child of God.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"> And finally, <i style="">to the modern Gospel preacher,</i> God is shouting at you, “My judgment is scary!”<span style=""> </span>You have been preaching only half of what God is for a long time now.<span style=""> </span>You only talk of His love and never about how He hates sin and how one day He will pour down his wrath on man’s transgression of His moral standards.<span style=""> </span>And because you only preach half of the truth of God, you really never declared the truth in the first place.<span style=""> </span>People who should have been walking now on the road to glory, because of your erroneous gospel preaching, are making their way to destruction.<span style=""> </span>And what did you get in return for your irresponsible preaching?<span style=""> </span>You have fame, you have wealth and you have man’s adulation.<span style=""> </span>You’ve made your belly full and you’re not about to change things because of these.<span style=""> </span>The cries of the nation of Haiti is God shouting at you for you to straighten up your message or else the blood of the sinful He will charge at you.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"> Time is so not on our side.<span style=""> </span>The signs of the times prove this.<span style=""> </span>Unless we wake up now, we will someday have the unenviable experience of waking up to God’s judgment.<span style=""> </span>So wake up now!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center">
<br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"></span></span></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1308847668845996644-4355877889394615455?l=dennisaglosolos.blogspot.com" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-43558778893946154552009-11-15T20:58:00.002+08:002009-11-15T21:59:41.710+08:00Mission Work: Difficult but rewarding<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4G9mmvumVxOIjZGTLIrnOqgwxfTIPy4sHahVHpA61dPfu8qZeVI5wc-7-UMpgU7CTgJShYNaf4GhfXiIm_ew39Q-6DtgC6NrzuBz-Rmo3zd1R_UeKxFEImE5FH5hWTTGTHTtg_d-OV6ZA/s1600-h/P1040893.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4G9mmvumVxOIjZGTLIrnOqgwxfTIPy4sHahVHpA61dPfu8qZeVI5wc-7-UMpgU7CTgJShYNaf4GhfXiIm_ew39Q-6DtgC6NrzuBz-Rmo3zd1R_UeKxFEImE5FH5hWTTGTHTtg_d-OV6ZA/s320/P1040893.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404314525121843570" border="0" /></a>A few weeks back, we came from Oriental Mindoro for Living Waters Asia's yearly mission trip called the Gospel Buzz. Every trip we've had in the past post it's unique kind of challenges. In the past, we had to face a wet climate, a hostile community and the dangers posted by rebel groups. You can be sure about it, even before we embark on a particular trip, we already expect these kinds of challenges. For this year's trip, we knew that the challenge we will have to face, together with the common challenges, is the difficulty of climbing a mountain to reach a local tribe. Now take it from me. It's one thing to know the challenge but it's a totally different thing to really experience the actual challenge. <br /><br />We hiked for about two hours and forty-five minutes to reach the Mangyan tribe, crossing a river and hiking several difficult mountains. Now when I say difficult, I mean difficult. The mountains we trekked had very varied grounds. There were steep sections, muddy sections and rocky sections with very sharp rocks which makes the hike more difficult. I remember myself praying several times during the hike, asking God to help me not to quit as it will be a bad example for people who were with me that looked at me as their leader. But as much as I wanted to keep the hardships I was experiencing to myself the point came when I just sighed, "I can't do it anymore!" with many hearing me. But I praise the Lord because I eventually got to our destination.<br /><br />I developed a deeper acknowledgment of missionaries who go to mountain communities to share the Gospel to people there. Climbing mountains is just one of the many challenges they face. Living in a place where the usual comforts of city life is absent is I believe, a bigger challenge. Add to that the difficulty of adjusting to the culture and language of a particular place. They willingly go through these just so they can heed God's call for them to go to the regions beyond for the cause of the Gospel.<br /><br />And many Christians in urbanized places continue to ignore their duty of declaring the Gospel despite the "ideal" conditions they are in. This is sad.<br /><br />I believe that more money should go to supporting missions. If a church does not have a mission fund to support missions then that church should stop existing. God's call is that we deliver the Gospel unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). Not all of us can go there. But there are those who are going there or are already there. The only way you can obey the call in Acts 1:8 is if we support missions, and when I say "support", I mean generously! <br /><br />Why are missionaries in difficult places able to continue with their God-given work? I believe the experience of the presence of God in their lives as a result of their obedience is the answer. Intimacy with God is so satisfying for them! And how can one be intimate with God? If you embrace His will in your life. Missionaries clearly have embraced God's will in their lives. Who would want to be away from the comforts of urban life and the joy of family in exchange for the difficult life of missions? Only a deep contentment in God can make a person do that. And again you can only feel God's presence in your life if you will embrace His will. God's presence is where His will is. I remember Moses in the 33rd chapter of Exodus when he said to God that although they will be brought to a land flowing with milk and honey, if God's presence will not be there, then it would be better not to be in that place. Don't you want to be where His presence is?<br /><br />Mission life is difficult, I can never overemphasize that fact. But it's fulfilling because it is God that you're with (See the promise at the end of Matt. 28:19-20). It's rewarding! Because God Himself and His presence is the reward. You want to prove what I'm saying? Then go to missions. <br /></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"></span></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-84224255231971980202009-10-13T14:58:00.008+08:002009-10-16T22:01:01.548+08:00A problem of Old Testament proportion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ72UA4Xulao7X1PKry0s-4jIRExQsT3JKKWiX967_CljHiUfiTdmdzUi9anehNHj3OLAoXRQszk4inz5vdzGK_3xcD7aluMB0gpCeopxolDAOy0yOspXln9pkceE6lcbzPa5wbLexi1iP/s1600-h/modern+gospel+preacher.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ72UA4Xulao7X1PKry0s-4jIRExQsT3JKKWiX967_CljHiUfiTdmdzUi9anehNHj3OLAoXRQszk4inz5vdzGK_3xcD7aluMB0gpCeopxolDAOy0yOspXln9pkceE6lcbzPa5wbLexi1iP/s320/modern+gospel+preacher.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391981876297957858" border="0" /></a>Is the problem of preachers watering down the real message from the Scriptures (in some cases, polluting the message)<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">a new thing?<br /><br />Not really. This problem goes way back to the Old Testament times. We can read is Jeremiah 23:21-22 that God said, <span style="font-style: italic;">"I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings."</span> Looks familiar , right?<br /><br />According to these verses, what gives us a clue that there's a problem? People who have heard the supposed men from God preach never arrived to a decision to repent from their sins. Time and again, we read from the New Testament that people who responded to the Gospel message resulted to a change in their lifestyle, one that forsakes sin. The words are very clear... <span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;">they should have turned them from their evil way</span><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span>. How many people in our churches were clearly described by Jeremiah 23:22? A lot! Our churches nowadays are filled with false converts who attend church services on a regular basis, declares themselves as "Christians", but clearly lack the changed life that the Bible talks of in terms of true believers. They are people who profess of faith but show NO outward evidence of its existence. This is exactly what James talked about in the second chapter of his book when he discussed the problem of faith being dead because the proof of good works is absent.<br /><br />The Bible is so clear when it said <span style="font-style: italic;">"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Cor 5:17)."</span><br /><br /></div>Let's go back to our main text (Jeremiah 23:21-22) and now examine what brought the pitiful result. The clue is in black and white and is as clear as day. The supposed prophets did not preach from the Word (<span style="font-style: italic;">"...if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words</span>..."). The result (men not turning from their evil ways) will be expected if the message we preach does not come from God's Word. Well you can argue by saying, "Well I still spoke from the Bible. I just lightened the treatment." I will never back down from saying that the message is still not from the Scriptures if you say that you change just a little the real emotion of God when it comes to sin. If God hates sin, then we should declare just that to people. We should not make any effort of making sin a non-issue just so we can avoid offending people by showing them how wretched they are in front of God. The message of the Gospel is this... we're sinful people who are bound for Hell but God, instead of pouring His wrath on us, gave His only son, Jesus, so He would be the one to suffer for the sins we so enjoyably committed, and that the only response He is asking from us is repentance and faith.<br /><br />I once heard someone say that the reason why the Gospel message is being repackaged (e.g. "God has a wonderful plan for you", "God loves you as you are") is to make the message <span style="font-style: italic;">relevant</span> to our time which gives importance to concepts like <span style="font-style: italic;">tolerance, non-offense</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">political correctness.</span> I totally disagree with this. The Gospel that shouts "repentance and faith" should not be changed even a bit for the purpose of making it relevant to the present. People in our time MUST instead make a decision to make the Gospel relevant to their lives even if it runs against what our times hold on as its most cherished "values" or else, its Hell for them.<br /><br />People in the past have made the mistake already of changing the message from the Bible. It did not bring the results promised by God. We preachers of the present time must not make the same mistake or else, we might, one of these days, hear God declare to mankind about us, <span style="font-style: italic;">"...</span><span style="font-style: italic;">I have not spoken to them...</span><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><br /></span></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-74560170279583069212009-09-15T14:40:00.006+08:002009-09-15T18:52:23.973+08:00Grace misunderstood<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SaNaW7iXuSnzhBC4pV5XIE2nxBtuwGT0IYD4V6BKPnS-TGcoX9bD9yJPcxJMA7WhFN3CIOsrNwJrH3w4ExXy_HgoUD2G7x6TvhcmVrzDi5CTFx-gh2kt8z8K5DUxajqDzSGaQNEjX84f/s1600-h/amazing+grace.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SaNaW7iXuSnzhBC4pV5XIE2nxBtuwGT0IYD4V6BKPnS-TGcoX9bD9yJPcxJMA7WhFN3CIOsrNwJrH3w4ExXy_HgoUD2G7x6TvhcmVrzDi5CTFx-gh2kt8z8K5DUxajqDzSGaQNEjX84f/s320/amazing+grace.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381581738782617586" border="0" /></a>Grace is defined as an "unmerited favor." This is the same kind of grace that God bestowed on us when we, the "unlovable" because of our sins, became recipients of the benefits of His truly remarkable show of love. Grace is what agape love is... loving unconditionally. We cannot ever love like God for it takes a character like God's to be able to love a wretched humanity as ours.<br /><br />But sadly, this grace has been misunderstood a lot of times. There are people who have become very comfortable with sin, having no fear anymore of the eternal consequence of their preoccupation with it because they think that God's grace will still bring them to Heaven. You will hear them say something like this when shown that they are bound for Hell because of their sins, "I thought the Bible said something about God paying for the sins of the world?" I guess we've sung "Amazing Grace" too much in funerals that's why they came to the conclusion that God's grace saves everyone, even those who are unrepentant of their sins.