Jesus

Jesus

The short excerpt is by an unknown author, and the Scripture is Luke 2:30-33 But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.  He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty.  Then for three years He was a preacher.  He never wrote a book.  He never held an office.  He never had a family or owned a home.  He did not go to college.  He never visited a big city.  He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born.  He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.  He had no credentials but Himself. 

 

He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against Him.  His friends ran away.  One of them denied Him.  He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial.  He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.

 

While He was dying . . . His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He had on earth.  When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.  Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race.

 

All armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that ONE SOLITARY LIFE.

 

Champions, have a Merry Christmas!-David Vining

 

Authentic Evangelism-Part 2

Authentic Evangelism-Part 2

 

The short excerpt is continued from last week by former Greystone counselor Heather Brown Holleman, and the Scripture is Colossians 4:5-6 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

 

Does it bother you that I talk so much about Jesus?  I asked one neighbor one day.  No!  Keep talking about Jesus, she said.  I love hearing about Him.

 

Within a few months, we started asking families to join us at out church.  One family comes regularly, and the wife has become a Christian.  Her Atheist husband joins her at our church and loves it.  He has started to read his Bible daily to learn more about Christianity.  Another family comes to our church once a month because on Sunday they normally maintain a meditation schedule as part of their Yoga commitment.  But just recently, that family asked me to pray in the name of Jesus for the wife to figure out what was making her feel so sick everyday.  I prayed for that neighbor on the phone and in my living room, and that night, I was in my kitchen and I remembered something I had read in a book about thyroid imbalances.  Sure enough, that neighbor was suffering from a hormone imbalance that she could correct.  When I showed her the book, she called all her friends to tell them that Jesus supernaturally revealed the sickness to her so she could get well.

 

There are so many more stories of natural, authentic evangelism happening with our neighbors.  Everyday, the Lord is teaching us more and more about His plan to draw people to Himself.  When our goal is to love our neighbors, God enters into that space naturally.  The initial goal was not to preach the gospel.  The goal was a fitness group to love and serve the neighbors.  And in that place, God has allowed us to preach the gospel.  We have learned to listen to others stories, ask good questions, remain silent until God prompts us to speak, and to openly share with others-as if they already were believers-the great things that Jesus offers.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Authentic Evangelism-Part 1

Authentic Evangelism-Part 1

 

The short excerpt is by former Greystone counselor Heather Brown Holleman, and the Scripture is Colossians 4:5-6 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

 

Last August, I noticed that no children were playing outside in our neighborhood.  They were all inside, playing computer games or watching TV.  I did not want our children to grow up in a neighborhood like that, so one Saturday, I got out the phone book, found families that lived on or near our street, and picked up the phone.  I said this:  Hi, this is Heather Holleman.  You do not know me, but I have two daughters who would love to play outside with your family tonight.  If you are interested in coming to play outside, please come by my front yard after dinner.  I will have jump ropes, bikes, hula hoops, and games for them.

 

I left so many messages.  I was not sure what would happen.  Well that night, 11 children and their parents came to our front yard.  I taught our children how to play the old neighborhood games we grew up with.  We decided to invite these children and their parents to come every night after dinner for one hour.  And they came!  Families bought bikes for their children for the first time, and one Dad cut rope from his garage for the children to have a long jumping rope.

 

When it got too dark as Autumn approached, we moved our gathering time up.  And when it got too cold, we decided to mover our fitness group into our basement for dancing and exercise.  As a group, we decided to commit to healthy eating, good habits, and exercise.  We pledged to walk to school every day-a one mile walk-and we made t-shirts to celebrate the 100 miles on the 100^th day of school.  Those children were honored in the local newspaper and in a big school assembly.

 

Fitness was the goal.  Getting children to play outside was my vision.  But God did so much more.  Those families involved in the neighborhood fitness group became fast friends.  We planned monthly potlucks, the dads planned a guys night, and the women had a ladies night.  We have Atheist, Agnostic, New Age, and Buddhist families.  When you spend that much time with people who do not know Jesus, it is impossible not to share your love of Christ with them.  For the first time in our lives, we experienced what natural, authentic evangelism looks like.  We just talk to our neighbors about Jesus because He is so important to us.  We share what we are learning when we read the Bible, and we talk about ways God answers prayer.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

Deep Friendship

Deep Friendship

 

Dear Champions, 

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is John 15:12-14 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

 

If you say, I do not think that anyone should convert other people; what you are saying is, My view of God is better than your view, and your view is narrow.  You are doing the very thing at that moment that you are forbidding that person to do.  You are saying, Do not say that your view of God is better than someone else; but when you say, Do not claim that you have superior truth and all of that,  you are actually refusing to do the very thing that you are making other people do.  You are saying, I have a view of spiritual reality that is better than your view of spiritual reality. 

