For God so loved the world…

A few days ago, on our way back home from visiting a dear Christian friend who was suffering from cancer, I, together with my family (my mom and dad, my wife and son, an adopted 2-year old cousin, and three other companions) were prime witnesses to a gruesome crime of murder. While our vehicle was leisurely burning rubber against the highway of the province of Pangasinan, a green Toyota Corolla in front of us suddenly swerved uncontrollably before it stopped. At first, we just thought that something went wrong with the car. But to our surprise, a man who seemed to have been hostage by the people in control of the car jumped off the trunk of the car. Two men quickly got off the front seats of the car with one of them holding a .45 caliber gun. It was at this point that we got scared, realizing that we could be caught in the middle of a cross-fire. My dad, who was driving, right away turned left to a vacant lot, giving the impression to the man with the gun that we do not want any part of what he was about to do. The man then ran after the man that got off the trunk of their car and shot the poor guy three times at his back. The poor man instantly fell to the ground dead. The gunman, before riding their car, to be sure that the man was really dead, shot the bloody man one more time, this time to the head. The car sped off fast to no where. All of these in the middle of the afternoon with us, including my six year-old son, seeing every detail of this bloody scene.

All of us were left aghast with what we saw. Not even in my wildest imagination did I expect to witness such an act of horror. I had experienced being held-up before together with my brother and sister by criminals during my college days. That experienced was so traumatic for me that it left me sleepless for a couple of days. But this… this was different! I never saw anyone die before until this experience. I believe I can hold my emotions well seeing a person slowly dying of some illness. But seeing someone’s life abruptly ended because of another’s cruelty really evoked strong emotions from me. I was suddened. I was afraid. I was so sad for the victim. But most of all, I was really so angry seconds after the crime happened. The first words that came out of my mouth were “Thank God there’s hell”. I was so furious with the cruelty of the criminals. I wanted them to die at that instance so that they can right away experience the wrath of God in hell. My heart was pumping hard because of what I saw. I experienced some mild chest pains but never told anyone with me so as not to add worry to the emotions each of us were already experiencing. An hour after what we saw, when all of the strong emotions slowly subsided, God started talking to me and made me realize several things.

God reaffirmed to me the fact that hell is reasonable. To say that God is merciful and forgiving, and that punishing someone in hell contradicts his loving nature becomes totally unacceptable after seeing the beastly behavior of the criminals that killed that helpless victim. Do you think these people deserve kind treatment after what they did? I bet you won’t even dare invite them to your birthday celebration. If you feel disgust towards these people, what more a just and holy God. God can never let such people in heaven. Justice must be demanded for the crime that was committed. In the court of God, justice is served when a sinner is punished, and in our case, that punishment is in hell. To say that God will never send anyone to hell totally run against sound reason.

In the minutes after witnessing the crime, I couldn't accept that Jesus likewise died for these criminals. At that moment, I wanted God to exclude them from the list of people He made his sacrifice for. If given the chance to share the gospel to these criminals someday, my mind was saying during that moment that I'd rather pass by them than give them a gospel tract. I wanted them to go to hell. Then God showed me that I was feeling the same way as Jonah after he preached to the people of Nineveh. He regret sharing to them God's message of repentance. He would have wanted that God destroy these sinful people. Then God made me recall how He gave Jonah a gourd to give him some shade from the hot sunlight while sitting outside of the city of Nineveh and how He let a worm kill that gourd the next day, making Jonah angry. Then God told him, "If you showed pity to the gourd that died to which you had no part of creating, so why should I not have pity with 120,000 people I, myself, made, who cannot discern right from wrong?" I then realized that God's sacrifice is for everyone and was designed to exclude no one. This is why the Scriptures tell us that "God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9)" and that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son… (John 3:16)".

And because God's sacrifice is for everyone, including the most hardened criminal, I have now fully realized how amazing God's love really is. It's so easy to love someone who is lovable and endearing. But it will take God's kind of love to show love to someone who is anything but lovable. That’s one peculiar thing that separates God from mankind… His ability to show love even to someone who has insensitively hurt Him with transgressions of His Laws. The Bible explains how this love was shown… "But God demonstrated his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8)".

I remembered the apostle Paul. He called himself “the chief of sinners”. Why? He was likewise a murderer like the criminals I saw. But he was different. His victims were the very Christians God entrusted the preaching of His life-saving gospel to. He really took the offensive against God. And yet, God saved him. All of us humans know how hard it is to love someone who has hurt us. But God did it. A song explains well God’s kind of love that He gave to us…"It took a miracle to put the stars in place. It took a miracle to hang the world in space. But when He saved my soul, cleanse and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace." Yes. God's love to mankind when He sent Jesus to die for us at the cross is a great miracle because it is beyond what man’s mind can ever conceive.

After realizing this, I was dumbfounded. From someone who was angry and had so many questions to God hours before, I was left worshipping God in my mind. I was silently singing praises to God the rest of the trip back home. I now had a deeper understanding of Him that I never had in my years as a Christian. Before, I already knew that God had loved us beyond the kind of love that we, as humans can give. But that knowledge was only in my intellect. Now, I know more about that love because God has made me experience it when He made me realize that if I was that criminal, He still will offer His sacrifice to me as a way for me to evade sure punishment in hell. I can never ever fathom that love. I’m just so glad and thankful that I was a recipient of it.

About thirty minutes to our home, I talked to my son who was sitting at the third row of my parent’s vehicle. Knowing pretty well that my son saw everything, I was worried that he might realize many things about the experience incorrectly. But I didn’t really know what to tell him. Will I tell him that this was something ordinary? Nope. That will only scare him about life. Will I tell him that what he saw was just an act from a movie that was being shot? No, no, no. My son is intelligent enough to know from our reactions what’s reel and what’s real. Besides, I’ll be lying if I tell him that. The only thing I told him was this… “Son, you saw how wicked people are. That’s the reason why we should continue sharing the gospel to people so that God could change them and save them from going to hell.” We have in our hearts the only cure to man’s wickedness… Jesus. Until we share to them how they can have Jesus in their lives (repentance towards God and faith on Jesus Christ --- Acts 20:21), man will continue to drown deeper into their sinful state.

The only way we can live safer in this world is if everyone that surrounds us would have Jesus in their lives. God is the only one that can change sinners. That’s why we must never stop sharing the gospel. Don’t dare leaving your home without a pack of gospel tracts to be given out to the person you sit beside with in the bus or to the person you walk pass by on your way to work or to school. You’ll never know if the person you will share the gospel to is the next criminal who is about to commit a crime or the next victim of a crime. And so, before they add to their sins, or before they plunge to an eternity of punishment, let’s give them the gospel.

Lastly, I’ve realized that a modern gospel message that says “God loves you”, and one devoid of the talk of sin and hell will never work well on a hardened sinner. Why? Simply because the ingredients to salvation are repentance and faith. If we will eliminate the talk of sin then what is there to repent of? We must show these sinners how angry God is with what they are doing and how He wants justice to be served for all the gruesome sins they have committed. 2 Corinthians 7:10 tells us that “godly sorrow works repentance to salvation…” Salvation cannot be received unless repentance takes place. Consequently, repentance will never take place unless a godly kind of sorrow is experienced. But first of all, man must be shown his sins before he can experience godly sorrow. And so, a no-talk-of-sin approach just so we can avoid “offending” the person we are witnessing to can never accomplish repentance. Repentance is not as simple as saying “sorry”. It is more than that. True repentance involves a great amount of shame on the sinner’s part that he decides to, once and for all, turn away from sin and from now on, follow Jesus in his life. Talk of sin using the Ten Commandments wounds a person to the point of helplessness. But the thing is, when this feeling of helplessness is achieved, the person now becomes ready for the cure and the gospel becomes that medicine that heals his wounds because he now learns that Jesus has paid for all his sins in a great show of love and sacrifice at Calvary 2000 years ago.

