Fear of Man vs. Fear of God

"The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else." -Oswald Chambers

One of the biggest areas we experience the fear of man is in witnessing. Often, we lack the courage to speak because we are afraid of the response we may receive. Fear of rejection and persecution from our fellow man, especially those we love, keeps us in perpetual silence about the Gospel. After all, who wants the deep hurt of rejection by a mother, sister, grandparent, or close friend? As a result, those lost that are closest to us are those we are least likely to share the saving Gospel with. Their only hope we hide away due to the fear of man. While we are absorbed in self-pity, they are headed straight for hell. This is a great tragedy, and Scripture should admonish and encourage us on this issue.

"The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe." -Proverbs 29:25

"For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may boldly say: 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'" -Hebrews 13:5b-6

"Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." -Matthew 10:27-28

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,  but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles." -2 Timothy 1:7-11

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." -1 John 4:18

"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." -Psalm 118:8

"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.  We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." -1 John 4:4-6

"For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." -Galatians 1:10

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'"-Romans 8:15

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -Philippians 4:13

"'No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,' says the Lord." -Isaiah 54:17

Noah | And the Last Days

Ray Comfort and Living Waters just came out with a new video about the parallels between our days and Noah's day. It is absolutely wonderful and I thought I would share it here. I hope you enjoy!

"Our Primary Task"

I have been studying "The School of Biblical Evangelism" by Ray Comfort, and today's lesson was especially convicting to me. I wanted to share it with you all, because it is something every Christian needs to hear.

 

"Our Primary Task"

"A lighthouse keeper gained a reputation of being a very kind man. He would give free fuel to ships that miscalculated the amount of fuel needed to reach their destination port. One night during a storm, lightening struck his lighthouse and put out the light. He immediately turned on his generator, but it soon ran out of fuel - and he had given his reserves to passing ships. During the dark night, a ship struck the rocks and many lives were lost.

     At the lighthouse keeper's trial, the judge knew of his reputation as a kind man and wept as he passed sentence. He charged the lighthouse keeper with neglecting his primary responsibility: to keep the light shining.

     The church can so often get caught up in legitimate acts of kindness- standing for political righteousness, feeding the hungry, ect. - but our primary task is to warn sinners of danger. We are to keep the light of the gospel shining so that sinners can avoid the jagged-edged rocks of wrath and escape being eternally damned.

     Imagine seeing a group of firefighters polishing their engine outside a burning building with people trapped at a top floor window. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with cleaning a fire engine - but not while people are trapped in a burning building! Instead of ignoring their cries, the firefighters should have an overwhelming sense of urgency to rescue them. That's the spirit that should be behind the task of evangelism. Yet according to Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ, 'Only two percent of believers in America regularly share their faith in Christ with others.' That means 98 percent of the professing Body of Christ is 'lukewarm' when it comes to obeying the Great Commission.

     Oswald J. Smith said, 'Oh my friends, we are loaded down with countless church activities, while the real work of the Church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected.' We have polished the engines of worship, prayer, and praise and neglected the sober task given to us by God. A firefighter who ignores his responsibilities and allows people to perish in the flames is not a firefighter; he is an impostor. How could we ignore our responsibility and allow the world to walk blindly into the fires of hell? If God's love dwells within us, we must warn the lost. The Bible tells us to 'have compassion...save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh' (Jude 22, 23). If we don't have love and compassion, then we don't know God - we are impostors (see 1 John 4:8). Charles Spurgeon said, 'Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.' Each of us should examine ourselves in light of these sobering thoughts (2 Corinthians 13:5) so that we won't be part of the great multitude who called Jesus 'Lord,' but refused to obey Him. It will be professing believers who will hear those fearful words, 'I never knew you: depart from me' (Matthew 7:21-23).