<br /><br />The unbelievers are not the only ones that have misunderstood the nature of God's grace. There are also some Christians in the group. These Christians believe that we, as recipients of God's grace, should also exercise grace to others. Well, I agree with that. But what I don't agree with is how they wrongly exercise grace. There are Christians that believe that they are using grace correctly when they just shut up when a person misbehaves or commits a sin, not making the effort to show to that person what wrong he/she has done. They believe that grace applied means just letting the person continue on with what they're doing (even if it's wrong), hoping that his inaction for the inappropriate action will make the person see his love and later decide not to do the act anymore.<br /><br />I don't think that is correct. If what they believe is correct and that my stand is wrong, then we've totally disregarded the verse that said "...open rebuke is better than secret love... (Prov. 27:5)" and verses that give importance to correction. Many have failed to understand that God's grace is NOT a consenting grace.<br /><br />We must understand that in God giving us grace, it never meant that He closed His eyes to our sins. The reason why He gave grace was because He saw our sins. The reason why there is the much-loved John 3:16 was because we are destined to perish for our sins. The reason why God had to demonstrate His love toward us was because of our sins. Now, the Father is able to give us grace because His Son, Jesus, paid for our sins. He did not just give grace without any payment for the sins we have committed. Actually, He demanded payment. If He just forgave without someone making the payment for the penalty of sin, then He will be an evil God for He tolerated sin. Forgiveness is now possible because a payment has been made through the shed blood of Jesus.<br /><br />Now understand this, in order for us to receive that grace, there is a decision required from us. We have to decide to repent of our sins and to put our total trust on Jesus for our salvation. It is wrong to think that because Jesus has already suffered on the cross, God's grace is already for us. The only time we can receive that grace is when we humble ourselves in front of God in repentance and faith. Remember, "God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5)." Only in a humble recognition of our sinfulness can God give us grace. It was only after Zaccheus declared that he will restore fourfold whatever he has cheated on people that Jesus said, "Today salvation has come into this home." It was only after the sinful woman's decision to forsake the world in favor of Jesus as shown in her act of breaking a bottle of expensive perfume on Jesus' feet that Jesus declared, "Her sins which are many are now forgiven." God's grace is only to the humble.<br /><br />This is also how we must exercise grace to others as Christians. We must point to others (using the Bible as much as we can) what they are doing wrongly. This, I believe, is part of giving grace. You love a person enough to show him his wrongdoing so that he will not continue doing it and amass for himself more consequences. Now if the person is humble enough to acknowledge that, yes, he is wrong, and he shows a willingness to surrender to God with this in his life, you again give him grace by being patient in waiting for God to complete His transforming work in him. But then, of course, in pointing to others what wrong they have done, we must be sure that we ourselves are not guilty of the same for the Scriptures have commanded us not to point to the mote of others if we likewise have mote in our eyes (Matt. 7:1-5).<br /><br />God's grace is truly amazing! He saved wretched people like us. As recipient of that great love let us now exalt His grace by not using it wrongly and making it appear as if it's a consenting grace. Let's not cheapen it. The price for God's grace is Jesus' life. God's grace, although offered to everyone, can only be enjoyed by those who are humble enough to acknowledge that he is so undeserving of it. Humility was the key to Jesus' sacrifice for us. He left the splendor of Heaven and humbled himself, even to death at the cross. We must respond to his act of love in the same manner... with humility.<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-62697276835036293682009-08-14T15:50:00.002+08:002009-08-14T21:34:00.514+08:00When Christians understand the blessing of salvation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" 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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;">Many Christians nowadays do not act their spiritual state (makes you doubt if they’re really Christians).<span style=""> </span>They act as if having eternal life is not that a big deal and that it’s God’s duty to save them.<span style=""> </span>Gratitude is very much absent. <span style=""> </span>The reason to this is the watering down of the Gospel message.<span style=""> </span>Sin is trivialized and God is portrayed as simply loving, ignoring His holiness and justice.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style=""> </span>But if a Christian has fully realized how undeserving he was for God’s mercy and forgiveness, things will take a 180-degree turn.<span style=""> </span>He will feel so indebted towards God and will have a natural need to show God his deep gratitude for what He has given him.<span style=""> </span>Truly, this person has never imagined ever what he will find himself doing for his Savior.<span style=""> </span>In a way, he is left surprised with how different he has become ever since he made the decision to repent of his sins and place his trust on Jesus for his salvation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style=""> </span>First thing you will notice is a craving to know more of God and for time in prayer to Him.<span style=""> </span>You will suddenly see him spending a regular time reading the Bible, attending church for the message that will be delivered there, conversing with other Christians about the things of God which in the past would be the last thing he will ever think of doing.<span style=""> </span>A quiet time in prayer also becomes an important part of his day for he has found how essential it is to always give God his trust for whatever thing he engages himself in. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style=""> </span>As a result of his study of the Word and time spent in prayer on a regular basis, you will see him giving importance to living a holy life.<span style=""> </span>As what a song said, “Everything is different now.<span style=""> </span><i style="">He’s</i> not the same anymore.<span style=""> </span>The wrong places<i style=""> he</i> used to go, are now the places that <i style="">he</i> avoids.<span style=""> </span>The old crowd <i style="">he</i> used to hang around <i style="">he understands</i> will only pull him down.<span style=""> </span><i style="">He’s</i> not the same anymore.<span style=""> </span><i style="">His</i> life has been changed!”<span style=""> </span>His desire is to conform to his Savior.<span style=""> </span>He obeys what the Scriptures said, “Be ye holy for I am holy (1 Pet. 1:16).”<span style=""> </span>His taste has changed drastically, from enjoying pig’s food to only what’s pure.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style=""> </span>But the most exciting result of understanding the blessing of salvation is the desire to share what they have received to others.<span style=""> </span>They understand how precious the gift is and so, they want others to also have it.<span style=""> </span>They know how tragic the experience will be for others if they will not know of the Savior.<span style=""> </span>And so, they swallow their pride and fear and deliver the message to anyone that needs it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style=""> </span>I’ve seen this result several times in Christians.<span style=""> </span>In our ministry, we were witnesses to how a college girl, a month after her conversion, committed herself to active participation in our regular street evangelism session.<span style=""> </span>In our church, a new convert father right away organized an event in his home so that he can invite his friends and relatives so that they can hear the preaching of the Gospel.<span style=""> </span>This same guy also joins our church’s street evangelism sessions where we give out Gospel tracts.<span style=""> </span>One couple I personally know, for their 15<sup>th</sup> wedding anniversary, instead of organizing a get-together with family and friends, chose to give out tracts in a crowded mall.<span style=""> </span>What a way to honor God in their marriage!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style=""> </span>To sum up the effect of understanding what a big blessing salvation is, I can’t find a better word for “selflessness”.<span style=""> </span>Yes, someone who is overflowing with gratitude to God for his unmerited favor becomes selfless.<span style=""> </span>It is natural for him to forget himself in God’s favor.<span style=""> </span>He understands very well that the price for his forgiveness was God’s own life-blood.<span style=""> </span>Oh, he knows how truly amazing God’s grace to him was!<span style=""> </span>He does not look at God as unfair for his demand that he be a partaker of His sufferings and for him to take up his own cross and follow Him.<span style=""> </span>He sees it a privilege to die for Him!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style=""> </span>The experience is captured in a story of a young Englishman miner in the 1800s who, after a successful search for gold in California, made a stop at New Orleans where he witnessed slaves being sold.<span style=""> </span>Below is the full story:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><i style="">The Englishman was surprised with the auction that was taking place for the slave trade had been outlawed already for years at England. </i><span style=""> </span><i style="">As he drew close to the crowd, he saw that the next to be auctioned was a beautiful young black girl who was made to walk around so everyone could see her.<span style=""> </span>The miner heard vile jokes and comments that spoke of evil intentions from those around him.<span style=""> </span>When the bidding began, bids quickly surpassed what most slave owners would pay.<span style=""> </span>As bids went higher and higher, two men apparently really wanted her.<span style=""> </span>They were outbidding each other while laughing at the jokes and comments of evil intentions each of them made.<span style=""> </span>The miner stood silent and angry all throughout these.<span style=""> </span>Then one made a bid too high for the other to outbid.<span style=""> </span>The poor girl looked down.<span style=""> </span>The auctioneer called out, “Going once! Going twice!”<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><i style="">Just before the final call, the miner yelled out a price that was exactly twice the previous bid.<span style=""> </span>An amount that exceeded the worth of any man.<span style=""> </span>The crowd laughed thinking that the bid was a joke.<span style=""> </span>The auctioneer motioned to the miner to show him his money.<span style=""> </span>The miner opened his bag of gold.<span style=""> </span>The auctioneer shook his head in disbelief and waved the girl to him.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><i style="">When the girl was eye-to-eye with the miner, she spat straight to his face and said, “I hate you!’<span style=""> </span>The miner, without a word, wiped his face, paid the auctioneer, took the girl by the hand and walked away the still laughing crowd.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><i style="">He seemed to be looking for something when they walked up one street and down another.<span style=""> </span>Finally, he stopped in front of some sort of a store.<span style=""> </span>The girl waited outside as the dirty faced miner walked inside and talked to an elderly man.<span style=""> </span>The girl couldn’t make out what they were talking about.<span style=""> </span>At one point, the voice got louder and she heard the store clerk say, “But it’s the law! It’s the law!”