Romans 10:13
For whosever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.
Hey Brethren:
This is the last verse in the Roman highway. You of course can keep finding verses in Romans that will apply to witnessing, but the verses we have gone through here, so far, are enough that will give you the tools talk to others about the Lord.
This verse is the main point. This is the message we are trying to get across, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, a righteous rocker, or a cult member, or a homeless person, a murderer or lier. We don't have to be anything other than who and what we are, if we call upon the Lord, we will be saved. \
This is the message we have been commissioned to tell people.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and many of us will be getting together with family members who aren't saved. This is the message we want to give to those family members as well as the world.
I saw on TV that the Obama administration put out an ad for everyone to take advantage of the holiday season and talk to your family members about getting signed up for healthcare. I feel this is the best time to talk to family about their spiritual health and get on the Heavenly Father care and make sure that you impress upon those who are dear to you the need for them to call on the name of the Lord.
So hopefully you have memorized these scriptures, marked them in your Bible like I explained and have some tools to be able to share the Gospel. From here we will start sharing ways to use these scriptures and ways to initiate conversations and we will also teach different ways to use Gospel tracts and I will show you where you can get Gospel tracts and what you should look for in a Gospel message.
I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Brother Bill
aka River Rat
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Romans 10:10
Praise His Name Brethren:
Last post we introduced Romans 10:9, topic, confess and believe, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved".
Our next verse is Romans 10:10. I use the topic "believe and confess", so just to refresh the memorization technique, we want to recite the verse, Romans 10:10, then the topic, "Believe and confess", then the verse, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation".
I've been reading in Acts right now in my morning devotions. There in the first five chapters are some of the greatest examples of the power that we can have if we confess with our mouth, and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead it will enable us to believe so strongly that when we confess Christ, God can move and do great things in drawing men to salvation.
Look at how Peter and John brought 5000 souls to Christ just by using these truths with the healing of the lame man at the gate. They truly believed and their belief was so strong that they couldn't quit confessing. Even though the religious leaders were telling them not to preach Jesus Christ. They still went out and confessed what they believed and then were thrown into prison. Then when the Angel came and delivered them out of the prison, they didn't go, "Whew, that was close, I thought we were going to be in there forever, come on lets get out of here before they realize we're gone". No, they went right down to the temple and started confessing their beliefs again in front of the very people who threw them in prison, then they were flogged and they still didn't quit and the Bible says that souls were added to the church daily.
That is belief and that is what confession of your beliefs can produce for the Kingdom of God. Their belief and confession was a consuming fire. Today, most of our churches are nothing but a pile of ashes. I beseech you Brethren to get these verses into your beliefs and confess your beliefs and watch what can happen. We serve the same God today who sent an angel to open prison doors back then. The same God Peter and John believed in is the same God we believe in. Two thousand years hasn't changed God.
There is a story about a young couple who were out on a date and while driving in the car the woman said, "Honey, remember how when we first met, we would drive and I would sit next to you while you drove, why don't we do that anymore"? The man looked over at her and said, "I don't know but I know that I haven't moved, I'm still sitting in the same spot"! Its us as Christians who have changed, not God.
O.K, next time will be our last verse for the Roman highway series. If you are just joining in on reading this blog, I would suggest going back to the first post and getting in on this from the beginning so you have the full foundation to build on. It is about to get fun and I'm hoping all of us can use all the techniques to start revival in our families and communities. Anyone who has some great ideas of how they witness, please share them. My new email address is tellasoul@yahoo.com.
Until next time,
The Evangelist Brother Bill
aka: River Rat
Last post we introduced Romans 10:9, topic, confess and believe, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved".
Our next verse is Romans 10:10. I use the topic "believe and confess", so just to refresh the memorization technique, we want to recite the verse, Romans 10:10, then the topic, "Believe and confess", then the verse, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation".
I've been reading in Acts right now in my morning devotions. There in the first five chapters are some of the greatest examples of the power that we can have if we confess with our mouth, and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead it will enable us to believe so strongly that when we confess Christ, God can move and do great things in drawing men to salvation.
Look at how Peter and John brought 5000 souls to Christ just by using these truths with the healing of the lame man at the gate. They truly believed and their belief was so strong that they couldn't quit confessing. Even though the religious leaders were telling them not to preach Jesus Christ. They still went out and confessed what they believed and then were thrown into prison. Then when the Angel came and delivered them out of the prison, they didn't go, "Whew, that was close, I thought we were going to be in there forever, come on lets get out of here before they realize we're gone". No, they went right down to the temple and started confessing their beliefs again in front of the very people who threw them in prison, then they were flogged and they still didn't quit and the Bible says that souls were added to the church daily.
That is belief and that is what confession of your beliefs can produce for the Kingdom of God. Their belief and confession was a consuming fire. Today, most of our churches are nothing but a pile of ashes. I beseech you Brethren to get these verses into your beliefs and confess your beliefs and watch what can happen. We serve the same God today who sent an angel to open prison doors back then. The same God Peter and John believed in is the same God we believe in. Two thousand years hasn't changed God.
There is a story about a young couple who were out on a date and while driving in the car the woman said, "Honey, remember how when we first met, we would drive and I would sit next to you while you drove, why don't we do that anymore"? The man looked over at her and said, "I don't know but I know that I haven't moved, I'm still sitting in the same spot"! Its us as Christians who have changed, not God.
O.K, next time will be our last verse for the Roman highway series. If you are just joining in on reading this blog, I would suggest going back to the first post and getting in on this from the beginning so you have the full foundation to build on. It is about to get fun and I'm hoping all of us can use all the techniques to start revival in our families and communities. Anyone who has some great ideas of how they witness, please share them. My new email address is tellasoul@yahoo.com.
Until next time,
The Evangelist Brother Bill
aka: River Rat
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Romans 10:9
Hey Brethren:
I am so blessed this week. I have been praying that God would provide me with a Brother to go witnessing with and this week I had two men call me. One is a man named Tony who goes out in Fresno and Oakhurst on his horse. He goes to the gangs in Fresno and God has blessed him richly in the work of evangelism and the other man is also from Fresno. His name is Frank and he shoes horses. When he is shoeing horses in Fresno he evangelizes in Fresno and when he is working on horses in Oakhurst, he evangelizes in Oakhurst. There is another man I am waiting to call me from Oakhurst named Joe. Joe recently accepted Christ from meeting Tony and the Lord immediately blessed him with a burden for souls. Be praying for all of us as we reach out to the lost.
Todays verse is Romans 10:9. I use the topic, "confess and believe". Then the verse goes like this,
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved".
As I mentioned in the beginning of my blogs, we are commanded to preach the Gospel. All of us. When you go to church on Sunday, your pastor isn't the only guy who is ordained to tell people about Jesus. Jesus gave us the command to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel, that includes you and anyone who accepts Christ. Are you ashamed to confess Christ? You shouldn't be, Christ said, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you". Matt. 5:11,12
Even if we are rejected or persecuted, we should rejoice because we are building rewards. That is exciting to me. We are also told that if we confess Christ before men, Christ will confess us before His Father in heaven Matt. 10:32. Then in the next verse, v. 33 He says that whosoever denies Him before men, He will deny that person before His Heavenly Father. Then in Luke 12:8 Christ also said, "Also I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the son of man (Jesus) confess before the angels of God".
The next part of that verse concerns belief. Do you really believe? I question a lot of people who say they are Christians. I believe that a lot of the reason why those who say they are Christians never confess Christ to others is their lack of real belief in Christ in their heart. Not only do you believe, but do you believe that God really raised Him from the dead in His earthly body?
Remember and think about this thought. The devil believes in Christ, that's why the devil seeks to rob, destroy and kill every person on earth. The devil knows that Christ is real and that Christ died to defeat him (the devil) and save all mankind if mankind will confess and believe in Christ. But the devil doesn't want you to believe unto salvation and escape the devil's destruction. Jehovah's witnesses are an example of belief that isn't unto salvation. They believe that Christ died on the cross for man's sins, that He died and was buried, but they believe that when He rose from the dead, He rose as a spirit creature, He didn't rise in the flesh. This is one of the reasons they are missing the mark.
God brought Christ back to life as he was before he died, He was risen from the dead. If He would have risen as a spirit, He couldn't have deafeated death. All men whether they are saved or lost become a spirit when their bodies die and they either go directly before God or they go directly to hell. If Christ was only a spirit after His death then He would be no different than anyone else and He couldn't have defeated death. I hope I haven't gotten too deep into something that ends up confusing you more than helping. Feel free to write me if you need any help with understanding what I am saying here.
This verse we are learning this week is a very important verse and I hope you will meditate on it and pray about it and know how to share it as you learn to witness.
So remember, confess and believe, Romans 10:9, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9
Until then remember that He is risen, He is risen indeed.
God bless you,
Brother Bill
aka: River Rat
I am so blessed this week. I have been praying that God would provide me with a Brother to go witnessing with and this week I had two men call me. One is a man named Tony who goes out in Fresno and Oakhurst on his horse. He goes to the gangs in Fresno and God has blessed him richly in the work of evangelism and the other man is also from Fresno. His name is Frank and he shoes horses. When he is shoeing horses in Fresno he evangelizes in Fresno and when he is working on horses in Oakhurst, he evangelizes in Oakhurst. There is another man I am waiting to call me from Oakhurst named Joe. Joe recently accepted Christ from meeting Tony and the Lord immediately blessed him with a burden for souls. Be praying for all of us as we reach out to the lost.
Todays verse is Romans 10:9. I use the topic, "confess and believe". Then the verse goes like this,
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved".