     A popular episode of the 'Andy Griffith Show' is called 'Man in a Hurry.' It tells the story of a business man who rushes through the quiet town of Mayberry. He is uptight and very hyper and finds the laid-back lifestyle of the locals to be extremely frustrating. However, in time he begins to enjoy the take-it-easy way of life. While it's a wonderful lesson on the importance of not rushing through life, the 'man in a hurry' should be the Christian's hero. We are in a hurry. We should work while it is yet day with a sense of extreme urgency. We must preach the Word in season and out of season, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

     Take to heart these words from Billy Sunday: 'I believe that lack of efficient personal work is one of the failures of the Church today. The people of the Church are like squirrels in a cage. Lots of activity, but accomplishing nothing. It doesn't require a Christian life to sell oyster soup or run a bazaar or a rummage sale. Many churches report no new members on confession of faith. Why these meager results with this tremendous expenditure of energy and money? Why are so few people coming into the Kingdom? I will tell you - there is not a definite effort put forth to persuade a definite person to receive a definite Savior at a definite time, and that definite time is now.'

     May God give us a renewed sense of urgency and such love for sinners that we will be convicted by our conscience if we walk past any person without a deep concern for his salvation. May He also work in our hearts so that our prayers will be permeated with a cry for laborers, so that this world may be reached with the message of eternal salvation."

 

"A true story is told of a millionaire who had a portrait painted of his beloved son before the son went to war. He was tragically killed in battle, and shortly afterward, the heartbroken millionaire died. His will stated that all his riches were to be auctioned, specifying that the painting must sell first.

     Many showed up at the auction, where a mass of the rich man's wealth was displayed. When the painting was held up for sale, no bids were offered. It was an unknown painting by an unknown painter of the rich man's uncelebrated son, so, sadly, there was no interest. After a few moments, a butler who worked for the man recalled how much the millionaire loved his son, so he made a bid and purchased the portrait for a very low price.

     Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the auctioneer brought down his gavel and declared the auction closed. The rich man's will had specified that the person who cared enough to purchase the painting of his beloved son was also to be given all the riches of his will.

     This is precisely what God has done through the gospel. He who accepts the beloved Son of God also receives all the riches of His will - the gift of eternal life and 'pleasures for evermore.' They become 'joint heirs' with the Son (Romans 8:16, 17)."

 

If you were convicted by this, I would highly recommend you start studying "The School of Biblical Evangelism" and find out how to effectively witness to the lost. In fact, it is something every Christian should read. To visit the website, click HERE. Or, if you want to do like me and simply read the book, you can find that on many Christian bookstore websites.

 

I hope this was as much an admonition and blessing to you as it was to me!

Delicious Health Smoothie

I have recently been messing around trying to create a healthy and tasty smoothie, and I believe this is the perfect combo! I am sorry I don't have a picture.

Healthy Fruit and Veggie Smoothie

 

 

Ingredients:

 

- 3 orange slices

- 1/2 banana

- 1/4 c. frozen strawberries

- 1/4 c. frozen blueberries

- 2 baby carrots

- 1/4 c. spinach, stems removed

- 1/2 c. ice

- 1/4 c. strawberry kefir

- 1/4 c. whole milk

- 1 tbsp. honey

- 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

 

 

1. Blend all ingredients on high in a blender until smooth. You can add more milk for a thinner consistency or more ice for a thicker consistency. Makes about 16 fluid ounces.

 

 

And it is as simple as that! I hope you try this and enjoy not only the wonderful taste but also the health benefits!

The Law

Here is a post I recently did in my online Bible course, Koinonia Institute. I have been extremely convicted about the method I use to witness to people by a book I just started reading entitled "The School of Biblical Evangelism" by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. I wish I could expound on this more now, but I am limited at this time. I may, however, get into more detail on this topic in subsequent posts. Without further ado:


The Law

This is something the Lord has heavily laid on my heart recently. I have been reading a book entitled, "The School of Biblical Evangelism", which teaches believers how to share the gospel effectively. The Law is our tool to lead people to repentance. Romans 7:7-13 says,
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.  And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.  Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful."

