Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Sunday, 21 August 2016
Extending Grace - especially in our conversations
Today I want to talk about the wisdom of extending grace to others. I'll be honest - what I'm going to talk about isn't entirely my own thoughts! I was blessed to be able to attend a talk on this at a conference recently. What was said really impacted me so I want to share it with you, too. :)
Sunday, 19 June 2016
Takeaways
When you first saw the title of this post, what came to your mind?
When I see the word 'takeaways' I think of the traditional Kiwi takeaway meals. Fish 'n' chips, pizza, burgers or something similar. Especially fish 'n' chips. That's iconic Kiwi. (If you're interested in what else is iconic Kiwi click here!)
Today I'm not talking about the edible kind of takeaways, however. I want to chat about spiritual takeaways. Spiritual food. Not actual physical edible food (as much as I love fish 'n' chips).
So what exactly do I mean? Let me explain.
I spent a week at a Bible camp for Christian homeschooled teens recently (Jumpstart, if you've heard of it). At one point, one of the people running it got up the front and told us how easy it is to listen to a sermon. To a devotion. To an inspirational talk. To anything, really; and to think to ourselves, "Oh, that's so wonderful/awesome/amazing/inspiring!" - and then to completely forget about what we just heard as soon as we leave the room.
I completely agree with him.
Information is constantly coming at us. Great stuff, often! Great blog posts, fantastic sermons, helpful lectures, Bible verses. How often do you see/hear/read any of those? All the time, I'm sure! I come across those all the time.
But what do I do with it?
How easy it is for all the great information and just all around useful stuff to go in one ear and out the other.
Hence what I call 'takeaways'.
It can be really helpful to think to yourself, when you hear something really good, "This is my little nugget!" and then hold on to that. Maybe write it on that little pad of paper you carry around with you (oh, you don't carry one? Well, perhaps you could consider changing that). Come back to it several times that day and ponder it. Think about what it means to you. Practically. In your life.
Like I said, there can be a lot of helpful stuff out there. But it's easy to listen to it and let it go in and then come straight back out again.
Change that. Don't let it happen!
In a 40 minute sermon packed full of great things, pick a little nugget and hold onto it. Don't try to hold onto everything you hear - it's humanly impossible!! Besides, what you don't remember immediately may come back to you later on in the week or even later than that. It will still be in your subconcious. Don't despair that you can't remember everything!
Don't let your fear of letting lots of great nuggets slip by undermine your ability to take away one great thing you could otherwise have taken away.
So, what am I trying to get at?
As you listen to something or read it, think to yourself, "What can I learn from this today?"
You'll find that simple question will change the way you take in information. You see, whether it's a fantastic sermon or something rather hopeless that you don't enjoy at all, you can still find something to help you, practically, right here, right now, in your life. So ask yourself that question. And you'll find it.
No matter what you're reading or listening to, you can find something helpful. So find it. And hold on to that nugget. Don't let a great opportunity to find a nugget slip past you!
Be teachable. Constantly look for things you can learn in all sorts of opportunities. And you will find them.
What kind of takeaway will you take away today?
When I see the word 'takeaways' I think of the traditional Kiwi takeaway meals. Fish 'n' chips, pizza, burgers or something similar. Especially fish 'n' chips. That's iconic Kiwi. (If you're interested in what else is iconic Kiwi click here!)
Image from freeimages
Today I'm not talking about the edible kind of takeaways, however. I want to chat about spiritual takeaways. Spiritual food. Not actual physical edible food (as much as I love fish 'n' chips).
So what exactly do I mean? Let me explain.
I spent a week at a Bible camp for Christian homeschooled teens recently (Jumpstart, if you've heard of it). At one point, one of the people running it got up the front and told us how easy it is to listen to a sermon. To a devotion. To an inspirational talk. To anything, really; and to think to ourselves, "Oh, that's so wonderful/awesome/amazing/inspiring!" - and then to completely forget about what we just heard as soon as we leave the room.
I completely agree with him.