I have so many things to thank God for in our recent experience. First, I’m glad He did not let my family be caught in the gun fire that might have wounded, or worst, killed any of us. Second, being the only witnesses, I thank God that the gunman did not turn to us and killed us also so that there won’t be any witnesses to his crime. Third, He never allowed that the car of the criminals did not breakdown or else, they would have ran to us, hi-jacked our vehicle to make it their get away ride. In that event, they might have asked my dad and mom to vacate the front seats, or just killed them to have the seats for themselves and took off with us as their new hostages. Or, they could have just killed all of us. But praise the Lord for His protection!

But most of all, I thank God for the things He had made me realize about Him and the life that I have right now. I have a deeper appreciation of His love now than ever. I now fully know why it was called “Amazing Grace”. I now have a renewed passion to share the gospel to more people as I can, to any one, regardless of what they’ve done in the past, knowing that God likewise made His sacrifice for them. Yes, now I fully know, that God so loved the world.

When the Holy Spirit moves…

One wrong notion among Christians is that it is expected that whenever you share the gospel to someone, you should be able to lead that person to a decision to get right with God. And because of the difficulty in achieving this end, two things tend to happen. First, Christians are moved to preach a modern gospel message that is so appealing to everyone but very much lacking of emphasis when it comes to the need to repent of sins just so they can get the “result” that they want even if the conversion of the person that was forced to say the “sinner’s prayer” is very much questionable. Second, Christians totally abandon their duty to share the gospel message to the lost.

Many of us have failed to realize that it is not our job to convict people to get right with God. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. Our duty is to just declare the gospel. The instruction in Mark 16:15 is this: “…,Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Nothing was said about us doing the “saving” or the “convicting”. So, if our job is to only declare the gospel, you can do it several ways. My May 2008 article gives some suggestions on how you can engage yourself in your God-commissioned duty in our modern time with the kind of technology that we have. For this article, I will share some stories of how the Holy Spirit moved in people after faithful Christians did what they’re supposed to do.

A good friend of my family, Bro.Buddy Valdez, told me how his very effortless act of giving his German subordinate a gospel tract opened the door for the Holy Spirit to start talking to this guy. Buddy is a captain of a big ship transporting things from one country to another. One time, he and an immediate subordinate of his were silently doing their job of navigating their ship in the middle of I don’t know where. Buddy so casually pulled out from his shirt pocket a copy of the “Are you a good person?” comic tract which he purchased from us before he went to this assignment and gave it to his German subordinate. There were no words spoken between them after he handed the tract to him. After a few minutes the German guy softly said, “That really hit me,” while wiping his tears. You know God had dealt with him through that tract. As to whether that guy got right with God is something Heaven will reveal to us someday. But as one song said, “Tears are a language God understands”.

Before that, Buddy was stuck for about a week in some country in Africa, waiting for the ship he is to captain. Left with nothing to do after tasting all of the food in the buffet table in the hotel he stayed at, my friend decided to go out to distribute some tracts. Being in a country with a totally different culture and belief system as the Philippines, he was quite nervous at the start. But he knew that he needed to do what he’s supposed to do and so, he swallowed up all his fears and gave tracts to people around. After several tracts given away, a group of Africans that received gospel tracts from him told him that they are Christians too and that they were so blessed with what he was doing. If I remember it right, these Africans even invited my friend to their church. While there, he gave them a stack of gospel tracts for them to distribute. Buddy’s obedience to the Great Commission not only made the Holy Spirit move in the lives of non-Christians, it also paved the way for God to move in believers’ lives.

When we celebrated the 2nd year anniversary of the Star Youth Ministries last April 19, 2008, we decided to celebrate it not with a program in a restaurant with friends and supporters just like the previous year, but instead, by doing what we enjoy doing the most --- going out in the streets to share the gospel. We went to a nearby town in our province and gave-out gospel tracts and did one-to-one witnessing whenever the opportunity presented itself. After about an hour, we left the place and ate lunch together. A month later, a cousin of mine who happens to be a pastor in that town told me that a couple whom he had not met before attended his church the previous Sunday. He asked them why they chose to go to his church. The couple explained that a few weeks back, there were a group of young people that were giving out gospel tracts in the town plaza. They were given a copy and at home, they read it. They understood what it was talking about, and did what was suggested that they do (repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus). They also read an advice at the end of the tract that says that they should go to a church that preaches the same thing as the tract so that they can further learn more about God, and so, there they were. When they showed my cousin the gospel tract, it was the tract that we gave out during our 2nd year anniversary.

A few years back, when I was just starting to use the Way of the Master in my witnessing encounters, I was able to share the gospel with a couple of prostitutes one evening. At first, I did not know that they were prostitutes. I only realized that they were such when I saw that they were with this pimp that was going around asking people if they wanted to have some casual sex. I asked these two women and their pimp if I can talk to them for 5 to 10 minutes. They said “yes”. So I went through the steps and by the time the pimp realized that I was talking about God, he left. I showed the two women their sinfulness, their sure punishment in Hell and what Jesus did to pay for their sins. I then explained what they needed to do so that Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross can be credited as payment for their own sins. To close our conversation, I told them that if they love themselves very much, they must not go to sleep that night without them getting right with God because they really don’t know if they will still get to wake-up the next day. As I was about to leave them, they stopped me and told me that they already so badly want to get right with God that moment. And so, I asked them to talk to God personally. I never asked them to repeat a prayer that I will be saying. All the words came from them. After they prayed, they said that they felt something different from inside of them. It’s as if a big load was removed from them.

Before I left these two women, I told them to start reading their Bible so that they will know more about their Savior. They told me that they don’t have a copy at their homes but they will try to look for one. A couple of days later, I saw one of the women one afternoon in a park. I told her to meet me the next day in that park and I’ll give her a Bible. She then told me not to bother anymore because she has already borrowed a Bible from a friend of hers and she has been reading it since. God has really demonstrated through these women His power to change even the most hardened sinner.

Another time, I was asked to preach in an evangelistic camp. Even before I went to the venue, the organizers of the camp had already told me that my audience was a bunch of very intimidating people as evidenced by their tattoos and piercings in their bodies. In fact, there was even one of them that stole a cellular phone owned by one of the camp counselors the night before. The phone has not re-surfaced up to the time I started preaching despite several requests made by the camp organizers in the sessions for it to be returned.

My message that day was about Lazarus and the Rich man. I explained to everyone that the reason why the Rich man was in Hell was because of his sins and the reason why Lazarus was in Heaven was because he has received a gift from God (Romans 6:23). I then explained that the only way for them to evade Hell and instead, go to Heaven is by showing God a true desire to turn away from their sins once and for all and for them to trust in Jesus for their salvation. There were a number of them that came forward when the invitation was given. After the session, something great happened. The phone was returned by the one that stole it. It happened that he really got convicted with the message and decided to get right with God. In order for him to show his true repentance, he swallowed up all his pride, went to the owner of the phone and gave it back. Now that’s evidence of a true conversion.

In John 14:26, Jesus informs us that after He goes back to Heaven "…the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in His name, He shall teach us all things, and bring all things to our remembrance, whatsoever He had said unto us." In this verse, Jesus was telling us something that should remove all our fears when it comes to speaking about the gospel to others. He was telling us, in simple terms, that when we witness to someone, we are just like microphones that transmit God’s message to people. The microphone is not the one speaking. It’s the person who talks through the microphone that speaks. God just needs us to be His microphone. All He needs is our willingness to be used by Him. He is the one that will do the talking through us.

God does not really require us to be eloquent speakers. In fact, He wants us to be the opposite. He wants someone who will acknowledge his/her weaknesses so that He can fully work through us. This was exactly the reason why the apostle Paul became the most successful evangelist in the New Testament time. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 gives us Paul’s testimony when it comes to sharing the gospel. He said that he was poor when it comes to public speaking, that he knew nothing but the gospel and that he often felt weakness and trembling because of fear. But that was all God needed. Paul had everything God needed to transform him into the kind of person He wants him to be. He went on to become a great man of God, delivering God’s message of salvation even to the ends of the world.

When God added three thousand souls to the church in the early parts of the Book of Acts, it was not because Peter and the disciples were good preachers. Remember that their previous vocations (e.g., fishermen, tax collectors, etc.) did not require them to have the traits of a public speaker. The success of the early church was solely due to the moving of the Holy Spirit. But we must also remember that if we really want the Holy Spirit to fully release His power through us, we must do it His way.

