All posts tagged Paul

Are you bonefide?

(Romans 12:9) starts like this, “Let love be genuine.” I’ve been thinking about this lately. How does our love for one another become genuine? Paul is writing to the Romans and has already broken down the gospel and in this passage he is writing about what a real Christian looks like. Other versions of this verse say “love must be without hypocrisy.” It is interesting that this is the first mark of a Christian that Paul mentions. Remember that the greatest command from God is to love Him with all your soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37-29). Let this love be genuine; toward God and people. Here is the opposite of genuine. Hypocritical, dishonest, fake, unreal… Followers of Jesus prove their genuineness as they willfully give all for the one the believe is true. Luke 9:3-6 gives an example of how willing Jesus’s followers were to give all that they had to follow their savior and bring the message of salvation to the world. Another example of a guy who was willing to give his life for the advancement of the gospel is Stephen in Acts 7:54-60. To be genuine does not necessarily mean to go die for what you believe in, but rather to be willing, in every way to let go of self and cling to God, even if that means death. This is the only way we can truly love, and truly be genuine and real. I realized a long time ago that I cannot love without God. In fact, when I was lost in sin I hated people. It wasn’t until I began clinging to God that I was able to show love and mercy to those around me.

Now, I want to ask myself this question… Is my love for God genuine? Do I wake up every morning a hypocrite or a bonefide follower of Jesus Christ? Check the rest of Romans 12:9-21 and Luke 9:23.

Language, food, lifestyle… Is it worth it?

1st Corinthians 9:22 “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”

From the experience I have ministering in a different cultural context and to people in the U.S, I can testify to one very important principle that Paul stressed in 1 Corinthians 9:22. After spending a month in Central Asia I had a friend ask me, “Do you really want to learn the language here?” And he proceeded to ask why I was in the country. I told him that I did desire to learn the language, but I struggled to do so. Also, while spending time in this country I was told to try many different foods. Foods that the people I was ministering to absolutely loved, and if I were to say how much I disliked some of the food or how disgusting it looked or tasted I may have completely destroyed any chance at sharing Christ with them. An experience that I have had in the U.S in becoming all things to all people is going to where they’re at. I have, and will go joyfully to the bars or parties; as well I would go for a long run, rock climbing, or bowling, for sake of winning some to Christ. It is often a struggle to go into these situations, but the reward of their salvation is far greater than any feeling or struggle I might go through. So, is it worth it? Is it worth eating nasty food, learning a language, or going into sketchy situations that others might be saved? If you truly love the people you are going to, the answer will always be “yes.” In the following link John Piper speaks about becoming all things to all people that some might be saved. Ultimately he asks this question. Are you passionate about the salvation of others?

John Piper: Becoming all things to all people that some might be saved

1 Comment

by browery on March 13, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Reaching the Nations, Uncategorized

Tagged food, Go, God, language, lifestyle, Paul

Posted by browery on March 13, 2013

https://nationsminded.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/language-food-lifestyle-is-it-worth-it/

The Fruit of Our Labor

So many times I get discouraged or have a friend tell me how discouraged they are about not seeing fruit in their labor. What is the fruit we are after? Is it numbers? People saved from hell? The fruit of our labor may not always come with numbers or changed hearts, it most likely won’t be instant at all. In fact soil will have to be prepared and a foundation must be laid before any fruit can be born. It was Paul who said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-9)

Imagine your life as a chain with each link representing a different time of your life. One link may represent the time a hilarious joke was heard or it may represent the time a persons parents divorced. Each link represents a different time in our lives, good or bad. When someone hears the gospel or sees Jesus in the lives of God’s children a link is added. These links add up and over time a person may begin to see the work of God in their lives. One day a new link is added in the form of the gospel and they recall a time (link) they saw the love of Christ in a person that they knew. Through these links God can work in such a way that they finally come to a right understanding of who God is and they decide to trust in Him as their savior. Now the first or second Jesus link in a non-believers life may not seem fruitful, but years down the line that link may be recalled through another person sharing with them. That is the fruit of our labor. Paul continues to say in 1 Corinthians 3:10, “According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it.”

I just read an Email from some friends that went to Central Asia to share Christ with non-believers. They wrote in their last update, “God is good, even if we don’t get to see the fruits of our labors. During this trip, we built relationships, identified ourselves with Christ, talked about God, and transitioned our friendships to our (very capable) roommate.”

Know that your labor matters regardless of whether or not you see fruit instantly. You can with confidence know that your labor is laying a foundation for fruit to come.

The Method of the Believer

To finish the “M” pack lets look at “how” the believer can accomplish the Mission. Read the others before this one.

The Method:

It’s simple, we do as Jesus did. Discipleship. In the end of Matthew Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples. Did you catch that? Disciples making more disciples.

2 Timothy 2:2, “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others.” So Paul is discipling Timothy to disciple faithful men who will be able to disciple others. This is the Biblical example. It’s what Barnabas did with Saul (later Paul). It’s what Paul did to Timothy (and many others).

So the foreign worker goes to another nation and begins to disciple the locals who then begin discipling other locals. This process continues and soon the foreign worker is no longer needed. Once his/her grandkids (spiritually) start discipling, the process (by God’s grace) has become self-sustaining and indigenous. Thus the foreigner has worked him/herself out of the need to be there.

Of course this process can take many years. Be faithful with who He brings along to disciple and like John the Baptist said, “”A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven (John 3:27).”

Discipleship is the method that Jesus used, He preached crazy things to the masses, but always explained things, stuck close, and taught the twelve disciples separately. Going is the Mandate, a self-sustaining indigenous church is the Mission, and discipleship is the Method.

NationsMinded