As I mentioned in the beginning of my blogs, we are commanded to preach the Gospel. All of us. When you go to church on Sunday, your pastor isn't the only guy who is ordained to tell people about Jesus. Jesus gave us the command to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel, that includes you and anyone who accepts Christ. Are you ashamed to confess Christ? You shouldn't be, Christ said, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you". Matt. 5:11,12
Even if we are rejected or persecuted, we should rejoice because we are building rewards. That is exciting to me. We are also told that if we confess Christ before men, Christ will confess us before His Father in heaven Matt. 10:32. Then in the next verse, v. 33 He says that whosoever denies Him before men, He will deny that person before His Heavenly Father. Then in Luke 12:8 Christ also said, "Also I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the son of man (Jesus) confess before the angels of God".
The next part of that verse concerns belief. Do you really believe? I question a lot of people who say they are Christians. I believe that a lot of the reason why those who say they are Christians never confess Christ to others is their lack of real belief in Christ in their heart. Not only do you believe, but do you believe that God really raised Him from the dead in His earthly body?
Remember and think about this thought. The devil believes in Christ, that's why the devil seeks to rob, destroy and kill every person on earth. The devil knows that Christ is real and that Christ died to defeat him (the devil) and save all mankind if mankind will confess and believe in Christ. But the devil doesn't want you to believe unto salvation and escape the devil's destruction. Jehovah's witnesses are an example of belief that isn't unto salvation. They believe that Christ died on the cross for man's sins, that He died and was buried, but they believe that when He rose from the dead, He rose as a spirit creature, He didn't rise in the flesh. This is one of the reasons they are missing the mark.
God brought Christ back to life as he was before he died, He was risen from the dead. If He would have risen as a spirit, He couldn't have deafeated death. All men whether they are saved or lost become a spirit when their bodies die and they either go directly before God or they go directly to hell. If Christ was only a spirit after His death then He would be no different than anyone else and He couldn't have defeated death. I hope I haven't gotten too deep into something that ends up confusing you more than helping. Feel free to write me if you need any help with understanding what I am saying here.
This verse we are learning this week is a very important verse and I hope you will meditate on it and pray about it and know how to share it as you learn to witness.
So remember, confess and believe, Romans 10:9, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9
Until then remember that He is risen, He is risen indeed.
God bless you,
Brother Bill
aka: River Rat
Monday, October 7, 2013
Romans 5:8
Hey everyone:
Had a great day yesterday, (Sunday).
Today, our verse is Romans 5:8. This verse is so important because the verses up till this point are verses that can be convicting. So far we have shared that nobody is righteous, all have sinned, sin has sentenced us all to death which are the wages of a sinful lifestyle. The end of last weeks verse does break into the hope that there is a way through Christ for eternal life and that Christ's death is a gift to us.
Today, Romans 5:8 says, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". To help me remember this verse, I use the topic phrase, "God still loves us". That is what this verse says to me. Even though we are sinners, God still loves us, but He hates the sin. He loves us so much that He was willing to give up His only son as a way for us to enter into a right relationship with God so that we could have fellowship now and eternal life in heaven with God.
We have a family member who doesn't make the right choices a lot of times. Because I am the disciplinarian in our family (not a position I chose or really want) this family member at times will start thinking that I don't love that family member, that I hate them. I sat them down recently and told them, "I don't hate you, but I hate the dissension you drag into our home, I hate the element of people you bring to the house, I hate that you look us in the eyes and lie to us and I hate that we have provided you way after way to escape this lifestyle and better your life and you won't take advantage of it and turn your life around". That in a lot of ways is how God is with us and Christ is the way He has provided for us to turn our life around. It's the condition we have to accept to be allowed to come to God's home.
So study this verse and next time we will add another verse. We are getting there, we have three more verses I want to share on the Roman highway and then we are going to get into some great ways to share these verses and other ways to reach the lost with tracts and build some eternal rewards.
God bless you as you learn,
Brother Bill
aka: River Rat
Had a great day yesterday, (Sunday).
Today, our verse is Romans 5:8. This verse is so important because the verses up till this point are verses that can be convicting. So far we have shared that nobody is righteous, all have sinned, sin has sentenced us all to death which are the wages of a sinful lifestyle. The end of last weeks verse does break into the hope that there is a way through Christ for eternal life and that Christ's death is a gift to us.
Today, Romans 5:8 says, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". To help me remember this verse, I use the topic phrase, "God still loves us". That is what this verse says to me. Even though we are sinners, God still loves us, but He hates the sin. He loves us so much that He was willing to give up His only son as a way for us to enter into a right relationship with God so that we could have fellowship now and eternal life in heaven with God.
We have a family member who doesn't make the right choices a lot of times. Because I am the disciplinarian in our family (not a position I chose or really want) this family member at times will start thinking that I don't love that family member, that I hate them. I sat them down recently and told them, "I don't hate you, but I hate the dissension you drag into our home, I hate the element of people you bring to the house, I hate that you look us in the eyes and lie to us and I hate that we have provided you way after way to escape this lifestyle and better your life and you won't take advantage of it and turn your life around". That in a lot of ways is how God is with us and Christ is the way He has provided for us to turn our life around. It's the condition we have to accept to be allowed to come to God's home.
So study this verse and next time we will add another verse. We are getting there, we have three more verses I want to share on the Roman highway and then we are going to get into some great ways to share these verses and other ways to reach the lost with tracts and build some eternal rewards.
God bless you as you learn,
Brother Bill
aka: River Rat
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Romans 6:23
Greetings brethren:
If you are reading this for the first time, please go to the first blog post so that you can understand where we are at with our scripture memorization and hopefully join with us in our desire to have the tools to tell people about the faith that is in us as believers in Christ.
Lets briefly go over what we have learned so far. At least I hope you are taking this to heart and learning these scriptures in order to be prepared to share the wonderful work that Christ did for us on the cross. Our first topic and verse was, "nobody's righteous", Romans 3:10, then, "all have sinned", Romans 3:23, then, "by one man", Romans 5:12.
Today our topic and verse is about the results of sin in everybody's life. As I mentioned in the post titled Romans 5:12 revisited, we will not be judged for anyone else's sin, whether it be Adam's or your next door neighbor's sins, but our own and the previous scriptures have shown that we are all guilty of sin. This is the basic reason that we are called to share the Gospel with the unsaved. You will find as you go out and talk to people that just about everyone thinks they are a good person. Here is how most conversations will go when you ask this question, "If there is a heaven and hell, would you go to heaven or hell?" I would say that eight times out of ten, their response will be, "I would go to heaven, because I am basically a good person, I try to respect people, I try to always think positive about life and others, etc. etc." So this is where having a knowledge of scripture helps you to show them what the Bible says and point them to salvation through Christ by showing them that the Bible says we have all sinned and fallen short. God is a just God and He can't allow sin into heaven so if someone was such a good person that they maybe only sinned once in their life, our next verse says that they have missed the mark, or fallen short of being able to enter into God's Kingdom without salvation through Christ.
These verses we are learning and memorizing are just the elementary foundation to being prepared scripturally. Once we get through them, then I will start teaching you how to implement these verses into a conversation and will share with you other websites that can also assist you in sharing what we are learning. I will also start teaching how we can use tracks to reach the lost. But right now I feel the need to lay some foundations.
Our next verse is Romans 6:23. This is a verse that doesn't mess around but comes right to the point.
It says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". I use the topic, "sins wages". There is a cost for sin. Sin costs every human being their eternal life in heaven and condemns them to hell. This is why we are commanded by Christ to preach the gospel to everyone. God wants everyone to come to the truth and accept eternal life with Him.
We have four more verses to memorize. I could give them all to you now, but I am hoping that a little at a time will give you time to get them firmly planted in your mind. Please share this blog with someone and if any of you need some tracks, please contact me and I will send you some free of charge.
God Bless,
Brother Bill
aka River rat
If you are reading this for the first time, please go to the first blog post so that you can understand where we are at with our scripture memorization and hopefully join with us in our desire to have the tools to tell people about the faith that is in us as believers in Christ.
Lets briefly go over what we have learned so far. At least I hope you are taking this to heart and learning these scriptures in order to be prepared to share the wonderful work that Christ did for us on the cross. Our first topic and verse was, "nobody's righteous", Romans 3:10, then, "all have sinned", Romans 3:23, then, "by one man", Romans 5:12.
Today our topic and verse is about the results of sin in everybody's life. As I mentioned in the post titled Romans 5:12 revisited, we will not be judged for anyone else's sin, whether it be Adam's or your next door neighbor's sins, but our own and the previous scriptures have shown that we are all guilty of sin. This is the basic reason that we are called to share the Gospel with the unsaved. You will find as you go out and talk to people that just about everyone thinks they are a good person. Here is how most conversations will go when you ask this question, "If there is a heaven and hell, would you go to heaven or hell?" I would say that eight times out of ten, their response will be, "I would go to heaven, because I am basically a good person, I try to respect people, I try to always think positive about life and others, etc. etc." So this is where having a knowledge of scripture helps you to show them what the Bible says and point them to salvation through Christ by showing them that the Bible says we have all sinned and fallen short. God is a just God and He can't allow sin into heaven so if someone was such a good person that they maybe only sinned once in their life, our next verse says that they have missed the mark, or fallen short of being able to enter into God's Kingdom without salvation through Christ.
These verses we are learning and memorizing are just the elementary foundation to being prepared scripturally. Once we get through them, then I will start teaching you how to implement these verses into a conversation and will share with you other websites that can also assist you in sharing what we are learning. I will also start teaching how we can use tracks to reach the lost. But right now I feel the need to lay some foundations.
Our next verse is Romans 6:23. This is a verse that doesn't mess around but comes right to the point.
It says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". I use the topic, "sins wages". There is a cost for sin. Sin costs every human being their eternal life in heaven and condemns them to hell. This is why we are commanded by Christ to preach the gospel to everyone. God wants everyone to come to the truth and accept eternal life with Him.
We have four more verses to memorize. I could give them all to you now, but I am hoping that a little at a time will give you time to get them firmly planted in your mind. Please share this blog with someone and if any of you need some tracks, please contact me and I will send you some free of charge.
