tuesday night part II

it’s wednesday, which means we just had another tuesday night meeting…

it was probably one of the more unusual tuesday nights we’ve had in a while. check that, it was probably the most unusual ever. as i mentioned in my last post, typically a tuesday night you can find us going through a chapter or at least half a chapter of the bible. once again, we did more of a topical study. this was part II in our study, encouraging the students to live out the christian life and to share that with the people they come in contact with and run across throughout the week. last week we spent our time discussing the call, or mission, of the christian (and the church). this tuesday, we spent our time looking at how to apply it in a practical way.

i started by showing a short clip from nacho libre which i think is very funny.

c’mon, it’s related to what we’re talking about. really! well, at least its really funny. how do we go about sharing the gospel with others? is dunking their face in water enough? absolutely not. i took the students through the romans road, emphasizing three major points in the gospel presentation.

first, sin. if someone doesn’t realize their sin, how can they see their need for a savior? (rom. 3:23)

second, consequence. so i’ve sinned. what does it matter? sin bears a consequence. that consequence is eternal separation from God. (rom. 6:23)

last, the way to be made right with God. you have sinned. that sin has consequences. how do you deal with your sin? you don’t, you allow Jesus to take care of it. all you need to do is confess your sin and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. (rom. 10:9)

we ended the night by allowing the kids to practice what we talked about. it was really quite entertaining. i gave the students props and asked them to use that prop as a conversation starter and share the gospel from there. one student had a transformer and talked about our need to be transformed. one student had a tape measure and talked about the great gap between us and God, and Jesus as the bridge. all the students were quite creative in their presentations.

finished moody bio

i made it through! not to sound like it was difficult, because it was a great book.

i actually finished a couple days ago, but due to some sickness in my family (all of us except the baby) i haven’t had a chance to post. i must say i was quite inspired by reading the story of d.l. moody. moody was a guy with little formal education who grew up in a unitarian home who came to the Lord in his late teens. in his early years as a christian he was known by his family and friends as ‘crazy moody.’ the reason behind the nickname was his radical devotion to God. he would run through the streets of chicago picking up poor kids to take them to bible study. when his friends saw him becoming too fatigued by all of this they bought him a saddlehorse that he could ride to accomplish the work.

this same zeal and work effort carried throughout his life and ministry. he worked tirelessly for the Lord. he rose early to study, preached several times a day, led at least one prayer meeting a day, and then stayed up late in the evening to finish his work. from reading his biography it seems that he did all of this and still kept a great balance in his family. many of the works he started began in humble fashion, but the Lord increased as moody and others remained faithful.

take, for instance, the moody publishers. if you look at your bookshelf, you can probably find at least on book published by the moody publishers. i had always assumed it was a publisher that liked the life of moody and so named their business after him. wrong. it was started by moody. even more remarkable is the way it started. moody was so discouraged at the high price of christian literature that he wanted to make it available for all. he began running off prints of books and sermons on cheap paper, and then sending his students from the moody bible institute out west on wagons to sell them. you can read more of the story by clicking here.

i must say i’ve been inspired. i’ve had to ask myself the question, ‘what are you doing for Christ’s cause?’ the final day is drawing nearer for each of us. what will we do for Christ today? even something small and seemingly insignificant can be used by God in mighty ways.

i’m going to leave the link in the “ON THE NIGHTSTAND” section in the sidebar for a few more days. if you click on the link, it will bring you to amazon where you can purchase the book. or if you’re local to the central oregon area and you’d like to borrow it, let me know.

luther

my wife and i watched the movie ‘luther‘ last night.

if you haven’t seen the movie, i would highly recommend it. i don’t know exactly how accurate it is, but i’m assuming it stays pretty true-to-life. i’ve been working my way through the biography of d.l. moody lately, but maybe a bio on luther is next. i love reading about the lives of men used by God. oftentimes they are ordinary men used in extraordinary ways. i think luther is no different.

watching the film i got a good sense of how much he was up against. following his first visit to rome he was greatly troubled by the corruption he saw in the selling of indulgences and the popularity of relics. the roman catholic church was leading people astray by teaching as doctrine the traditions of men. most people, including luther, were terribly afraid of God, seeing Him as an unrighteous judge and difficult taskmaster. this led to luther going to scripture to find the truth.

as he searched, he found the grace of God and forgiveness through Jesus Christ alone. he realized nowhere in scripture was gazing upon relics and buying indulgences mentioned. instead he found that the just man shall live by faith. just like abraham in the old testament “believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” this is an argument that paul uses again and again throughout the new testament. its not by works or by the law, but by faith.

if you haven’t put your faith in Jesus Christ, what are you waiting for? He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. faith in Him is the only way to gain admittance into heaven. if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, God wants to use you. remember, its not the strong and wise that God chooses to use. most times its ordinary men and women who make themselves available to God.