Think about this ...
If you are Christian then you are set apart, If you were not born where you are living now, then you were sent here.

See we think of churches and other organizations sending out missionaries. But it really is God and God alone who does the sending. The true sending.

Some seem to think that it is not their job to be sent. they think it is their job to do the sending. You know, send the support. But according to the bible I am reading, doing one doesn't get us off the hook for the other. They are not mutually exclusive.

Picking and choosing our divine assignments is like Picking and choosing what bible verses we want to adhere to. Or picking and choosing what part of our life will be Christian and what part will be heathen. Some of us are good at that. At least we are determined.

But we will never come into Spiritual Power and live a truly divinely blessed life until we get it all going.

We are all sent. and we are all sent to preach ... Set apart to proclaim Divine truth.

If we tell them that Jesus loves them and don't do something to show that, How they gonna believe it?

Do something because they are important, to God and to you. Do something because you understand that if they are in front of you, God wants to love them.

Do something because you understand that you are not just a member of a church but in fact have a job to do that leads to other people knowing Christ. You are in fact sent to preach.

I don't know where you are going to be preaching tomorrow or next week or next year. But right now you need to practice right where you are.

Invite them to the assembly, where Jesus ... will be lifted in every person who is there, where they can learn ...Not about the bible ... Not about church ... Not about people ...But about Him.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? Rom 10:13-15

Sent ...
The word means sent. Set apart and sent out. Again we think missionary, because that is our tradition. But it means literally or figuratively. See the bible says we are called to be Saints. That word also means to be set apart. We become set apart from the world when we become Christians.

We have to live in this world so that we can proclaim divine truth. but we are set apart from it.

See sent doesn't always mean darkest Africa, although of course it can.

God never told me to go to Africa, or Mexico, or any exotic such place. But when I asked Him, He did send me.

He said Go! And Go in all three biblical languages, means go! Why do you think I am here?

It's about love ...
He sent me where there are people whom He loves. He sent me Where He wants to go next. He sent me Where He has a desire to communicate into their lives and He wants to use me to do it. He sent me, Where their are people that He wants to love through me and my wife.

He sent some other people too. He gave me their names, I know who you are. So do you.

for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? Rom 10:13-15

Somehow we seem to think that this passage is talking about Billy Graham and people like Him. Or maybe its talking about missionaries on missions.

Maybe it's the twelve Apostles or even the seventy two that Jesus sent out in pairs.

However Jesus also said.

Matt 28:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations ...

Mark 16:15
"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Who do you suppose He intended to be talking to?

Who do you suppose that He meant that command for?

See, when it says, and how can they preach unless they are sent? We somehow make the conclusion that a person cannot preach unless he is sent.

What does it mean to preach anyway? This word used in these passages means simply to proclaim Divine truth.

Listen to this ...
The Lordship of Jesus Christ in my life, has taught me ... that when I conform to His commands, out of love for Him. Then I am truly free to be the person I was created, and born to be. Because I am no longer bound by sin, ... You know bad habits, anger, hurt, disappointments or what others think .

Now that is a divine truth.
That is a divine truth that every true Christian can proclaim. that makes you all preachers according to the Apostle Paul. Think about that.

Just as the man from Gadarene, who had all the demons came at Jesus just full of hell.

Jesus did not judge this man. Didn't blow him off or push him away.

Jesus stopped and spoke with him. Had compassion for him and got involved with his problem. Helped him deal with his trouble, cleared the Demons out.

Never did talk about why the Demons were there or who let them in. That didn't seem important at this time.

He healed this man, emotionally and mentally. The man didn't need a formal education to tell others what God had done, neither did the apostles.

What the man did need was more encouragement from Jesus and He needed to respond in the proper way, out of love and admiration, you gotta know someone and love them to do that.

So, what do you know about Jesus out of your relationship with Him?

What have you witnessed that you can now tell others?