 

There is always a certain exclusivity in your beliefs about God because everybody has beliefs about God even if you are an agnostic.  You are betting your whole life on your belief that there is not one or that you do not need to know one.  Everybody is basing their life and their eternity on that view of God, and everybody thinks that their take on spiritual reality is better than other people.  You also think that the world would be better off if more people believed like you do.  There is nothing wrong with that. 

 

Here is what is wrong.  How do you treat people who differ from you?  If you hate bigots, do you not feel superior to them?  Then you are a bigot.  If you are deeply religious and you only love people who love or believe just like you or who are moving in that direction, why would anyone want to believe or convert to your view of God? 

 

The most transforming thing that facilitates an encounter with God is unconditional love in a powerful friendship.  If you love people in deep friendship regardless of what they believe, what you believe is going to look pretty credible.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

The Debt

The Debt

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. . . .

 

If someone really, really wrongs you; I would suggest there is a debt between you and that person, and it cannot be washed away or ignored.  One thing that you can do with a debt is to can make the other person pay the debt down by hurting them and by finding ways to make them suffer.  As you see them paying for the debt, you can sense that it is being paid down and at a certain point it is gone. 

 

The other thing you can do is to forgive them.  To forgive means that when I want to hurt someone, when I want to slice up their reputation by talking to other people, when I want to just think hateful thoughts about how they have done awful things, I do not do it.  And if I do that, I will find as time goes on that my anger slowly subsides because I am paying the debt down myself.  It is costly and difficult; but when a real wrong is done, it does not just go away and it cannot just be just forgiven without someone paying for the debt.  Someone has to pay the debt or the barrier is there.

 

We have wronged God and our neighbor, and there is a debt that must be paid.  There is a debt that must be paid and when Jesus Christ cried, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me, the Father paid the debt for us -- Jesus had to die.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Filthy Rich!

Filthy Rich

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Francis Chan from his book Crazy Love, and the scripture is James 2:5 Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

 

Ronnie, a blind boy who lives in eastern Uganda, is unique not because of his circumstances or the fact that he is blind, but because of his love for Jesus.  If you were to meet Ronnie, one of the first things you would hear him say is, I love Jesus so much, and I sing praises to Him every day!  He possesses very little of what counts in our society, but he has what matters most.  He came to God in his great need, and he has found true joy.

 

Because we do not usually have to depend on God for food, money to buy our next meal, or shelter, we do not feel needy.  In fact, we generally think of ourselves as fairly independent and capable.  Even if we are not rich, we are doing just fine.

 

If one hundred people represented the population of the world, fifty-three of those would live on less than $2 a day.  Do you realize that if you make $4000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet?  We are rich.  Filthy rich.

 

The reality is that being rich is a serious disadvantage spiritually.  As William Wiberforce once said, Prosperity hardens the heart.

 

Jesus said, How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  He says that it is as hard as a camel to go through the eye of a needle-in other words, impossible.  But then Jesus offers hopeful words:  What is impossible with man is possible with God.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

P.S.  If you have 3 minutes and 12 seconds, go to crazylovebook.com and click on the awe factor of God.

Paved-Over Problems

Paved-Over Problems

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Ron Hutchcraft, and the Scripture is Ephesians 4:26-27  In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

 

The news reported that a paving crew on an interstate in Pennsylvania found a dead deer in their path and they did not remove it and just paved right over it! No one could see it now, but they sure felt it!  It may seem unbelievable that people actually paved over an obstacle in the road, but it happens all the time in human relationships. Instead of dealing with a conflict or a problem, we just pave over it. But everyone is still going to keep hitting that bump in the road, and it is going to keep causing problems until you get it out in the open and get rid of it.

 

God has never been a fan of paving over problems. Throughout the Bible, He consistently tells us to do quick repairs, to deal with things while they are small, to face issues rather than burying them. God recognizes there will be times when we get angry, but there is a way to keep that from becoming a hurtful sin. Do not pave over the disagreement or the hurt. Deal with it right away while it is small, before you stuff it and give the devil something he can turn into bitterness and resentment.

 

Confront in a building up way; not a tearing down way. First, gently explain how you feel, recognizing that your feelings might be wrong. Let them explain what they meant to say or do - often understanding eliminates the issue. Extend to that person who hurt you the same undeserved forgiveness that Jesus extended to you. Then work together on steps that can help you walk together in harmony from here.

 

The things you have tried to bury are like ticking time bombs or toxic waste dumps. The longer you wait to deal with them, the bigger and deeper they will grow. Peace at any price usually means just war postponed...and bigger than it would have been if you had dealt with it sooner.

 

Champions, have a great day!-David Vining