Assurance

I was on my way to work last week, and happened to be praying about some specific things. One of which, was that the Lord would help me not have any more doubts. (Yes, even after 11 yrs of being a believer, I still go through seasons of doubt) I know that when this happens, my doubting actually is a great insult to God. If I doubt him, I am insinuating that he is a liar and His word is not true or worth trusting. So, I was repenting before him and asking that he help me not to go through any more times of doubt.
When I arrived at work, I opened my email and received this message from Todd Friel of Wretched Radio. I took it as an answer to prayer and I am sharing it with you so that if there are any more out there who sometimes succumb to a wave of doubt, you can overcome that doubt by a proper understanding of the grace of God.

Salvation Assurance. Got it?

God wants you to know that you are saved. The entire book of I John was written for that very reason (I John 5:13). Do you have that assurance? Do you know that you are saved? Have you lost the fear of going to hell?

God wants you to walk with Him in confidence. He does not want you in the Slough of Despond. If you are wobbly in your confidence, let’s see if we can get you out of the pit.

This is going to sound radical, but I wonder if you are shaky because of your fear of sinning.

Don’t get me wrong, you and I should be afraid to sin, but the question is, “Why?” While there are several reasons, I suggest there should only be one reason for the believer. If you have been afraid to sin for the wrong reason, perhaps that is why you have no assurance.

There are two wrong reasons for being afraid to sin.

Reason 1: Wrong Theology

Are you afraid to sin because that will demonstrate you are not actually saved? Uh oh. That is wrong. Ponder this carefully.

Your fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control) is an excellent sign that you are saved (Galatians 5). While external transformation takes effort, it is relatively attainable. But having a heart change is impossible unless God has saved you.

On the other hand, your sins are only POSSIBLY a sign that you are not saved. Note this well: Christians sin. That’s right, true born again believers will sin (I John). If you sin, that does not prove that you are a false convert.

“But wait,” you say. “Doesn’t the Bible say that if we keep on sinning we are of the devil?”

It sure does, but that is the key: you keep on sinning.

Let’s not sugar coat this, if you are living in willful, unrepentant, persistent sin, you are not saved. You need to repent. Now.

But if you are a man or woman who is growing in holiness (love, joy, peace, etc.) and you are not living in on-going, willful sin, then be assured: you are IN HIM.

You are saved. You have forgiveness of sins. You are adopted into His family. You are His child. You have all of the rights and privileges of an heir. STOP DOUBTING.

“But wait,” you protest. “I don’t want to sin so that grace might more abound.”

That is good, but hear me well: YOU WON'T. If you are in Him, you will not, nor cannot be a grace abuser. Why not? Because you have a new heart and new desires.

Reason 2: Wrong Motive

Perhaps your motive for not sinning is to prove that you are saved. That too is wrong.

What should be your motive for not sinning? It is NOT to prove that you are in Him.

Your fear of sinning should be motivated by your position in and love for Christ. You loathe sin because you are in Him and you do not want to sin against the One you love so profoundly.

Let me demonstrate what I am describing with the Tale of Two Christians.

Doubting Danny

Danny has a born again experience. He can remember when God brought him low and he repented of his sins and trusted Jesus. He reads the Bible every day and his family notices that he is a different person. He has even lost a lot of his old friends because he is “so Christian.” But Danny has doubts.

Danny has mortified his gross sins. The pornography has ceased and the anger is gone…almost. You see, occasionally Danny still gets kind of mad. Not nearly as mad as he used to, but he still finds himself getting annoyed in traffic and short with the kids.

When Danny gets wound up, he recognizes his sin, apologizes to God and then frets that he is not actually saved. His worry ebbs and flows based on how well he is doing.

Assured Alice

Like Danny, Alice has a born again experience. She can remember when God adopted her and she reads the Bible every day. Her family notices that she is different. Alice has no doubts she is saved.

Why not?

Alice used to be a raging gossip who loved her soap operas. Now she hates those things. Unfortunately, Alice will sometimes find herself in a conversation and she will realize that she is spreading gossip. She bridles her tongue, apologizes to God and praises Him that He has rescued her and has given her a new heart. She asks Him to help her not sin again. As the day progresses, she will thank God for His amazing grace toward her, a sinner.

Unfortunately, Alice sins again. While flipping through the channels to find Wretched TV, she lingers for a few seconds on a channel that she promised God she would not watch again. Alice gets mad at herself. Turns off the TV and apologizes to God and thanks Him that He has so graciously saved such a fowl creature. Alice is filled with awe at God’s loving-kindness. She cries.

Alice is resolved to not sin again because she is HEARTBROKEN every time she does. She does not battle sin to prove she is a Christian, but she battles sin simply because she is a Christian who loves to please the Lord with obedience. She knows that when she sins, she has increased the suffering of her Savior and treated Him with contempt, something she hates.