First, we must be living a holy life. If there’s any sin in our hearts, it’s impossible for the Holy Spirit to use us. Therefore, we must regularly confess our sins to God so that we can be cleanse from all our unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Second, we must be ready to give people an answer for the hope that is in us with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15). This means that we must be willing instruments with humility and dependence on God. Finally, if we preach, we must do it in a way that pleases the Holy Spirit. John 16:8 tells us that “…when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” This verse is telling us that the kind of gospel message that the Holy Spirit preaches is one that shows a person his sins, the required righteousness by God, not our own righteousness, and the judgment that awaits this world because it received not the lordship of Jesus. The modern gospel message that tells people that “God has a wonderful plan for our lives” clearly is not in-tuned to the kind of message that pleases the Holy Spirit.

Praise the Lord for the Holy Spirit! Without Him, everything that we will do will fail. His power is the reason why everything that we will do for Jesus will have eternal value. He is the reason why once upon a time in our lives, after the gospel was shared to us by someone who cared for our soul, we were deeply convicted of our embarrassing sinfulness. He was the one that brought us to our knees to ask God for forgiveness and to ask Jesus to save us from our sure punishment in Hell. Today, let us open the gate for the Holy Spirit to again work in the life of a person by delivering the gospel to another person who is unknowingly making his way to Hell. Declare the gospel and from there, step aside, and let the Holy Spirit finish the work.

Suggestions on how the timid can share the gospel

When Jesus said,"Go ye into all the worlds and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15)", He was not only directing that command to the disciples who were witnessing His ascension to Heaven. As recipient of His forgiveness, all of us have the obligation to have a part in the Great Commission. But sadly speaking, very few of those people who claim to be "Christians" really get their feet wet when it comes to sharing the gospel. They give out so many excuses for not heeding the Great Commission. There are those who claim to be not gifted when it comes to speaking to people face to face. Some say they are very busy to give some time to this. And there are those who think that doing so entails some financial sacrifice which they are not capable of doing. Whatever their reason may be, still, it is clear that they are disobeying a direct command from God to seek the "lost".

To erase any excuse many Christians have for not sharing the gospel and to facilitate their obedience to the Great Commission, for this article, I will be sharing to everyone several easy ways of involving yourself in the ministry of evangelism. We’ll start from the less frightening to the more challenging ways of declaring the message of salvation, of course, always in the way of the Master. I really believe that after reading this article, no one can ever say that he/she has no opportunity to share the gospel.

Using the internet

Through e-mails

It is possible now to share the gospel with you not uttering even a single word, with your face invisible to anyone from anywhere. Thanks to the internet.

All over the internet, you can download great gospel flash animations that you can attach to e-mails which you can send to people. A couple of years back, I remember spending the whole evening sending these flash gospel presentations to everyone in my e-mail lists, including those that appear in my "Spam" mail. To make people receiving the e-mail curious enough to open the attachment, write something interesting either in the body of the e-mail or in the subject line. You can write, "I bet you haven’t seen this before", or "This will definitely turn your life upside-down". If you want to see samples of these flash presentations, go to www.livingwaters.com and open their "Free Evangelism Resources" page.

But if you want to make the presentation more personal, you can always write down for them a clear gospel presentation. You can have your testimony of how you met the Lord be the focus of your e-mail to them with a question in the end of whether they think they also need the Lord in their life just like you. In the past, I’ve used my account in social networking sites like Friendster, Myspace, Multiply, etc., to send a nicely prepared written gospel presentation to people in my network of friends.

Placing links that lead to gospel presentations

Regarding these social networking sites, do you know that you can customize your webpage and add links to gospel presentations? Yes, you can! Just play around your account until you find where you can do the customization. You can also add these links to your e-mail account as your e-mail signature, and whenever people receive e-mails from you, there’s a part that they can click which leads to these sites. All you need is to add the necessary html codes to the customization of your social networking account, e-mail, blogs or in your personal website if you have one. You can get a hold of the html codes at www.livingwaters.com, through their page called "Stuff for Webmasters".

By directing people to open sites that have gospel presentations

Several times, I have induced interests in people in opening websites that have gospel presentations. I have directed people to open www.needGod.com and in our own website at www.livingwaters-asia.com where there appears the "Are you a good person test?" I tell them, "Have you tried this particular activity in this website? You gotta try it. The website is…" All it takes is some excitement on your part in telling people about these sites, and until you know it, they’re already contemplating the gospel that was presented to them.

Sharing the gospel in chat rooms

If you’re tough enough to engage someone in some discussions but without you showing your face, online chat rooms are a great venue to do this. Once in a while, I and other SYM members do this. We log in to our Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger accounts and go to available chat rooms. There are chat rooms for women, for men, for professionals, for business, for movies, for religion, etc. But our favorites are the chat rooms for pagans and atheists. Here, we engage people in a discussion of why God is real and strategically lead it to a discussion of sin, then of judgment, all the way to the Good News. Sometimes it really gets rough in these chat rooms. Pagans and atheists would hurl curses on us, but, it’s okay. We don’t get hit physically with what they throw on us. At the end of the chat session, we are left very satisfied knowing that we just did God’s will.

Using telecommunication devices

Sharing the gospel to telemarketing and customer service agents

Once in a while, we get calls from people we don’t know that sells us things that are, most of the time, not necessities of daily living. Rather than being annoyed by these calls, why not take it as an opportunity to share to someone the gospel. When they call, give them the time they need to present to you their products. Be very kind and accommodating to them. When they’re done, ask them if you can also present to them something very important. Because you accommodated them earlier, they will definitely give you the time you are asking from them. Then do what you’re supposed to do.

You can also do this when you’re asking for assistance from customer and technical service agents. I did this once when I was asking for assistance with my internet connection at home. When the agent asked me to do something and observe the developments for several minutes, I took the free time to share the gospel to her. Because they are in the business of giving service, they are usually very courteous and accommodating. If they do not agree with something you say, they express it in a very kind way compared to when you're doing a one-to-one gospel presentation in the streets. Of course, you should also reciprocate their kindness. Because of the air of respect in this situation, in a matter of 3 to 5 minutes, you’re all done with your presentation.

Through mobile phone SMS (text messaging)

In the Philippines, if there is one thing that is mutually shared and enjoyed by every Filipino, that is text messaging. The Philippines is the “SMS capital of the world”. I once read in an article that the number of text messages that go around the Philippines for one day is more than the number of text messages that go around for the whole continent of Europe.

Enough of the glories of Filipino text messaging. Let’s get to my point. You can definitely use this venue to share the gospel. Engage someone in your phonebook to a healthy discussion of how one can go to Heaven and evade Hell. The good thing about this mode of witnessing is that it gives you time to think about your answers to questions that the person at the other line may throw at you. You also have the benefit of asking for assistance from more mature Christians in answering questions. There’s really no reason for you to be frightened in sharing your faith in this situation.

Using gospel tracts

Gospel Tracts in mails and in strategic places

For the non-tech-savvy Christian who is also so frightened to give-out gospel tracts in public places, here’s one for you. But before I give this to you, let me tell you that for God’s glory, you should overcome your fear. Pray about it and little by little, challenge that fear.

Here is it. Buy a pack of good gospel tracts (we have lots of them at our online store --- http://www.livingwaters-asia.com/catalog), and get a phone directory or any available directory for the public. Depending on how many tracts you have available, choose randomly the same number of addresses from the directory. Place a tract each in every envelope and send them to the addresses you’ve chosen. It will also be good if you can attach a note in each of the tract before you place it in the envelopes informing the recipients of a way to contact you if ever they would want to ask you some questions after reading the tract. We did this a year ago and our hearts are field with joy whenever we realize that we were able to share the gospel to someone far away from us.

You can also just leave gospel tracts where people can see them and easily get them without you facing them or talking to them. You can go to the parking lot of malls and insert gospel tracts in cars’ windshields. You can also leave some of them in phone booths, restaurant tables, fitting rooms, mail boxes, etc. Star Youth Ministries members once inserted tracts among free Catholic literatures in a big Catholic church in our place. It’s as simple as this --- leave some tracts where people would usually go. There’s a tract also available in our online store called “The Wallet Tract” which really looks like a wallet from afar placed on streets. I’ve scattered this tract in colleges and markets and have watched how people would really pick them up. It’s a great tract to use if you want people in the streets to get a hold of a copy of the gospel.