See ...
That He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

That He is in fact very God. That He gave His life for our sins,
that He is our redemer, savior, and is our Lord. Comes after a time as people get to know Him.

There is a saying ...
They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.

That is what they need to know about Jesus.

How He cares about every aspect of their world. He cares how we interact with people. Especially our families. How we honor our marriages, and each other in General.

How He cares that we pay attention to and follow with a desire to obey his commands for the right reasons. How we do or don't condemn each other in love. I mean real unconditional love. Not that silly I'm gonna tell you this in love.

That He hurts when we hurt, even if we brought it on ourselves.

There is a lot about Jesus, that they need to know. Perhaps a lot that we need to know.

Luke called it the Apostles doctrine. Many can quote the Apostles creed. or scripture all day long. That is good. Personally I encourage that. So does Jesus.

But the lost, the struggling, the hurting, and the back slidden, need to hear the Apostles Doctrine.

It changed the world back then, it will today, may even change yours.

They didn't even have direct access to the hand-written scriptures available in their day! Only Rabbi's and the Scribes had that access, and to our knowledge none of the original Apostles were Rabbis or even Scholars of any kind.

They didn't spend 3 years with Jesus studying scripture and theology as their main activity. So you couldn't say they were 'informally educated' they were not even 'self-taught'.

Thank God, that sounds like some of us.

So what did they have? What was the 'Apostle's Doctrine'?

They had a 3 year personal relationship with Jesus,
daily watching Him live His life and watching Him heal the sick and the crippled, raise the dead, cast out demons, and hearing Him answer all the challenges.

They had watched Him be personally involved in people's lives, day after day after day for about 3 years.

They watched how he would call people to repentance without condeming them. Like the women caught in adultery.

See in 21st century paraphrase He would say something like,

Listen, I'm not condeming you, But you got to stop that lifestyle, it's destroying your life and the lives of those you are involved with.

They also sat and listened as He taught,... and yet the recorded teachings often explained what had either already happened or was about to happen. Not heavy theological stuff.

They truly had an intimate relationship with Jesus.

They knew His likes and dislikes.

They had walked with Jesus, They had heard Him. They knew His voice.

They knew His passions, They knew His priorities, His Heart.

They had seen Him angry,... seen Him in tears,... interacting with people who loved Him and praised Him,... and interacting with those who hated Him.

They knew His nature, as no group in history had ever known God before.

They not only heard his voice, and recognized it, they understood it and they responded!

In short, they had watched Jesus do one thing: Glorify God's name.

You know what they did?
They talked about ... this Jesus ... whom they knew. Like He was a personal friend.

They talked about how He put His arms around lepers, befriended prostiturtes, tax collectors, and zealots. Took time for children, had compassion, and hurt for the hurting.

As they "witnessed" about what they saw and knew, it became known as 'the Apostle's Doctrine.

It was not some "head-knowledge" of God. as some kind of a historical figure.

It was not preaching scripture at people. It was not condemning people to hell-fire and damnation.

It was not talking about Jesus without having experienced Him ... personally.

These were the key activities of the first Christians
~The ones that changed the world.~

Before Turkeys or tracts. Before, tradition, programs, semonaries, bible tracts or even bibles. Cool huh?

When I first starting reading the bible I thought that Apostles Doctrine meant bible teaching and preaching. Then I realized that they had no bibles and the apostles were not all preachers.

So I decided that the apostlles' doctrine must be Jesus Christ, crucified for our sins, rose from the dead, asended into heaven and coming back. Because that is what I was taught.

Then I realized that it does no good to tell someone that Jesus is the messiah if they are not Jewish.

See ...
Born of a virgin, died for our sins and rose from the dead, is pure foolish to any one who is not already Christian. Shed blood for our sins, doesn't mean anything if they don't understand they are guilty.

So what was the Apostles doctrine? Remember that it was spread throughout the known world, not just by the apostles but by every Christian, in every town, in every conversaton for at least several hundred years.