The thought of abusing God’s grace is the furthest thing from Alice’s mind. Let me repeat: the thought of abusing grace is the furthest thing from a Christian’s mind. Grace abuse is the last thing a Christian wants to do. Let me beat that horse. Not only will Christians not abuse grace; they won’t even want to abuse grace.

Our motive for not sinning should not be to prove we are not a false convert, but because we stand in awe of His grace.

Look to the cross, rejoice in your Savior. Do not fear. You will not abuse His grace as you walk this way. In fact, you will sin even less.

Please, do not be a doubting Danny. Be an assured Alice (unless you are a man, then be an assured Alan). Trust Him. Rest in Him. Because you are in Him.

Then go, and serve your King.

Hitting the Streets

Hey guys and gals, sorry its been a few weeks since my last posting. I have been experiencing technical problems with my computer (big surprise) but it looks like we're up and running once again. I am very excited about the good weather returning and what that means for evangelism opportunities. Last weekend, we hit the park and had a total blast handing out tracts, getting into great conversations with people and even open air preaching. Parks officials came and had a listen to us and didnt even try to shut us down. They just told us we would be needing a permit next time for the amplification. Sweet!

This Saturday, it looked like it was not going to be a very good day at all. When I showed up, the place was empty, as you can see! But there were a few people milling around and setting up for cook-outs, and I had a buddy showing up in a few minutes who was expecting to see some evangelism in action, so I could hardly just pack it up and go home in defeat.

Randy is a solid believer with a heart for the lost who has been wanting to come out for a while and hit the streets. Today was going to be a great day because even though it started out slow, it gave us the purpose of mind to spend plenty of time explaining the gospel to people. We used some great tracts as ice-breakers to open up conversations about spiritual things. I really like the tracts we used today because they are so cool that even if someone doesn't like the message on them, they keep them anyway. Who knows how many times they will read the gospel and keep having those seeds planted? The curved illusions are always a big hit.

When we saw these women from a distance, we were intimidated by the thought of approaching them, but it turned out well. The woman on the left was especially frightening for poor Randy, who was valiantly giving his best effort to deliver the gospel to them, but she was having fun with him. Overall, they loved our tracts and encouraged us to keep sharing with others.

We encountered a lot of young people who have Christian parents who bring them to church, but they didn't really understand the gospel and how it all works. We were able to share with them about the difference between simply acknowledging the truth of the gospel and actually being born of the Spirit. These girls had all heard the gospel before, but didn't quite grasp the meaning or repentance and faith. We gave them each a few tracts and shared with them our own testimonies of how we became Christians.

What was especially great about today was watching Randy break out of his comfort zone and do some radical things for Jesus. He was a bit nervous at first, but after experiencing the Lord's faithfulness, he became more bold and more confident as the afternoon went on. This family was the last encounter we had today and Randy handled them beautifully, from start to finish.

That is the best part about going out and opening our mouths for the kingdom of God. We all have fears, and we are all afraid of rejection. But that is when we draw from His strength. We let His strength be made perfect in our weakness. Then He gets all the glory! We don't rely on our own wisdom or power, but upon the Holy Spirit. So determine that you will share the love of God with those around you, and when you feel afraid, ask for boldness, and see what the Lord does through you.
Just think, a couple of hours out of your busy schedule on a Saturday could make the difference for eternity for someone else. Don't hide your light under a bushel, but rather let it out for all to see. See you on the streets!!

If you are on Facebook, go to Sowing the Seed profile and become a fan. You will recieve updates on upcoming evangelism events that you can be a part of. We would love to have you along!

Cleaning the Inside of the Cup

The purpose of this blog has always been and will continue to be to equip and encourage believers to reach out to the lost and dying world around us with the message of the gospel. Each of us has not only the high calling, but also the responsibility of sharing the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ with those who are perishing.
This week we are going to shift focus for a moment because it is important for us to have self-evaluation time as followers of Christ. If we are going to open our mouths for the kingdom of God, we don't want the world to see us as hypocrites. Remember Jesus' scathing rebuke aimed at the pharisees when he said they were like white-washed tombs - all clean on the outside, but inside they were full of dead men's bones. Our hearts must be right with the Lord if we want to be true and faithful witnesses.
If you are going through a time when you aren't in the Word, or your prayer life has been suffering, or you've been struggling with a certain sin, you will find that during those times you won't exactly be filled with evangelistic zeal. Even if we were to try out of a sense of guilt or duty, you and I will not be effective witnesses if the reality of our walk with the Lord is being constantly challenged by our disobedience or neglect.
The inside of the cup must be clean as well. Of course, we all go through valleys and times of testing. I am not suggesting that we need be perfect in order to be used by God. I am a flake and he uses me, so I know he can use you. I think you understand my point.
So how do we go about examining ourselves? What are some practical ways we can look at our walk and see where we need improvement, or more specifically, repentance? I am going to give a small list of questions that is not original, which is intended for "accountability partners". I have never personally been a huge fan of the concept of accountability partnerships because it seems to reveal a lack of understanding or reverence for God. You won't do certain things because you'll have to answer to your "partner", when all the while God Himself has been right there beside you. How about not doing them because He is watching?
I am, however, a fan of prayer partners. That is, a relationship where you can confide in a trusted friend(s) about areas of struggle and you pray for and with that person(s). Spending time with brothers and sisters in the Lord and challenging each other can reveal a lot to us about our walk with the Lord, so I really like this list. You can do it with another, or just take some quiet time and go through it alone with the Lord.