Direct tracts distribution in public places

Of course, this is something you can always do. It’s really not as scary as you thing it is. What’s so scary about offering someone something free to read, right? The worst that can happen to you while giving out tracts is that they’ll reject what you are offering them. Well, yes, I’ve heard of stories where a person that received a tract tore the tract in front of the person that gave it. But this is something that probably would only happen once every 1,000 gospel tracts given away. And if ever this is something that will happen to you once every 10 gospel tracts, remember that it is not you they will be rejecting but God. Take comfort on the fact that you have suffered reproach for Christ’s sake and then stand-up again and go to the next person and give him/her a tract.

If only every Christian would make it a point to give out a tract or two everyday. Probably, a big reason why a number of Christians do not engage in tracts distribution is because they really do not fully comprehend what a piece of paper can accomplish. In the School of Biblical Evangelism book of Living Waters, there’s this recorded account of a diver that decided to get right with God through a gospel tract. The story says that this guy had many friends that were sharing the gospel to him but he just kept on ignoring them. One time, he went diving and in the bottom of the sea, he saw this shell that had in its mouth a crumpled piece of paper. He took the paper and at the shore he opened it. To his amazement, it was a gospel tract. He began to pray and told the Lord, “God, even in the bottom of the sea you chase me. I give up. I repent of all my sins and I put my total trust in you.” What a story about what gospel tracts can do! Only God knows how many have given their lives to Him through gospel tracts.

To get you started with the habit of giving out tracts, it will be good to have about 3 to 5 of them whenever you leave your home. Give it to the taxi driver when you get off the cab. Give one to the waiter after you pay your bill. Don’t forget to leave one to the person that sits beside you in the bus. If you’re driving your own car, give one to the person in the tollgate after you pay your toll fee or to the traffic policeman when the traffic is in a halt. After some time, take it a step further and bring a bundle of gospel tracts and walk through the crowd in the park or in the marketplace and give a copy to every one you pass by. You will find out later that it’s not as difficult as before to be in this activity, and instead, it’s a very satisfying thing to do on a regular basis.

You can also give away gospel CDs, DVDs or books with very clear gospel presentations as gifts to friends and relatives. We also have a lot of these in our online store. I recommend you check out the following books and CDs at our online store: 101 Things Husbands Do to Annoy their Wives / What Hollywood Believes / The Narnia Story / Slaying the Dragon / Why Christianity? (available by the 15th of June).

If you are short in cash to purchase our gospel tracts and you really want to be in this kind of evangelism activity, you can download a free copy of tracts we’ve made and have them photocopied depending on how many copies you want from our “Free Resources” page in our website.

One final word…

It is my hope that you will use these avenues exclusively only until you have overcome your fear of directly facing people to declare sin, righteousness, judgment and God’s plan for salvation. Don’t be too comfortable with these strategies. As you mature, you should also be willing to go out of your comfort zone doing one-to-one witnessing and open-air preaching, even if it would mean embarrassment and persecution. Remember that what Jesus endured so that He can give us the salvation we so need will always be more than what we may experience in sharing the gospel. Until the nets are full, may we all labor together in heeding the Great Commission.

Looking At Things With Eyes Of Faith

One of the hardest things in the life of any Christian is hanging on to your faith when everything around you suggests that you should start doubting God. In ministries like Living Waters Asia that exist by faith on a daily basis, the temptation to doubt is a battle I experience on a regular basis. LWA and other Living Waters agencies around the world, although operating under the guidance of Living Waters Publications of Bellflower, California, are independent in many ways, especially in the area of financial resources. Each of us have to raise our own funds so that we can continue on with our work of spreading the Way of the Master principle of evangelism to as many Christian churches as possible, as well as lead as many souls as possible to a life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ. From time to time, the sales of LWP products would significantly help in our operational expenses. But for most of the time, at least for LWA, we have to cry out to God to rescue us from our financial responsibilities.

Many times in the last one year and a half existence of LWA, I have found myself on my knees, crying to God in prayer to provide for our needs. Sometimes, I forget to even pray for my own family’s needs because the time I spend in prayer has been dominated by my prayers for the ministry of LWA. You don’t even need to lecture me anymore about me showing God my helplessness whenever I pray for there is no more pride left in me when it comes to my own ability to rescue LWA from its financial situations. Ever since LWA opened, I am only working part-time in my job as a school administrator, receiving a significant pay-cut, that’s why there is no way for me to be the “savior” of LWA financially. If this is how I pray for LWA’s monthly operational needs, imagine how much kneeling and crying I do for big events we have like our yearly missions trip which we call “The Gospel Buzz” and the recently concluded event, “The Launch” last March 9, 2008.

It’s tiring to be praying with that kind of intensity. I once heard someone say that the strength you lose during an intense prayer session is equivalent to one 24-minute full-court basketball game. I agree. There are nights after a few minutes of intense prayer that I right away go to a very deep sleep as soon as I hit our bed. I’ve also experienced sweating profusely during this kind of praying. Honestly, there are nights when I think twice of going through another of this intense praying after realizing how tired I got the previous night that I prayed. Sometimes my mind asks, “When is this going to end?”

So why is praying tiring? Praying is tiring because you try your best to get through to God amidst the distractions the devil would post so that there will be questions against the sincerity of your prayer. During prayer sessions, the devil would send you inappropriate thoughts or remind you of past sins you’ve committed that you’ve confessed already just so he can make you stop praying. But if you want to get to the throne of God, you will fight through these distractions with all your strength and concentration. But then again, this kind of battle while praying has the ability to sap out whatever strength is left in you, making you consider to stop engaging in this kind of praying. I confess, I’ve considered the thought several times in the past months.

And what more can discourage a person to pray than an unanswered prayer. If tiredness makes a person stop engaging in intense praying, unanswered prayers can make a person abandon praying completely, specially if the prayer item is clearly within God’s will and you’re convinced that God will hear it (1 John 5:14). So many times, this scenario has pulled me down. So many times, because of this, I have questioned if God really called me to be in this ministry. So many times, because of His seeming silence to my prayers, I am pulled down on my knees again in prayer, asking God to help me to continue putting my faith on Him, to help me in my unbelief. Although I get discourage when things I ask God don’t happen, I fear loosing my faith on Him. That will be a sad day when that happens.

These struggles in my faith have again hunted me during the weeks leading to “The Launch”. We organized this event to accomplish two things: (1) to encourage pastors to invite us in their church to do a WOTM seminar and, (2) to challenge financially capable Christians to support us. From the day this event was conceptualized (December 30, 2007) up to a week before “The Launch”, we prayed hard for these purposes to be achieved, especially the 2nd one. I wanted the 2nd one to be achieved so badly because I was hoping that through it, both my wife and I can have our desire to work full-time in LWA realized. Several times, my wife and I were left sick because of the demands of meeting our responsibilities both in our secular jobs and in LWA. And if we are asked to choose which one to concentrate on, without a blink, we will choose LWA. But we know that we have a home to provide for and we don’t want to deny the faith and be worse than an infidel as the Scriptures said if we fail to provide for our son (1 Tim. 5:8). So it was crucial that LWA get enough financial support so that it will be capable of giving us support as well as finance evangelism programs we’ve been desiring to implement for the last two years.

At first, things were going well. When we listed down people we will be inviting, we were encouraged with the people we will be having in our event. In the list were big name pastors in the metropolitan as well as well known Christian businessmen. We researched in the internet where we can send their invitations. For most of the people that we had sent invitations to, there seem to be no reason for them to miss the event. It seems that both our goals would be achieved. But a week before the event, Ptr. Chan (LWA’s Metropolitan Coordinator) and his wife, Raquel, informed us that many of the people that they invited who, at first, confirmed their attendance are now telling them that they may not be able to come. The same was the case with the people we invited on our part. Our morale was fast going down the drain. We were almost going into a big panic… Then God reminded me to pray.