<span style=""> </span>Peering in, she saw the miner pull out his bag of gold and pour what was left of it on the table.<span style=""> </span>With what seemed a look of disgust, the clerk picked up the gold and went inside a back room.<span style=""> </span>He came out with a piece of paper which the miner signed.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><i style="">When the miner came out of the store, he stretched out his hand to the girl and said, “Here are your manu-mission papers.<span style=""> </span>You are free.”<span style=""> </span>The girl did not look up.<span style=""> </span>He tried again.<span style=""> </span>“Here.<span style=""> </span>These are the papers that say you are free.<span style=""> </span>Take them.”<span style=""> </span>“I hate you!” the girl said, refusing to look up. “Why do you make fun of me?”<span style=""> </span>“No, listen,” he pleaded.<span style=""> </span>“These are your freedom papers.<span style=""> </span>You are a free person.”<span style=""> </span>The girl looked at the papers, then looked at him, and looked at the papers once again.<span style=""> </span>“You just bought me… and now you’re setting me free?”<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p face="verdana" class="MsoNormal"><i style="">“That’s why I bought you.<span style=""> </span>I bought you to set you free.”<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><i style="">The beautiful young girl fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face.<span style=""> </span>“You bought me so you can set me free!” she said over and over.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Clutching the miner’s heavy boots, the girl looked up at the miner and said, “All I want to do is to serve you- because you bought me to set me free!”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span>
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<br /><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-30679694381426692682009-07-15T14:02:00.005+08:002009-07-15T14:26:10.954+08:00Shielding our children from the atheistic belief<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_71i0O3hxchws_RZOZHG75_a_OW86gk9n5lQ0t6Mc7dyC5nykEn0Bbm_avmz37mbTm3vuWDlQC8OrHCg725EHcMFnYGTt2-c8lFH-X0xw0nnQBTdN_RXVrBbeow9bb_zMZzogZCBX3HsY/s1600-h/2007-oct-21-vampire-atheist.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_71i0O3hxchws_RZOZHG75_a_OW86gk9n5lQ0t6Mc7dyC5nykEn0Bbm_avmz37mbTm3vuWDlQC8OrHCg725EHcMFnYGTt2-c8lFH-X0xw0nnQBTdN_RXVrBbeow9bb_zMZzogZCBX3HsY/s320/2007-oct-21-vampire-atheist.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358563638044793138" border="0" 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</w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times 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Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]-->It is no secret that atheists (people that do not believe in the existence of God) have grown in number in the recent years.<span style=""> </span>More and more atheists are becoming very brave in declaring in public their unfounded belief just so they can convince others to likewise deny God’s existence.<span style=""> </span>What seem to be “harmless” movies for children (e.g., Land Before Time), unknown to their parents, so masterfully disguise a strong suggestion to children that “probably, there is no God that made this world.”<span style=""> </span>Centers for learning have included subjects and courses that clearly attempt to convince young minds that the Bible’s Creation account is just a product of creative thinking.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">
<br /><o:p></o:p>This is so dangerous, especially to our children!<span style=""> </span>Our desire is that we be able to lead our children to Christ.<span style=""> </span>All of you who are faithful in sharing the Gospel know that this is already so difficult, even if the person you are witnessing to believes in God’s existence.<span style=""> </span>If our children grow up not believing that God does exist, the work will be doubled… you have to first convince them that their belief is wrong before you can start showing their state before a just and holy God and their need for His forgiveness.<span style=""> </span>And so, how do we shield our children from the atheist belief?<o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">
<br /><o:p></o:p>The work should start at our homes.<span style=""> </span>Is God a prominent figure in our homes?<span style=""> </span>He should because if not, unknowingly, we are helping our children grow to be atheists.<span style=""> </span>Our children should see us recognizing God as the source of everything that we have.<span style=""> </span>Be sure that you show them that you entrust the whole day to God at the start of the day.<span style=""> </span>Be sure that you give God a prayer of “thanks” before every meal.<span style=""> </span>Be sure that your children see you praising God for His guidance throughout the day before you retire to your bed.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">
<br /><o:p></o:p>It is also obvious that we should screen what our children watch in the television and what they read in children’s books.<span style=""> </span>To be safe, just give them books that talk of stories from the Bible.<span style=""> </span>There are a lot of those in bookstores.<span style=""> </span>There is also an array of animated movies of Bible stories available in Christian bookstores and online (go to Christianmovies.com).<span style=""> </span>Of course, don’t forget to bring them to church every Sunday and have them attend Sunday school classes.<o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">
<br /><o:p></o:p>Very crucial to the goal of shielding our children from the atheistic view is our choice of the school they go to.<span style=""> </span>Most schools in the Philippines do not really screen if their science books suggest that evolution is a fact.<span style=""> </span>Because of this, I strongly suggest that you enroll your children in Christian schools.<span style=""> </span>But still, don’t be too sure that your child is already safe just because you’ve enrolled them in a Christian school.<span style=""> </span>Make a request to see the books (especially the science text books) your child will be using just in case the school overlooked atheistic suggestions in their books.<o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">
<br /><o:p></o:p>I praise the Lord very much because Living Waters Asia has an affiliation with Children For Christ Ministry (CFCM). <span style=""> </span>They are a group that goes to public schools here in the Bulacan area distributing Christian literatures for children and conduct short classes that talk about God.<span style=""> </span>I believe that this group has such a big role in leading these children to Christ.<span style=""> </span>Maybe not all of the children respond right away to the call for them to get right with God from the classes CFCM conducts and the literature they give out.<span style=""> </span>But the mere fact that they have introduced God’s existence early in these children lives makes it easier for some Christian in the future to preach the Gospel to them. <span style=""> </span>(If you want to support CFCM, email them at <a href="mailto:CFCM@livingwaters-asia.com">CFCM@livingwaters-asia.com</a>)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">
<br /><o:p></o:p>Satan is really busy in deceiving as many people as he can for he knows pretty well that his time is almost up.<span style=""> </span>He is merciless as he wants even our children to be with him in Hell someday.<span style=""> </span>Let us not allow it.<span style=""> </span>Let’s be sure that God is as real as possible to our children so that when we show them that they are not fit to be with Him in Heaven someday because of their sins, they will readily respond to the Gospel with true repentance and faith on Jesus Christ.</p>
<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">
<br /></span></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-35736932832951227722009-06-16T09:52:00.002+08:002009-06-16T10:02:58.900+08:00QUANTITY does not mean QUALITY<meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CLIVING%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CLIVING%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CLIVING%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> 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mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"> After a person gets saved, maturity in the Christian walk should be his next natural desire.<span style=""> </span>This is where a regular time reading the Bible will come in really handy.<span style=""> </span>The church should be the main body encouraging Christians to have seriousness in Bible-reading.<span style=""> </span>It should help them in understanding what the Scriptures is saying if it wants them to turn out to be “quality Christians”.<span style=""> </span>And so, it is essential that the Church creates programs that will lead to this.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Once I was asked if it is also important that the Church focuses on achieving quantity along the efforts of developing quality Christians.<span style=""> </span>My answer is simple.<span style=""> </span>If what you mean about quantity is the need for Christians to go out and share the Gospel so that souls will be added to the Church, my answer is definitely “Yes”.<span style=""> </span>But if what you’re talking about is, plain and simple, adding people to the roster that we will declare as members of our congregation that were talked into joining the weekly worship services even through non-biblical means, my answer is a big “NO”.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>First of all, we should be reminded of a basic truth from the Gospel--- no one can be saved by church membership.<span style=""> </span>And so, why will we engage in creating quantity in the church through gimmicks if the people we manage to bring in to our local churches will still end up in Hell when they die?<span style=""> </span>This has been a sad scene in our present time… people being nurtured in mega churches and they don’t have the slightest clue that they will still be residents of Hell someday!<span style=""> </span>These churches rarely talk about sin and God’s distastes of it but instead, talk at length about things that tickle the ears of people (2 Tim. 4:3-4), even if the talk is more pop-psychology than Scriptural.<span style=""> </span>There are members of these churches that still go to places that they shouldn’t go to, look at things that their eyes should be close to, do things that are so unlikely of biblical-Christians, etc.<span style=""> </span>Their pastors don’t tell them that these are wrong because of fear of offending them which may lead to their exodus from their congregation.<span style=""> </span>The goal is to make people stay as long as they can in the church, and not anymore helping them see their true standing before a just and holy God so that they will repent and put their trust on Jesus for their salvation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Another thing we must remember is that if we do things our way and not God’s way, He is not pleased with whatever results we bring.<span style=""> </span>Jesus never embraced gimmicks when he was here.<span style=""> </span>He always operated along the principle of “Law to the proud and Grace to the humble.”<span style=""> </span>It is only after a person realizes his failure to reach God’s standard of what is “good” that Jesus gave grace.<span style=""> </span>The disciples and Paul followed Jesus’ footsteps and so God was for sure pleased with them.<span style=""> </span>Jesus knew that gimmicks do not turn in converts, but the preaching of sin, righteousness and judgment.<span style=""> </span>And so, if Jesus did not do it that way, why should we?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>I told the person that asked me the question that we must always focus on quality, and never on quantity.<span style=""> </span>The reason?<span style=""> </span>Because if quality is achieved, quantity will naturally come.<span style=""> </span>Why?<span style=""> </span>Because a Christian that has been nurtured well (has quality in his Christian walk) knows that it is his duty to tell others of the true gospel.<span style=""> </span>He does it Jesus’ way and so the Holy Spirit works in his evangelism efforts, resulting to souls being added to God’s family.