God Bless,
Brother Bill
aka River rat
Monday, September 23, 2013
Romans 5:12 revisited
Hey Brethren:
Romans 5:12, "Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, in that all have sinned".
I wanted to talk a little about this verse and give you something to think about. In witnessing, I have made what I now consider, a mistake, and have many times used this verse to prove what I was saying. Many, many times I have told unbelievers that the reason they were sinners and going to hell if they didn't know Christ was because Adam and Eve sinned and as a result, we were all sentenced to hell because of their sin. On the day of judgement, we will not be judged according to Adam's sin, but will be judged according to our sins. Adam and Eve's sin brought the sentence of death upon all of mankind. Originally we were designed and created to live forever but Adam's sin changed that. God even warned Adam that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die (Gen. 2:17) and after Adam ate of the tree, God passed sentence upon man that he would no longer live forever but return unto the dust from where he came. (Gen. 3:19).
To tell someone that they will be judged according to Adam's sin is to tell them that they will be judged because of what they are (mankind) and not because of what they do. We are not going to be judged for the sin someone did thousands of years ago, but we will be judged for the sins we individually do. I think this has to do with a lot of why we don't see repentance among millions of Christians, because they don't really see themselves as sinners. They see the first Adam as the sinner who did all the sinning for them and the last Adam (Jesus Christ) took care of all the rest which leaves them thinking that they have done no wrong and believing that repentance merely means accepting Christ and going on in life just like they have always lived.
I will stop right here today. I would ask you to pray about this. This subject can be shocking to some and cause a lot of Christians to pull out the, "legalism" or "saved by works" card, so to speak. But let me tell you, I personally have butchered the Gospel in both teaching it and living it. For years I drank Jack Daniels, snorted crank, swore like a drunken sailor, committed adultery and sinned almost every way imaginable and had no conviction because I believed that Adam did the sinning and Christ died so that I could be saved by grace and had no moral conviction to repent of my sins. I don't believe in salvation by works, but I do believe that when Christ commanded us to repent, He wanted us to turn towards God in our mind and heart as well as our lifestyle.
God bless you till next time,
Brother Bill
aka River Rat
Romans 5:12, "Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, in that all have sinned".
I wanted to talk a little about this verse and give you something to think about. In witnessing, I have made what I now consider, a mistake, and have many times used this verse to prove what I was saying. Many, many times I have told unbelievers that the reason they were sinners and going to hell if they didn't know Christ was because Adam and Eve sinned and as a result, we were all sentenced to hell because of their sin. On the day of judgement, we will not be judged according to Adam's sin, but will be judged according to our sins. Adam and Eve's sin brought the sentence of death upon all of mankind. Originally we were designed and created to live forever but Adam's sin changed that. God even warned Adam that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die (Gen. 2:17) and after Adam ate of the tree, God passed sentence upon man that he would no longer live forever but return unto the dust from where he came. (Gen. 3:19).
To tell someone that they will be judged according to Adam's sin is to tell them that they will be judged because of what they are (mankind) and not because of what they do. We are not going to be judged for the sin someone did thousands of years ago, but we will be judged for the sins we individually do. I think this has to do with a lot of why we don't see repentance among millions of Christians, because they don't really see themselves as sinners. They see the first Adam as the sinner who did all the sinning for them and the last Adam (Jesus Christ) took care of all the rest which leaves them thinking that they have done no wrong and believing that repentance merely means accepting Christ and going on in life just like they have always lived.
I will stop right here today. I would ask you to pray about this. This subject can be shocking to some and cause a lot of Christians to pull out the, "legalism" or "saved by works" card, so to speak. But let me tell you, I personally have butchered the Gospel in both teaching it and living it. For years I drank Jack Daniels, snorted crank, swore like a drunken sailor, committed adultery and sinned almost every way imaginable and had no conviction because I believed that Adam did the sinning and Christ died so that I could be saved by grace and had no moral conviction to repent of my sins. I don't believe in salvation by works, but I do believe that when Christ commanded us to repent, He wanted us to turn towards God in our mind and heart as well as our lifestyle.
God bless you till next time,
Brother Bill
aka River Rat
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Romans 5:12
Hey Brethren:
Sometimes it seems that no matter how much you know something, when the time comes to share that knowledge, your mind just goes blank. At least mine does and it seems to be more the case, the older I get! That's why it is very important that we pray before we head out to witness. That is also why it is important that we pray before we leave home for work or play each day. God's word promises us that we will receive His knowledge, wisdom and understanding when we need it to do His work.
I mentioned earlier that if you are fumbling around looking for a verse when you are talking to someone about the Lord, you can possibly lose their interest. That can be true, but I should also mention that I believe that if God has called that person and you are the one that God wants to use to reach them, it's really nothing to worry about. I've had times witnessing, when it seemed like I couldn't have messed up anymore, but have found out later, (sometimes years later) that something I said, touched that person's heart and helped them to make a decision to accept Christ. Isaiah 55:8 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" I believe that God really wants us to just be obedient to Christ and He will take it from there.
Something I do with this Roman highway plan is write the next verse number to be shared under the verse I am sharing so that I know where to go next. Some people don't like to write in their Bibles, but I'm not like that. So with this Roman Highway, we know that all the verses are in Romans. If we can at least remember that the first verse is Romans 3:10 then we can go there and see what we have written down as the next verse, which will give us a guide. So in my Bible, under Romans 3:10, I have written, 3:23 and under Romans 3:23 I have written today's verse, 5:12 and so on.
The topic I use for today's verse is, "By one man". Again, this is what I choose for a topic, you are free to pick or choose whatever helps you to remember the verse. So I say to myself when I am memorizing, "By one man, Romans 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12."
I realize that you aren't always going to have your Bible with you. Which is just one reason why we should memorize scripture so that we have God's word written on our heart.
Although in this day and age, with most cell phones, we can get a Bible app which enables you to have scripture at our fingertips with a touch of a button. That is one of the beautiful things about the age of technology that we live in. It's also why I'm not buying it when I see a brother or sister in Christ who tells me they just can't find time to read God's word, and as they say that, their fingers are wrapped around a $300 Iphone! If you can find time to facebook and text the world to let them know you just waited a half hour in a drive through trying to get a big mac, enough said! I thank God that I can hardly make a phone call with my Iphone or I'd be on that thing all the time doing everything but what God wants me to do. That is why everyone that is reading this should take a moment and thank God with me that we are all a greatly blessed, highly favored, imperfect, but forgiven child of God.
Pray for me brethren and I will do the same for you.
Phillipians 4:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Brother Bill
Aka: River rat
Sometimes it seems that no matter how much you know something, when the time comes to share that knowledge, your mind just goes blank. At least mine does and it seems to be more the case, the older I get! That's why it is very important that we pray before we head out to witness. That is also why it is important that we pray before we leave home for work or play each day. God's word promises us that we will receive His knowledge, wisdom and understanding when we need it to do His work.
I mentioned earlier that if you are fumbling around looking for a verse when you are talking to someone about the Lord, you can possibly lose their interest. That can be true, but I should also mention that I believe that if God has called that person and you are the one that God wants to use to reach them, it's really nothing to worry about. I've had times witnessing, when it seemed like I couldn't have messed up anymore, but have found out later, (sometimes years later) that something I said, touched that person's heart and helped them to make a decision to accept Christ. Isaiah 55:8 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" I believe that God really wants us to just be obedient to Christ and He will take it from there.
Something I do with this Roman highway plan is write the next verse number to be shared under the verse I am sharing so that I know where to go next. Some people don't like to write in their Bibles, but I'm not like that. So with this Roman Highway, we know that all the verses are in Romans. If we can at least remember that the first verse is Romans 3:10 then we can go there and see what we have written down as the next verse, which will give us a guide. So in my Bible, under Romans 3:10, I have written, 3:23 and under Romans 3:23 I have written today's verse, 5:12 and so on.
The topic I use for today's verse is, "By one man". Again, this is what I choose for a topic, you are free to pick or choose whatever helps you to remember the verse. So I say to myself when I am memorizing, "By one man, Romans 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12."
I realize that you aren't always going to have your Bible with you. Which is just one reason why we should memorize scripture so that we have God's word written on our heart.
Although in this day and age, with most cell phones, we can get a Bible app which enables you to have scripture at our fingertips with a touch of a button. That is one of the beautiful things about the age of technology that we live in. It's also why I'm not buying it when I see a brother or sister in Christ who tells me they just can't find time to read God's word, and as they say that, their fingers are wrapped around a $300 Iphone! If you can find time to facebook and text the world to let them know you just waited a half hour in a drive through trying to get a big mac, enough said! I thank God that I can hardly make a phone call with my Iphone or I'd be on that thing all the time doing everything but what God wants me to do. That is why everyone that is reading this should take a moment and thank God with me that we are all a greatly blessed, highly favored, imperfect, but forgiven child of God.
Pray for me brethren and I will do the same for you.
Phillipians 4:23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Brother Bill
Aka: River rat
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Romans 3:23
Hey everyone:
I hope you have been trying to memorize our verse from last week. Romans 3:10. If not, please do. Its always amazing to me how many people and churches want to see a revival in America and some will pray for laborers, but very few want to be the laborers. If you saw a blind man about to walk off the edge of the grand canyon, would you try to stop him, or would you pray that God would send someone to reach out to him and let him know he is about to plummet to his death?
That analogy fits every Christian who prays for revival and laborers but isn't willing to lift a finger to help sinners see that they are going to spend eternity in hell if they don't accept Jesus Christ and follow Him. Do you believe in hell? Do you really believe in hell? Then act like it. I'm not going to apologize for being so strict. I think that part of the problem in our churches today is most don't preach on Hell. They don't want to offend anyone. I wonder what it would be like to be saved, standing in front of the great white throne on judgment day, praising God as your son or daughter, grandmother or grandfather, wife or husband, brother or sister, neighbor or co-worker are being cast into hell by God's angels?