I began to invite Star Youth people in the LWA office to join us in prayer sessions specifically for “The Launch”. In the past two years, SYM people have caught up with my visions for the ministry and have made them their own. So when I told them about the situation, I immediately saw their concern. Please understand that the SYM people are mostly either in their late teens or early 20s. I, their leader in the group, am already 33 years old. But despite my obvious seniority over them, I was amazed at how they were encouraging me not to lose hope, and they were doing it well. I asked them to include our situation with “The Launch” in their personal prayer time, and they committed to it. I believe that they really did pray for it even without me asking them.

In our final group prayer time, the day before the event, we, including my 6 year old son, Alen Daniel, gathered in our ministry office and showed God our faith on Him. Although I directed the items to be prayed for, God was impressing on each of us this thought --- “Even if I don’t give you what you specifically ask for, don’t be downhearted because I will always have something better for you.” And so, our prayer turned from “Lord, please answer these prayers” to “Lord, thy will be done”. After more than 2 hours of praying that morning, we all left the office with renewed confidence on God. We knew that God was in control at all times no matter what the ending maybe.

Probably you are anticipating that we achieved all of our goals during “The Launch” because of the amount of time we spent praying. In terms of us getting invited to churches to do WOTM seminars, our present schedule will tell you “Yes”. Since March 9, we’ve been to already 3 churches doing seminars and one-to-one presentation to pastors. But in terms of LWA getting promises of huge financial support, this is how I’ll answer you --- “If you look at it with human eyes, you can conclude that we failed. But if you look at it with eyes of faith, we’ve already succeeded long before ‘The Launch’ for God has promised us to answer our prayers in ways we haven’t seen before (Jer. 33:3).” I believe that God has on His plans another way of answering our second goal, and when that comes, we’ll clearly know that it was through His hands for it will be some way we will be left speechless in awe. We did not fail just because we did not get what we prayed for. Faith is all about believing in God's ability to answer prayers even if He chooses not to answer your prayer. And if you show God this kind of faith, He will definitely not let you down. He will provide for every need you have. I slept that night with a smile on my face and with a child-like anticipation of what God will do for LWA in the coming months. I’m really excited!

We left the event with smiles on our faces that day. I believe that God had achieved His goal for us in placing in our hearts to organize “The Launch”. Even during the program, God had already impressed to me that His goal for the event was not about us getting commitments for financial support. He was telling me that His goal was for the building of our characters so that we can further glorify Him in our lives and in the ministry of LWA. And that is what we got. We are better Christians now because of our experience during “The Launch”. Why? Because now, we have a clearer understanding of things happening to us for we have learned to look at things with eyes of faith.

The proud father

Last March 15, 2008, my one and only son, Alen Daniel graduated from preschool. I was one father beaming with pride as God reminded me of the past six years with my dear son. Before my wife and I got married, we agreed that we will only start thinking of being parents after a year of marriage. Although we have no regrets with the decision we had made then, if we had known of the joy that God would allow us to experience because of our son, we would have had him earlier. I am not saying that it is very easy to nurture a child. I tell you right now that it’s a full-time work. Going through hardships of parenthood only becomes worth it if you realize that what God is asking from you is to care for the gift He has given you, and in the case of Dennis and Ruby Aglosolos, that gift is Alen Daniel.

I love my son very much. I try to make him feel that as much as I can. Compared to many fathers around me, I believe I say the line “I love you” to my child more often than others do. I also remind myself to show that in action. There were nights during his early years that I really will get up from bed when he asks for water to drink or if he needs to pee. There are days when I surprise Alen with unannounced dates between the two of us. One time, after a day in school, the moment he saw me, he right away asked me to buy him a stick of popsicle. I just said “No”. He took my response without any complaint. About 30 seconds to our drive back home, I asked him, “Can I treat my son to Jollibee (the Philippine version of McDonalds)?” I will not forget how his eyes flashed with joy. I really showed my son how much I love him that day.

But if a Christian father (or mother) would really want to show how much they love their child, there is no greater act of love than sharing the gospel to them. A parent does not truly love his/her child if he/she does not do something to help him/her evade punishment in Hell. In my opinion, a Christian parent is a failure if he/she is not able to lead their child to a personal relationship with Jesus. Until now, I cannot handle the idea of my son suffering in Hell. I cry with that thought. This is the reason why as early as 3 years old, I was already talking to my son about sin, Hell, and the gift of God through Jesus Christ. I have shared the gospel to my son several times using the Ten Commandments to show him how unfit he is for Heaven. I regularly observe my son if there is true change in his life as a result of a relationship with Jesus. Whenever I am convinced that change has not yet occurred in his life, I talk to him about it and make him evaluate if he is fit for Heaven or not. My prayer is that God will not let me die until all who are dear to me, with my son on top of the list, have given their lives to Jesus.

I know that to truly be successful as a parent, one should do the work of a parent base on the instructions of the Scriptures. The Bible has the best parenting instructions available. It's sad that before parents consult the Bible regarding parenting, they would consult humanistic books and Oprah Winfrey first. They are more confident of man's wisdom than the wisdom of God. People couldn't see that the parenting instructions of man have again and again failed as seen by the rise in unwanted pregnancies, juvenile drug addiction, addiction to pornography, violence, disrespect to parents, etc. The Bible tells us that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10)". "The fear of the Lord" does not mean something similar to fearing a ghost. Instead, it is a state where a person fears offending God because he/she honors and respects Him so highly. Wisdom, on the other hand, is the ability to differentiate between what’s good and what's evil. Once "the fear of the Lord" sets in, wisdom is developed which helps prevent the catastrophes mentioned in this paragraph.

When my son, Alen, does something bad, I don't say, "You just disobeyed me" or "You did something bad against Mommy". I explain to him that because it is God that gave us the rules we must all follow, it is to Him that we commit the sin (this is the reason why I have made my son memorize the 10 Commandments). As far as me and his mom getting hurt is just the result of his disobedience to God. And so, it is to God that I instruct him to apologize first. We only come in second. Ever since I learned the principle of the Way of the Master, never did I instruct my son to apologize to me or his mom first. Sin is always vertical so why should he apologize to us first, right? I believe that this is the best way to develop "the fear of the Lord" to our children--- by making them understand, it is to God they are accountable for every sin they commit.

The Bible likewise advices us "to spare not the rod of correction" if we really are to love our children (Prov. 13:24). There’s a lot of debate as to whether God is really instructing us to use physical punishment in disciplining our children. Some have argued that this verse is only emphasizing the need to discipline children but does not really suggest physical hitting of a child (on the butt) by a stick or a rod whenever they commit something wrong. I believe that the verse in question refers to literal spanking. Why should God allow such a form of disciplining? Logic tells us that pain is easier for a child (someone below 8 years old maybe) to understand than some clever reasoning to draw a point. If I spank (pain) my son right after a bad thing he has done, he can easily associate the pain with his sin, realizing that if he does it (sin) again, he can expect pain to come right away. The relationship of action and consequence is easily established. But if you totally remove spanking and instead resort to reasoning or even maybe, some other disciplinary action not involving pain, a child may decide to go through the consequence you offer for his actions because he believes he can easily take it. As a psychologist, I have observed that children nowadays could live well with the nagging of a mother or some alone time in a room than endure the pain that comes with spanking.

Spanking definitely should have a room in the discipline of children. But be reminded that this must be done with love. I spank my son whenever necessary. The way I do it is I explain first the reason why I will be spanking him. I make him realize that hurting him is also hard for me but I have to do it because I love him so much that I don't want him to grow up into someone people will stay away from because of bad behavior. I also demand my son to submit to the spanking with very little resistance from him. I do this because I want to develop in him a character that accepts the consequences of his actions. When I spank him, I make sure that it is only his buttocks that I hit. It's the safest part you can hit which will not endanger your child. After spanking him, I give him a hug and assure him again of my love. There are parents who, after spanking their child, would still spit out hurtful words to their children. This is wrong. You are not showing love anymore in this case but instead anger. Remember: never ever spank a child out of anger. Spanking should be done for the purpose of discipline and motivated by love, and not by anger. One time, I spank my son instinctively out of my anger. I realized that what I did was wrong that’s why I readily apologized to him.