<span style=""> </span>One reason why churches engage in gimmicks is because the members of theses churches lack the quality needed to push themselves to share the Gospel to people.<span style=""> </span>But find me a church that truly (in the biblical sense) cares for the growth of its members and I can guarantee you that it’s a soul-winning church and therefore, is growing in number. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We should be reminded that the first step in developing quality Christians is to preach a biblical Gospel message, one that clearly shows the need for a person to repent of his sins before he comes to Christ for help.<span style=""> </span>Repentance is an understanding that sin has strained our relationship with God and so we make a conscious decision to forsake it which will result to a change in lifestyle, from a sinful one to a God-honoring life.<span style=""> </span>Using the Law makes a person understand the importance of repentance as well as makes it a natural response to the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.<span style=""> </span>The Law makes sin abound but helps makes Grace abound more (Rom. 5:20).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>It will definitely be a big source of joy to someday see our churches filled with true worshippers up to the rafters.<span style=""> </span>But let’s not confuse the increase of people in our churches as a sign of God moving in our gimmicks.<span style=""> </span>Let’s achieve quantity God’s way.<span style=""> </span>Let’s achieve quantity by first developing quality in people who have already been called to the family of God.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-87660702627145061192009-05-16T19:56:00.004+08:002009-05-16T20:04:56.181+08:00When we fail to see the urgency<div style="text-align: center;"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CLIVING%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" 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mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">When we fail to see the urgency,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Of man’s need for God’s mercy<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Oh, what suffering awaits him in eternity,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">All because of our insensitivity.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center">
<br /><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style=""><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Preoccupied with what Solomon calls vanities,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">We move through life not minding<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">The souls that daily trod to an eternity<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Of unspeakable pain and agony.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center">
<br /><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style=""><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">We tell ourselves, “There’ll be a tomorrow,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">When I can tell them of the Savior.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">And so today, I’ll keep myself busy<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Of things that matter most to me.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center">
<br /><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style=""><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Sometimes we say, “It’s just not my gift<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">To eloquently talk of Jesus’ story.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">To sing praises and give, that I can do!<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">But to witness? I’m sorry, that I can’t do.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center">
<br /><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style=""><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">And still there are those that make the assertion<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">That we really don’t need to make any action<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">For the Holy Spirit is so powerful<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">To convict souls though we snub the Great Commission’s call.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center">
<br /><i style=""> <o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style=""><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Can’t we see how great our responsibility,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">So that man can avoid a Hell-ish eternity?<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">We are God’s lips to bring man the Good News---<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">“Jesus has paid the price and it was the cross He used.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center">
<br /><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style=""><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">But until we embrace our earthly duty<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Souls will continue to march to Hell unknowingly.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Right now, billions are screaming in suffering so helplessly<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style="">Simply because we forgot our responsibility.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center">
<br /><i style=""> <o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><i style=""><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><i style=""><o:p><span style="font-size:85%;">(A poem by Dennis Mark Y. Aglosolos)</span>
<br /></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">If you want to give your comments to this month's article, send us an email at</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center">
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<br /></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-43407262492075197242009-03-16T10:31:00.004+08:002009-03-16T20:19:02.235+08:00Rich Christians... better witnesses?<div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday, I was listening to a pastor/businessman talk about his ministry and how he claims that God has blessed his business because of his involvement in the ministry. Together with me in the conversation was a man who had been struggling financially for several years who could not seem to decide if he wants to serve the Lord or concentrate in chasing his goals of professional success. The pastor/businessman said something that really made unbearable a headache I've already been experiencing during the day. He said something to this effect, "How can wealthy and powerful people listen to me preach about the Gospel if I am a 'nobody' by their standards? If they will not see that my God is able to bless in a tremendous way, they will not listen to me." He also believed that the line from the Lord's Prayer that said, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Thy kingdom come, thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven"</span> means that what God intends to give us in Heaven (e.g., a comfortable life, wealth untold) He also intends to give here on Earth.<br /><br />First of all, when you witness to an unsaved, the issue is not about his happiness but of his need for Jesus' righteousness to be placed on him. If my message is that God intends to give you things you want in life that's why you need Him to be in your life, then I need to be a wealthy soul-winning Christian. And if I will be witnessing to people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, I must be sure that I've amassed wealth more than what they have before I go to them. But because the real message is that man, with all of his sins, have failed to reach God's required standards for him to be fit for Heaven, and that only Jesus' sacrifice can both erase the penalties of our sins and give us the perfection that Heaven demands, I need not be the person that prosperity preachers demand I be. Here's one BIG truth--- if we will be biblical with our Gospel message, everyone, and I mean every person living in this world (rich and poor, powerful and powerless) will need to listen to us, even if we are the poorest person on the face of this earth.<br /><br />Secondly, to say that God's will is that we start experiencing on Earth what He plans to give us in Heaven is clearly an assertion without biblical basis. Jesus' promise to His disciples was tribulations (John 16:33). He stated a very scary life--- that we will be <span style="font-style: italic;">"lambs among wolves" </span>(Luke 10:3). I don't believe that this will be our experience in Heaven. This statement also tells us that we can have a taste of Heaven on Earth. This makes Heaven unexciting for us when the truth is <span style="font-style: italic;">"Eye hath not seen, nor</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him"</span> (1 Cor. 2:9) and that <span style="font-style: italic;">"the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.." </span>(Rom. 8:18).<br /><br />Thirdly, the pastor/businessman's statement brings to the heart of Christians a wrong motive for serving the Lord. Remember the person with me who has been struggling financially for years? He got really excited in serving the Lord for he now expects that all of his financial woes will be turned around once he starts with it. Service to the Lord must be done out of gratitude for the salvation He gave us which, in the first place, we don't deserve. That's what happened with the disciples and the apostle Paul. Their gratitude moved them to spend their lives in serving the Lord, even to the point of death. I always ask this question to people, "If obedience and faithful service to our Lord yields material blessings, then why were the disciples and the apostle Paul not rich people considering that none among us now can probably match their obedience and faithful service to our Lord?" Think about that, please, especially YOU who preach a prosperity message.<br /><br />Now, am I saying that God does not bless materially? My answer is, He may, if He chooses to. We should understand that God's blessings to man will depend on what He sees man needs the most. If He feels that what we need more is peace of mind, then that is what He'll give you. If He thinks that what we need is to be more patient, then patience is what He'll give us . And if He feels that the blessing you need is material, He'll definitely give that to you. What I am saying is that material blessings are NOT "automatic" when you obey Him. I know a lot of faithful Christians who are not that financially blessed compared to less faithful Christians, but I believe are blessed with other things which are far more better than any financial blessing. Is it God's will that ALL of us be rich? My answer is a big "NO". His will is that all of us receive the fruits of the Spirit.<br /><br />It saddens me to think that because of the prosperity message, people are given a wrong reason for coming to God for salvation. Church attendees of churches with preachers that preach this distorted message are probably false converts. All the while, because these church-goers were made to believe that all they needed to do to get to Heaven and receive the blessings untold from God here on Earth is a simple prayer, they think that when they die, they'll be allowed entrance right away to Heaven when the truth is, they'll never even get near the gate. This places a big responsibility to us who have understood the real issue. Let's convince them to go back to the biblical message before they create another false convert who will unknowingly make a smiling walk to Hell.<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></div><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-43442825025977604452009-02-14T17:09:00.009+08:002009-02-16T20:24:50.673+08:00What's absent in a non-witnessing Christian?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9I68RyHmYYr_CymfbZpdeeO3ymGv-bxJuh9h2l-1BxviJ6bsdGcECn7kEsfIwVdoca10v5X_KRBxSzlxbBoM_jyem3EP50ggnY5HiqUvfSzaYaz-PNhgHhUU42LSphjQ-oEvL0zsGQD3c/s1600-h/Share.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9I68RyHmYYr_CymfbZpdeeO3ymGv-bxJuh9h2l-1BxviJ6bsdGcECn7kEsfIwVdoca10v5X_KRBxSzlxbBoM_jyem3EP50ggnY5HiqUvfSzaYaz-PNhgHhUU42LSphjQ-oEvL0zsGQD3c/s200/Share.