The Law serves an essential role in sharing the gospel with people. Without the bad news, sinners will not be able to understand or appreciate the good news. Without knowing that they have broken God's law and are destined for hell, they will not realize their need for deliverance. Therefore, in sharing the gospel, we must first share the need, and then the provision. In witnessing we must start from the beginning, as Christ did in Luke 24:27, "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." 

For example, ask the average person if they are a "good person", and their response will be "yes". If they are truly good, why would they need a Savior? But if you show them that they are actually despicably wicked and hopeless because they have broken God's Law, then they will grasp their need for deliverance from judgment. I am so thankful that the Lord has been instructing me in this, because I never realized the powerful tool I had in the Law before!




In addition, here is a video of Ray Comfort talking about the importance of the Law and then applying this in witnessing to the audience. I am having trouble embedding the video, so please click HERE to view.

Existentialism

Have you ever heard the terms, "the leap of faith", or "all roads lead to heaven"? Both of these stem from the philosophy of a man named Soren Kierkegaard. I wrote a paper on this philosopher last year for a class I was taking, and I thought I would share it with you. Much of the cultural worldview in America today was heavily influenced by Kierkegaard, so I feel there is relevance in understanding his ideas in a little more detail. I know it is quite long, but I hope you learn from it and enjoy it!

Søren Kierkegaard

    Born in 1813, Søren Kierkegaard is considered the father of modern existentialism. Existentialism is defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary as follows:

        Analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual  who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge   of what is right or wrong or good or bad.

While the term did not exist in Kierkegaard’s time, the ideas related to existentialism were in large part pioneered by him. In addition, Kierkegaard was an expressly Christian philosopher. He sought answers regarding the relationship of faith and religion, and ultimately led to the common modern separation between faith and reason. Søren Kierkegaard had many correct insights into the Christian life, but one little error led him, and our culture after him, into miry clay.

     During Kierkegaard’s day, the culture had been widely influenced by Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel. Kant, in his epistemology, defended the principle of a priori knowledge, including the moral law and ethical standards. Thus, he established the idea that moral principles are universal, necessary, and rational. Kant penned the term, “The Categorical Imperative”, which is basically a version of the Golden Rule: The way you should act is the way you want everyone to act. However, Kant did not anchor ethics or morality on any divine standard, but rather simply assumed that they exist a priori without cause. Therefore, ethics became its own end, divorced from God. G.W.F. Hegel reinforced Kant’s system, and ultimately left a morality unmoored from any divine foundation.

     Thus, during Kierkegaard’s day, many “Christians” lived according to ethical principles without any kind of passion or commitment to the God who is the standard of ethics. This left Kierkegaard with a bad taste in his mouth regarding the effects of Kantian Ethics on society. He said, “God comes to be an invisible vanishing point, and impotent thought; his power is only in the ethical, which fills all of existence.” What Kierkegaard experienced was a lack of true, passionate faith amongst Christians; instead, they simply practiced ethics as the chief end of religion. This viewpoint pushed Kierkegaard to develop the concept of the three stages of religious life. The first stage, the aesthetic stage, consists of a selfish pursuit of pleasure and a focus on temporal existence alone. This stage leads to despair, because it does not accomplish the purpose for which God created man. Such despair leads man to move to the second stage, the ethical stage. In this stage, man submits to the universal ethical principles, becoming a “good person”. Finally, when man realizes that the ethical cannot be its own end, he makes a specific decision to move to the religious stage. This stage, characterized by a true relationship with God and a passionate commitment to him, is reached through an irrational “leap of faith”. As a model for this type of blind faith, Kierkegaard turns to Abraham. Specifically, he focuses on the instance of God’s command for Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. The Scripture reads, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac – and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Abraham obeys God, and whilst he begins to plunge the knife at Isaac, God provides a ram in the thicket instead. Throughout Scripture, Abraham is elevated as an exemplar of faith. Kierkegaard then summarizes that Abraham obeyed God out of an irrational, zealous faith. For, to all other men, he would have seemed insane and unethical. In man’s eyes, no universal moral rule can justify Abraham’s actions. However, according to Kierkegaard, true faith is characterized by a radical, desperate, and irrational obedience to God.  By definition, it is subjective, and for each individual the commands differ. Thus, as Kierkegaard himself stated, “Truth is subjectivity.” True religion and faith is characterized by complete abandon of rationality in subjection to God. In fact, Kierkegaard used an example of two men praying. One prays to the Christian God without zeal or passion, and in truth he serves idols. On the other hand, the second man prays to idols with passion, zeal, and complete commitment, and he worships God. Kierkegaard’s continually focused upon the irrational faith of true religion, as opposed to the cultural norm of lackluster service to ethical principles.