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God
I use the topic, "Everyone's sinned" then say the book, chapter and verse number, Romans 3:23 then the verse then repeat the book, chapter and verse number. So last week we had, "Nobodies righteous" and this week the topic is, "Everyone's sinned"!
Nobody is righteous in the eyes of God because everyone has sinned and we have come short of God's holiness. God can't be around unholy anything and that is why He sent His son to die for us so that His blood on the cross would cover our unholiness, be the sacrifice for sin that gives us access to the throne of grace. That is how much God loves us. John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life.
Study and memorize these verses. They are short simple verses and with just a little bit of memorization techniques everyday, you can acquire another tool for the ole' Gospel toolbox.
I'm praying for you, please pray for me.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Also known as riverrat
I hope you have been trying to memorize our verse from last week. Romans 3:10. If not, please do. Its always amazing to me how many people and churches want to see a revival in America and some will pray for laborers, but very few want to be the laborers. If you saw a blind man about to walk off the edge of the grand canyon, would you try to stop him, or would you pray that God would send someone to reach out to him and let him know he is about to plummet to his death?
That analogy fits every Christian who prays for revival and laborers but isn't willing to lift a finger to help sinners see that they are going to spend eternity in hell if they don't accept Jesus Christ and follow Him. Do you believe in hell? Do you really believe in hell? Then act like it. I'm not going to apologize for being so strict. I think that part of the problem in our churches today is most don't preach on Hell. They don't want to offend anyone. I wonder what it would be like to be saved, standing in front of the great white throne on judgment day, praising God as your son or daughter, grandmother or grandfather, wife or husband, brother or sister, neighbor or co-worker are being cast into hell by God's angels?
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God
I use the topic, "Everyone's sinned" then say the book, chapter and verse number, Romans 3:23 then the verse then repeat the book, chapter and verse number. So last week we had, "Nobodies righteous" and this week the topic is, "Everyone's sinned"!
Nobody is righteous in the eyes of God because everyone has sinned and we have come short of God's holiness. God can't be around unholy anything and that is why He sent His son to die for us so that His blood on the cross would cover our unholiness, be the sacrifice for sin that gives us access to the throne of grace. That is how much God loves us. John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life.
Study and memorize these verses. They are short simple verses and with just a little bit of memorization techniques everyday, you can acquire another tool for the ole' Gospel toolbox.
I'm praying for you, please pray for me.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Also known as riverrat
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Romans 3:10
Hey Brethren:
Romans 3:10 is the first verse on the Roman highway. It says, "AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE"
Here is how I try to memorize scripture. I can say that I know and can quote quite a bit of scripture but my problem is I don't always remember where that verse is in the Bible. I don't think that is a bad thing but sometimes when I am sharing scripture with an unbeliever, I don't know where to go to prove the Bible says that and if I try to find it, flipping from book to book or verse to verse, I stand the chance that I lose the person's interest and the devil can convince him/her that I don't really know what I'm talking about. So I believe it helps if we know chapter and verse.
I use the topical method to remember the verse I want to quote. So with this verse I have come up with the topic, "Nobody's righteous". Then I memorize the verse's chapter and verse, then the scripture itself, then repeat the chapter and verse to help me remember where it is at, in the Bible. Just because I use the topic, "Nobody's righteous", is another thing that is not set in stone. You can make up your own topic to say that best helps you.
For instance, I will say to myself, "Nobodies righteous, Romans 3;10, AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE. Romans 3:10". Saying the chapter and verse, before and after the scripture helps to cement it into my mind as to where the scripture is in the Bible.
Start with this verse and next week we will learn another one. Remember, it is better to know one verse well than to partially know a bunch of verses. When I am memorizing, some verses are a cinch and I memorize them right away and other verses take me a long time. Try to avoid moving on to the next verse until you have the previous one memorized. Use the translation that you are comfortable with, like I said, I will always use the KJV but its not necessary. What works for me isn't necessarily what you have to do.
Always pray for understanding and help as you do this. God Bless you as you take on this adventure with me.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Please check out my other blog by clicking this link riverrat
Romans 3:10 is the first verse on the Roman highway. It says, "AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE"
Here is how I try to memorize scripture. I can say that I know and can quote quite a bit of scripture but my problem is I don't always remember where that verse is in the Bible. I don't think that is a bad thing but sometimes when I am sharing scripture with an unbeliever, I don't know where to go to prove the Bible says that and if I try to find it, flipping from book to book or verse to verse, I stand the chance that I lose the person's interest and the devil can convince him/her that I don't really know what I'm talking about. So I believe it helps if we know chapter and verse.
I use the topical method to remember the verse I want to quote. So with this verse I have come up with the topic, "Nobody's righteous". Then I memorize the verse's chapter and verse, then the scripture itself, then repeat the chapter and verse to help me remember where it is at, in the Bible. Just because I use the topic, "Nobody's righteous", is another thing that is not set in stone. You can make up your own topic to say that best helps you.
For instance, I will say to myself, "Nobodies righteous, Romans 3;10, AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE. Romans 3:10". Saying the chapter and verse, before and after the scripture helps to cement it into my mind as to where the scripture is in the Bible.
Start with this verse and next week we will learn another one. Remember, it is better to know one verse well than to partially know a bunch of verses. When I am memorizing, some verses are a cinch and I memorize them right away and other verses take me a long time. Try to avoid moving on to the next verse until you have the previous one memorized. Use the translation that you are comfortable with, like I said, I will always use the KJV but its not necessary. What works for me isn't necessarily what you have to do.
Always pray for understanding and help as you do this. God Bless you as you take on this adventure with me.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Please check out my other blog by clicking this link riverrat
The Beginning
Acts 1:2 Until the day in which He (Jesus) was taken up, after that He THROUGH THE HOLY GHOST
HAD GIVEN COMMANDMENTS UNTO THE APOSTLES...
Matthew 28:20 Teaching them (all nations and new believers) to observe all things whatsoever I (Jesus) have commanded you (Jesus' Apostles): and, lo, I am with you alway, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD. Amen.
Mark 16:15 And He (Jesus) said unto them (Apostles), Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY creature.
Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM.
Welcome to the blog. I know I said we would start memorizing the scriptures that are termed the Roman highway, and I promise that I will. But, I feel the Lord has put it on my heart that I need to lay a little bit of a foundation for us to build on first. When I speak to Christians about witnessing, it is interesting that the majority of them don't see or feel that it is their responsibility to witness to the lost. So I want to take a minute to share why I feel that it is everyone's responsibility to share the Gospel. In the first verse above we see that Christ gave commandments to the Apostles and He gave the commandments THROUGH THE HOLY GHOST. In other words, He wasn't just running around the country coming up with some cool commandments that sounded good. He was listening to and obeying the leading of the Holy Ghost clear up to his death on the cross. He was obedient unto His death.
Then Matt. 28:20 says that He taught the Apostles to teach us to observe everything He had commanded them. He didn't say, Everything I suggested. He said, commanded. It was a command. They weren't commanded to only observe it themselves but they were commanded to teach us to teach others, Jesus' commandment. Its almost like the first multi-level marketing plan long before Amway was ever thought of.
He promised that He would be there with everyone who obeyed those commandments unto the end of the world. I take this to mean that these commandments were to be observed and taught to everyone who believed in Christ until this world comes to an end. I don't get the impression here that these commandments were to be observed only until all the Apostles died. Because in the next two verses, Mark 16:15 and Luke 24:46 we see two examples of what He commanded. Go into all the world and preach, and preach that Christ suffered and died and rose from the dead and preach REPENTANCE and remission of sins. Also, He commands that the preaching begins at Jerusalem. I could blog on this subject alone for days because it is so important to be taught and yet so much of this teaching is being missed by most of our churches today.
Brethren, we have all been called to the great commission given to us by Christ.
I bring this up because I have talked to so many Christians who will say things like, "I don't feel that I have to go out and try to witness, after all, the Bible says that we aren't all pastors or evangelists...", "Witnessing is my pastor's job....", "I witness by supporting missionaries financially....", "I believe my ministry is to pray that God will raise up laborers", etc. etc. To me its sad. I have heard these kind of things from members of churches who only have 20 congregants and then gone back to that church 15 years later to visit and they still only have around 20 members! I have lived in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Florida and New York and the sermon I have heard preached in almost every church I've been in is on Tithing and how God loves a cheerful giver and the prayer request I have heard most is to pray for Revival because God wants to bring another Revival to America! In Revelation 3:15,16 Christ says to the church of the Laodicians, "I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot, I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth". Strong words to hear from a Lord and Savior and I don't want to judge any church and say they are lukewarm. But, I can't help saying the old saying, "If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck. There is a 99.99% chance it's a duck.
Let me close this by saying this about me so I don't leave any false impressions about myself. I have been guilty of all of the above. Just the other day I came out of a building and there were two men sitting on a bench and I instantly felt this voice say, "Witness to these guys". Reading this blog you probably think that I had no problem at all marching right up to them and telling them about how they need Jesus. Quite the contrary. I was immediately filled with fear, the verses that I am going to teach you, were gone from my mind. It was like I had a blank page and I immediately was making excuses to myself to justify my not wanting to talk to them. When I convinced myself to leave without talking to them, I was just filled with guilt and that night when I was praying, I was so ashamed to come before God. That isn't the first time that has happened. Then ironically, a couple days later, I went into a barber shop I'd never been in before to get a haircut. The barber was a hairs width away from physically throwing me out of the shop because I wouldn't shut up even after he told me he didn't want to talk about it. Through my years of Christianity, I have had periods where I have been fervently hot, I've had periods where I have been colder than a winter in Montana and more time than the cold and hot put together I have been lukewarm. I tell you this so that you don't think, or think that I think, that I am a modern day Spurgeon, Finney, Hudson Taylor or Dietrich Bonhoeffer because I am writing this blog. I am doing this blog because my mind for years has been obsessed with the idea and I have come to believe that the obsession is of the Lord. I am 100% human and imperfect yet forgiven just like everyone else. Please pray for me to be obedient and I will pray for your obedience to the scripture as well.