Obviously it took no special annointing, No special preaching, and no bible study. Isn't that Cool?

Since I believe we want to do what ever the Apostles were doing, let's think about what they really did.

Note that whatever this 'doctrine' is, it is attributed to the Apostles. Not to God, nor to Jesus, nor to the writers of the Old Testament nor to Rabbis of the time.

This was something that was unique to the apostles.
What did the Apostles have that the others' didn't?

I know what they didn't have ...
They did not have seminary degrees or great religious training. Paul did have some of the best training available. But He hadn't signed up yet.

Over the years, at the Church I attend and minister. We have handed out Turkeys to everyone we could find in or around our commmunity.

We have given away Bibles, Jesus videos, fresh fruit, all with a desire to reach our community for the Lord.

Several years ago there was a book called evangilism explosen. I don't know how many people got saved, but they certainly sold a lot of books.

They even had classes you could sign up for all across america. All you had to do was pay the price, of the class, invest a few hours of your time, ... over several weeks, ... and then ... you were short on funds and behind in your schedule, ...
But full of book knowledge. God willing you may even have got your nerve up and told someone about the Lord.

There are lots of classes, studies, tracts, and clever things to say. But if we really want to reach our loved ones and our communities,

If we really want to reach a lost and dying world for Christ, perhaps we should look at how They did it during the first century.

There is a verse in bible ... Did you know that?

This one was written concerning Peters speach on the Day of Pentecost.

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers

Another version reads ...
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer

These were the key activities of the first Christians
~The ones that changed the world.~

Let's think about that in the coming blogs.

So ... what do you think? Is it forgiven by faith or by works?

Forgive and it will be forgiven.

Not forgivness by works but rather as a result of following Jesus.

If I don't forgive someone according to Jesus the results are heavy. Not for the one I don't forgive, but for me.

Now if I have a real relationship with God and the Holy Spirirt of God dwells in me, Then I have the capacity to forgive, and according to Jesus, I will.

If however, I don't forgive, then either I am in disobeiance to God or the Spirit of God does not dwell within me. According to Jesus!

So the problem is either my relationship with God or my salvation. According to Jesus.

Many Christians say that they are felt led to do this or do that, and mostly I don't have a problem with Christians being led by the Spirit.

How can it be for example that we think God will lead us to attend church or not to attend church when the scriptures so clearly tell us He wants us to attend to help build up, and encourage the body of Christ?

I have heard people use this to ignore thier families, continue to smoke, drink, use dope, watch pornography, violent movies and commit adultry. Holy Cow.

If you have something going on in your life that you know for sure the bible speaks against or is wrong, and the Spirit of God is not convicting you. Then I want you to listen very closly right Now.

The bible teaches us that sin seperates us from God. Now that is for eternity if we are not saved. But also here and now in our lives.

If you are doing something that you know is a sin, and God is not convicting you.

Then your sin has seperated you from your God in at least that area of your life. If you don't get a hold of it and get it turned around, It will seperate you in other areas as well.

Doesn't really matter who they are, or what they think they believe.

If they are not Christians then what they need is God, pure and simple.

If they are Christians then what they need is more God. Pure and simple. That is true of everbody, you, me, everybody.

Is their anybody out there who has enough of, or to much of God?

The question I would leave you with is this. Do you clearly understand what the Gospel is and what differance it has made in your world.

Maybe. Perhaps that is why you don't share it as you know you should.

Most churches have a special service or something they do special on certain Sundays. Invite someone to yours.

Don't just invite them to church ... tell them what differance coming to church makes in your life. so they understand why it is important to you.

Don't tell them what the bible says. Even if you know. Tell them what you personally have experianced for yourself.

You do know why it's important to you don't you?

Once you get them to church, and they start to buy into Jesus Christ. Then it is time to tell them about what God has authored in the bible.

Before they buy into Jesus, the bible is just another book with no wieght or authority.