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303370071440582658" border="0" /></a>There is no argument among Christians that the Gospel is so important that we must share it to everyone. No Christian will ever dare say that witnessing is a waste of time. They know that evangelism is the closest thing to the heart of God.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />A member of the Star Youth Ministries once told me of a group of young Christians who are in the music ministry of their church that led the praise and worship of a youth gathering that supposed to commence in a street evangelism session. These guys really appeared so spiritual while they sang songs. They were raising their hands and declaring in their songs their commitment to follow God even to the ends of the earth. They even sang several songs with evangelism theme. After the program, the host of the event announced that every one should start getting ready to go out in the streets to share the Gospel. Instead of heeding the call of the host, a majority of the attendees started heading to their homes and never even bothered to get a few copies of Gospel tracts. The Star Youth Ministries member who saw what most did approached the singers who were, at this time, likewise appeared to have no plans of joining the few people that decided to join the street evangelism program. This SYM member asked the singers, "Are you not gonna join us in distributing tracts and doing one-to-one witnessing with people in the surrounding streets?" The musicians answered, "Oh, we need to guard our musical instruments so we'll be staying in the venue. Besides, we've already had our part in serving the Lord today." These musicians received a mouthful of rebuke from our faithful SYM member after that answer. But, they still did not bother to leave the things more precious to them than pleasing our Lord... their musical instruments.<br /><br />So you maybe be asking, "Why are there some Christians who seem to be not bothered with his/her non-involvement in evangelism?" Or a better question to ask is, "What's absent in a non-witnessing Christian?"<br /><br />The answer is GRATITUDE. We all know how gratitude can direct a person's actions. A deep level of gratitude can make the most principled of persons to abandon his long-held life's philosophies in favor of the person to which the gratitude is directed to. In extreme cases, a person may even allow himself to be manipulated by another all because of gratitude. If a true Christian will only be filled with gratitude for the salvation he so not deserve, he will go to lengths in pursuit of the joy of his Savior. If only every Christian will remember and fully understand that he/she has been <span style="font-style: italic;">"bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20)"</span> we will have a world convinced of the power of God to change lives from evil to holiness. No people on this world will anymore claim to have not been reached by the Gospel for Christians will rush to go to them wherever they may be.<br /><br />Gratitude, which is translated to LOVE, is the very thing that moves any Christian to submission to God. What do you think caused the disciples to give their lives to the caused of the Gospel? Why do you think John continued on to heed the Great Commission even in his old age in the midst of the persecution of people who are against the message he preaches? It's GRATITUDE! John saw Jesus hanging on the cross, slowly dying in pain, which he understood was for him. He knew that if it was not Jesus, it would have been him paying for his own sins. And so, with deep gratitude, love and submission were developed do a degree that turned this world upside-down. Their gratitude to God, with only a few years after Jesus' crucifixion, made Christianity a big threat to the more established religions of the time. Why is Christianity not anymore a significant force as it should be in our present time? It's because Christians have lost their gratitude to our Savior.<br /><br />What is the emotional experience that would lead to the development of gratitude? The answer is SHAME. Shame that both us and Jesus got what we don't deserve... He suffered punishment when He never committed any sin and we got God's grace when what we deserve was what Jesus got. 2 Cor. 5:21 tells us that <span style="font-style: italic;">"...he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him"</span>. If only all of us would fully understand the content of this verse, we will not be able to look to heaven anymore. That's shame. The message of the cross is, as what Paul Washer said in one of his sermons, <span style="font-style: italic;">very shameful</span>. It shames us by making us realize three things: (1) First, by proving to us that we are not good persons <span style="font-style: italic;">(R</span><span style="font-style: italic;">om. 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness"</span><span style="font-style: italic;">.)</span>; (2) Secondly, by showing us how much we were unable to reach the righteousness of God (<span style="font-style: italic;">Romans 1:17 "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith..."</span>); (3) Lastly, by showing us that despite our efforts to be good, we still are going to Hell. But despite these things, God still demonstrated His love to us when while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8), despite us unable to do anything to appease His wrath.<br /><br />Several times, I have pleaded to people listening to me preach to internalize the sufferings that Jesus went through so that the penalties of our sins will have payment. I'm confident that if they will be able to do that, they will be able to deepen their love for God. Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength will be very natural if we will only have the picture of the cross posted in our minds in all of the twenty-four hours of the day. We should, from time to time, imagine the pain of the lashes Jesus endured, the crown of thorns, the long walk to Calvary while carrying a heavy wooden cross, the nails as it pierced his hands and feet, the long hours on the cross, the thirst, the people that mocked Him, and most of all, the absence of the Father's fellowship in all of these experiences. How painful it was for Him to think that the Father was consenting to all of the sufferings he endured so that justice for all of our offenses would be finally served (Isaiah 53:10 <span style="font-style: italic;">"Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief..."</span>). Jesus experienced the raw end of the Father's hard stick of justice which we should have received ourselves. That's so shameful! If these truth can't bring us to the point of surrender to God, I really don't know anymore what will.<br /><br />So what caused the lost of gratitude among those that call themselves "Christians"? <span style="font-style: italic;">The preachers of the modern gospel message.</span> The self-enhancing message they deliver does not explain our very significant part for the sufferings Jesus went through. All they declare is that "Jesus loves you and so He has a wonderful plan for you". We will never fully appreciate the cross until we understand that it was our selfishness that brought Jesus there. Oh, the Scriptures is so clear about this. Romans 5:20 says this... <span style="font-style: italic;">"Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." </span> God's grace can only be truly appreciated if our sins would be magnified by testing ourselves against His standards... His Law. Modern gospel preachers have deliberately erased the Law in their message so that they could gain the approval of the people that listen to them.<br /><br />A British friend a few weeks ago visited me. We talked about each of the evangelism work that we are involved with. I thought that I have had so many discouraging moments in the ministry that would have made quitting understandable. But as we talked, I realized that he had more. In my mind, I was asking, "So why is he still in the ministry?". I got my answer when he prayed. He said, "Lord, thank you for helping us in the ministries we are part of that aim to bring souls to you. We know you promised us crowns for this when we someday get to your kingdom. Lord, we will only give them back to you for you have already given us more than what we deserve." He has continued on sharing the Gospel because of his deep gratitude and shame for the love that God was able to give him when Jesus died on the cross to pay for his sins.<br /><br />The road to the cross was unimaginably difficult for Jesus. But He went through with it anyway just so we can evade sure punishment for our sins in Hell. We should be moved by gratitude to tell the world about how we have offended God with our sins and what God did for us at the cross despite our selfishness. You have a big reason to be grateful to God, I hope you understand that.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">To send your comments for this article, send us an email at</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span><br /><br /><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script></div></div><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-54190303147940535422009-01-15T18:50:00.010+08:002009-01-17T07:36:54.531+08:00Atheists in the Philippines<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmA94QDYaHyWspQu5rAFPGr8qlmgyd5_4acGRb7MMa0hyphenhyphenHcAJP0tevNmSDXExUE6_q1lYi3e_zVJL1dKdrCs4w_2UhbgRH665cRSxX39Mcv9rJ18n9JoQEQsqJetY4GMYcOhlW_xUfYeKQ/s1600-h/0882709224.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmA94QDYaHyWspQu5rAFPGr8qlmgyd5_4acGRb7MMa0hyphenhyphenHcAJP0tevNmSDXExUE6_q1lYi3e_zVJL1dKdrCs4w_2UhbgRH665cRSxX39Mcv9rJ18n9JoQEQsqJetY4GMYcOhlW_xUfYeKQ/s200/0882709224.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291472103840433010" border="0" /></a>The Philippines is called the only Christian country in Asia, although this is because a big majority of Filipinos are members of the Roman Catholic church and not because they have repented of their sins and have placed their trust on Jesus Christ. But even if most Filipinos have embraced Catholicism, you can expect that there will be very few atheists in the Philippine society as Catholics also believe in God. So whenever a Christian would share the gospel to a stranger here in the Philippines, stumbling across an atheist is most of the time, the least of his concerns.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">When I committed myself actively to the ministry of evangelism about three years ago, it took months of regular witnessing sessions before I faced my first ever atheist. Three years after, the chance of me unknowingly already witnessing to an atheist has been happening more often. I've seen how this group that blatantly deny the existence of the Creator have grown in just three years. This is a very sad news for a country that has boasted itself as <span style="font-style: italic;">"the pearl of the orient seas".</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The main culprit for the increase in the number of atheists in the country from my conversations with several of them is the educational sector. Colleges and universities here in the country, when it comes to General Education subject, Philosophy, take two roads... a philosophy that acknowledges the existence of God, and a philosophy that denies the fact of a Supreme Creator. The biggest State-ran university in the Philippines where most college-bound Filipino dreams of attending, for most of their Philosophy professors, takes the dangerous second road. <img src="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/FCK/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/wedding/atheists.jpg" alt="" /> I also know that even in Catholic universities, there are also a few Philosophy professors that subscribe to the No-God road that are brainwashing their students towards this big lie. One time, I preached in the open-air to about twenty atheist students. I asked them where they got their belief. They told me that it was the administrator of their college that influenced them to be atheists. I believe this is one big reason why we, as parents, must have a hand in choosing which school our children will be a part of.