Here is the first Roman Highway verse and I will explain a memorization technique in the next blog:
Romans 3:10, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
God bless your daily walk with Jesus.
Brother Bill
Please feel free to read my other blog about growing up outside of Yosemite on the Merced river. The web address is www.yosemiteriverrat.com but you can reach it by going here. If I don't see you on this side of heaven, hopefully, I will meet you on that beautiful shore.
HAD GIVEN COMMANDMENTS UNTO THE APOSTLES...
Matthew 28:20 Teaching them (all nations and new believers) to observe all things whatsoever I (Jesus) have commanded you (Jesus' Apostles): and, lo, I am with you alway, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD. Amen.
Mark 16:15 And He (Jesus) said unto them (Apostles), Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY creature.
Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM.
Welcome to the blog. I know I said we would start memorizing the scriptures that are termed the Roman highway, and I promise that I will. But, I feel the Lord has put it on my heart that I need to lay a little bit of a foundation for us to build on first. When I speak to Christians about witnessing, it is interesting that the majority of them don't see or feel that it is their responsibility to witness to the lost. So I want to take a minute to share why I feel that it is everyone's responsibility to share the Gospel. In the first verse above we see that Christ gave commandments to the Apostles and He gave the commandments THROUGH THE HOLY GHOST. In other words, He wasn't just running around the country coming up with some cool commandments that sounded good. He was listening to and obeying the leading of the Holy Ghost clear up to his death on the cross. He was obedient unto His death.
Then Matt. 28:20 says that He taught the Apostles to teach us to observe everything He had commanded them. He didn't say, Everything I suggested. He said, commanded. It was a command. They weren't commanded to only observe it themselves but they were commanded to teach us to teach others, Jesus' commandment. Its almost like the first multi-level marketing plan long before Amway was ever thought of.
He promised that He would be there with everyone who obeyed those commandments unto the end of the world. I take this to mean that these commandments were to be observed and taught to everyone who believed in Christ until this world comes to an end. I don't get the impression here that these commandments were to be observed only until all the Apostles died. Because in the next two verses, Mark 16:15 and Luke 24:46 we see two examples of what He commanded. Go into all the world and preach, and preach that Christ suffered and died and rose from the dead and preach REPENTANCE and remission of sins. Also, He commands that the preaching begins at Jerusalem. I could blog on this subject alone for days because it is so important to be taught and yet so much of this teaching is being missed by most of our churches today.
Brethren, we have all been called to the great commission given to us by Christ.
I bring this up because I have talked to so many Christians who will say things like, "I don't feel that I have to go out and try to witness, after all, the Bible says that we aren't all pastors or evangelists...", "Witnessing is my pastor's job....", "I witness by supporting missionaries financially....", "I believe my ministry is to pray that God will raise up laborers", etc. etc. To me its sad. I have heard these kind of things from members of churches who only have 20 congregants and then gone back to that church 15 years later to visit and they still only have around 20 members! I have lived in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Florida and New York and the sermon I have heard preached in almost every church I've been in is on Tithing and how God loves a cheerful giver and the prayer request I have heard most is to pray for Revival because God wants to bring another Revival to America! In Revelation 3:15,16 Christ says to the church of the Laodicians, "I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot, I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth". Strong words to hear from a Lord and Savior and I don't want to judge any church and say they are lukewarm. But, I can't help saying the old saying, "If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck. There is a 99.99% chance it's a duck.
Let me close this by saying this about me so I don't leave any false impressions about myself. I have been guilty of all of the above. Just the other day I came out of a building and there were two men sitting on a bench and I instantly felt this voice say, "Witness to these guys". Reading this blog you probably think that I had no problem at all marching right up to them and telling them about how they need Jesus. Quite the contrary. I was immediately filled with fear, the verses that I am going to teach you, were gone from my mind. It was like I had a blank page and I immediately was making excuses to myself to justify my not wanting to talk to them. When I convinced myself to leave without talking to them, I was just filled with guilt and that night when I was praying, I was so ashamed to come before God. That isn't the first time that has happened. Then ironically, a couple days later, I went into a barber shop I'd never been in before to get a haircut. The barber was a hairs width away from physically throwing me out of the shop because I wouldn't shut up even after he told me he didn't want to talk about it. Through my years of Christianity, I have had periods where I have been fervently hot, I've had periods where I have been colder than a winter in Montana and more time than the cold and hot put together I have been lukewarm. I tell you this so that you don't think, or think that I think, that I am a modern day Spurgeon, Finney, Hudson Taylor or Dietrich Bonhoeffer because I am writing this blog. I am doing this blog because my mind for years has been obsessed with the idea and I have come to believe that the obsession is of the Lord. I am 100% human and imperfect yet forgiven just like everyone else. Please pray for me to be obedient and I will pray for your obedience to the scripture as well.
Here is the first Roman Highway verse and I will explain a memorization technique in the next blog:
Romans 3:10, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
God bless your daily walk with Jesus.
Brother Bill
Please feel free to read my other blog about growing up outside of Yosemite on the Merced river. The web address is www.yosemiteriverrat.com but you can reach it by going here. If I don't see you on this side of heaven, hopefully, I will meet you on that beautiful shore.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Witnessing 101
Hey everyone:
Ok, so now you know that your brain is most receptive fifteen minutes before you fall to sleep and the first fifteen minutes after you wake up, but how does this pertain to helping us witness for Christ?
Part of the problem with witnessing is that many of us don't memorize scripture. We want to witness and I have heard so many say that they would witness but they don't know what to say. Sadly, the majority of our churches never teach us the tools we need to share our faith. We get sermons on not judging others, we get sermons on why we need to tithe and how God loves a cheerful giver, they teach us why we need to get baptised and what we are doing when we take communion. We get plenty of biblical teaching about how we should daily be an example of Christ and why we practice certain church activities, and we need that, but it's hard to find a church that teaches the tools to witness to others. In other words, many of our churches today don't raise up soul winners or go out into the local community reaching the lost. They will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars sending someone to New Guinea, but I have found very very few that show any desire to train up Christian soldiers to go to the house across the street from the church.
I might also add that if we individually don't have a burden for souls, we need to pray about that. I encourage everyone to go to church. We need fellowship with other believers, other believers need fellowship with us. You might be the one that God uses to start teaching others in your church about soul winning, if you have a burden for souls.
Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
To me this verse is promising me that if I just put God's word out there, He will do the rest. So this is why I feel that the strongest tool other than prayer and empowerment of the Holy Ghost is to memorize scripture.
It is the strongest tool whether we are memorizing it for witnessing or to draw on in our own personal walk in life. God's word changes lives, that is a truth that has been proven over and over for thousands of years.
That is why I bring up the part about our receptive minds. If you can get in the habit of trying to memorize scripture and use those two times a day to aid you, you can start building a tool box that you have with you at all times to take on any witnessing job that God puts in your path. From here, I would like to start sharing a series of verses that have been used by some of the greats of Evangelism. This first set of verses has been given the term, "The Roman Highway". It is a series of verses in Romans that if you memorize them, they can give you a strong foothold on sharing the plan of salvation. I suggest that each week, as we go through these verses, you underline that verse in your Bible, and spend fifteen minutes a day memorizing that verse. Then at night, try reciting that verse. If you can't remember all of it, get your Bible and refresh your memory and recite it over and over and pray until you fall to sleep.
I will always use the King James Version. You should use what ever version it is that you are comfortable with. I just personally like the KJV and have used it for a long time but I am not one of those staunch hardcore believers that thinks its a sin and desecrating the Word of God by using another version that you are comfortable with.
This week, start memorizing the verse above, Isaiah 55:11. It will give you practice and it is a promise to draw on as we together start our journey to learn God's word and reach a lost soul for Christ.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Please feel free to check out my other blog about my growing up on the Merced River outside Yosemite.
It's not a Gospel oriented blog, but hopefully some interesting reading.
www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com
Ok, so now you know that your brain is most receptive fifteen minutes before you fall to sleep and the first fifteen minutes after you wake up, but how does this pertain to helping us witness for Christ?
Part of the problem with witnessing is that many of us don't memorize scripture. We want to witness and I have heard so many say that they would witness but they don't know what to say. Sadly, the majority of our churches never teach us the tools we need to share our faith. We get sermons on not judging others, we get sermons on why we need to tithe and how God loves a cheerful giver, they teach us why we need to get baptised and what we are doing when we take communion. We get plenty of biblical teaching about how we should daily be an example of Christ and why we practice certain church activities, and we need that, but it's hard to find a church that teaches the tools to witness to others. In other words, many of our churches today don't raise up soul winners or go out into the local community reaching the lost. They will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars sending someone to New Guinea, but I have found very very few that show any desire to train up Christian soldiers to go to the house across the street from the church.
I might also add that if we individually don't have a burden for souls, we need to pray about that. I encourage everyone to go to church. We need fellowship with other believers, other believers need fellowship with us. You might be the one that God uses to start teaching others in your church about soul winning, if you have a burden for souls.
Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
To me this verse is promising me that if I just put God's word out there, He will do the rest. So this is why I feel that the strongest tool other than prayer and empowerment of the Holy Ghost is to memorize scripture.
It is the strongest tool whether we are memorizing it for witnessing or to draw on in our own personal walk in life. God's word changes lives, that is a truth that has been proven over and over for thousands of years.
That is why I bring up the part about our receptive minds. If you can get in the habit of trying to memorize scripture and use those two times a day to aid you, you can start building a tool box that you have with you at all times to take on any witnessing job that God puts in your path. From here, I would like to start sharing a series of verses that have been used by some of the greats of Evangelism. This first set of verses has been given the term, "The Roman Highway". It is a series of verses in Romans that if you memorize them, they can give you a strong foothold on sharing the plan of salvation. I suggest that each week, as we go through these verses, you underline that verse in your Bible, and spend fifteen minutes a day memorizing that verse. Then at night, try reciting that verse. If you can't remember all of it, get your Bible and refresh your memory and recite it over and over and pray until you fall to sleep.