Modeling is also a good way to "…train up a child in the way that he should go…(Prov. 22:6)". What way does God want us to lead our child to so that when he is old, he will not depart from it? The answer is godliness. How can we expect our children to follow God in their lives when we aren't? My wife and I try our best to be good models to our son. If we prohibit our son to not do something, we should not be doing it ourselves. For example, here in the Philippines, to celebrate the New Year, people play with firecrackers. My son during last New Year's celebration asked me to buy him some firecrackers for children. I told him that if daddy is not playing with those things, he should not be either. Putting it straight that way removes any chance for argument. Even if he sees other children playing with firecrackers, he will not anymore attempt to make a case because his old man is not doing it. The same should be applied with sins. If we want a child to live in holiness, we should live that way also.

I try to model a lot of godly things to my son. I show him the importance I give to Bible reading and earnest praying. He sees me reading my Bible regularly. He sees me on my knees in deep prayer. I lead our family devotions and ask him to memorize verses from the Bible. I show my son the importance I give to church attendance by making sure myself that I don’t miss church every Sunday. My wife and I show him that we give our tithes and offering cheerfully on a regular basis. Finally, I show my son how much I value the soul of people that’s why I share the gospel regularly, with hope that if he is not yet a child of God, he will say this to himself, "If daddy wants people around him to be saved then maybe it is also important that I be saved".

I have seen how my modeling has affected my son and how it has made me so proud of him. Recently he developed a love for Bible reading. There were several instances that I saw him alone in our room reading and memorizing verses from the Bible. A few weeks back he has asked me to buy him his own real Bible and not like what we've bought him in the past that were more like story books than the real Thing. If it's the Bible he is getting his learning from then that’s something to be very happy about.

Many times, my son, on the middle of the night have seen me on my knees while praying. I've explained to him that the reason why I kneel in prayer is because I want to show God how much I respect His power and how much I acknowledge my helplessness, which is God’s open door to answering my prayers. One evening, I was so tired after a very hectic day. I couldn't pray anymore in my usual way where I am on my knees. And so, I prayed while sitting on our couch. I was alone in our living room when I started praying. While my eyes were closed in prayer, I sensed that my son entered the room. When I opened my eyes after praying, guess what I saw? My son was on his knees praying by the sofa. When he was done, I asked him what he was doing. He wouldn't answer. It was as if he was ashamed that I saw him praying on his knees. If he wanted to impress me, he would have declared right away that he was praying. But because he couldn't say it right away, I believe he was very sincere in his prayer that evening.

Another time, my wife was preparing our tithes and offerings before we went to Sunday worship service. We have been teaching our son to give to the Lord. My wife asked Alen, "Son, how much will you be giving for your offering?" Alen had P500.00 in his wallet at that time which he was able to save from gifts given to him by friends and relatives. Now, you have to understand that with that amount, he could easily buy a toy he likes so much at the nearby mall. We were surprised by his answer. He said "All of it". We asked him if he was sure. He said "Yes" and added that it is to God he is giving it anyway so why be sorry about losing it. We were so proud of our son that’s why after the worship service that day, I gave him P100.00. His grandfather heard about what he did and he also gave him another P100.00.

One thing we always teach our son is to see God us our wealth. One time his playmate asked him, "Are you rich?" This was his answer--- "No we’re not. Actually we’re just renting our home. But our wealth is Jesus." Man! When my father told me about this, it almost made me cry. I felt such fulfillment as a father. Here's my son, only 5 years old then, telling others that with Christ in one's life, you don't need anything anymore. I am left speechless whenever I remember that incident. His playmate, not to be outdone, bragged that his family's wealth is "Mama Mary".

But the thing that makes me so proud of my son is his desire to join us whenever we share the gospel. Because almost everyday, he is with me in the student center we operate and has seen and heard me conduct WOTM seminars, he knows how to share the gospel the way Jesus did. Although there are times that he mixes up the details of the presentation, he knows how to show people their sinfulness using the Law, judgment and our destiny because of our sins, what Jesus has done to save us from going to Hell, and what is required of us to do to have our sins forgiven and gain eternal life in Heaven. He joins us regularly in our street evangelism during Thursdays. There are days when I ask him, "Will you be coming with me to the center?" and he would beg off. But if it's a Thursday you ask him this question, he would tell me, "If it's Thursday, you don't need to ask me anymore if I'm coming because I am." He has witnessed to street children and to teenagers alike. I'm proud of my son because a lot of old Christians in churches today couldn't even overcome the fear of giving out gospel tracts. Before, my dream for him is that someday, he will be a successful doctor, or lawyer, or even a psychologist. But now, I dream of the day when my son will decide to be an evangelist to the unreached people of the regions beyond.

This is how a man can be proud as a father--- by taking the responsibility of leading your children to God and showing them how they can further please God in their lives. This is why I am a proud father. I’m not giving the impression that Alen is a perfect child. He has his own share of childhood misbehaving. What I am saying is that so far, I like what I am seeing. I did it God’s way that's why, so far, I’m successful in my role towards my son. Nothing beats God’s way.

To my son, I'd like to tell you that I love you very much. You don't know it but there are many nights that I lay my hands on you to pray for you, asking God to protect and bless you. During times that you’re down with an illness, God knows of my desire to trade places with you. When I’m away for a speaking engagement, you and your mom are always in my thoughts. I love kissing you. I love hugging you. I love playing with you. I love caring for you. I love loving you. You are a gift from God to me and your mom that’s why we want to take good care of you. We want only the best for you and as far as we know, the best thing that could ever happen to you is to be God's child and to live within the bounds of His supreme will. My life's dream for you is that you live your life for Him, and if needed, die for Him. I pray that God would allow us to live long serving Him together if He will not come back soon. And when I'm all long gone, I hope that you'll take time to read again this article so that you'll remember how proud I and your mom were of you. We love you, my son.

The importance of the process towards an end

The church and the procedures of doing things in the church have experienced tremendous changes in the last century or so. These are changes that seem to have been blessed by God once you start evaluating them base on the results it delivers like bigger Sunday service attendance, increased number of so-called "decisions for Christ" during evangelistic crusades, more worship-driven Christians, more rejuvenated and involved young people in church programs, to name a few. Who wouldn't want all of these things to happen in their church, right? I would do a summersault in joy if one day I see all of these achieved in the church I belong to. But the question is, "Are these achieved using processes prescribed by the Scriptures?"

"Why worry about the process when the results clearly reflect what God wants to be achieved in this world." A lot of Christian leaders today make this kind of argument. They are making the point that "the end can justify the means." So how important really is the process to God? 1 Cor. 14:40 commands us to do all things "decently and in order". This is a clear declaration of the process of which things should be done. And if God is telling us this, we can make the conclusion that there is honoring and glorifying of Him with the process we employ towards the achievement of a goal. We cannot just make a spectacle in our churches, like holding something similar to a rock concert, just so we can make the unbelievers in our community attend our evangelistic service. But you may argue, "Hey! You Christian leaders have told us several times before ‘to win souls at any cost', and now you're telling us having a rock concert at our church to bring in the people is wrong?" Please understand that when we admonish you "to win souls at any cost", the point we are making is that if you have to die for the gospel's sake, then by all means, do it.

The next obvious question is this, "What process is decent and in order?"

First of all, it has to be biblical. There are processes of doing things that were clearly laid out in the Bible. Like when someone is sick. James 5:14-15 tells us that it is the sick that calls for the elders of the church to pray for him and to anoint him with oil. In modern times, television evangelists would announce to everyone that he/she will conduct a healing service so everyone who is sick is invited to come to the venue of the event. This clearly opposes what was instructed of us in James 5:14-15. Another problem with this is that most of the time, it's the person conducting the healing crusade that is being lifted up and not God. Now, as to whether I believe that there is true healing that happens in these events, is another discussion that should be reserved for another time.

