The Good Person Test

If you are unsure of your salvation, please read this note. If it all seems familiar to you, that is a good thing. You decide where you stand when your done reading.

Most people when asked would say that they are a good person. "I've made some mistakes, but when all is said and done, I'm a pretty good person." That statement has come out of my mouth many times. It had until a few years ago, when I realized that I was not, in fact, a good person.

What do I mean by that?

Let's take a little test to find out how good of a person we actually are.

1. Have you ever told a lie?
Timm's answer: yes, many times
Most people would immediately answer yes. If you said no, I commend you, but doubt you.

2. Have you ever taken the Lord's name in vein.
Timm's answer: yes, many times
This is called blasphemy. It is when we take the name of our creator. The one who gives us life and use it in the place of a filthy word. It is a very serious offense in the eyes of our Lord.

3. Have you ever murdered someone?
Timm's answer: yes. many times
That probably doesn't sound very Timm-like to most of you. The fact is that God can see our thought life. He knows every single thought that passes through our minds. It says in the Bible that if you look upon a man with hate, you have committed murder in your heart. I'm guilty of that.

4. Have you ever committed adultery?
Timm's Answer: yes, many times
Again, we know that God sees our thought life. Jesus said that if you look upon a woman to lust after her, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart. Ladies, vice versa.

I have just admitted to everyone reading this post that I am a lying, blaspheming, murderous adulterer. This is only four of the Ten commandments given by God. How do you suppose I would do on the other six? You guessed it, I would fail. The fact is, I am a sinner at heart. It's a curse handed down from generation to generation. From Adam and Eve, all the way down the line to you and me.
The book of Romans says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That means that you and I don't deserve to be in the presence of God. The book of Revelations says that all liars and adulterers have there place in the lake of fire (Hell.) I just admitted to you that I am both a liar and an adulterer. The fact is, If I died and stood before God today, I would deserve hell.

Someone right now is saying, "But Timm, God is a just and loving God. I've done enough Good to make up for these bad things in my life." To you I ask this question: If someone were to rape and murder your mother or sister, you would want to see justice served. What if that man stood before a just and loving judge and say, "Judge, I know I raped and killed that woman, but I've done so many other great things in my life. I know that you are a just and loving judge, so I think that you should let me off the hook." That judge would say "You're right. I am a just and loving judge. That is exactly why I must see to it that this crime is paid for."

In the same way, our crimes against God must be paid for. If we stand before God with the argument that he is a just and loving God, and that he should let us off the hook, surely we will perish. Just as the murderer in the story had to be punished.

Lets look at another story. A man was on his way to work. Little did he know that on this particular day, there was a blind children's convention in town. There were ten clear warning signs that the speed limit was to be 15 miles per hour when driving past the convention, punishable by a 25 thousand dollar fine. The man drove through at his normal speed of 55 miles per hour. He hadn't even realized that he had broken the law, but a police officer clocked him clearly going 40 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. When that man got to work, the officer followed him inside. He told the man the whole story about the convention, the speed limit and the 25 thousand dollar fine. The man couldn't believe his ears. He would never be able to come up with 25 thousand dollars. "Not to worry," said the officer. "Just before I came in here to tell you about it, a complete stranger stopped me and handed me this 25 thousand dollar check with your name on it. Would you like to use it to pay your fine?" The man could not believe it. A complete stranger had just saved him from the demise that he new he deserved.

The same is true for you. Someone has handed you the payment for your sins. The bible says that "the wages of sin is death." Jesus died on the cross as a sin free sacrifice. He owed no payment, but chose to pay for your sins with his blood. He has handed us that check. Now it is up to us to accept it.
If the idea of being condemned to hell is worrisome to you, then I plead with you to get right with God...tonight. Go to a quite place and get on your face before God. Repent of your sins. Tell God that you hate the sin in your life and that you want it out. Believe that Jesus is the Lord and Savior. The guiltless sacrifice for your inequities. Turn your life over to him.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I pray that we all will take it to heart.

