"That is the reason we have so many 'mushroom' converts, because their stony ground is not plowed up; they have not got a conviction of the law; they are stony-ground hearers." -George Whitefield
Years ago when I was around the age of 12 or 13 I began attending an Assemby of God church near my home. We had come out of the Baptist church and had found a new home church that my parents decided to join up with. I was young and didn't know much about the bible except for all the Sunday school stories that I knew of course. Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion's Den, the story of Jesus' birth and so on. However, I can't say I really knew much about what Christianity was all about. It got to be around Easter time that my new church, after having been there a while and my Dad getting involved with church activities, wanted to put on an Easter play together. It was a very good play [to a 12 yr old] and I think for the first time I saw what Jesus did on the cross so vividly....so I thought.
After the play was over the pastor gave the invitation for those who haven't 'accepted' Jesus as their Savior. The overall idea was in my mind that if I didn't want to go to hell that I should repeat this 'prayer' that the pastor was praying. I did and at that moment it felt so good to know that if I had died right then and there I wouldn't go to hell. I had the best 'fire insurance' plan EVER! Many years went by while still attending this church I was learning many things from our pastor about how to use my faith! There were principles that he showed me from God's word that opened my eyes on alot of issues. I really learned alot from him.
Well, around the time I turned 24 I got married and was begining to live on my own. [I know, big jump from 12] My wife and I still attended this church and have been ever since. In late 2002 into early 2003 my marriage was absolutely attacked. I was at, I believe, the lowest point in my life. Fortunately by the grace of God and by the love of my wife we got through it!! However, there was an issue at hand that I hadn't fully come face to face with. This issue was the one that ALL people need to face once in their lives! SIN! I discovered through a message by Ray Comfort called True and False Conversion in 2004 that I wasn't who I thought I was in Christ. My walk with the Lord had been shaken AND stirred.
I found out that the prayer I repeated wasn't a genuine call unto God to save me from sure death. I was as if a man who had cheated on his wife repeated an 'apology' written by his best friend to make things right with her. That is not how we come to Christ! I had never heard that REPENTANCE was the necessary key to start a new walk with God. Repentance simply means a turning away from. Sin is what I had never faced in the mirror of God's law.(Rom 7:7) I needed to see myself as He saw me in order to fully understand WHY it is I needed a Savior! Honestly, I hadn't been TRULY converted. My heart is as the Bible says, "deceitful and wicked". (Jer 17:9) I hadn't recieved the plowing up of my stony ground heart to let the seed of God's truth to be planted in my life. When I did finally and truly repent for all my sins God gave me a new heart with new desires. I no longer live to please myself with fleshly things, yet I live to please the Lord of all to hunger and thirst after His righteousness! (Matt 5:6) I want to now more than ever before to preach the gospel to every creatue the good news of what Jesus really did on that cross!! He paid my fine where I broke God's laws!! (1John3:4) Now I don't just have 'fire insurance', I have the peace that passes ALL understanding! I have joy in knowing that I've been saved from the wrath that is to come! I've put on the Lord Jesus just as I would a parachute in a crashing plane. I don't just believe in the parachute, I put in on! (Rom 13:14) His gift of the parachute will save me from the wrath that is to come (Hell) as long as I have repented of my sins and put my faith and trust in the One who gave me the parachute!!
Its Jesus' imputed righteousness that saves me on the Day of Judgment! I get to leave the court room free from the charges of sin because of the Cross! If you are reading this right now and you don't know where you truly stand with God then I encourage you to go to www.needgod.com and find out if you are truly converted or not. Jesus said that "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away." Please, repent and put your faith and trust in Jesus today! Then read your bible daily and obey what you read! He promises to never let you down! You'll become a true convert in Christ and your name will be written in the Lambs book of Life! -Eric- www.wayofthemaster.com
What is personal evangelism you say? Well, I'm glad you asked!! In Mark 16:15 Jesus said for us to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is the Great Commission for ALL of us who have called upon the name of the Lord to be saved! Actually, its for all of us who have repented and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ our Savior.
You see there were two questions that I was presented with that made me think really hard about my current walk with the Lord. The first was, "Who do you know who isn't saved?". The second was, "What are you going to do about it?". Those two questions got me thinking about so many people that I KNEW, by the fruits of their life, were on their way to hell. What was I doing about it?? Nothing. Well nothing proactive, nothing that generated any conversation about the spiritual aspect of our lives. Nothing that made a person think about what would happen to them after they died! Then I was hit with the ultimate statistic, 10 out of 10 DIE!! We are all apart of that very real statistic! So why then was I questioning my own salvation at this point? Why was my 'foundation' being rocked? I then had to check myself to see if I was in truth.
The Ten Commandments are the standard by which God is going to judge the world. (Acts 17:31) I had to go through those commandments to see if I was indeed a good person. Most of us think that we are basically good people. We think that as long as we haven't killed anyone or raped or anything else serious then we are fine. "We're good with the man upstairs" kind of thinking. The questions that stared at me through that mirror of God's law were as follows: "Have you ever told a lie?" [9th commandment] I thought, sure I've lied doesn't everyone? "So what does that make you?" A liar. That may be hard for some to admit, but its true. Lying makes you a liar. Then, "Have you ever stolen anything, even if its small?" [8th commadment] Sure, I mean when I was a kid, young and naive. "What does that make you?" A thief. "Now Jesus said that 'whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart.' (Matt 5:27,28) Have you ever looked with lust?" [7th commandment] Uhhhh....yea, yes I have. "Then by your own admission you're a lying, thieving, adulterer at heart! If God were to judge you by the standard of the Ten Commandments would you be innocent or guitly?" I guess by that standard I'd be guilty. "Would you go to heaven or hell?" Umm, I suppose hell. "Does that concern you?" Yes, yes that concerns me VERY much!! I don't wanna go to hell!!
"Do you know what God did for you so you wouldn't have to go to hell?" Yes, He died on the cross. "That's right, God became a man in Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins so that you could go free on your court day before God. Simply put, Jesus paid the fine where you and I broke the law [of God]."
That is what made me WANT to go and tell someone else of the good news of the fine being paid for!! The good news became good news indeed once I saw myself in truth and faced the bad news of my sins which would've seperated me from God for all eternity! It made sense to me probably for the first time in my life! My entrance into heaven is not acquired simply because I'm a "good person" nor because I have done things to please God. I don't go to heaven because I repeat a prayer or because 'I asked Jesus into my heart'. Mark 1:15 is simply stated in the first words of Christ at the beginning of His ministry, "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
The correct biblical response to the gospel is always without fail: REPENTANCE and FAITH! More to come....
-Eric-