<br /><br />There are also a few Filipino atheists that subscribe to this school of thought that were not influenced by the educational institutions, but instead, came to the conclusion that there is no God because of the things they see around them. They can't seem to understand why a powerful and loving God could allow evil and sufferings to happen. And so, if these things are prominent in our world (evil and sufferings), then there must be no God for if He does exists, He will, for sure, not let these things happen. Atheists like this failed to understand that we, ourselves, allowed evil and sufferings in this world when we allowed sin to rule our lives. They forgot that the original world that God gave us was perfect, void of evil and sufferings. It was sin that cursed our world. Let these atheists go through the mirror of the Law and they'll understand why all of these things are happening.<br /><br />I have witnessed to one such person in the past. She was sexually harassed by his stepfather and could not understand why God, if He was truly out there, could allow that to happen to her. While spending the whole day in a park crying and questioning God why He allowed what happened to her, she just made the decision not to believe in God's existence anymore. I explained to her the role of sin in this and her part in making the world more sinful using the mirror of the Law. After that, I spoke about what Jesus did to rescue us from the bondage of sin and what she must do to receive His gift of salvation. This teenage girl was in tears when she left my office after deciding to again believe in God and get right with Him through repentance and faith. A few weeks later, she visited me and told me how she has been reading her Bible and how God has been making her realize so many things through His Word. <br /><br />The fact that atheists in the Philippines has been increasing in number should not scare us away from sharing the gospel just because we're afraid that we might cross paths with them and be engaged in a heated debate about the existence of God. One reason is because we are sure about the truth (that there is a Creator). Secondly, this Creator is with us during these witnessing encounters. Another reason is because, from my comparison with the witnessing encounters with atheists that Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron show in the Way of the Master TV show and my own encounters with several atheists, I've observed that Filipino atheists are still not yet well-versed when it comes to arguments used by atheists in the West. Most Filipino atheists don't even have a firm grasp of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection and the Big Bang Theory. Yes, there are also some atheists there who can overwhelm you with the scientific jargon that they use in defending their belief, but believe me, there are so few of them. You just need to know what they mean when they use their terminologies and you'll be okay. But for most Filipino atheists, we can easily understand what they're saying and answer each of their arguments clearly in defense of their stand. I once asked an atheist I was witnessing to why he can't believe that a building just appeared without a builder, but he can't accept that all of creation has a Creator. He answered me with this... <span style="font-style: italic;">"I'm sure that there's an answer to that. I just don't know it yet."<br /><br /></span>To explain why they can't place their faith on Jesus Christ, an atheist told me that the Bible was silent about Jesus' life from age 13 to age 30 which maybe a time when He learned some black magic to explain His miracles, making the fundamental Christian belief that He is God a big hoax. I answered him with another question.. <span style="font-style: italic;">"Why do you believe in Jose Rizal (the national hero of the Philippines) when not all about his life was chronicled in books?" </span>I then explained that the Bible only wrote what was significant in Jesus' life here on earth. Jesus 'ministry years was only in His last three years on earth, and so, the Bible focused more on the events of these years. The same goes with biographies about Jose Rizal.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;">We should also remember that in witnessing to anyone, not just with atheists, our goal is to bring the discussion to the realm of the conscience. We should only spend a few minutes in the realm of the intellect. We will only be there to engage the person in a conversation. As soon as the person gets comfortable talking to us, we should right away deliberately shift to the spiritual by asking the person, <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"Do you think you're a good person?" </span></span>Then have them face the mirror of the Law which will later make Jesus' sacrifice at the cross of Calvary make sense for the person. Staying too long in the intellect may only remove the chance of talking about sin, righteousness and judgment, and may only leave both of you bitter with each other. Your purpose for talking to the person will be left unattained if you stay too long in the intellect.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></span>The reality of atheists increasing in number in the Philippines should make us work double time in sharing the gospel. They can be as passionate as you convincing people to get right with God in convincing others to be atheists as well. Before they get to them, let's get to them first. Before they go to their next prospect, let's convince them (the atheists) that their belief has no basis compared to ours that has the whole of creation as proof. In the school that I help manage, I've made it my goal to give the proofs about the existence of God to our students. In my articles in the school's paper, I've written about atheists' arguments against the existence of God and explained why each of them are wrong and illogical. Before that, I've written proofs about the Bible as the divine Word of God using science and history. The prospect is scary if these students get influenced someday by intellectuals to their atheistic beliefs in the colleges they will choose to enroll in. Before that happens, I'm doing my part in establishing in them a rock-solid foundation to a theistic belief. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span>The truth is that every non-believer has an atheistic mentality within him/her even if he/she believes the existence of God. Why? Because they engage in sin as if there is no God who will someday judge them. Both the atheist and the non-atheist will experience the wrath of God one day if they will not repent of their sins and trust in the saving-grace of Jesus Christ. Their salvation is our duty, us who have already proven He exists because after we got right with Him (by repentance and faith on Jesus), we embraced His commandments (John 14:21). Unless we do something (like swallow our fears), these people will continue to unknowingly line themselves to the mouth of Hell. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />(To learn more on how to witness to atheists, please get a hold of the Intermediate Training Course and the book by Ray Comfort with the title "God doesn't believe in atheists" available at our online store.)<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">To send your comments for this article, send us an email at</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com<br /><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-50736185723573176342008-12-14T19:56:00.008+08:002008-12-20T21:51:36.416+08:00The forgotten reason for Christmas<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd79deyP9HAitsFoUCpHGOBXgzfSdp-bjQaef2MbhsX4TqmQxuFmU3ZQ-WCGYZuZylUl_tIOrc_ia4dd7WxJDTXggp65JVtczI-OqpBMB4dfT_HeVewWq3JTkTfXORUprPC-ObkwXKvdm1/s1600-h/3+wise+men2.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd79deyP9HAitsFoUCpHGOBXgzfSdp-bjQaef2MbhsX4TqmQxuFmU3ZQ-WCGYZuZylUl_tIOrc_ia4dd7WxJDTXggp65JVtczI-OqpBMB4dfT_HeVewWq3JTkTfXORUprPC-ObkwXKvdm1/s200/3+wise+men2.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279996221766816722" border="0" /></a>Before writing this article, I tried looking for images about Christmas via Yahoo. The browser was set to show twenty pictures per page. What happened next really disturbed me. Page after page showed pictures that really have no relations to why Christmas day happened. The first picture that had any relation with the real Christmas message (a nativity scene) came out after 563 pictures. Most of the pictures showed Christmas trees, gifts, Santa Claus, holiday lights, the Christmas eve dinner, men and women half naked but with Santa Claus hats on, etc. Even Homer Simpson had more pictures than Jesus being born in a manger when you search for Christmas pictures in the internet. I stopped after finding one and never dared anymore to try searching for Christmas pictures via Google.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />It's so sad how the present age has commercialized Christmas. It's now all about gifts and having fun during the holidays. The glorious event where God miraculously sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, into the world through a virgin so that He can save man from his sure punishment in Hell has been downgraded to "chestnuts roasting on an open fire; Jackfrost nipping at your nose", and about "a white Christmas". Definitely, Satan had something to do with this. And you have to hand it to him. He did a great job. Imagine, an event that's suppose to crush the hearts of sinners, with Satan's devises, have made them so comfortable with it. Watch TV broadcasts of public Christmas celebrations and you see people without any Christian affiliations joining, and even leading these Christmas events. Popular music icons and movie stars that encourage hate and immorality are present. Porn stars take a significant part of the celebrations. Corrupt politicians and businessmen fund these Christmas events. Even atheists are joining these celebrations. Why are these people so comfortable in these Christmas events? Simply because Christ is not anymore the central figure of the season. All they know is that "'tis the season to be jolly".<br /><br />People have become so self-centered when it comes to Christmas. All they care about is the gifts they expect to receive and the fun they'll have during the holidays. They've forgotten that Christmas day is the start of the show of the greatest selfless act ever known in history. Yes, the angels sang when Jesus was born, but only because they knew that it was through Jesus that the Father will finally be able to achieve justice for all of the offenses we have made against His Laws. The star that pointed the Three Wise Men to the newly born Saviour thirty-three years after was replaced by the cross that declared "Justice has been served". Christmas day opened the door of opportunity for the Father to unleash all of His anger on sin as carried by Jesus, His one and only Son. Yes, it pleased the Father to bruise Jesus thirty-three years after (Isaiah 53:10). Christmas had a sad part with it... the suffering that Jesus went through for us. So why are people very preoccupied about receiving gifts on Christmas day when the focus should be surrendering our lives to God on this glorious day, right?<br /><br />The modern Gospel message is also, again, a culprit why man has forgotten the reason for Christmas. Modern-day preachers have focused on the love that God has for mankind when He sent his only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). They've intentionally failed to discuss that it was because of God's need for justice that He sent Jesus into this world. They've left out the part about our sins that made God sacrifice Jesus (His love) so that we won't go to Hell. Preachers today are not anymore shouting "Repentance". Instead, they are telling people "God loves you, just as you are". This is totally untrue for we will only be qualified to receive God's love (Jesus' sacrifice) if we will be willing to turn away from our sins. Any message that does not bring with it a heavy emphasis on the need to repent from the sins we so love to indulge in is NOT the true Gospel message.<br /><br />As Christians, we should treat this season as a great opportunity to share the real reason for Christmas. We should make it our goal to stop man from forgetting the true message of Christmas. They're all out there, making last minute Christmas shopping. Meet them in the malls and give them Gospel tracts, or better yet, engage them in a short conversation for you to share to them the Gospel. My wife and I recently did this at a nearby mall that just opened in our town. We were so surprised that because of the many people that trooped the mall for Christmas shopping, our three bundles of Gospel tracts were easily distributed within ten minutes. Instead of using up all of your Christmas bonuses on buying material things, why not set aside a portion to buy good Gospel tracts to be inserted inside Christmas cards you will be sending to people (we have lots of them at our online store). You can also organize a group and pay for the expenses of bringing them to a busy place (like malls, parks, bazzars, etc.) to share the Gospel to people roaming around the place. It is only through this that we can make people honor the life-changing message of Christmas.