Evangelism is another Christian function of which there is a clear instruction as to how it should be performed. Mark 16:15 tells us to "Go into all the worlds and preach the gospel…" There are two instructions here: (1) to "Go" and not wait for the unsaved to come to you, and (2) to "preach" the gospel and not to "sing" the gospel out. Most evangelism programs of churches today start by asking "what people would want to hear" in case we are successful in inviting them to our churches. The churches of today have concluded that people prefer that we talk about God's love to mankind to the point where we have made them believe that God would embrace anyone to His family just as they are, even with no resolve to turn away from sin. Furthermore, they believe that talking about sin and Hell to an unbeliever would only offend and push him away. And so, exclude sin and Hell from the message as much as possible. To make the person stay in your church for the longest time possible, it will also be good to deliver messages as often as the pastor can about the "prosperity that God wants to give people."

After finding out "what people want to hear", the next question is "how they want the message delivered." Churches of today clearly give the answer --- Entertainment! A widely accepted message goes well with entertainment. This is the reason why Christian music has changed dramatically in the last two decades. Now we have "Christian Rock music". Church leaders would allow that their churches be transformed into a rock concert scene for about an hour, with young people banging bodies with each other, if that would mean a big crowd listening to the preaching at the end of the program. I recently saw a video at the website of The Way of the Master Radio of a pastor who delivered a message on the Christmas story ala The Jerry Springer Show. The characters like Mary, Joseph and some fictitious characters that aimed to discredit the integrity of Mary were violently arguing with each other the same way guests in The Jerry Springer Show do. The manner into which this very holy Bible event was delivered in that video was a big blasphemy against the Word of God. But despite that, it breaks my heart to inform you that people in the congregation that watched the skit seemed to have enjoyed what they saw. Churches are willing to degrade the time tested biblical processes in favor of what they perceive as "great evangelistic responses."

The Bible also tells us that "The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul (Ps. 19:7)." The Law was part of the evangelistic messages of Jesus when He was still here. The disciples and the apostle Paul followed through after Jesus ascended to Heaven. Great evangelists 300 and 200 years ago like Whitefield, the Wesley brothers, Luther and Spurgeon had a big part reserved for the Law in their messages. Why? Because the Law serves as our “…schoolmaster to bring us to Christ… (Gal. 3:24)” after it has stopped our mouths and made us guilty before God (Rom. 3:19) and gave us the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). The person to which the Law is preached not only understands why he needs to put his faith on Jesus, he also realizes that because it was his transgression of God’s holy Laws that put him in trouble, there is a need for him to repent from these sins. Thus, his conversion is complete. But the preachers of our time removed the Law in their presentation of the gospel for the simple reason that they believe, talking about sin will push away the unsaved. They prefer to use what they call “The Seeker Sensitive Approach.”

Pardon me but I really don’t get this approach. It's saying that if you have hurt someone badly and I will serve as the bridge so that things will be settled, to make you get right with the person you've so insensitively inflicted pain on, I will tell you nice things about the person you've hurt (like he is such a forgiving person) so that you’ll feel good about yourself? Duh?! This is crazy! You hurt God insensitively and yet you want His children to be sensitive in dealing with what you did? What you deserve is to be shouted at on your face about the evil you’ve done against God so that you’ll be awakened and moved to do something about it. Isaiah 58:1 says, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression…" I don’t see the Seeker Sensitive Approach anywhere in this verse. Do you? This is why the Law shouldn't be removed in our evangelistic messages for the Bible instructs us to make people examine themselves through the mirror of the Ten Commandments so that they'll see how wretched they are in front of such a holy God. And as far as the "seeker", God is the only Seeker and not you. He seeks for your repentance of sins. He seeks for your total faith on Him.

The second way of knowing if your process is "decent and in order" is to examine if it is "after the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:4)." How do you know if it is "after the Spirit of God?" John 4:24 tells us that "God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." So how do you know if something you are doing is "in spirit"? Godliness is the answer. The manner should reflect holiness which is a prime attribute of God. Anything that does not evoke holiness or, any procedure that it is this world that invented is not of God. And how about "the truth"? Something is of the truth if (1) what is shown in the outside is similar from what's inside (Ps. 51:6) and if, (2) it sets you free (John 8:32).

Let’s test some of the things that have been happening in our churches and see if they are "in spirit and in truth".

I once heard of a church that holds raffle draws for people that will attend their evangelistic crusade. Why is this wrong? The church has now set the stage for the sin of covetousness for people in the crusade. Instead of them there to listen to the preaching of the Word, there will be people whose eyes are now focused on the material rather than the spiritual. The gimmick has failed the test on godliness on the basis of the potential sin it evokes, as well as the fact that raffle draws is an invention of this world and it definitely has no room in our churches. It has also failed the "truth" test because it really has not set the person free in terms of the hold of sin in his life. Some people may come back to this church, not because they have been truly converted, but because they like the cool gimmicks of the church.

Let's do another one --- Church music. There have been songs in our time being sung in our churches (I'm not saying all) that sounds more worldly than Christian. Yes, the lyrics look Christian but the manner they are sang is definitely worldly, like songs classified as "Christian Rock" music. The argument as to why these songs are permitted in our churches is to adapt to the taste of the modern time (Seeker Sensitive Approach). To further add to the modern feel, people leading in the singing of these songs wear clothes that will definitely not glorify God. They wear t-shirts with weird prints and tattered shorts that looked like they have not been washed for about a month. They jump around the stage like unbelievers do in a real rock concert while shouting "Praise the Lord" or "I love you, Jesus" from time to time. Clearly, this kind of music in our churches fails the "spirit test" for rock music is an invention of this world (I really can't imagine God inventing this kind of music), and holiness is not seen in the way people sing these songs and the way they present themselves to God while singing. It also fails the "truth test" for people are not really pouring their hearts in singing the songs because of the message. They simply are moved by the manner it is being sung, a manner more in-tuned to this world than to God. Furthermore, a lot of hypocrisy is committed with lines mentioned by the singers in the songs they sing that they really do not mean.

There are many more gimmicks that churches today employ that clearly fail the "spirit" and "truth" tests. There was a church that had a "Clown Sunday Service" where everyone that came to church that day wore clown costumes. Another church once had an "Elvis Sunday." The pastor that Sunday preached as Elvis Presley, complete with Elvis costume, voice and sideburns. A very famous church in California with a very famous book author as the head pastor, from time to time, have theme Sunday worship services. Some of their past themes were "Rock ‘n Roll Sunday" and "Hawaiian Sunday". It’s sad that so many churches would go to this length just to show-off the results they want, not knowing that they really haven’t achieved what they aimed to achieve, and that is leading people to a true conversion. If someone is in church because he enjoys what’s happening there, then he is a false convert. The only reason why a person is in church is because he has truly repented of his sins and placed his trust on Jesus for his salvation, making him a member of the family of God that gathers together as a church congregation.

You may argue now, "If the process is really important, then why did Jesus, Himself, several times did not act according to the prescribed process like when He healed on the Sabbath?" Actually that's not true. What Jesus went against with was the heartlessness and the insensitivities of the Pharisees towards those that were suffering. Jesus was also showing the Pharisees that their traditions won’t help them a bit in giving them eternal life if their heart is so wicked. Then Jesus laid the processes for doing things. He showed us that the amount of our offerings won't matter if there is no sacrifice and humility in our hearts. He taught us to give without the other hand knowing what the other has given. He taught us the process of praying --- in secrecy. The Bible gives us the criteria for choosing the leaders of our church. Guidelines on the proper use of our spiritual gifts in our churches were written in black and white. Even the manner of dealing with the sins of our fellow Christians was so carefully explained. We cannot deny that God is concern about the process we employ towards the achievement of an end.

God is a God of order. The universe shows us this. To achieve that order, God has chosen to lay down processes to which things must be done. It is our duty to behave according to the process, whether in our churches or in our personal lives. God’s process is sure. This world’s process isn't. God's will is that we get to the results that He wants us to achieve. The only way to have that is if we submit to the process. In doing so, we not only get to the real results, we also glorify God because in a way, we are saying, "Your way is the best way!" Praise the Lord for God-ordained processes!

When man boasts of tomorrow

2008 has arrived! Because it’s a new year, there’s a lot of people who have listed down their “New Year’s Resolutions” which, if you compare with last year’s resolutions, aren’t different at all. There are those who’ve made new goals of things they would like to achieve in 2008. Brand new plans of things to do throughout the year likewise come to the picture. All of these, people make as if they are so sure that they will get to live all of 366 days of 2008 (this year’s a leap year).