My Kind of Evangelism

Here is an audio clip of The Lawman doing the kind of evangelism that I prescribe to. This is to demonstrate to those of you who disagree with me that you can use the Law as a mirror to the soul without beating them over the head with Sin.

Rational Evangelism

The first line of the article reads, "I first started to understand 'rational evangelism' the night that a woman in a bar told me that she had seen Jesus dressed as a homeless cross dressing man in an elf costume." Heather Kirk-Davidoff then goes on to to tell the story of an encounter she had with a woman in a bar that eventually lead to her favorite character in the musical, "Rent." Angel was "a homeless, drum playing gay man, who spends most of the show dressed as a drag queen Santa Claus." The woman goes on to tell Heather, "what's amazing to me, is how much power Angel's love has in the lives of the other characters in the play. And his love doesn't stop affecting them even after he dies. It's like,... It's like it's made more perfect in his death." It's at this point in the conversation that Heather suggested that Angel was like Jesus Christ. (article)

My biggest problem is not that she had the audacity to make the comparison, (although that is a problem for me.) My biggest problem is that in this article about EVANGELISM, she never explains that she then went on to EVANGELIZE this woman. She would have you believe that she allowed this woman to continue thinking of Jesus as Angel from Rent. Now I don't really know if she went on to explain sin, punishment for sin, the life of the REAL CHRIST, the death of Christ as payment for sin, and the imputed righteousness of Christ so that we might be found holy before a holy and just God. But the general tone of the article would leave me to believe she did not.

Heather goes on to say, "What would evangelism look like if we... counted conversations instead of conversions?" Well Heather, it would look like we had a lot of conversations and no conversions. It would look like we spread a lot of seeds amongst the thorns and on the shallow ground. We would see many plants sprout up and die very quickly.

If someone does not know WHY they are fleeing to God for salvation, then salvation can not be obtained. If we do not inform them of the true gospel message, who Christ TRULY IS, and why he died on that cross, then they have nothing to believe in. Talking to someone about Christ is not evangelism. TELLING them about Christ, and God's only plan of salvation is. So counting conversations is fine, as long as you count the right ones.

Questions? Comments?
timmrees@yahoo.com

Boldly Proclaim the Gospel

If you've got ten minutes, watch this video of Joel Osteen, (Pator of Lakewood Church, Houston, Texas,) dance around the truth of the gospel message:




And then watch this video of John MacArthur boldly proclaiming the Gospel Message on National Television:

Thoughts on Virginia Tech

The following contains excerpts from an article sent to me by Max Shunk. I'm not sure who wrote the article, just that it was made available through The Christian Business Men's Committee. The excerpts will be in quotations.

How do we stop the Virginia Tech shootings from happening again?

"The gospel must be preached and lived before a broken, confused and searching world. The only solution to the VT tragedy is the submission of men to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Gun control is not the answer. Rich Americans are not the problem. Sin in the hearts of men causes us to turn from God and do evil. Evil at the extreme is alliance with God’s enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy. The only solution is for the power of sin to be broken in a man’s life, that power is the gospel of Jesus Christ as Paul states in Romans 1.16."

We must spread the gospel message. If everything good comes from God, than we can only assume that people do bad things as a result of a week relationship with our savior, Jesus Christ, or a lack of a relationship at all. If we want the violence to stop in this world, we must bring people to an understanding of who Jesus is and what He did for us.

"The church must return to its first love and to its first work of making true disciples, which are obedient adherents of the commands of Jesus Christ. We must repent from our carnal ways and begin anew to take up our cross daily to follow Jesus Christ."

The command to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations is commonly called "The Great Commission." It was the last thing that Jesus instructed before he ascended into heaven. Our purpose on this earth is to bring glory to God. One of the many ways we can do so is to bring more souls to him.

"Let us make every effort to avoiding [another] Virginia Tech occurrence by pursuing God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and then pursue the salvation of all men with the best part of our time, talent and treasure."

The bottom line is this; the more souls that are won over for Christ, the less of a chance of Virginia Tech happening again. When things like this happen, it serves as a grave reminder that we need to constantly be thinking about our witness. You never know what might happen next.

Questions? Comments?
timmrees@yahoo.com