The First Century vs. The Second Amendment

     Recently I've seen a lot of posts by many of my "Christian" friends regarding the Second Amendment. I've "liked" some of these posts and even reposted some of my own on Facebook. As I was perusing Facebook last night, and reading more of these posts about the Second Amendment, a thought came to me, "How would the first century church deal with this?"
     Remember, the first century church was under the rule of their Roman occupiers. At any time a Roman could command you to walk with them for a mile, or give them their cloak. When the first Century church began to be persecuted, Acts chapter 11 tells us that they were scattered, and the preached the word as they went. See verses 19 -21. Because they did that, the church grew. These first century Christians were so involved in the spreading the Gospel they didn't have time to worry about the government "infringing on their rights."
     And I think that's the problem with the church today.  We aren't busy enough spreading the Gospel. We aren't focused enough on what the first century church was focused on. We allow ourselves to get distracted by so many other things here in the 22nd century that we have lost focus on what we are supposed to be doing, what the first century church did every day of their lives, spreading the Gospel.

     May God bless you as you refocus on God's will, on spreading the Gospel daily - Robert

Two Reactions to Sin - guest post

Kevin is the preacher at the Delta congregation in Delta Junction Alaska. He posted this a couple days ago, and I asked if he would allow me to repost here. He gave me permission, so here it is:

Two reactions to sin:

Saul is given instructions and doesn’t follow them. 

When Samuel the prophet shows up Saul:
First claims he has done what God wanted.
Then he blames someone else
Next, an attempt to justify his actions for “sacrificial purposes”
When Samuel refutes him he stubbornly does it all over again:
Claims innocence while admitting he didn’t follow instructions, 
Then again blames the people.
Samuel again tells him he is wrong and he finally admits – I was wrong
Then says he did it because he was afraid of the people.
1 Sam 15

David takes another man’s wife,
gets her pregnant, tries to cover it up,
then has the other man killed.

When he is confronted by the prophet he writes Psalms 51.

He asks for mercy.
Admits his sin
Honors God for His truthfulness and instructions
Is crushed in spirit
Asks for a clean heart
Requests God not take the Holy Spirit from him
Admits he needs salvation that is only from God.

How will we respond?
The natural human reaction is to claim innocence, attempt to justify ourselves and blame others, yet it is not a proper response.

We all need mercy and grace and forgiveness that only come from God through His Son Jesus, the Christ. Repentance is not being sorry for getting caught, but godly sorrow that leads to a changing of our ways to live more like Jesus did.

The sacricifces of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Ps 51:17

Pride will get us no where.
Excuses are just that.
Humility and repentance is where it’s at!

How to Evangelize

     I'm not a people person. I'm really not very good at getting to know people, or even starting conversations. My wife, on the other hand, can be best friends with someone in a line after only five minutes.

     I've been aware of this isolationism for quite a while, and I have been praying that God would change me, and that I would become more evangelistic through personal conversation. While I was praying and meditating about this last night, it occurred to me that we have a perfect example of this type of evangelism recorded for us in the New Testament! This is found in John chapter four.

     We read the opening of a conversation in verse seven.  ^"A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.'” (NASB)

     Those few words opened a conversation with this woman that Jesus had never met before! As the conversation continues, Jesus introduces the need for salvation, and the position of sin that she was in.

     What was the result of this conversation? Firstly, the woman began asking questions of her own. The conversation continues to the point where, ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

     This made such an impact, ²⁸ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”³⁰ They went out of the town and were coming to him."

     What an awesome example for those of us who have trouble talking to others! Jesus ended up with the opportunity to speak to an entire community from a simple question, "Will you give me a drink?" (NIV) I am fairly confident that each one of us can ask a simple question to someone we don't know.

     There is one other aspect about this encounter that I would like to bring out. Jews didn't usually speak or mingle with Samaritans, but Jesus was willing to break that barrier as well. We need to be willing to talk to anyone and everyone that we get the opportunity with, whether they are acceptable in our society or on the fringe.

     If you struggle with personal evangelism, I challenge you to follow Jesus' example. Start a conversation with someone you don't know. I pray God's Blessings on you and I as we strive to be more Christ-like in our evangelism!