Thursday, April 30, 2009

Check out the following video

If you want to understand THE REALITY OF ISLAM and how it is spreading around the world, YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Revival

I am writing this to sort out my thoughts and feelings about my role in the Kingdom of God. First, I want to be clear with myself: Living for Christ is not about me, it IS about doing God’s will (Matt. 7:21-23). Paul’s assessment of himself and his role before God was apparent to him (Gal. 2:20; Acts 26:16-18). He knew he was an apostle to the gentiles (Gal. 1:1).

My calling is clear to me: I am an evangelist. I was called of God to preach to the lost and bring them to salvation. Whether I am used to share the message or God uses someone else, it thrills me, like nothing else, to see a lost person baptized into Christ. On the other hand, it disheartens me to see many opportunities to share the gospel pass Christians by. This is not a recent “urge,” or a passing emotion – this is in my DNA as a child of God. Everywhere I have ministered God has blessed with many baptisms. In Cabot, AR in 1972 there were sixteen baptisms in a six week period as I caught the vision and burden Paul wrote about in Romans 9:1-4a and Romans 10:1. In Davenport, IA over 200 were baptized in two and one-half years; in Tavares, FL 28 were baptized in four months; in Little Rock there was an average of 40 per year baptized, and now at River City Ministry this year 30 have been baptized; last year over 70. In almost ALL of the many conversions I note here, someone besides me studied with and baptized the folks. Again, this is not about me!

For several years (1982-2003), my evangelistic spirit was numb (dead). I attribute this to several things: the difficulty of working with a divided church, the pressure placed on our family as my youngest son began to use drugs and a daughter chose to worship at a congregation other than the one we were with, and finally my resignation from preaching. All of these things were major distractions. Of course the real source of discouragement was Satan (Eph. 6:12).

Then, my youngest son’s conversion at age 22 was a tremendous source of revival to my spirit. If I died today I would do so praising God for what he has done in my family, with my children and their walk with Him. I say, “Amen,” to John’s statement in 3 John 4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

When Wes decided to come to Harding and attend the HSBS Program I was encouraged even more. To find out that he was going to join a team of students and go to California (taking him far away from his mom and dad) I could only praise God! I know there will be other obstacles along lifes way, but right now I am excited about trying to live up to my calling by equipping others to share Jesus while I do the same.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Friday, April 24, 2009

Just Ask!

It has happened again! and again! Wednesday night Anthony Wood met with some folks at the Remmel Church of Christ that were interested in discussing what it meant to become a Christian. Four were baptized. On Thursday at River City Ministry the 30th person was baptized in 2009. On Thursday night Mimi, a New Yorker who is making her home in Searcy, was baptized. The common denominator for each of these is that the gospel was presented to them and they were asked if they had a desire to respond to it. They did!

It still "pleases GOD to save people through the foolishness of preaching."

Monday, April 6, 2009

Tulsa Soulwinning Workshop 2009

The TSWW was well attended this year in spite of having numbers that seemed to be lower than previous years. I would rate the content of the 2009 Workshop very high. The speaker's were challenging in what they shared. The group I was with attended Memorial Drive Church on Wednesday night (heard good singing by several groups, and a good, challenging lesson by Rick Atchley) and again on our way out of Tulsa on Sunday morning.

With that said I also observed a heavy emphasis on social work, that is reaching out to the underserved of society. Since that is an area that I find my ministry with (http://www.rivercityministry.org/) I was in full agreement with us meeting the homeless, near homeless and poor where they are and welcoming them into our fellowship. Having spent a lot of time in an environment where social needs are met (food, clothing, medical needs, shelter, transportation, etc.) I know how easy it is for this ministry to become a substitute for meeting the greatest need of every person, salvation that is found only in Christ!

For several years RCM served thousands of meals, gave away tons of clothing, distributed thousands of dollars in medical supplies and saw few converted to Christ. In the past four years over 200 have been baptized into Christ. What is the difference? RCM brought evangelist in who were intentional about sharing the gospel with the lost. First it was Gerald White, a retiree who was spending his time working with "We Care Campaigns." In his two years at RCM about 60 were baptized. Then Anthony Wood was invited to RCM in the spring of 2007 to be the Evangelist for RCM. Since his arrival over 150 have been brought to the cross and salvation in Christ. His method is to intersect with those that come to RCM much like Jesus did with the woman at the well (John 4).

These conversions came about by simply asking those who come to RCM if they have a spiritual need they would like prayers for. A spiritual discussion follows and the "power of the gospel" does it's work.

My counsel is to 'ask." Just ask. See if those you know have a spiritual need that will lead to you sharing the most powerful message in the world, the message of the cross. (Do you know for sure, no doubt, that if you died today you would go to heaven?) We have that message of assurance, and we can share it.