DECISIONS FOR CHRIST
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
I guess I can say that I am compelled to write about this subject if only because of the vanishing use seen today in the church (generally) of a decision time being presented for people to actually accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord in a worship service.
It seems to me that we are shying away from any kind of real response or commitment to Christ by simply dropping any kind of need for a response to be given to the Gospel as it is preached to us. In Jesus ministry there was always a response requested by Him to those who listened..." let those who have ears hear". When we think about this we find that no one went away without the chance to make a decision about what they heard Jesus say concerning the Kingdom f Heaven, and I don't believe God's heart has changed toward that in this age.
This world is constantly trying to down play the need for any kind of real change or decision to be made spiritually, and no matter if we like it or not the church has bought into much of what this world has been selling over the last few generations. The church that I knew in the 60's began to change with a seeker sensitive nature to try to bring more people into a church building. They tried to make the church look and sound not so "preachy" that it might be able to be accepted by those who would not otherwise set foot in a church building. What that really was all about is to cater to those unsaved who wanted to feel better about themselves without having to really deal with their sin nature. This became a step backwards for many churches who had already been searching for a way to soften the blow of the Gospel. We started by preaching about God's love for all of us, and got heavy with His sacrifice for us out of love, but failed to mention that we too out of love must make a decision to follow Him in the same kind of love and commitment that He has made for us. That meant that we too were to eventually give all that we had for the Kingdom of Heaven as well. It meant that God's gift of love was free for us to receive, but at the same time; just as it was for Christ, it became very expensive for us to give that love in turn to another.
This means that each one who makes the choice to follow Christ has also made a decision to invest their lives in the Good News that Christ preached to us. It means that we must count the cost of that decision made enough to not quite in the middle of the race we have begun to run. It means that what we do is not frivolous in nature but that we are serious in our commitment to God, and serious about making a life changing commitment to God.
I can remember when I came to Christ having so many thoughts, and fears about stepping out in front of a church full of people to proclaim that I wanted to receive Jesus as my Savior...It was hard! I don't think it should be easy, or private. I think we should be willing to announce to the world that we have received Jesus, and asked Him into our lives because it makes us accountable for what we have said. That cannot happen with someone raising their hands in the back of a church when everyone has their eyes closed. It's too easy for the preacher to make up people who supposedly respond by saying " Oh I see that hand...and that one over there...." without any kind of real decision being made.
Don't you think it's time we quite playing church with God? Isn't it time to stop trying to use the Holy Spirit for our hidden agendas? What I am saying is directly supported in the word of God and from Christ Jesus Himself...we need to wake up Church! May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
I guess I can say that I am compelled to write about this subject if only because of the vanishing use seen today in the church (generally) of a decision time being presented for people to actually accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord in a worship service.
It seems to me that we are shying away from any kind of real response or commitment to Christ by simply dropping any kind of need for a response to be given to the Gospel as it is preached to us. In Jesus ministry there was always a response requested by Him to those who listened..." let those who have ears hear". When we think about this we find that no one went away without the chance to make a decision about what they heard Jesus say concerning the Kingdom f Heaven, and I don't believe God's heart has changed toward that in this age.
This world is constantly trying to down play the need for any kind of real change or decision to be made spiritually, and no matter if we like it or not the church has bought into much of what this world has been selling over the last few generations. The church that I knew in the 60's began to change with a seeker sensitive nature to try to bring more people into a church building. They tried to make the church look and sound not so "preachy" that it might be able to be accepted by those who would not otherwise set foot in a church building. What that really was all about is to cater to those unsaved who wanted to feel better about themselves without having to really deal with their sin nature. This became a step backwards for many churches who had already been searching for a way to soften the blow of the Gospel. We started by preaching about God's love for all of us, and got heavy with His sacrifice for us out of love, but failed to mention that we too out of love must make a decision to follow Him in the same kind of love and commitment that He has made for us. That meant that we too were to eventually give all that we had for the Kingdom of Heaven as well. It meant that God's gift of love was free for us to receive, but at the same time; just as it was for Christ, it became very expensive for us to give that love in turn to another.
This means that each one who makes the choice to follow Christ has also made a decision to invest their lives in the Good News that Christ preached to us. It means that we must count the cost of that decision made enough to not quite in the middle of the race we have begun to run. It means that what we do is not frivolous in nature but that we are serious in our commitment to God, and serious about making a life changing commitment to God.
I can remember when I came to Christ having so many thoughts, and fears about stepping out in front of a church full of people to proclaim that I wanted to receive Jesus as my Savior...It was hard! I don't think it should be easy, or private. I think we should be willing to announce to the world that we have received Jesus, and asked Him into our lives because it makes us accountable for what we have said. That cannot happen with someone raising their hands in the back of a church when everyone has their eyes closed. It's too easy for the preacher to make up people who supposedly respond by saying " Oh I see that hand...and that one over there...." without any kind of real decision being made.
Don't you think it's time we quite playing church with God? Isn't it time to stop trying to use the Holy Spirit for our hidden agendas? What I am saying is directly supported in the word of God and from Christ Jesus Himself...we need to wake up Church! May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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