evangelism

A Wedding and a Feast

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I confess that I haven’t always loved the idea of heaven. Back in the day, I somehow got the idea that heaven was an eternity-long church service. Now, that doesn’t sound so bad, but back in the day, church meant singing lots of hymns with words like “thou” and “thee” and “verily.” It also meant a lot of standing up and sitting down and listening to a preacher who yelled a lot. And also it meant wearing stiff uncomfortable clothes including dress shoes, a suit, and a clip-on tie. I may have ben stylin’ but I sure wasn’t lovin’ it.

I love the idea that heaven is a wedding. I’ve been to a few weddings, and the best ones were always a kind of celebration that left me feeling joyous. I still wore churchy clothes, but at least I was having a good time.

And I can definitely relate to a feast. As a self-diagnosed foodie, I love going to any kind of a celebration or party where there is food. Any time there was a church potluck or a family reunion, my favorite part (besides seeing the people, of course) was the food. Especially when it was the good kind with eight different varieties of fried chicken and enough casseroles to feed Custer’s army.

What made me fall in love with the idea of heaven was reading C. S. Lewis’ The Last Battle. Lewis describes heaven as waking up on the first day of summer after the school term has ended or the first day of vacation has begun. It’s that feeling of freedom and joy multiplied by infinity and stretched across eternity.

While I want to see my grandparents and all the other people that I loved and lost, the absolute best part will be seeing Jesus there. It will be the place where my faith finally becomes sight, where the best of my dreams finally come true.

More and more, I’m ready to go. The more I see of this world and the chaos and insanity in it, the more I long for the next. I long for the people I love to be there. All of them. That’s why I’m telling you again that the best decision you will ever make is to repent of your sins and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You will never regret it.

Cloud of Witnesses

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“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, CSB).

I had the honor of being invited to the premiere of a short film directed by a friend of mine at the Franklin Theater last night. It was mind-blowing to see the place packed out and to see everyone clapping and cheering when she came up to the microphone to introduce the film.

My favorite part was after the film when we all gave her a standing ovation that made her cry a bit. It was such a moment of celebration and joy that culminated a long process to get this short film from her mind to paper to the screen.

Then I remembered the verse in Hebrews that talks about the cloud of witnesses surrounding us. In my own sanctified imagination, I can see them — everyone we’ve ever known and loved — watching us from above and clapping and cheering for us when we finally cross that heavenly finish line.

I don’t know if my vision is entirely biblical, but I like to think that heaven is invested in our earthly race. We never run alone and there is not a moment when we’re not loved and supported and cheered on. I know for certain that we have an advocate in Jesus who prays for us and watches us and encourages us onward. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that all the saints who’ve gone before us have ringside seats to see God’s people living out the Great Commission.

I know that my church has a small cloud of witnesses that cheers us on as we reach out to our neighborhood, city, state, nation, and world. I imagine Ron, Matt, and Rick (and probably others I’ve forgotten to mention) cheering and clapping as we continue to take the gospel to wherever we live, work, and play.

One day, maybe we will be in that cloud of witnesses and get to be the ones who will clap and cheer for others as they finish their race and get to hear the longed for words of Jesus to them: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

That Was God

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“The great mark of a Christian is what no other characteristic can replace, namely the example of a life which can only be explained in terms of God” (Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard).

When I get to the end of my life, I don’t want people saying how great I was. I don’t want people talking about all the amazing things I said or did. I want people to look at my casket and say, “That was God. All of it.”

That was the key to the disciples in the book of Acts. People could look at them and tell they had been with Jesus. They weren’t just fans of Jesus. They weren’t followers in the social media sense of the word. They were immersed in Jesus. They ate and drank and breathed in Jesus every waking day for three years. That’s how people identified them from then on — as people who could see the marks of Jesus in them and knew that how they acted and spoke and moved was so much like Jesus that there could be no other explanation than they had been with Jesus.

If that was the goal of every believer, revival wouldn’t be a once in a lifetime thing. It would be an every single day thing. If the people who identified with Jesus actually spent enough time with Jesus so that they talked like Jesus and walked like Jesus, our churches would be full every single Sunday morning.

I don’t mean every single person would love us because of Jesus. Even Jesus Himself said that just as the world hated Him, so they would hate those who lived Him out and were His disciples. But enough people who want more than this world has to offer would be drawn to the Jesus in us to want to follow what they see in us.

May our lives be only explainable in terms of God as revealed in Jesus. May He always be on our lips and in our lifestyle.

A Bold Prayer

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“Bold prayer : “God, change anything about me that isn’t about You” (Taylor Johnson).

I posted this little prayer on Facebook 11 years ago today. That was a good prayer in 2014 and still is in 2025. It probably will be in 2026 and beyond until Jesus comes back.

Another way of praying it is “Thy will be done,” the prayer that never fails (for those who are familiar with Jan Karon’s Mitford series and Father Tim Cavanaugh, you will get the reference).