I will always use the King James Version. You should use what ever version it is that you are comfortable with. I just personally like the KJV and have used it for a long time but I am not one of those staunch hardcore believers that thinks its a sin and desecrating the Word of God by using another version that you are comfortable with.
This week, start memorizing the verse above, Isaiah 55:11. It will give you practice and it is a promise to draw on as we together start our journey to learn God's word and reach a lost soul for Christ.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
Please feel free to check out my other blog about my growing up on the Merced River outside Yosemite.
It's not a Gospel oriented blog, but hopefully some interesting reading.
www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
The First and the Last
Rev. 22:13 I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Last time we talked about putting God first in your day and today I would like to talk about making Him the last of your day and a way that we can do that. If you remember, I mentioned how the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you go to sleep is what researchers claim is when your brain is the most receptive to what you put into it. I use to have insomnia for years. I hated going to bed at night because I knew that the minute my head hit the pillow, no matter how tired I was, my brain kicked into overdrive and I laid awake thinking. So one night I decided to pray and praise God. It wasn't easy at first. Many times I found myself thinking again and wasn't praying, so it was something I really had to work hard at. It worked. I don't know if God honored my prayers and put me to sleep or Satan put me to sleep because He didn't want me praying..., just kidding. God honored me putting Him last in my day and I started getting sleep.
The other night, my wife was tossing and turning in bed not able to sleep. This is unusual for her because she usually is almost asleep before her head hits the pillow. As I just got into bed and was starting to pray and praise God, she said, "I hate this, I just for some reason cannot get to sleep tonight". So we said a little prayer and I told her how I like to think of all the different ways I can praise God when I lay down and what or who I can pray for or about and how I always end up falling to sleep. I suggested she try it which she did and I of course started praying silently that God would use her silent prayer and worship to give her rest. It wasn't five minutes and I suddenly heard her breathing change and knew she had fallen to sleep. I couldn't help smiling there in the dark and thanking and praising the Lord and the next thing I knew was I was waking up from having a deep sound sleep myself and getting up to start my day putting Him first again.
In our verse above, Jesus is saying I am the Alpha which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega which is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, then He goes on to say the beginning and the end and the first and the last. Any way you look at it, God is there. As Christians we should include Him in our minds, especially if the first and the last part of our waking moments are the most receptive to whatever we feed it.
Now you are possibly wondering, cool, got it, but what does that have to do with learning how to witness to others? How does that help me have the tools to talk to others about Christ during the two times a day that I know I won't be seeing anyone who needs to hear about the Lord?
I would consider it the foundation that we all need in order to build a solid life of knowledge, wisdom and understanding in the principles of sharing our faith. You wouldn't get up in the morning and take off to work without having gas in your car. Likewise, we shouldn't get up in the morning and take off out the door to be a witness of God's power in our lives if we don't fill our tank first with the Holy Spirit's gasoline. So lets all work on building this solid foundation and next time I will share some tools we need to mix the mortar or lay the brick, and nail the lumber, etc.
Please, as you practice praying tonight and tomorrow morning and all through your day, pray for me, and I will especially pray for all of you reading this. I need God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding to write what will lift Him up and you need God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding to learn what He wants you to learn from what I am inspired to write and how to apply it to your daily life.
Pray for the Church.
If you can, watch these two videos I am listing. They are full of some tools on how to share Christ to non-believers. www.180movie.com and www.evolutionvsgod.com.
Also feel free to read my other blog www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com
May God bless you in your growth.
Brother Bill
Last time we talked about putting God first in your day and today I would like to talk about making Him the last of your day and a way that we can do that. If you remember, I mentioned how the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you go to sleep is what researchers claim is when your brain is the most receptive to what you put into it. I use to have insomnia for years. I hated going to bed at night because I knew that the minute my head hit the pillow, no matter how tired I was, my brain kicked into overdrive and I laid awake thinking. So one night I decided to pray and praise God. It wasn't easy at first. Many times I found myself thinking again and wasn't praying, so it was something I really had to work hard at. It worked. I don't know if God honored my prayers and put me to sleep or Satan put me to sleep because He didn't want me praying..., just kidding. God honored me putting Him last in my day and I started getting sleep.
The other night, my wife was tossing and turning in bed not able to sleep. This is unusual for her because she usually is almost asleep before her head hits the pillow. As I just got into bed and was starting to pray and praise God, she said, "I hate this, I just for some reason cannot get to sleep tonight". So we said a little prayer and I told her how I like to think of all the different ways I can praise God when I lay down and what or who I can pray for or about and how I always end up falling to sleep. I suggested she try it which she did and I of course started praying silently that God would use her silent prayer and worship to give her rest. It wasn't five minutes and I suddenly heard her breathing change and knew she had fallen to sleep. I couldn't help smiling there in the dark and thanking and praising the Lord and the next thing I knew was I was waking up from having a deep sound sleep myself and getting up to start my day putting Him first again.
In our verse above, Jesus is saying I am the Alpha which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega which is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, then He goes on to say the beginning and the end and the first and the last. Any way you look at it, God is there. As Christians we should include Him in our minds, especially if the first and the last part of our waking moments are the most receptive to whatever we feed it.
Now you are possibly wondering, cool, got it, but what does that have to do with learning how to witness to others? How does that help me have the tools to talk to others about Christ during the two times a day that I know I won't be seeing anyone who needs to hear about the Lord?
I would consider it the foundation that we all need in order to build a solid life of knowledge, wisdom and understanding in the principles of sharing our faith. You wouldn't get up in the morning and take off to work without having gas in your car. Likewise, we shouldn't get up in the morning and take off out the door to be a witness of God's power in our lives if we don't fill our tank first with the Holy Spirit's gasoline. So lets all work on building this solid foundation and next time I will share some tools we need to mix the mortar or lay the brick, and nail the lumber, etc.
Please, as you practice praying tonight and tomorrow morning and all through your day, pray for me, and I will especially pray for all of you reading this. I need God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding to write what will lift Him up and you need God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding to learn what He wants you to learn from what I am inspired to write and how to apply it to your daily life.
Pray for the Church.
If you can, watch these two videos I am listing. They are full of some tools on how to share Christ to non-believers. www.180movie.com and www.evolutionvsgod.com.
Also feel free to read my other blog www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com
May God bless you in your growth.
Brother Bill
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Seek ye first
Praise the Lord, He is risen, He is risen indeed. In case you are one of the only 73 that has looked at this blog and read past blogs and today you don't see them, it's because I sent them to draft. Why? Well, my first intentions with this blog was to teach others how to be a witness for Christ. To provide tools that will help all of us to fulfill the commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. My only problem when I try to do things for Christ, is ME. So looking back on those last blogs, I felt like I was writing about the Gospel according to Bill, instead of really providing tools that will enable us to go out.
I think that one of the best or maybe the best tool is found in the Bible in Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
I read once where studies have shown that the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you fall asleep is when your brain is the most receptive to retaining whatever you think about. I'm not a psychology kind of guy but I do believe that we couldn't have the study of psychology if God hadn't have created a brain. Isn't it interesting that the world tells us about a scientific fact concerning our brains and God tells us to seek His Kingdom first? I personally don't think its an uncanny coincidence.
So after reading that brain news from world science, and seeing Matthew 6:33 from the mouth of God,
I looked at it as proving scripture and started trying to use it to my spiritual advantage. The first thing I did was quit getting up in the morning and turning on the world news, which I did every morning and thought I enjoyed doing for years. I started training myself to immediately praise God that He gave me another day of life. Then out to my easy chair in the living room and instead of turning on the TV, I grab my Bible and try to put God's word into my brain for the first fifteen minutes of my new day I,ve been blessed to get to live. It's kind of like saying, " Hey Dad, what do you say we get together in the morning and spend some time together". One of the neat things is, that first fifteen minutes, usually never ends in fifteen minutes. After reading I pray.
What is interesting is sometimes I don't think that I am getting as much out of this first fifteen minutes or that my day doesn't really seem to be that much more positive. But when I miss a day of putting God first, I realize how much of a difference it does make in my whole day. I want to add too that this isn't the only way to feed your mind first with the Kingdom of God. Some mornings you could turn on the TV to a Christian station or a gospel Dvd and watch a good sermon, then read and pray. Or put a Gospel music station or CD on and listen to the words and let God speak to you through music.
The point here isn't to get into a religious rut, but to put God first in your day and open the door for God to speak to you and fulfill the verse listed above. This can put your mind in a place where you are more apt to think of something Godly to say to someone if they strike up a conversation that isn't Godly. You could be planting seeds or watering or maybe you might find yourself right in the middle of a harvest.
Next time I will talk about the last fifteen minutes of the day. Pray for laborers and keep the faith.
Brother Bill
Please feel free to go to my blog www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com and take a moment to see the new video by Livingwaters. www.evolutionvsgod.com
I think that one of the best or maybe the best tool is found in the Bible in Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
I read once where studies have shown that the first fifteen minutes after you wake up and the last fifteen minutes before you fall asleep is when your brain is the most receptive to retaining whatever you think about. I'm not a psychology kind of guy but I do believe that we couldn't have the study of psychology if God hadn't have created a brain. Isn't it interesting that the world tells us about a scientific fact concerning our brains and God tells us to seek His Kingdom first? I personally don't think its an uncanny coincidence.