<br /><br />To all of you, our friends and supporters, we wish you the most meaningful Christmas of all and may we continue to be God's ambassadors of His glorious Gospel!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">To send your comments for this article, send us an email at</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com</span></span></span><br /><br /></div><br /></div><br /><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-38276360625534122852008-11-15T18:00:00.009+08:002008-11-16T20:36:18.518+08:00When people go to church for the wrong reasons<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQmyA94CON0EXaOq2mhiH4prPUra8MfWnqztTxlPD3PLkGMm5VJfmypuoRAADtK3NWL2_LkEMB6IGg2AeO3-1TiXg4OlDQZ4VNgXRCzW5DHDbFHodT52O8eJ5o99EYWKhxBje8ZpeJErW/s1600-h/hugornohug.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQmyA94CON0EXaOq2mhiH4prPUra8MfWnqztTxlPD3PLkGMm5VJfmypuoRAADtK3NWL2_LkEMB6IGg2AeO3-1TiXg4OlDQZ4VNgXRCzW5DHDbFHodT52O8eJ5o99EYWKhxBje8ZpeJErW/s320/hugornohug.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268826226246132882" border="0" /></a>The church should be the congregation of people who have realized their offenses against God, repented of it and trusted Jesus for their salvation. Once a person is spiritually baptized to the family of God, he will continue joining this congregation so that he will grow in his knowledge of God and his holy ways. He understands that it is his duty not to forsake the assemblings of the children of God (Heb. 10:25) not because it is through this that he gains salvation but because he knows that this is a way to gain Christian maturity. He treasures the teachings that are released from the pulpit of his church, even those that would bring him hurt, for he knows that whatever comes from the Scriptures is good for him. And so, you can expect that a true child of God who has made it a priority to go to church on a regular basis for a long time to be very mature in terms of daily living and doctrine, and has developed a very deep relationship with his Creator.<br /><br />But in our present generation, church membership has taken a totally different purpose. For many people, they go to church not for the purpose of gaining Christian maturity but to be a "Christian". The church is not anymore the congregation of the children of God but the gathering of people who needs to have some entry of religious affiliation in their bio-data. Many have affiliated with a church not to develop further humility before a holy God but to engage in their personal interests to which a church has a particular program (e.g., weekend movie viewing, yearly sports tournament, quilting, etc.). Common scenarios like this in present-day churches are clearly the opposite of what we read of the early church in the New Testament that the disciples and the apostle Paul helped establish.<br /><br />During our recently concluded mission trip at Cagayan (Gospel Buzz '08), our group encountered several church-going people like this. Early on during the trip, we were amazed about how many people we met claimed to be members of the nearby Baptist church. At first, we thought that God has moved mightily in the community we were in. But when we started talking to them about their salvation experiences, we started realizing that most of these people are false converts. One man I talked to who was quite effeminate bragged that he, on occasions, just like most people in that community, attend the nearby Baptist church and he believes that he is already a Christian. When I asked him why he says he is a Christian, he told me that one time in the past, he followed a pastor's invitation to follow a particular prayer that asked Jesus to come to his life. I then explained to him that a person is not saved by following a particular prayer. I then made him evaluate if he is really a Christian by making him examine how much, by true nature, has been obeying God's Laws in his life as the Bible clearly tells us that "if any man be in Christ, he becomes a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, old things are become new (2 Cor. 5:17)". When he was convinced that he was not a real child of God yet, I then talked about the Gospel and what he needed to do to gain salvation (true repentance and faith on Jesus). He later told me that it was the first time that he heard an explanation like this about how one can evade going to Hell. All along he thought that the prayer he followed years before made him a Christian and being in church occasionally not only proves he's one, it also gives him the same religious identity like most of the people around him.<br /><br />In the student center that we manage, students come regularly to apply for the priveledges of the center. To get them, they must fill-out an application form and go through an interview that gives us an opportunity to share the Gospel to them. One item in the application form they fill-out is their religious affiliation. You would think that if a particular student writes "Born-again Christian" in his/her application form, we will forego talking to them about the Gospel. But we don't. False conversion is a reality we consider seriously abounding in our time. It's better to spend time sharing the Gospel to be sure about a person's Christian conversion rather than assume he/she is already a Christian and do nothing to prevent his/her going to Hell, right? Several of the students that apply at our center that claims to be children of God explain that the reason why they believe so is because they attend church regularly, or they are a part of the music ministry, or they engage in church programs that they claim are very enjoyable. This is sad because if you ask them how long they've been going to their church you will realize that with the length of time they've been going there, the biblical Gospel message has not really been explained.<br /><br />The culprit as to why our churches are filled with people who are false converts is the church itself. Church leaders have changed their church's goal from winning as many souls for Christ to just filling all the empty church pews. In bringing these people to church, church leaders have turned to gimmicks instead of doing it the old-fashion way, and that is by the preaching of sin, righteousness and judgment. I remember Arvin Cunanan, one of the members of the Star Youth Ministries, once told me that before he was soundly saved, whenever he would aim to heed the Great Commission, instead of showing a person his real standing before a just and holy God, he would tell that person about their church's music ministry which he can join to give him an avenue to showcase his musical prowess. Some churches, in the goal of enticing people to attend their services, would focus their sermons on how one can amass blessings from God, even if technically, these people are not entitled to God's many promises because they're not really members of God's family.<br /><br />I recently saw the Christian movie "Time Changer". It's about a professor of a Bible seminary in the 1800s (Dr. Russel Carlisle) that was transported to the 21st century in order for him to see for himself what effect the teaching of morals will have on society if you will not emphasize that it was God that gave the standard of morality. In one scene, Dr. Carlisle joined a church's visitation activity to people in the community who are interested in attending church. He was paired with a long time member of the church. He was so amazed as he listened to his partner encourage a family to attend their church by exciting them with their church's programs like it's yearly golf tournament for fathers, children's retreat which will allow parents some time off from parenting their rowdy children, the monthly picnic for families, etc., instead of telling them about how their church can help them know more of God and His ways. Sadly speaking, this is a common thing among churches nowadays. But despite this, they still claim that their church is a <span style="font-style: italic;">"purpose driven church". </span><br /><br />In our society today, we can see reasons other than what was already mentioned as to why people go to church. There are politicians that affiliate with big churches to get the political support of the members of these churches. Some would go to a particular church because their friends attend it. Some go to a church because everyone in the family does so. I even know of several people in the past that attended the same church I was a part of just so they can be with the girls they were courting. If these are the reasons many people have for attending a church, then the reality is, our churches are filled with false converts.<br /><br />Unless churches of today turn away from gimmicks and renew a committment to again preach the biblical Gospel message, the church which is supposed to be the instrument that shows people God's requirements for salvation (repentance and faith), and later, aid in bringing these people to a deeper relationship with God, will be the instruments of Satan in populating further his domain. I strongly believe that our generation of churches has produced more false converts than any other generation because of our penchant for gimmicks. Our generation will have to give an account for this someday when we finally face God. A no-nonsense use of God's Laws to show man's sinful state will facilitate true conversion. Not doing so will help facilitate the other. This is exactly the message of Hell's Best Kept Secret (you can hear it at our <a href="http://www.livingwaters-asia.com/resources.htm"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Free Resources</span></a> page).<br /><br />We have very little time left in bringing people to a true relationship with God. All the signs around us prove that. Before we go out to other commnunities to reach people for Christ, why not focus first on the people inside our churches. A lot of them, including people we love so dearly, because of our own doing, think that they are already inside when the truth is, they are still out... out of the family of God. Before it's too late, let's do something about it.<br /><br />Church, clean up your act!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">To send your comments for this article, send us an email at<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">comments@livingwaters-asia.com<br /><br /><br /></span></span></span></div><br /></div><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308847668845996644.post-31540927146644002062008-09-02T19:40:00.001+08:002008-10-09T20:28:26.836+08:00Lines that will make people think<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >About a month ago, someone asked me to give some lines that I usually bring out to people I witness to so that they will take seriously the message I share to them. In the past 3 years of sharing the gospel the way Jesus did, I have come across so many people who would mock the message and show me that they will never give what I told them any serious thought. I believe that whenever you share the gospel, you will always leave a seed in the hearts of people that God can use to cultivate to eventual repentance and faith on Jesus Christ. But leaving people heavy statements to ponder can also help in the process of their conversion.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />Below are some statements I have used in the past to wake-up people regarding their sinfulness and the punishment awaiting them in Hell. Some of these lines, I have adapted from the witnessing encounters of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron shown in the Way of the Master TV show. Some, I believe, God, Himself, impressed to me during my own witnessing encounters.