Information is constantly coming at us. Great stuff, often! Great blog posts, fantastic sermons, helpful lectures, Bible verses. How often do you see/hear/read any of those? All the time, I'm sure! I come across those all the time.
But what do I do with it?
How easy it is for all the great information and just all around useful stuff to go in one ear and out the other.
Hence what I call 'takeaways'.
It can be really helpful to think to yourself, when you hear something really good, "This is my little nugget!" and then hold on to that. Maybe write it on that little pad of paper you carry around with you (oh, you don't carry one? Well, perhaps you could consider changing that). Come back to it several times that day and ponder it. Think about what it means to you. Practically. In your life.
Like I said, there can be a lot of helpful stuff out there. But it's easy to listen to it and let it go in and then come straight back out again.
Change that. Don't let it happen!
In a 40 minute sermon packed full of great things, pick a little nugget and hold onto it. Don't try to hold onto everything you hear - it's humanly impossible!! Besides, what you don't remember immediately may come back to you later on in the week or even later than that. It will still be in your subconcious. Don't despair that you can't remember everything!
Don't let your fear of letting lots of great nuggets slip by undermine your ability to take away one great thing you could otherwise have taken away.
So, what am I trying to get at?
As you listen to something or read it, think to yourself, "What can I learn from this today?"
You'll find that simple question will change the way you take in information. You see, whether it's a fantastic sermon or something rather hopeless that you don't enjoy at all, you can still find something to help you, practically, right here, right now, in your life. So ask yourself that question. And you'll find it.
No matter what you're reading or listening to, you can find something helpful. So find it. And hold on to that nugget. Don't let a great opportunity to find a nugget slip past you!
Be teachable. Constantly look for things you can learn in all sorts of opportunities. And you will find them.
What kind of takeaway will you take away today?
Tuesday, 7 June 2016
Sharing your Faith // Part 2: Strangers
Sophie sharing the gospel with a complete stranger
Hi everyone!
My name is Sophie and I am Bonnie’s little sister. Bonnie asked me to do a guest post here on her blog about how you share the gospel to strangers. Let me start by saying, I am NOT an expert at this! Every time I step out of my comfort zone to speak to someone I am nervous. "Will this person reject it? Will they even listen to me? What if they have questions I can’t answer?’ The questions always fill my head. So if you feel nervous at the thought of sharing your faith, don’t worry - you are not the only one!
There are many ways you can share your faith and different people find different ways that suit them and the person that they are talking to best. I am NOT saying any other ways are wrong, but this is how I have learnt to do it.
There are many ways you can share your faith and different people find different ways that suit them and the person that they are talking to best. I am NOT saying any other ways are wrong, but this is how I have learnt to do it.
So anyway I believe that you can’t understand why you need a Saviour if you don’t realize that you are a sinner. Imagine someone saying to you ‘someone has just come and paid your $10,000 speeding fine! You are free now!’ That just wouldn’t make sense to you unless they said it this way, ‘you were just caught speeding at 80 km per hour when the speed limit was just 30 km per hour due to road works, and so you have been given a $10,000 speeding fine. But the good news is that someone else is offering to pay your fine for you, all you have to do is accept it.’
That would make a lot more sense to you wouldn’t it?
The 'Good Person Test' flip chart and Sophie in action at the Christchurch A and P show
To present the gospel, I use a flip chart created by a chap named Ray Comfort. He was originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, although he now lives in America (have a look at his website where he has a whole lot of great resources!). He has a great autobiography called "Out of the Comfort Zone".
The flipchart is called the Good Person Test and works like this.
The first few pages of the chart are from the Ten Commandments i.e. Do not lie, Do not steal, Do not murder (and did you know that 1 John 3:15 says that even if you just hate someone it is the same as murdering them in your heart) etc… and it shows them that they, like me, have fallen short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23). Then on the next page of the flip chart we explain how on judgement day God will find us guilty and we will have to bear our punishment of eternal separation from God in Hell (and remember that God is good, Psalm 119:68 and Psalm 107:1, so that means that there will be nothing good in Hell). God would love to forgive us and let us into Heaven anyway but he can’t as justice must be done.