It’s the prayer of the refiner where everything that is dross in us is burned away until all that remains is refined and the Maker can see His reflection in us.

Of all the things I could pray for and ask for (and there are lots), I think nothing trumps this one. To be more like Jesus is the ultimate goal, the endgame, the final destination because Heaven beyond all the gold streets and mansions and pearly gates is where Jesus is and where we’ll finally be fully mature and where our faith will finally be sight.

So in the meantime, my prayer is still “God, change anything about me that isn’t about You.”

Make me a disciple who makes disciples and who isn’t ashamed of the gospel. Make all of us bold in our faith to have gospel conversations with anybody, anytime, anywhere wherever we live, work, or play. Amen.

An Evangelistic Prayer

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“DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Lord Jesus, reign in the hearts of our young children, of our husbands, wives, brethren, friends, and families. Lord, rule in the hearts of our neighbors. Lord Jesus, save London! Lord Jesus, look at this United Kingdom [and United States]. Look at all the kingdoms and republics of the earth. May the whole earth know you, exalted one. By the merit of your passion, we beg the Father to glorify you. Father, glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you. And unto Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be glory forever and ever, world without end.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)
The most earnest and faithful minister of the gospel must ever remember that humbling truth. He has this precious treasure of the gospel entrusted to his charge; he knows he has it, and he means to keep it safely; but, still, he is nothing but an earthen vessel, easily broken, soon marred,—a poor depository for such priceless truth.
If angels had been commissioned to preach the gospel, we might have attributed some of its power to their superior intelligence; but when God selects, as he always does, earthen vessels, then the excellency of the power is unquestionably seen to be of God, and not of us.”

Maybe this coming year of 2025 is when all believers commit to praying earnestly for their lost family, friends, and neighbors. Maybe this is the year that all of us (including me) will pray for opportunities for gospel conversations wherever we live, work, and play. I have a small group of people that I’m praying for that they’d come to know Jesus in a saving way. I’m sure you do, too.

The older I get, the more I am convinced that what we need is spiritual and not political. As much as we want to believe it, another Republican president isn’t going to fix what’s wrong with the country or the world. Only Jesus can do that. And only Jesus can fix the hurt and brokenness in each of us.

So I’m praying more than ever in 2025 for a mighty work of God in those who don’t know God. But first, we need a mighty work of God for those who DO know God so that they can be the earthen vessels to convey the gospel wherever we go whenever we go to the very ends of the earth.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

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What’s really worse? Someone saying “Happy holidays” or someone who doesn’t follow Jesus saying “Merry Christmas” out of obligation and not really because they mean it or understand it? Maybe worst of all is those who claim Jesus as Lord speaking “Merry Christmas” but denying the spirit of it with lives that reflect greed, rudeness, impatience, consumerism, and anger. The best witness for Christ isn’t spoken; it’s lived out as Christ becomes incarnate in our hearts and lives.

That’s something I wrote a long time ago, but it seems to still fit. People still get bent out of shape when retail employees don’t say Merry Christmas. I think at one point I was one of those, but time has a way of softening those rough edges and growing older has given me a different perspective.

Most likely, those retail workers are exhausted. They’re usually overworked and underpaid. They’re wondering about how they’re going to pay all the bills and still provide a Christmas for their kids. The whole “Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays” debate is probably the last thing on their minds.

So what is the most Christlike thing to do? Yell at them when they don’t use the correct terminology? Or maybe be kind to them? Maybe be a little more patient with them when they’re struggling because the place they’re working is understaffed?

If Jesus offered people a light burden and an easy yoke, maybe we would do better to not lay Pharisaical burdens on people. If Jesus said come to me all who are weary, who are we to drive people off because they don’t speak the magic words of Merry Christmas?

Dwight Moody (I think) once said that Christians are the only Bible most people will ever read. If that’s so, let’s make sure the message we’re sending is the message not of God far off and unattainable but God coming near to the lowly and crushed in spirit in the form of a baby in a manger who was born for all people.

Season’s Greetings?

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A few years ago, it seemed like everybody was getting bent out of shape over retail workers not saying Merry Christmas to every customer. It was a thing.

Apparently, life was a lot easier then so that there weren’t more pressing issues or more dire problems to deal with other than people who may or may not know about the Christ of Christmas getting the semantics right.

Don’t get me wrong. I love hearing Merry Christmas. I sometimes even remember to say it. Sometimes I just say, “Have a good day” and then walk away wondering why I didn’t say Merry Christmas.

But I do think that believers have been known to expect lost people who don’t have a regenerated heart and mind to act saved when people who are supposed to be the ones who know Jesus are the most obnoxious and rude customers. There’s a reason why people at restaurants hate working on Sunday.

I still think that just possibly instead of expecting to hear Merry Christmas everywhere we go, we should instead exhibit the qualities of the Christ in Christmas. Maybe we need to be a little kinder or a little more patient. Perhaps instead of forcing someone to parrot Merry Christmas, we do our part to make their Christmas a little merrier by how we live out Jesus in front of them.