About two months ago, I made my 6 year old son (then 5 years old) memorize Proverbs 27:1 which says,"Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."I made a copy of the verse and stick it on our refrigerator with the help of an adhesive tape. For the next 3 days, my son stood in front of our refrigerator every morning right after he woke up to memorize the verse. I explained to him what the verse means and its many implications on man’s life. I believe that if he would deeply understand the message of the verse, he would grow up not wasting everyday that passes his life.

How I wish people would come to likewise learn Proverbs 27:1 just like my son. People, both saved and unsaved, would benefit a lot if they understood what God is telling us through this verse. But the sad thing is, people in our time have become more boastful of their future than ever, to the point that it seems, they have forgotten that they are mortals who have a sure scheduled appointment with death. Here are some boastings that people make.

"I still have a lifetime ahead of me. I'll just enjoy what's around me (even if it offends God) and think about getting right with God when I’m already too old and weak to indulge on these things.It's the unbeliever that says this. Here’s a very dangerous kind of boasting for it may lead a man to Hell. This reminds me of the story of the rich man in Luke 12:16-21. He had a great harvest in his land so much so that his old barn could not hold what he had harvested. And so, he made a bigger barn. Satisfied with what he had achieved, he said,"Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry (v. 19)."He decided to enjoy what this world had to offer to him (including those that offend God) for he could easily afford them. But God said to him in the next verse, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."Here's an example of a person who forgot that he is mortal just like any other person around him. He forgot that tomorrow may not come for him.

Is it wrong to be hard working so that you’ll be prosperous? Is it wrong to enjoy the fruits of your labor? The story does not suggest these. The story’s aim is to make us realize that above all, it is our eternal destiny that we should be prepared with and not how we can prolong the benefits of the fruits of our labor or whatever wealth we have. Right at this very moment, as you read this part of the article, that rich man and many others like him (rich and poor) are suffering in Hell because they were very foolish not to prepare for their eternal destiny.

Everyday, 150,000 people die (that’s about 17 people dying every 10 seconds), with most of them plunging to the fires of Hell. There’s a big chance that many of the people that go to Hell for eternity on a daily basis have heard or read the gospel. But they were too arrogant to respond to God’s call for repentance and faith on Jesus Christ. I’m sure that these people as they suffer in Hell have so much regrets for not taking the gospel seriously during their happy times here on earth. “If only I had listened to my friend/relative/stranger who once shared the gospel to me.” Probably, this is a common line among people in Hell. Unfortunately for them, it’s too late now. The unbeliever has only himself to blame for his predicament.

"I'm still young and full of life. I’ll just spend about a majority of my life chasing my dreams of fame, wealth and power and think about storing up riches in Heaven later in life."It's the believer that says this. So many believers right now are making wrong priorities. Looking at these priorities, you will come to a conclusion that these Christians are more materialistic than spiritual. They are so drawn to the things of this world that they have forgotten that these things do not have eternal value. They would drop on offering plates during some Sundays what seems to be a big amount of money to help their church’s programs and, maybe to support missions, just so they could be relieved of some of the guilt for not really being physically involved in the service of our Lord. I have mentioned in my past article that I even know of some pastors who’ve abandoned their pastoral duties in favor of the chance to work in progressive countries that will allow them to earn a big amount of money. This is sad.

I really don’t understand how one could totally forget serving God as an act of gratitude after they have been touched and saved by the Saviour. Remember Peter’s mother-in-law in Matt. 8:14-15? Jesus came to Peter’s house and He saw his mother-in-law sick of a fever. Jesus touched her hand and immediately the fever was gone. And what did Peter’s mother-in-law do after being touched by Jesus? The story said that she immediately arose and served Jesus and his disciples. How come people of today that have been touched and forgiven by God are not responding in the same way as Peter’s mother-in-law? Makes you doubt if they really have had a life-saving encounter with Jesus.

There are a number of Christians that are making God wait for their service to Him while they go on their lives chasing their selfish dreams of worldly wealth. In a way, you can’t really blame them. Most of the Christians in our present time are products of a modern gospel message that says, "God wants you to be prosperous in life that’s why you need Him in your life to help you achieve that prosperity." And so, Christians embark in a life that focuses on amassing material wealth for they were taught that this is God's will for their lives. This is totally unbiblical for what the Scriptures admonishes us is that we be the light and salt of this world. Any verse that talk about Christians lacking of nothing is not in terms of material wealth but instead, of the required righteousness for us to go to Heaven which we get through the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross (see Matt. 5:6). If we delay our service to the Lord because for now, we'd rather chase first our personal dreams, we may be surprised by death one day and lose our chance of storing riches in Heaven. I’m sure that you don’t want to be just an applauder when God hands out the rewards of those who’ve made it a point to serve Him during their lifetime here on Earth. As the song says, "Only one life so soon will past. Only what’s done for Christ will lasts."

"I'm still young. People around me still have a long time ahead of them. I’ll preoccupy myself first of things I enjoy and let others do the same. I’ll just share the gospel to people around me when it’s obvious that they are about to cross the bridge to eternity."Again, it's the believer that says this. If in statement #1, the unbeliever has only himself to blame why someday he will go to Hell, for this statement, the believer is to blame why the unbeliever will someday miss going to Heaven. Ezekiel 3:18 says,"When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."This passage clearly points the responsibility to us in helping the people around us understand what they need to do to evade the pangs of Hell. And because we do not have control over time, we should take the first opportunity given to us to witness to an unbeliever because there’s a big chance that there will never be another chance.

Close your eyes for a while. Then think of three people: an unsaved family member, an unsaved friend, and an unsaved acquaintance. Picture these three people smiling at you in the middle of a cool day. Then slowly change the background from a cool day to a dark and hot place we came to know as "Hell". The smile they once flashed turns to a sharp stare of anger towards you because you never took time to tell them about the gospel as they feel the sufferings that Hell is giving them… Now open your eyes. Ask yourself, "Can I bear seeing these people in Hell?" I know you can't. So what will you do about it knowing that what you’ve just imagined can be a reality to them today? Remember, God will hold you responsible for their eternal fate.

We must make a total change of how we deal with people around us on a daily basis, from people who are full of life to people who will start their stay in Hell tomorrow if you will not take time today to tell them of what they have to do to evade the gruesome reality of Hell. If I were you, if you come home today and find your unsaved family member still alive, you will demand that he/she listen to what the Bible says his/her destiny because of his/her sins. If in the middle of your talk, he/she stands and tells you that he/she has had enough of what you are saying, and it would be better for him/her to do something else, pull him/her back on his/her seat and say that you’re not done with him/her until he/she makes a decision about his/her eternal destiny. How much lesser people would go to Hell if we have this kind of resolve of not stopping about talking to people about sin, righteousness and judgment until they make a decision to get right with God. But sadly, most Christians of today care less about the souls of people around them.

If you will ask me to deliver a message for the New Year, instead of exciting you with statements about how bright the prospects are for 2008, I’d rather tell you the reality, and that is this world will get worst in 2008. Why will I discourage you about 2008? Simply because I want you to get on your feet to tell more people about their sin and their sure destiny (if they won’t get right with God) before God says, “I’ve had enough of the sins of this humanity. Let me end all of these!” We must behave in this present time with urgency. Ephesians 5:15-16 says this, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise; Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” The Bible clearly tells us that in the last days, things will turn to worst, and the signs show that we are indeed in the last days. If you don’t do something about the eternal destiny of people around you, then don’t dare shed even a single tear when you see these people experiencing the wrath that God will pour onto people who did not repent of their sins and place their trust on Jesus, for the reality is, you were partly responsible for their predicament.

It’s the New Year. If in the past years, you have thought this way, then I believe that it’s high time that you change the way you think. The way you thought in the past is so dangerous to you, if you’re not yet a Christian, and to others if you’re already a child of God. There’s nothing sure about tomorrow. Let’s live today as if this is our last day on this world so that we won’t get to waste even a second of today.