“…be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” 1st Peter 3:15

Have you ever wondered where you would be spiritually if God had not brought someone your way to tell you about Christ and/or to live a life for Christ that impressed you to search out Christ for yourself? If you think back, you will recall at least one person and maybe even more than one.

“Napoleon Kaufman knew there was more to life than football, but it took a teammate calling him out in public to wake him up. Greg Surratt was raised in a loving, Christian atmosphere, but it took a book by Josh McDowell he read later in life for Jesus to become real to him. For either, the path to salvation did not come easily. Like all people, Kaufman and Surratt needed someone to share the good news with them. Someone had to plant the seed of the gospel message; another had to water it. But, whether though a tragic event, an unexpected book, or the reluctant acceptance of an invitation to church, the seeds were planted for a future harvest.” (copied from an old Ministry Today Magazine – page 44)

Someone told you. We all have our stories. But, have you told somebody? The cycle is 1.) someone shares with you, 2.) you share with someone, and 3.) that someone shares with someone else. Last week as the younger children in our church had been studying the basics of being a Christian and developing their memory boxes. One of the items to be included was their personal testimony of how they came to faith in Christ. Many of our adults have not written their own testimonies to share. The process is simple:

# 1 – Your Life Before Christ. A simple sentence or two.

# 2 – How You Met Christ. A simple sentence or two.

# 3 – Your Life After Christ. A simple sentence or two.

Bro. Larry

“… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2nd Corinthians 5:20

Many of us would give most of our possessions to reverse a decision or action we made earlier in our lifetime. Think about these Biblical characters:

1.) What if Eve was given another chance to stand before that tree in the garden and choose?

2.) What would David give to reverse that evening on the rooftop when he first saw Bathsheba and have another opportunity to choose?

3.) What would Peter give to relive that night standing by the fire when he denied knowing his Lord, not once but three times? Would he have chosen differently?

More importantly, think about these two:

1.) What would the rich young ruler give to relive the day he walked away from Jesus and choose his possessions over eternal life? If nothing changed later in his life, he is in hell today.  I’m sure he would want the opportunity to choose again, but will never come.

2.) What about the rich man Jesus said who woke up in Hell tormented in the flames. What would he have given to hear the beggar Lazarus tell the story of Jesus? Now, he will never have that opportunity again.

Finally, think about yourself:

1.) Have you heard the way of salvation through the belief and confessing of Jesus followed by repentance and yet either put if off or rejected it completely? Some day in the future, you will regret your decision and wish it were reversed.

2.) Have you had an opportunity to share the news of salvation to a friend or relative and didn’t do it? Have you had an opportunity to invite someone to an evangelistic event at church and didn’t do it? Don’t wait.Take that opportunity now before it’s too late.

Bro. Larry

Photo by Henrik Dønnestad on Unsplash

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2

Back when Donna and I served as youth directors for Halltown Church, I gave lessons on Christian athletes of that day. One of those was an NBA player named David Robinson.

David Robinson is considered the best basketball player in the history of the United States Naval Academy and one of the greatest centers in the history of the National Basketball Association.

David played in 987 games and averaged 21.1 points per game for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA from 1989 to 2003. Nicknamed “the Admiral” for his service with the U.S. Navy, Robinson was a 10-time NBA All-Star, the 1995 NBA MVP, a two-time NBA champion, a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner, a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and a two-time U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame inductee. He is widely considered one of the greatest centers in both college basketball and NBA history.

In a book about Christian athletes, he contributed a chapter entitled, “Overcoming Temptation.” He said that when he got into the NBA, he didn’t go to clubs and bars because he figured that was not the place he was going to find a wife. He told himself, “I’m not going to listen to that kind of music, I’m not going to watch these types of movies, and I’m not going to put myself in certain situations where I’m going to be tempted.”

The Best way to beat the world’s temptations is by avoiding whenever possible. Don’t expose yourself to evil. Protect your mind and your eyes and begin to clothe yourself with Christ.

From Bro. Larry

“And He saith unto them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

Our church cancelled our Fall revival as did most churches due to COVID. And churches who have revivals most likely will not have much success in reaching the lost. Our thoughts even with our current situation should be, “what can I possibly do to affect the lost people in my family or community? After all, God didn’t call me to be a Billy Graham!”