So after reading that brain news from world science, and seeing Matthew 6:33 from the mouth of God,
I looked at it as proving scripture and started trying to use it to my spiritual advantage. The first thing I did was quit getting up in the morning and turning on the world news, which I did every morning and thought I enjoyed doing for years. I started training myself to immediately praise God that He gave me another day of life. Then out to my easy chair in the living room and instead of turning on the TV, I grab my Bible and try to put God's word into my brain for the first fifteen minutes of my new day I,ve been blessed to get to live. It's kind of like saying, " Hey Dad, what do you say we get together in the morning and spend some time together". One of the neat things is, that first fifteen minutes, usually never ends in fifteen minutes. After reading I pray.
 |
| My son and I with a sister in Christ at the Huntington Beach Pier |
What is interesting is sometimes I don't think that I am getting as much out of this first fifteen minutes or that my day doesn't really seem to be that much more positive. But when I miss a day of putting God first, I realize how much of a difference it does make in my whole day. I want to add too that this isn't the only way to feed your mind first with the Kingdom of God. Some mornings you could turn on the TV to a Christian station or a gospel Dvd and watch a good sermon, then read and pray. Or put a Gospel music station or CD on and listen to the words and let God speak to you through music.
The point here isn't to get into a religious rut, but to put God first in your day and open the door for God to speak to you and fulfill the verse listed above. This can put your mind in a place where you are more apt to think of something Godly to say to someone if they strike up a conversation that isn't Godly. You could be planting seeds or watering or maybe you might find yourself right in the middle of a harvest.
Next time I will talk about the last fifteen minutes of the day. Pray for laborers and keep the faith.
Brother Bill
Please feel free to go to my blog www.yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com and take a moment to see the new video by Livingwaters. www.evolutionvsgod.com
Monday, June 3, 2013
witnessing
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Hey Brethren:
I have been studying a course called Conquer your fear Share your faith that is put out by Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort as taught on the Way of the Master television program. I have studied several courses and worked hard to memorize scripture to be more equipped to share the Gospel. This particular course I would recommend to anyone and I will share a link in case what you read here today interests you so you can check them out. I was intrigued by his method of evangelism at first and then turned off by what appeared to be another ministry that is selling everything. So I wrote them and shared with them my views on selling the Gospel and went back and forth with their person who is in charge of emailing and answering questions. She ended up sending me several links to websites they have offering free teaching and advice in the area of evangelism. The one thing that grabbed my heart as well as humbled my heart was a movie they put out called 180movie.com.
God used that video to convict my heart to quit talking about witnessing, and start witnessing like we are all commanded to do by Jesus in Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15 as well as other scriptures throughout the Bible. If you are a Christian who actually reads your Bible, you know where they are.
So when I watched the movie and then listened to an audio message called, "Hells best kept secret", I said to myself, "Unless you can say you are doing as much or more than what this ministry is doing to spread the Gospel, shut up and get to work and quit worrying about what they are selling"! It still bothers me with the multitude of ministries that have turned their ministry into a business instead of a ministry but God used this video and audio teaching to make me quit looking and wasting time worrying about what others are doing and start focusing on what I am doing. In their study course they share a true story about a fireman who sat in his fire truck listening to a high tech CD player he had bought for his fire chief while a building, within full view of the fireman, burnt a family of five to death. The Mother jumped with a baby in her arms out of a sixth story window after screaming for help right in front of the fireman. The father was found clutching two other children as the fire burnt them alive.
If we, as Christians, believe a burning hell is waiting for unbelievers, and we never share our faith, we are no better than that fireman. Most of us don't share because we feel ill equipped, or go to churches that never teach how to witness. We don't have the tools. I have found that a great way to learn what to say is to find a gospel tract that is biblically correct and memorize it. When you meet someone and strike up a conversation, look for an opportunity to share the gospel. Memorize the verses in the tract you've selected. Most tracts have maybe 3 to 5 verses with the tract content. It's not a lot to memorize and the story line that accompanies the tract is a great foundation to apply the message to the person you are speaking with. Every morning when you get up, ask God to bring someone into your life who needs to hear the plan of salvation and ask that the Holy Spirit give you the words to share. If you are afraid of rejection, (which is usually my fear) remember the words of Jesus where He says, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matt. 5:11,12
So get a biblically correct tract and try it, God will bless you for it, it's a promise.
Write me if you need some tracts, free of charge, and check out the links below.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
180movie.com
www.livingwaters.com
For free tracts you can also go to www.fellowshiptractleague.org
Also feel free to read my other blogs yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com and barberbillbull.blogspot.com
Hey Brethren:
I have been studying a course called Conquer your fear Share your faith that is put out by Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort as taught on the Way of the Master television program. I have studied several courses and worked hard to memorize scripture to be more equipped to share the Gospel. This particular course I would recommend to anyone and I will share a link in case what you read here today interests you so you can check them out. I was intrigued by his method of evangelism at first and then turned off by what appeared to be another ministry that is selling everything. So I wrote them and shared with them my views on selling the Gospel and went back and forth with their person who is in charge of emailing and answering questions. She ended up sending me several links to websites they have offering free teaching and advice in the area of evangelism. The one thing that grabbed my heart as well as humbled my heart was a movie they put out called 180movie.com.
God used that video to convict my heart to quit talking about witnessing, and start witnessing like we are all commanded to do by Jesus in Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15 as well as other scriptures throughout the Bible. If you are a Christian who actually reads your Bible, you know where they are.
So when I watched the movie and then listened to an audio message called, "Hells best kept secret", I said to myself, "Unless you can say you are doing as much or more than what this ministry is doing to spread the Gospel, shut up and get to work and quit worrying about what they are selling"! It still bothers me with the multitude of ministries that have turned their ministry into a business instead of a ministry but God used this video and audio teaching to make me quit looking and wasting time worrying about what others are doing and start focusing on what I am doing. In their study course they share a true story about a fireman who sat in his fire truck listening to a high tech CD player he had bought for his fire chief while a building, within full view of the fireman, burnt a family of five to death. The Mother jumped with a baby in her arms out of a sixth story window after screaming for help right in front of the fireman. The father was found clutching two other children as the fire burnt them alive.
If we, as Christians, believe a burning hell is waiting for unbelievers, and we never share our faith, we are no better than that fireman. Most of us don't share because we feel ill equipped, or go to churches that never teach how to witness. We don't have the tools. I have found that a great way to learn what to say is to find a gospel tract that is biblically correct and memorize it. When you meet someone and strike up a conversation, look for an opportunity to share the gospel. Memorize the verses in the tract you've selected. Most tracts have maybe 3 to 5 verses with the tract content. It's not a lot to memorize and the story line that accompanies the tract is a great foundation to apply the message to the person you are speaking with. Every morning when you get up, ask God to bring someone into your life who needs to hear the plan of salvation and ask that the Holy Spirit give you the words to share. If you are afraid of rejection, (which is usually my fear) remember the words of Jesus where He says, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matt. 5:11,12
So get a biblically correct tract and try it, God will bless you for it, it's a promise.
Write me if you need some tracts, free of charge, and check out the links below.
In Christ,
Brother Bill
180movie.com
www.livingwaters.com
For free tracts you can also go to www.fellowshiptractleague.org
Also feel free to read my other blogs yosemiteriverrat.blogspot.com and barberbillbull.blogspot.com
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
My Hope
Hey Brethren:
Praise Jesus, He is risen, He is risen indeed. Amen! I come to you today hoping that all you domestic terrorists are living in victory and telling lost souls about our Lord and what awaits them if they don't know our Lord. Are you shocked that I have referred to all of us Christians as domestic terrorists? Well, if you are a Christian and you voted for Obama, we have you to thank for that. Shortly after Obama's first term election he appointed a task force to determine who might be considered a potential terrorist threat in our homeland. Born again Christians were put on the list. I know it sounds absurd, because it is absurd, but it is true. If you don't believe me, check it out.
That is another reason why all Christians should be living their Christianity instead of just talking it. The majority of Americans (73-76%) identify themselves as Christians and about 15-20% have no religious affiliation! So how did we end up identified as domestic terrorists? Studies have shown that only 2% of Christians actually share the Gospel with non-believers! If you are in the 98% that doesn't, but you go to church on Sunday and sing the contemporary praise and worship songs while you lift your hands and shout, "I love you Jesus", do you mean it? Do you really love Him? I sure hope this blog post convicts your lukewarm soul if you don't and sets you on fire to preach the Gospel. If it doesn't, I hope you aren't surprised if you are standing before the Jesus you say you love and He looks at you and says, "Depart from me ye worker of iniquity, I never knew you",
I signed up today for a class called "My hope", put on by the Billy Graham ministry. I was watching his program on TV this morning and called the number concerning their offer to attend their free witnessing classes they offer. I want to learn more, when it comes to witnessing. I want Jesus to look at me on judgement day and say, "well done thou good and faithful servant, enter..." I also figure, if I'm going to be a Christian domestic terrorist, I want to be one of the best. We all know how muslim terrorists train how to be good terrorists and how to recruit more terrorists, so I want to learn more about how to recruit for Jesus and see more souls come to the Lord. I'll keep you posted on this and if anyone would like to check into this for themselves or their church you can check it out at www.billygraham.tv. They have free classes all over the United States so there should be one near you. My class is June 22, in Bakersfield, Ca., I will keep you posted Brethren. I hope you will sign up for one of these classes and write me to let me know how it is affecting your walk with Christ, your church's involvement in your community and the salvation of souls. If anyone reading this has already attended these training classes, please write and share with all of us.
Don't forget to tell someone about Jesus's free gift too. Get some tracts and pass at least one out this week if you feel uncomfortable verbally sharing with others. If you at least pass one tract out, you will open the door for the Holy spirit to speak to someone's heart. If you need tracts, write me and I will send you some, free of charge. My email address is lagunabarberbill@gmail.com , may God bless you and I hope to hear from you.
Brother Bill
Praise Jesus, He is risen, He is risen indeed. Amen! I come to you today hoping that all you domestic terrorists are living in victory and telling lost souls about our Lord and what awaits them if they don't know our Lord. Are you shocked that I have referred to all of us Christians as domestic terrorists? Well, if you are a Christian and you voted for Obama, we have you to thank for that. Shortly after Obama's first term election he appointed a task force to determine who might be considered a potential terrorist threat in our homeland. Born again Christians were put on the list. I know it sounds absurd, because it is absurd, but it is true. If you don't believe me, check it out.