1. Hi how's your day been?
2. Did you experience any struggles/victories this week?
3. What problem has consumed you this past week?
4. How have you been tempted this past week?
5. Do you feel emotionally drawn or vulnerable to someone other than your spouse?
6. Have you lacked integrity in any of your financial dealings?
7. How's your devotional life?; what can I pray for you about this week?
8. How have your times in the Word and prayer been?
9. Which direction is your personal relationship with Christ going?
10. Have you abused your position of ministry or leadership in any way?
11. Have you given adequate priority time to your spouse? Your kids? Your friendships? How?
12. Have you been diligent in areas of agreed-upon personal discipline, such as diet, exercise, prayer, anger-control, gossiping, morning wake-up time, sleep time,etc.?
13. What progress have you been making toward your life goals?
14. Have you observed anything in my life that I need to hear about?
15. Have you lied to me in any of your answers?

Again, this list is intended for accountability partnerships, but as you can see it can easily be adapted in order for us to reflect on our own life and our relationship with the Lord. Take time to make sure the inside of your cup is clean.
See you on the streets!

Priorities

Every day each of us wakes up and finds ourselves with a new opportunity to serve the King of the universe. I know that most of the time it may be difficult to see it that way when we have schedules to keep, bills to pay, people to see, etc., but the fact remains that all the while we go about our daily routine, there is a bigger picture in this thing called life that we need to keep in focus. When we were born into the family of God, we were also given a high calling, which is far above anything else we may aspire to achieve. Though we could climb the highest pinnacle of success in this life, if we put that first in our affections, we will fail to fulfill our God-given purpose to represent the gospel of Jesus Christ to a fallen creation.
What do you wake up and think about every day? Work? Vacation? Money? Hobbies? Are you thankful that the Lord has given you another day? Starting out with this attitude is a great reminder and motivator for spending your time and resources wisely for the Kingdom. Are you making the most out of every opportunity to serve the living God?
His rewards will far outweigh anything the world has to offer. Jesus instructed us to build up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt. If Jesus taught us to do it, then I would submit to you that it is quite legitimate to do so. In all your decision making, keep eternity in mind. In your spending habits, consider the long term rewards in what you are doing. How and where you spend your time should be governed by a heart that is completely consumed by wanting to live for the glory of God.
If you're anything like me, and you have some things to talk to the Lord about, just speak to Him as a child would speak to their parent. If your not all that fired up about change, then ask the Lord to change your heart. Confess any sins, and take God at His word that you are forgiven, then let the joy of knowing your sins are forgiven and that your name is written in heaven motivate you into service.
Tell others about the amazing gift of life that God has provided in Jesus Christ. See you on the streets!!

Prayer Request

Well, a few months ago I was beginning to plan a trip back to India in April or May, but things did not work out. That's alright. The Lord is still working through the cell-phone ministry and people are being saved. Its hard to believe its already been two years since we were there.
Dr Kumar is anxiously awaiting for us to return. He begs Joel and I weekly to tell him when we will be coming to preach.
Part of the reason it wasn't going to work this spring is that it is exam time for the students and also pastor Caleb is here in the US right now. It would be difficult to plan for crusades while he is busy travelling. He has asked that we make plans for Sept-Oct.
I'm sure this would also work for Dr Kumar in Rajahmundry. So, I am asking for you all to pray that the Lord will open doors of opportunity to make it happen.
I would like to spend two weeks there. One week in Chennai, and a second in Rajahmundry. It will be difficult to raise funds in these economic times we are in, but if the Lord is behind it, there will be no issues.
Please pray that He will give me wisdom in planning this mission trip. I am thinking that we will start raising funds as soon as possible. Hopefully I can think of some creative ways to make money, and also, hopefully there will be believers who are willing to support this great ministry.
Most of you know how to contact me if you are interested in helping out.
There has been incredible fruit coming out of the first trip there. Thousands responded at the altar calls, and now, because of the first trip, we have an ongoing ministry through the cell-phone that has been a great encouragement not only to the hearers of teh gospel, but also to believers here at home.
I believe the Lord can and will do wonderful things through a return trip, and I'm excited to see how He paves the way for the next one.
Thanks for the prayers!! See you all on the streets!!