Most of you are still venturing out into public with jobs, school, shopping, and visiting families and friends as much as possible. There is still an opportunity to witness for our Lord. Even though you may seem like you are not a professional soul-winner, your effectiveness can go beyond what you may imagine.

In the 1800’s, a Sunday school teacher named William Kimball went to see one of his pre-teen students who worked at local shoe store to tell him about Christ. The young boy was saved. His name was Dwight L. Moody. Then the ripple effect began…

• Moody was preaching a crusade in Liverpool, England and influenced a local pastor name F.B. Meyer (many of us still have his teaching books in our libraries today).
• F.B. Meyer came to America and while preaching at the Northfield Bible Conference, a struggling young minister named J. Wilber Chapman was influenced to greater service in evangelism.
• Chapman became a powerful evangelist and recruited a young baseball player name Billy Sunday.
• Sunday became one of the greatest evangelists America has ever known. Mordecai Ham was converted at one of his crusades.
• Then, in 1934, Ham preached a crusade at Central High School in North Carolina and a student named Billy Graham gave his heart to Jesus.

I believe you know the rest of the story.

You may not be a Billy Graham. Few people would ever come close. But we all have an opportunity to be a William Kimball and play our part in influencing others even if it’s a twelve year old, like D.L. Moody. Let the ripple effect begin in your life and ministry. It is impossible to calculate the effects of sowing a seed of evangelism in someone’s heart.

Bro. Larry

“Pilate saith unto him, ‘What is truth?’” John 18:37-38

Truth today is debatable by many. There are many different opinions on the COVID-19 virus and it’s difficult to know what to believe. Views on politics are so varied that some even claim “fake news” to benefit their own party.

Some claim truth is only relevant to the circumstance or the person. In other words, what is true for you may not be true for me. Before Jesus’ crucifixion Pilate asked the question to Jesus, “What is truth? He did not know that truth stood in front of Him – His name is Jesus! That truth is still available today and can be seen in the Holy Bible.

• There is one Bible – canonized in history.
• There are 66 different books in the Bible.
• There were 40 different authors of wide-ranging backgrounds whom God inspired to write.
• The Bible was written over a 1,600 year period.
• There are 5,366 known manuscripts of the New Testament.
• There are more than 25,000 archeological discoveries that validate Scriptural accounts.
• In 1948, fragments of the Old Testament (known as the Dead Sea Scrolls) which were produced at least 100 years B.C. were discovered. Before that time the oldest O.T. text was dated 900 A.D.
• Among 184,540 words for comparison among various manuscripts, only 400 words are disputed by biblical scholars. The disputed words deal with minor spelling or grammatical difference, but they do not change the meaning of any teaching or doctrine.
• Even though the Old Testament was written over hundreds of years before Christ, Isaiah 53 prophesied the death of Christ 700 years before He was born.
• Jesus fulfilled 300 of the prophecies. Experts say the probability of just 8 of the 300 coming true is 1 in 10^7 (1 in 10,000,000).
• The strongest evidence that the Bible is true is the countless number of lives that have been transformed by it.

Read and study it for yourself. Learn more about the Bible and connect to others through personal studies and worship service at your local church.

Bro Larry

“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

HEADLINE: GOD THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE GAVE HIMSELF TO REDEEM A PLANET CALLED EARTH!

When I stop to think of that, I am in absolute amazement. It is hard not only to comprehend such a thought as to how God could do this but it is also difficult to understand why God would. I know me better than anyone – including my wife – and I wouldn’t have done such for me. I did not deserve salvation. A Holy God should have not even thought of me or even looked upon me.

The Christian faith says God died because He loved us. “But,” you say, “God can’t die.” That is true. He is eternal (yesterday, today, and forever). But He went ahead and died anyway, didn’t He? God became human and dwelled among us and humbled Himself to death, even death on a cross. (paraphrasing, John 1:14).

Above all, He did it because He loves us.  Why is it so difficult to understand such a love by such a God? Why would He bother? When I look back on all the loving friendships, energy, time, prayers, compassion, teaching and preaching that has been expended on me, there are times when I wonder why anyone would bother with me, much less God.

Putting it all together and adding to it the unexplainable splendor and majesty of God, why wouldn’t His love of us, His dying for us, be difficult to swallow? But, He does love us and He did die for us. That is the heart of life’s story. And rather than believe it is too good to be true, let’s choose to believe it is too good not to be true.

Bro. Larry