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><b><i><br /><br />“What’s more difficult? Deciding to turn away from the joys of sin or spending eternity in Hell as a result of your sinfulness?” </i></b>Often times, I encounter people who are convinced about the displeasure of God against sin and the need to repent of it but finds it so difficult to, once and for all, make a move to have no more business with it. The reason is simply because they enjoy indulging with it. Its lure is so powerful that at the first sight of it, they dive to it right away. Saying this line can be a wake-up call to their numbed sanity. When we witness to people, it is so important to make Hell a big reality. Testing the goodness of people against the Ten Commandments makes Hell so reasonable. After that, show them the way out of this punishment that God provided. Then, you make the person realize using this line that if there’s already a way out and you don’t use the solution, then, you are such a foolish person for not choosing to evade Hell.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />With this line, you are also making the point that the joys of sin are only for a season but the consequence is forever. You are showing the person you are witnessing to that the enjoyment of sin is not worth sacrificing compared to the enormous payback. Whenever I use this line to people, I am conveying to them that the principle, “You only live once and therefore, enjoy it to the fullest (even if it’s sinful)” is a big foolishness. But instead, they should realize that they only have one lifetime to get right with God or else, Hell awaits them.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><b><i><br /><br />"If you are not ready to turn away from your sins at this very moment, God is likewise not ready to save you today." </i></b> This is a line I use to stress the significant role of repentance towards a person’s salvation. I remember making this statement to a group of homosexuals who have been going for several years in an evangelistic camp that asked our help in counseling attendees. The camp really frustrated us because it focused more on enticing unbelievers to go to Christian churches using “Christian rock music” instead of really showing attendees their sinful state, the punishment awaiting them and what God requires from them so that they can be at peace with Him. This, I believe, is the reason why even if these homosexuals have been coming to this camp for the last 3 to 4 years, no spiritual transformation has really happened in them. All they want is for God to love them and bring them to Heaven without Him meddling with their sinful lifestyle.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />When the invitation for anyone who would want to “accept Jesus” into their hearts (without emphasis on repentance) was given out and these homosexuals came forward to the altar, I rushed in front so that I will be the one to counsel them. When I talked to them, I right away brought them to the mirror of the Law. I showed them their sure destination, what God did to save them and what He requires from them in return (repentance and faith). Then, I said this line. They weren’t that excited about Jesus anymore after that. So, was that encounter a failure? No, for I have made them realize that no amount of invitation for Jesus to come into their hearts will give them salvation if there was no corresponding intent to turn away from sin. I’ve laid down the whole deal for them and now, the choices are so clear for them. The ball is now on their court. When we witness to anyone, we should emphasize that it was sin that separated us from God and therefore, it is the decision to forsake sin, coupled with faith on God’s ability to save, that will allow us to be brought back to God’s family.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><b><br /><br />When speaking to an atheist or someone who does not believe in Hell --- <i>"If one of us is wrong about the existence of Hell and God (you don't believe, I believe) and we both die, think of this. If I’m wrong, I just die and stay at my grave. But if you’re wrong, you have to face God’s eternal punishment for not preparing for the afterlife. . In that case, I’m in a better situation believing in God and Hell, than you, not believing in both."</i></b> This statement can make an atheist or someone who thinks Hell is unreasonable so, therefore, it should not exist, rethink his belief. After awakening the conscience using the Law, bring these "intellectuals" back to the intellect to make them realize that their stand on this issue is a not-so-intelligent one, and something that is so dangerous. If I tell someone that he has left the stove on and he believes that he didn't, isn't it reasonable that despite his belief, there's a need for him to go back to the kitchen to check it out just to be sure? Logic tells us that there's nothing wrong in being sure. This is what we're trying to make atheists and intellectuals do --- check out the assertions of the Scriptures just to be sure.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />I have used this statement several times, even in organized events where there will be some brave guy that thinks he has a right to cut me in the middle of my talk just so he can show everyone his brave stand on this. For the times I’ve used this line, the reaction is always the same… silence. When they respond to you with a deafening silence, you know that you have made them think.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"When you face God on Judgment Day, and He tells you that you're bound for Hell because you did not repent of your sins and trust Jesus for your salvation, and as angels drag you out of God’s presence, we connect eye-to-eye, don’t ever dare accuse me of not warning you."</span> I’ve used this line several times to people who show disinterest to the message I share to them and for people I’ve witnessed to several times and still have not gotten right with God. This statement moves the responsibility of a person’s eternal destiny from us (the Christians who need to share the gospel to unbelievers) to the person himself. In making this statement, we are not really abandoning the goal of winning the person to Christ. We should labor for each person’s salvation until our last breath. What we are doing here is making the person realize that because we have shared to him already how he can be saved, if he goes to Hell someday, he has only but himself to blame for that.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />Despite the heaviness of this line, remember to always say this with enough air of love and care to the person this statement is directed to. And so, it will be good to also say after this line that you are saying this because you love the person very much that you don’t want him to make the mistake of ignoring the message you are sharing to him. I’ve used this line with a dear student of mine in the past. I’ve witnessed to her about 3 or 4 times personally and she has heard me speak of this several times in a large group setting. I really pounded her to the gut the last time I spoke to her. I said the line and told her after that she’s someone I care about very much and I can’t bear the idea of her suffering in Hell someday. I also told her before she left that I’ll be praying for her. I know that she respects me enough to think that what I shared to her is unimportant. I also know that the Holy Spirit will continue the work from where I left.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><b><i><br /><br />"Please understand that I stand to gain nothing in speaking to you. In fact, I swallowed a lot of my fears in asking to talk to you. If I went through this with nothing for me in return, then don’t you think that what I just talk to you about is really important?"</i></b> This is a statement you can use to emphasize the importance of your message. This is actually the same as one of the evidences that we point out to prove the truth about Jesus --- the disciples won't die for a lie. We are making people realize that if what we are talking about is not true, then we are being foolish in sacrificing for a lie. We can also see with this line the importance of actively seeking the lost, especially those that you really don't know. Your effort shows your care for others. Waiting for people to come to you so that you can witness to them is what I call an "evangelism of convenience." It's good that whenever God places someone beside you, you witness to them. But when people see that you actively seek them, they will see your faith in the message you have and the urgency you feel to deliver it to next person. When that happens, people start to open their hearts to your message.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><b><i><br /><br />"You say that you believe the Bible is God's Word. Then, you should believe that because of your sins, you’re definitely bound for Hell. I just told you what God said you should do to be saved from going to Hell. Then, do as you’re instructed."</i></b> A lot of people believe that the Bible is God's divine words to our world. They will never dare say that any declaration from the Bible is wrong. We should take advantage of this fact to bring to people’s attention their true standing before a just and holy God. This line can help you do that. If they truly believe in the Bible, they have to accept, that, just like all of us, they have sinned and fell short of the glory of God. They must also take with seriousness the declaration of the Scriptures that because we missed the mark so badly in terms of being good, we are all bound for Hell and that the only way out of this scary situation is the sacrifice of Jesus. Explain further that according to the Bible, the only way we can benefit from Jesus’ sacrifice is if we decide to turn away from our sins and place our trust on Him.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />This line works well for Catholics and other people coming from religions claiming to believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Using this statement can also help you avoid debates about arguments of people that really do not have any biblical basis. For example, if someone who claims to believe the Bible tells you that he believes homosexuals will be accepted by God in Heaven, tell them that 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says the opposite and if they truly believe that the Bible is the Word of God then, they should stop believing that lie. The key is to know the background of the person you are talking to (does he believe in the Bible?) so that you’ll know if you need to use this line.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><b><i><br /><br />"Statistics say that 150,000 people die everyday around the world, and majority of these people dying really aren't sure if they'll go to Heaven. You can be part of that statistic any day from today. If that happens, can you confidently say that you’ll be in Heaven after you leave this world?"</i></b> Nothing scares a person more than the thought of death. People must be reminded that the ultimate statistic is that 10 out of 10 die. This world offers a lot that people can be caught up in the process of getting each and everyone of these, forgetting that there is life after this life. Even people who claim to be "Christians" are guilty of this. This line makes the potential of death as real as possible for the person you are witnessing to. You may further make death a reality by saying, "You could die on your way home after our talk", or, "Can you confidently say that you’ll still get to live tomorrow?". Death is scary especially if you have proven to the person you are witnessing to by the use of the Law that death will be his gateway for Hell. You can also tell the person that probably, a big reason why he has not yet been part of the ultimate statistic is because God is still giving him a chance to do what he must do. This will make a person think of the solution you offer from the Bible which the Holy Spirit can use to convict that person to repent and to put his trust on Jesus.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><i><br /><br />You're goal, whenever you witness to someone, is to make the person THINK. You need not see a person crying his heart out during your witnessing encounter. What you would want is to see a demeanor of seriousness in the person with what you just shared after you part ways. If you need to make the person feel a little bit of fear, then use it. Fear is a legitimate tool in showing a person of the need to get right with God. Fear was the very thing that made the psalmist in Psalm 116:3-4 to run to God for salvation --- “The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol (Hell) laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: ‘O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!’” I hope you can get to use these lines in your future witnessing encounters. May God bless you as you win souls for Christ. </i></span></div><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0