People might want to know Jesus if they saw Him lived out by the people who profess to know Him. They might want to follow Jesus if they saw a real difference in the lives of those who go to church every Sunday. What turns them off isn’t Jesus, but people who profess Jesus with their lips and deny Him by their lifestyle (thanks to Brennan Manning for that one).

Oh, and don’t get me started on the whole Xmas thing. By the way, you do know that X is also a Greek letter and can be used as an abbreviation for Christ, right? Just checkin’.

A Friday Eve Prayer

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“O God, 
whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: 

Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; 

that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; 

where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 
one God, 

for ever and ever. 
Amen.“

I still believe that God never intended for His people to fit in. He meant (and still means) for us to stand out. We’re the city on a hill. We’re the salt and the light. We’re the physical manifestation of Jesus on the earth until He returns. We hold the only cure for this disease of sin that has ravaged the entire planet.

I kept thinking about the passage in James 1:27 where it says that pure religion is to take care of widows and orphans, i.e. the disadvantaged and unprotected, and to keep ourselves unstained in the world. It’s not an either/or proposition. It’s both/and.

We need to be unstained from Hollywood and from politics. I don’t mean we can’t vote or be involved, but I think we stand outside of both political parties and owe allegiance ultimately and only to a King and a Kingdom rather than to a flag or a country or any platform.

We’re called to be a people who show grace, who love our enemies, and who forgive those who hurt us. We’re not called to argue people into heaven but to love them like God in Jesus loved us when He was not willing that we should stay lost in sin but that we should come to repentance in salvation.

I still think the call to American Christians is to come out from among them and be separate. That might mean leaving churches and denominations that have lost the gospel. That might mean not affiliating with Democrat or Republican. That might mean being willing to risk ridicule for standing up for biblical truth.

I’m praying for another Great Awakening. I’m begging God for another revival like the Jesus Revolution of the early 70s. That’s what it’s going to take. No politician or President can fix what’s wrong with this country. Only Jesus can.

Homesick for God?

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“How many people have you made homesick for God?” (Oswald Chambers, Disciples Indeed)

That’s the key to evangelism, I think. It’s not constantly reminding people how sinful they are or ridiculing their worldview. I think in that approach we forget that we too were once sinful and had wrong beliefs about the universe.

What was it that won you over? What was it that made you want to know and love God? Was it really someone telling you what an awful person you were? Was it someone constantly berating your beliefs?

I think the key is to make people long for God to the point where they’re homesick for God. I think people seeing you loving God and living out of the overflow of God’s love for you will want to know God. People who see you loving others well the way God loved you well will crave that kind of love, even if they don’t have a name for it.

The way the early Church drew people was in how those believers loved each other. They loved lost people as well, but mainly it was in their love for each other that made people want to hear their gospel message.

If all you have is a well-defined set of doctrines and beliefs, no one cares. If all you have is a passion for making people as moral as you are, then no one wants to hear about it. But when you live transformed and let the life of Christ in you permeate everything you do, then people can’t help but see and be drawn to what they don’t have.

The key is to make people homesick for a home they’ve never known but want to go to more than anything or anywhere else. Make them homesick for God.

Praying for the Lost

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“Oh, our glorious Lord, you have taught us to pray for others, for the grace which could have met with such undeserving sinners as we are must be able to meet with the vilest of the vile. Our Father in heaven, we offer prayer for those who never think of you; who, though created by you, are strangers to you; who are fed by your bounty, and yet never lift their voices to you, but live for self, for the world, for Satan, for sin. Father, these cannot pray for themselves for they are dead; your quickened children pray for them. These will not come to you, for, like sheep, they are lost; but seek them, Father, and bring them back.
Amen” (Charles Spurgeon).

Sometimes, I think we get so caught up bashing our enemies that we forget that we’re commanded to pray for them. Note that Jesus did not make a suggestion or a friendly reminder, but instead gave us a command. We don”t get to choose whether we want to obey or not.

But when we see lost people acting lost, why are we surprised? Maybe we should be more amazed that we’re not lost because when we were dead in our sins, God made us alive. If not for the grace of God, we’d all be just as lost and hopeless as anyone out there in the world.

So we can pray for those apart from Jesus just as others prayed for us when we were just as far from God and just as dead in sin. We can pray that God will do what no one else but God can do — save people.

It’s good to have a list of people that you’re praying for their salvation. You could pray daily or weekly or however you feel led. Even now, I’m thinking of someone who’s far off from God at the moment and praying he’ll come to a true saving faith in Jesus. Not because I’m extra special super spiritual, but because I know how much I needed Jesus when I was lost (and how much I still need Jesus now).

The Bible teaches us that no one is past saving or beyond the grace of God or ever too lost for God to find. Who knows but that our persistent praying might lead some of them in the the kingdom of God. Wouldn’t it be amazing to run into one of them and say, “You know, I prayed for you to be here, and here you are. Isn’t God good?”