There's some tools to use that I haven't discovered yet. Maybe you can inform me. I had a great week with many types of adults. I've also met and talked with many young computer game-ers this week. What a huge subculture that is and many of them use MySpace, Twitter, digg or Facebook as well. You know most young and old people that I talk to on the streets or at the Quick Trip gas station up the road from where I live.. or in other parts of this city.. say that they don’t have anything against Jesus Christ. Imagine that! They actually like Him and are intrigued with Him and His holy practical lifestyle. It’s the strange and religious Christians they have a problem with.
Man, that’s why I want to spend time with and be more like Him.. it’s so I won’t become an impediment in God’s Way. So many need to see a no-compromise lifestyle—they need to see and hear truth from you. They need your acceptance and friendship. Are you willing to be used of God on and off the web today? Are you willing to use your social network as a net.. or as a pole with a hook and some tasty bait on the line for em?
"Anyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on Him [the Bible Jesus] to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?” ~ Romans 10:13-14
"The majority of those who reject the Gospel do so simply because they know nothing about it. They aren’t opposed... but indifferent to it." ~J.
“Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” ~Acts
Fact: Most people who come to have a relationship with God through Christ, have done so through an ongoing interpersonal relationship with a praying Christian who they feel respect for.. cuz they’ve watched em and heard them explain the Gospel in clean but easy to understand street terms.
The ongoing networking friendships that we in the Church each cultivate and build over time with our next door neighbors, with work friends or classmates and relatives.. they all matter to God!
The Word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. ~Acts
Lord, give us wisdom from above to share the Message of Christ's love;
And help us always persevere to make that message loud and clear! ~D.J.D.
Do you get excited about the new ways that we can get in touch with your old buds from yesteryear? I do. And I want to see more Christians wisely fish and reel people in for Jesus. I’m not talking about gaining a number of scalps on your belt, cuz simple obedience is what it’s about—that’s what we’ll be rewarded for. Man, it’s the greatest reward for me just to see a huge smile come on their face when they each realize that God just forgave them all their wrong-doins. WOW! Nothin’ beats it ever.
Now reading an e-tract or hardcopy tract alone can be a powerful thing for some, but without a previous or subsequent friendship with a transparent Christian who has victories and real problems to overcome by faith.. it seems to make things more challenging for the hearer. I mean when the person is thinking about repentance, surrender and all that’s involved.. some might have a harder time feeling all alone.
There must be more than cool Christian websites, and e-tracts, and literature, and campaigns—their must be spiritual Christians who care and who the unbelievers can interact with over time.
Of course the Lord can work sovereignly without us ..without any human intervention, but that would be the exception rather than the rule for Him. He has already chosen to use willing Christians who confidently or non-confidently sharing the Gospel with an open unbeliever—that’s still His primary way of saving people ..and I mean in the fullest sense of that term.
Be humble and keep your ears open. You can be too big (in your own eyes..) to be used, but you can never be to small to be used of God. I challenge you to let Him prepare you. I dare you.. I double dog dare you to go for it. Let the Lord help you get creative in this. He’s undoubtedly given you tools to use today and you probably already know how to use them pretty much.
Doin’ my best, I commit the rest. I implore you to see the need and be aware of what is going on around you.. yup, no matter what you do for a living. You don’t need to be a paid professional—don’t wait for that (that could be a liability for you). Just jump in with both feet and make an e-difference.. or a face-to-face difference with people as you go public with your faith. Be a friend as much as you can—God will help you in this. Expect Him to. Pure love and absolute truth—give it to em in the right kind of way. I’m not sure how social media tools will evolved from here, but I don’t want the Church to be lazy and asleep in the light while the cults claim the following that should have been going after Christ if we were doing out job.
Risks involved? Sure there will be with any noble work, but remember the life of the apostle Paul who pointed out that bold witnessing for Christ is neither easy nor vogue. It’s never that popular. In his case, he was sometimes told by high ranking city officials and opposing groups to shut up and get out of town. Yet Paul didn’t quit. He still found a way to tell the story of Jesus—even at the loss of his personal freedom. Let’s do it smarter and in a straightforward manner. Let’s adjust to our times short of spiritual compromise. The Message must never change though the language and methods will. Let’s stay tight and in-touch vertically as we lovingly go tell it in regions beyond the places we’ve been before.
Here’s a vid that addresses what is going on. It’s kind of interesting to get you thinking…
