When we fail to see the urgency

When we fail to see the urgency,

Of man’s need for God’s mercy

Oh, what suffering awaits him in eternity,

All because of our insensitivity.

Preoccupied with what Solomon calls vanities,

We move through life not minding

The souls that daily trod to an eternity

Of unspeakable pain and agony.

We tell ourselves, “There’ll be a tomorrow,

When I can tell them of the Savior.

And so today, I’ll keep myself busy

Of things that matter most to me.”

Sometimes we say, “It’s just not my gift

To eloquently talk of Jesus’ story.

To sing praises and give, that I can do!

But to witness? I’m sorry, that I can’t do.”

And still there are those that make the assertion

That we really don’t need to make any action

For the Holy Spirit is so powerful

To convict souls though we snub the Great Commission’s call.

Can’t we see how great our responsibility,

So that man can avoid a Hell-ish eternity?

We are God’s lips to bring man the Good News---

“Jesus has paid the price and it was the cross He used.”

But until we embrace our earthly duty

Souls will continue to march to Hell unknowingly.

Right now, billions are screaming in suffering so helplessly

Simply because we forgot our responsibility.

(A poem by Dennis Mark Y. Aglosolos)

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Rich Christians... better witnesses?

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, "Thy kingdom come, thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven" 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.

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.

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 "lambs among wolves" (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 "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. 2:9) and that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.." (Rom. 8:18).

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.

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.

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.

What's absent in a non-witnessing Christian?

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.

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.

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?"

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 "bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20)" 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.

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.

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 "...he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him". 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, very shameful. It shames us by making us realize three things: (1) First, by proving to us that we are not good persons (Rom. 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness".); (2) Secondly, by showing us how much we were unable to reach the righteousness of God (Romans 1:17 "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith..."); (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.

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 "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief..."). 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.

So what caused the lost of gratitude among those that call themselves "Christians"? The preachers of the modern gospel message. 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... "Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." 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.

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.

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.

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Atheists in the Philippines

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.

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 "the pearl of the orient seas".

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. 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.

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.

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.

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... "I'm sure that there's an answer to that. I just don't know it yet."

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.. "Why do you believe in Jose Rizal (the national hero of the Philippines) when not all about his life was chronicled in books?" 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.

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, "Do you think you're a good person?" 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.

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.

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.

(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.)

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The forgotten reason for Christmas

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.

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".

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?

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.

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.

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!

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When people go to church for the wrong reasons

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 "purpose driven church".

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.

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 Free Resources page).

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.

Church, clean up your act!

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Lines that will make people think

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.

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.

“What’s more difficult? Deciding to turn away from the joys of sin or spending eternity in Hell as a result of your sinfulness?” 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.

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.

"If you are not ready to turn away from your sins at this very moment, God is likewise not ready to save you today." 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.

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.

When speaking to an atheist or someone who does not believe in Hell --- "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." 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.

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.

"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." 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.

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.

"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?" 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.

"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." 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.

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.

"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?" 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.

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.