Jesus rarely, and maybe even never quoted scripture when He was talking to the common individual. Only when He was talking to the religious leaders of His time, did He refer to the scriptures. Let's learn from Jesus.

First things first!

I used to think I needed to tell people what they needed to hear, or at least what I thought they needed to hear.

I thought I needed to tell them all the things that a life with God in it would do for them.

What they need to hear is what He has done in my life, What differance has He made in my world, and those around me.

Instead of yelling at people, calling them names, talking about them behind their back. Instead of trying to straighten them out by telling them what they should do.

Share with them what God has done for you.

In counseling and working with people for example, who are into substance abuse to the point that they are distroying their lives. One thing I have learned over the years is not to get to hung up on the substance abuse.

What needs to be dealt with is the reasons that people are abusing that stuff and the substance abuse will usually take care of itself.

Its the same with every other ailment the human race has.

It starts with the Gospel,
The first century church changed their entire known world by living breathing, walking talking sleeping and dreaming the Gospel and what differance it had made to them.

They knew what the gospel was. they knew what differance it had made to them and those around them. They talked about that every chance they got, with everybody they could.

They had no official churches, no bibles, no tapes no church programs or church schedules no sunday schools.
The only thing they had in common at all times was a love for the Gospel. They understood it was the Power of God.

What people need to know is what diffeance it has made for you.

I say again ...

Listen to this ...
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Listen a little closer ...
Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Now listen ...
Thy will be done on earth.

The early Christians, They knew ...
God would that all men be saved.

With that knowledge, They changed History.

Not because they were educated. Not because they were especially annointed. Not because they had apostles, or 95 versions of the bible to choose from.

They were excited about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They ate, slept, walked, talked, and dreamt the Gospel. It was the first and most important thing in their lives.

" I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:"

Jesus is the power and the wisdom of God.

When the Gospel is preached and someone believes and recieves the message a miracle happens and a life is changed forever.

We need the attitude of the first century church.

See, there is a verse in the bible.
Did you know that?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Cor 1:3-4


That's called witnessing. That's called sharing with others what God has done in your life, for you. That's called the good news or the Gospel.

See, a lot of people think the good news of the gospel is that Jesus was born of a virgin, crucified, rose from the dead, acsended into heaven and is coming back. No.

That is the story. Those are the facts. That is what makes it all avilable to us. But the good news is what differance it makes to you in your life. And that is what people not only need to hear, but want to hear. So they will listen and hear you out.

There is an old saying ...
The only thing that can change the world is a small group of people, we know that, because that is the only thing that ever has.

They were called Christians. Not by their friends, but by their enemies.

We refer to them as the first century church. They changed the course of human history. Turned their political world upside down. Not by changing any laws.

They healed the sick, raised the dead, walked on scorpions.

They planted churches, loved their neighbors and prayed for their enemies.

They prayed long, loud, and often. They prayed what God wanted to be prayed. And they didn't quit, instead they chaged thier world.

Remember....

Ever feel like your whole Christian walk has gone dry?

Want to see more love in your Christian experiance, more power, people being touched and affected by Christ? Do you want to see God do with others what he has done with you?

Do you know what He has done with you? Do you understand what differance He has made in your life?

Do you know how to express that, so people understand that God is not just a fable you use as an excuse to come to church or call yourself a christian or get along in a republican state?

When I get down like that. Or feel like my Christian walk has gone flat. Maybe my prayers have gone flat, there are some things that I do to try to get back in the grove. Because I hate feeling not close to God.

Sometimes I will pray more. Sometimes I read more bible, because I love the bible. sometimes I will read poems, sing songs, worship a little more.

But the thing that gets me back into the grove with Jesus, back into fellowship with the father, faster then anything else. The thing that infuses me with spiritual strengh is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news of what Jesus has done in me and for me. In this life and for the next. Tell someone. They need to know. You need to tell em!