BY STEVE DUNN

One of my PTI students from western Pennsylvania, Heidi Mikulin,posted this on her Facebook page today:

“Two young men walked by my front porch today. It was not the first time I had seen them, and I knew the mission they were on. After pleasantries, they asked if I was used to the weather here in PA. These two boys were from out of town, and they were not accustomed to the changes in weather. I asked them what God was inviting them to do today. They began talking about their mission, how they were missionaries away from home to spread news. I asked them to sit and chat with me for a while. The three of us read the Bible. I questioned them, and they asked me questions. As we talked, I shared my Good News. They couldn’t understand the difference in our beliefs, so I asked them to share their testimony. When they had finished sharing with me, I told them my testimony. I got to introduce them to my Jesus, and how He changed my life because He is who He says He is, and He did what He said He did. I prayed with them before they left. Funny, I had expected to have a Bible study on my front porch today, but I could have never guessed who it would be with.”

Heidi is practicing one of the  most important aspects  of The Bridgebuilders Principle by stepping into the zone of the unknown to build redemptive relationships.  And a key element of this starting spiritual conversations.  First of all we must be open to meeting the stranger, for he is also our neighbor,  We need to set aside fear.  We need to exercise courage to move beyond discussing the weather to start spiritual conversations.  And we will see what God will do.

I’d love to hear and share other stories like Heidi’s. Do you have one we could share?

YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

by Stephen L Dunn

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” – Jesus, quoted in John 8:32

The Gospel is the Good News of the Kingdom of God.  It is the revelation that God  loves us and wants us to be an integral part of His eternal kingdom by delivering us from the power and the penalty of sin. There is bad news associated with the Gospel. That bad news is the reason we need the Gospel.  Sin has us in its grips and has deceived us into thinking we are free.

Henry Blackaby is credited with saying, “Truth is a person.”  That person is Jesus Christ,  The Good News is that he has come into the world to free us from our sin and invite us to be a part of His kingdom of love and grace.  Delivered from the power and penalty of sin – we are now truly free. We are free indeed!

Our world has a skewed view of the Gospel.  They think it’s about rules and restrictions, about squelching our human aspirations and impeding our spiritual quests. If truth does not come from within, but is revealed–then we can become slaves to or victims of whatever religious powers define as that truth.  If we must be accountable to God’s view of our humanity then will not truly be free.

At times, however, the proclaimers of the Gospel feed these attitudes. When we make the faith about believing in God instead of giving our lives to God, we make it possible for people to reject God because we don’t yet believe every jot and tittle of the Bible.  When we make the faith about becoming a part of our particular church culture, adhering to its practices instead of inviting us to become disciples of Jesus Christ, we make it the Gospel about a new set of behaviors and laws instead of renewing our minds so that we have the mind of Christ.  When we make the Gospel about an intellectual decision that follows an answer to every question we proffer instead of a lifestyle of trusting God to keep His promises, we allow people to compartmentalize their lives into ‘practical’ and ‘spiritual’ worlds and we never challenge them to live 24/7 for God.

The Gospel introduces us to the Truth that sets us free.  Let us make sure that it is the Gospel we proclaim instead of a counterfeit that once again ensnares people in slavery with spiritual explanations.  Let us make the Gospel about introducing them to Jesus.

(C) 2011 by Stephen L. Dunn

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SHARING ONLY GOD’S LOVE IS CONFUSED

Sharing Only God’s Love Is Confused

God Loves You

by Clay Jones

I’ve often heard Christians say that when witnessing Christians should “just share the love of God,” meaning: don’t talk about hell or judgment. In this context I have also heard things like, “you can’t draw flies without honey” and “I don’t want to scare people into heaven; I want to love them in.” This sounds nice and loving.

But it’s not.

This approach to evangelism fails to understand the proper distinction between law and Gospel. The Reformers understood that when law and Gospel are properly distinguished, law is preached only to secure sinners and the Gospel (or grace) is preached only to insecure sinners. What they meant is this. You don’t just tell people who are secure in their sin that God loves them. Why? Because that only emboldens them in their sin. Those who are righteous in their own eyes don’t need a large dose of hearing about God’s grace. Instead what they need to hear about is judgment and the wrath of God. Secure sinners need to be made into insecure sinners (of course, this can’t be done without the work of the Holy Spirit). Once they become insecure sinners, then, and only then, do we preach to them the Gospel of Grace.

This is what Jesus did…

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Sharing Only God’s Love Is Confused | Clay Jones