That is another reason why all Christians should be living their Christianity instead of just talking it. The majority of Americans (73-76%) identify themselves as Christians and about 15-20% have no religious affiliation! So how did we end up identified as domestic terrorists? Studies have shown that only 2% of Christians actually share the Gospel with non-believers! If you are in the 98% that doesn't, but you go to church on Sunday and sing the contemporary praise and worship songs while you lift your hands and shout, "I love you Jesus", do you mean it? Do you really love Him? I sure hope this blog post convicts your lukewarm soul if you don't and sets you on fire to preach the Gospel. If it doesn't, I hope you aren't surprised if you are standing before the Jesus you say you love and He looks at you and says, "Depart from me ye worker of iniquity, I never knew you",
I signed up today for a class called "My hope", put on by the Billy Graham ministry. I was watching his program on TV this morning and called the number concerning their offer to attend their free witnessing classes they offer. I want to learn more, when it comes to witnessing. I want Jesus to look at me on judgement day and say, "well done thou good and faithful servant, enter..." I also figure, if I'm going to be a Christian domestic terrorist, I want to be one of the best. We all know how muslim terrorists train how to be good terrorists and how to recruit more terrorists, so I want to learn more about how to recruit for Jesus and see more souls come to the Lord. I'll keep you posted on this and if anyone would like to check into this for themselves or their church you can check it out at www.billygraham.tv. They have free classes all over the United States so there should be one near you. My class is June 22, in Bakersfield, Ca., I will keep you posted Brethren. I hope you will sign up for one of these classes and write me to let me know how it is affecting your walk with Christ, your church's involvement in your community and the salvation of souls. If anyone reading this has already attended these training classes, please write and share with all of us.
Don't forget to tell someone about Jesus's free gift too. Get some tracts and pass at least one out this week if you feel uncomfortable verbally sharing with others. If you at least pass one tract out, you will open the door for the Holy spirit to speak to someone's heart. If you need tracts, write me and I will send you some, free of charge. My email address is lagunabarberbill@gmail.com , may God bless you and I hope to hear from you.
Brother Bill
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Seed faith
Luke 8:11
Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.
I recently moved to a little town called Coarsegold in California. I started going to a little church in the center of town. I've never really counted the congregation, but I would guess that there are maybe 30 who seem to attend regularly. I don't mind small congregational churches, in fact I prefer them, most of the time. I've been to the great Calvary chapel in Costa Mesa where there are well over a thousand people attending per service. I went to a church in Tucson that must have had 3,000 people attend the service. Both churches were about the same, everybody was herded in the doors like cattle, with an occasional smile here and there but no real interaction until after sitting down and the pastor asked everyone to turn and greet someone around you. Everyone reaches out and shakes someones hand and says,"God bless you", sits down, listens to the sermon and then gets up and herds their way out the same doors they came into, with most, never saying another word to one another. At least with the smaller churches, there is a little more interaction.
The interesting thing I've heard more than once in both big and small churches and is usually said when that proverbial offering plate is passed around. It usually goes something like this," Brethren, let's not forget that God loves a cheerful giver as you give today, planting seeds for the Kingdom of God, God will bless you, some 30, some 60 and some an hundred fold." It seems that it is always addressed as though God will turn your $1.00 you put in the plate into $30, $60, or $100. You hear this type of preaching everywhere. Televangelists, radio evangelists and preachers on Sunday morning all remind us of how God wants to give you 30, 60 or 100 times what you put in the plate.
I'm not sure, but I think this type of preaching started with Oral Roberts. I remember his telling everyone that God showed him the miracle of seed faith. That if you would have the faith to give to the ministry, God would bless your money problems, that God could multiply your earnings 30. 60 or 100 times. I also remember him sobbing on national TV because he said God told him if he didn't raise hundreds of thousands of dollars by a certain date to expand Oral Roberts University and ministry, that God was going to call him home. He got his money, built whatever it was God told him to build and I would like to think that all the loyal givers were smiling as they ran to the bank and deposited their 30, 60, or 100 times return for keeping Oral alive. I also remember when I was working in Laguna Beach at the time Oral Roberts really was called home. He died in his earthly home in Newport Beach Calif., not Tulsa Oklahoma. He supposedly also owned a home in Laguna Beach in the prestigious Emerald Bay, where not one home is valued below seven million dollars. To own two homes on the southern California coast must be a testimony to how God definitely blessed Oral in the 100 times bracket.
But when Jesus told about the seed producing 30, 60 or 100 fold, was he telling us a spiritual secret to how we can become richer? I never got that message out of the parable of the sower. In fact, according to Luke 8:11, Jesus said the SEED is the WORD OF GOD, not that the seed is how much money you give and get. He said that if we will plant seeds (the word of God), the seed would produce some 30, some 60 and some an 100 times. In other words, the world would grow in Godliness, because the church would grow in believers who went out and planted more seeds (word of God).
The little church I mentioned above, allowed me to speak and share my Tell a Soul ministry which helps churches to plant the word of God by using Gospel tracts. I put out a request for any one person to step up and let me train them how to use tracts to share the Gospel and build their ministry. Unfortunately, not one member of the congregation requested my services, not even one of the two pastors of that church. But ironically, the pastor closed the service by passing the plate and reminding everyone about the parable of the seed faith.
Brethren, if you are attending a church and you've put a bunch of money in the plate but don't feel that you are any closer to buying a home on the ocean, then study the word of God and then plant the word of God. If your church is no bigger now than it was five years ago then study the word of God and plant the word of God. There is a good chance that you won't ever drive a rolls royce or get your beach house, but God will reward you, it's a biblical promise.
If your church would like to learn how to start an effective tract and witnessing ministry, please get ahold of me at lagunabarberbill@gmail.com as the Lord provides, I would love to come and work with your ministry.
Also, if you or your church would like to receive Gospel tracts to pass out, please let me know and I will send you some free of charge.
Thank you and God bless you this week.
Brother Bill
Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.
I recently moved to a little town called Coarsegold in California. I started going to a little church in the center of town. I've never really counted the congregation, but I would guess that there are maybe 30 who seem to attend regularly. I don't mind small congregational churches, in fact I prefer them, most of the time. I've been to the great Calvary chapel in Costa Mesa where there are well over a thousand people attending per service. I went to a church in Tucson that must have had 3,000 people attend the service. Both churches were about the same, everybody was herded in the doors like cattle, with an occasional smile here and there but no real interaction until after sitting down and the pastor asked everyone to turn and greet someone around you. Everyone reaches out and shakes someones hand and says,"God bless you", sits down, listens to the sermon and then gets up and herds their way out the same doors they came into, with most, never saying another word to one another. At least with the smaller churches, there is a little more interaction.
The interesting thing I've heard more than once in both big and small churches and is usually said when that proverbial offering plate is passed around. It usually goes something like this," Brethren, let's not forget that God loves a cheerful giver as you give today, planting seeds for the Kingdom of God, God will bless you, some 30, some 60 and some an hundred fold." It seems that it is always addressed as though God will turn your $1.00 you put in the plate into $30, $60, or $100. You hear this type of preaching everywhere. Televangelists, radio evangelists and preachers on Sunday morning all remind us of how God wants to give you 30, 60 or 100 times what you put in the plate.
I'm not sure, but I think this type of preaching started with Oral Roberts. I remember his telling everyone that God showed him the miracle of seed faith. That if you would have the faith to give to the ministry, God would bless your money problems, that God could multiply your earnings 30. 60 or 100 times. I also remember him sobbing on national TV because he said God told him if he didn't raise hundreds of thousands of dollars by a certain date to expand Oral Roberts University and ministry, that God was going to call him home. He got his money, built whatever it was God told him to build and I would like to think that all the loyal givers were smiling as they ran to the bank and deposited their 30, 60, or 100 times return for keeping Oral alive. I also remember when I was working in Laguna Beach at the time Oral Roberts really was called home. He died in his earthly home in Newport Beach Calif., not Tulsa Oklahoma. He supposedly also owned a home in Laguna Beach in the prestigious Emerald Bay, where not one home is valued below seven million dollars. To own two homes on the southern California coast must be a testimony to how God definitely blessed Oral in the 100 times bracket.
But when Jesus told about the seed producing 30, 60 or 100 fold, was he telling us a spiritual secret to how we can become richer? I never got that message out of the parable of the sower. In fact, according to Luke 8:11, Jesus said the SEED is the WORD OF GOD, not that the seed is how much money you give and get. He said that if we will plant seeds (the word of God), the seed would produce some 30, some 60 and some an 100 times. In other words, the world would grow in Godliness, because the church would grow in believers who went out and planted more seeds (word of God).
The little church I mentioned above, allowed me to speak and share my Tell a Soul ministry which helps churches to plant the word of God by using Gospel tracts. I put out a request for any one person to step up and let me train them how to use tracts to share the Gospel and build their ministry. Unfortunately, not one member of the congregation requested my services, not even one of the two pastors of that church. But ironically, the pastor closed the service by passing the plate and reminding everyone about the parable of the seed faith.
Brethren, if you are attending a church and you've put a bunch of money in the plate but don't feel that you are any closer to buying a home on the ocean, then study the word of God and then plant the word of God. If your church is no bigger now than it was five years ago then study the word of God and plant the word of God. There is a good chance that you won't ever drive a rolls royce or get your beach house, but God will reward you, it's a biblical promise.
If your church would like to learn how to start an effective tract and witnessing ministry, please get ahold of me at lagunabarberbill@gmail.com as the Lord provides, I would love to come and work with your ministry.
Also, if you or your church would like to receive Gospel tracts to pass out, please let me know and I will send you some free of charge.
Thank you and God bless you this week.
Brother Bill
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