      First, let us look at what Kierkegaard got right. The concern he experienced over the works-based faith of his era resounds with many Christians throughout history, including Martin Luther. The need for a saving, life changing faith is certainly Scriptural. Indeed, a radical commitment to God, despite the ridicule from outsiders, is also Biblical. The stages are very insightful, and in some ways adequate for explaining the Christian conversion. Some people simply don’t care about ethics, some are “good” people, and then there are faithful Christians. Finally, Abraham as an example of faith is certainly not out of the ordinary or unbiblical. In fact, many of Scriptures authors, most notably Paul, used Abraham as a supreme example of faith. Thus, many things, especially in the beginning of his quest, Kierkegaard scored a goal on.

      On the other hand, it seems as though when Kierkegaard finally got to the point of concluding the matter, he went off the deep end of sound reasoning. While Abraham was used repeatedly in Scripture as a model of faith, he was never referred to as having irrational faith, but rather a very rational faith. The command to offer Isaac was not the first experience Abraham had with God. Rather, Abraham’s relationship with God was long and tested. God had promised Abraham a son who would produce many offspring. At that time, Isaac had no offspring, and thus Abraham trusted God to carry through with his promise in some way. Hebrews 11:17-19 says:

            By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead…

Thus, Abraham had a rational faith in a God whom he had previously known to follow through with His promises. In addition, what Abraham did was not subjective or “unethical” according to societal norms. God, the giver of life, is the only One who can also take human life. Thus, for God to require the life of Isaac did not violate ethical standards. God, the standard bearer, can take the life of his creation as He sees fit. Thus, in reality, Kierkegaard had a faulty and partial view of Abraham’s faith, and falsely concluded that Abraham had an irrational, subjective faith. He swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction of works-based religion to a religion that entirely excluded reason. Furthermore, he denied the fundamental principle, if not in practice in theory, of Christ as the only way to the Father. Instead, he favored the view that all roads lead to heaven as long as you follow them with passion and zeal.

      For his many insights, Kierkegaard had an equal number of detrimental faults which still influence of culture today. One of the most obvious results of his viewpoints is modern relativism. Since all roads lead to heaven if followed with passion, why should you judge someone else’s religion? Although this may not seem as radical as all relativism, it prevails in today’s world, even among many Christians. Ultimately, this leads to disobeying the fundamental command Christ gave, which is the Great Commission. Furthermore, it becomes a short distance to the full-fledged relativism of our day. Finally, Kierkegaard influenced modern culture, especially the church, regarding faith and reason. Because he created such a gap between faith and reason, the former being all-in-all and the latter unnecessary, Christians now remove themselves from any area of society which calls for reason and logic. One common example of this is science – Christians believe that science belongs in the realm of the world, while they should simply focus on faith. While most would not readily recognize the name of Søren Kierkegaard, they have many of the thought patterns which he introduced ingrained in their minds. Thus, as it turns out, one little misstep from Biblical truth leads inevitably to false doctrines and ultimately heresy.

    

My Body, God's Choice

My Body, God's Choice from Berean Productions on Vimeo.

I hope this film addressing the issue of abortion touches you as much as it did me. Please share this video if it is something you believe strongly in.