A Pebble in the Shoe
From Greg Koukl at Stand to Reason:
I never set out to win someone to Christ. You may be surprised to learn that, even though I want to be an ambassador for Christ in every situation. My goal is a different more modest one that you may want to adopt as your own Let me explain.
I think that in some circles there’s pressure for Christian ambassadors to “close the sale” as soon as possible. When pressed for time, get right to the meat of the message. Get to the Gospel. If the person doesn’t respond, you’ve still done your part. Shake the dust off your feet and move on.
A wise ambassador, though, weighs his opportunities ands adopts an appropriate strategy for each occasion. Sometimes, the simple truth of the cross is all that’s needed. The fruit is ripe for harvesting. Bump it and it falls into your basket.
Usually, though, the fruit is not ripe; the nonbeliever is simply not ready. He may not even have begun to think about Christianity. Dropping a message on him that, from his point of view, is meaningless or simply unbelievable doesn’t accomplish anything. In fact, it may be the worst thing you can do. He rejects a message he doesn’t understand and then he’s harder to reach next time.
Now here is my own more modest goal. I want to put a stone in his shoe. All I want to do is give him something worth thinking about. I want him to hobble away on a nugget of truth he can’t simply ignore because it continues to poke at him.
God Created Me to Worship Him
Watch this video of Roger Flournoy Jr.’s powerful testimony to the Lord’s grace in his life. Then wipe the tears from your eyes, repent of your sin, and praise God for his grace in Christ Jesus!
Different Place, Same Gospel
From Restoration Church member Megan T.
The Lord is moving in Phaeton. Not in an obvious way, but in a sweet, subtle way. In the way that men gather around the well asking questions for hours about who God is and why they were created. Or the way children sit around a tree listening to parables and singing hymns. He is moving in the way a young woman eagerly reports on what she read since the last time she was visited and all her questions. He is evident in the prayers answered for women throughout Phaeton over the past year.
This was my second trip to Phaeton, Haiti, and over the past year the Lord has been working in mighty ways. At first the knowledge of the weak churches in the community were discouraging- how can the Haitians come to know the Lord if their shepherds aren’t guiding them to Him? But, the Lord is working there regardless. You can feel it when you walk around Phaeton- something heavy in the air. Noah said that often the ones who are faithfully in the Word are the ones who are not attending church regularly because they realize there is something more. There is something heartbreaking in that. As someone who has matured significantly through my membership in a local church, I can’t imagine it.
While I know that a weak local church is far from ideal, it is still so beautiful to see the way that the Lord works within a community to accomplish His will. He works through people, spreading the good news and encouraging those living within the communities. God is working through Restoration Church, allowing us to bring the Gospel, to build relationships, to pray for one another, to bear one another’s burdens, and for a short time, to live life together.
I will forever have the memories of Janet telling us that she first thanks God for every gift she receives as we sit on beds in her home, of helping Justine to bathe and holding water up to her lips, of the cool breeze as we sat on a hill overlooking Haiti, and so many more glimpses of the Lord’s faithfulness.
God is faithful and working in Phaeton, and I am so blessed to have been able to play a role in what He is doing.
Practicing Affirmation
Originally posted at The Blazing Center:
Admit it: it’s so much easier to criticize people than encourage people. There’s just so much fodder for criticism! We’re all sinners, and we regularly sin against one another. Every day we sin against our families, coworkers, friends, etc. And then there are those annoying habits we all have. Your husband can’t seem to remember to put his towel away after he takes a shower (guilty!). Your wife is a chronic key loser. Your kids are constantly breaking your valuable stuff. And the guy in the cubicle next to you is constantly clearing his sinuses in a loud, wood chipper-like, fashion. Because we are constantly interacting with frail, human, silly sinners, it’s so easy to be a constant critic.
Because it is so easy to criticize, we must take extra effort to encourage, build up, and affirm other believers (I’m preaching to myself here). We must go the extra mile to encourage and refresh others. We must work hard to overwhelm our relationships with encouragement. If our relationships become overrun with criticism they can quickly become unfruitful. In his helpful book, Practicing Affirmation, Sam Crabtree says:
But without affirmation, well-fed, well-inoculated, well-instructed children [or friends, spouses, coworkers, etc.] may tune out their parents and their well-intended instruction—especially their instruction.
In other words, if our relationships are lacking encouragement, it doesn’t matter how much we speak the truth, it won’t be received. If our kids don’t feel our love and encouragement they probably won’t hear our biblical correction and instruction. If our spouse doesn’t hear encouragement from us the relationship will take on a sour flavor. Again, Sam Crabtree says:
Generally, new relationships are still predominately affirming, but as relationships endure the years, they also endure a lot of correction. More specifically, affirmation didn’t keep up. Not enough affirmation was dished out compared with all the other messages in the relationship. A fire not stoked goes out…Proportionality matters when it comes to affirmation, for affirmation can be choked out by criticism, correction, or mere indifference and neglect.
It’s so easy for our relationships with others to be out of proportion when it comes to criticism and encouragement. They are full of criticism and correction and very lacking in encouragement. The result is that the relationship “goes out”. The fires of friendship grow dim. The romance of marriage disappears. The kinship of the parent/child relationship vanishes.
What is the flavor of your relationships? Is it criticism or encouragement? I gravitate toward criticism. I want to be like my friend Doug, who is constantly encouraging others.
Criticism is easy. Anyone can do it. It takes special grace to be an encourager. Ask God to help you grow in being an encourager.
Mission Trip Reflections: The God of Grace
From Restoration Church Member Paul B:
Nearly three weeks ago, I had the privilege of serving on the most recent Restoration Church mission trip to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. We spent the week training Haitian pastors and sharing the gospel with people in their communities. One of the greatest takeaways I’ve had upon my reflection on the trip, has been an overwhelming sense of God’s grace.
In our conversations with the Haitian people, we found many had great familiarity with Christianity. Many espoused beliefs that reflected a surface level understanding of the faith, but after a little digging, we found most didn’t really understand it. When we spoke of the good news of salvation through Christ’ death and resurrection, people would nod along in agreement. However, after some probing, their true thoughts reflected a legalistic perception of the gospel devoid of grace.
It was disheartening to see the essence of our faith, completely lost among laymen and some pastors. As Christians, our hope for eternal life rests on the fact that Jesus died to pay the debt of our sins and was raised back to life, giving us victory over sin and death. When we respond in faith to what Christ has done, we are reconciled back to God, ushering in hope and life where there was once death and despair. At the center of this message is God’s eternal, unconditional, gracious love. As sinners, we deserve nothing but God’s wrath, but He demonstrates his love for us through Christ. As I learned, this truth is one that can never be repeated enough because, without it, the hope and joy that we have in Christ, is crushed under the weight of our imperfections.
Many Haitians spoke of the impossibility of being perfect and the subsequent pressure that comes as a result. We had the pleasure of proclaiming Christ as our perfection, explaining what he actually accomplished through his sacrifice. It was my joy and privilege to serve alongside the Haitians who have taken hold to this hope (as well as Nathan, Megan, Travis and Noah) and see others begin to understand it for the first time. It was by grace that we were saved and by grace that we were chosen to proclaim his truth to the Haitian people. My prayer is that God would continue to use our church for the spread of this gospel of grace among all peoples.