Then on the last page, the picture of the cross, I explain that God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross (and then on the third day Jesus defeated death and rose back to life) for your sins- and all the punishment that you deserved was poured onto him.
Imagine it this way, you are a murderer and you are standing in court and you know that you can’t pay the punishment but then someone walks into the court room that has never done anything against the judge and they offer to pay your punishment for you. But it is an offer, that person will only pay your punishment if you want them to, so you have to accept their offer. It is just like that with Jesus, you have to accept his offer of eternal life (Acts 16:31).
But what is interesting about that word, ‘believe’ in this verse is that it actually also means ‘to repent’ or ‘to trust in.’ So we must say sorry (and really mean it) and give our lives (trust in) to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
If you think about the question, ‘does God exist’ you will find it is a very important question. I like to say it this way, “find out for yourself if God is real, and then if he wasn’t real it wouldn’t have done you any harm, but if his is real (which he is) it will completely change your life and I hate to think what would have happened to you if you had waited till judgement day to find that out.”
To start with you may only feel comfortable with handing out tracts, but that is a great start! I have heard of several people’s lives being changed through a gospel tract. Or you may feel more comfortable and sit down beside someone on a park bench or somewhere and get chatting to them.
You will be amazed at how open and willing to talk most people generally are. As I said before there are many ways you can do it, but the key to evangelism is not the impressive words or even what you say, the key is prayer.
If you think about the question, ‘does God exist’ you will find it is a very important question. I like to say it this way, “find out for yourself if God is real, and then if he wasn’t real it wouldn’t have done you any harm, but if his is real (which he is) it will completely change your life and I hate to think what would have happened to you if you had waited till judgement day to find that out.”
To start with you may only feel comfortable with handing out tracts, but that is a great start! I have heard of several people’s lives being changed through a gospel tract. Or you may feel more comfortable and sit down beside someone on a park bench or somewhere and get chatting to them.
You will be amazed at how open and willing to talk most people generally are. As I said before there are many ways you can do it, but the key to evangelism is not the impressive words or even what you say, the key is prayer.
Without the Lord’s help I know that I would never be able to do evangelism, I am too much of a shy person. I have often found though that when I am stuck for something to say, that a phrase or word will pop into my head that was the perfect thing to say to that person right at that time that I would never have thought of myself, I know that it is God who tells me at those moments what to say.
So anyway, a big thanks to Bonnie for asking me to do this guest post and I want to encourage you all to find a friend or someone and together go and find someone to share your faith to! And just think how awesome it will be when one day we get to Heaven we find that there are other people in Heaven that are there because you obeyed the Lord’s prompting, stepped out of your comfort zone and took the time to explain the gospel to them!
About the author // Sophie
I am a 15 year old sister to Bonnie and soon to be 9 other siblings. I am currently studying Biblical Hebrew part-time at Laidlaw College along with being homeschooled. I love evangelism, learning Hebrew, spending time with my family, baking, reading books, board games and card games, Bonnie’s bad jokes and having lots of fun!
Note from Bonnie: Thank you to Sophie for her awesome guest post! :) And by the way, just for clarification, my jokes aren't bad..... :P
So anyway, a big thanks to Bonnie for asking me to do this guest post and I want to encourage you all to find a friend or someone and together go and find someone to share your faith to! And just think how awesome it will be when one day we get to Heaven we find that there are other people in Heaven that are there because you obeyed the Lord’s prompting, stepped out of your comfort zone and took the time to explain the gospel to them!
I am a 15 year old sister to Bonnie and soon to be 9 other siblings. I am currently studying Biblical Hebrew part-time at Laidlaw College along with being homeschooled. I love evangelism, learning Hebrew, spending time with my family, baking, reading books, board games and card games, Bonnie’s bad jokes and having lots of fun!
Note from Bonnie: Thank you to Sophie for her awesome guest post! :) And by the way, just for clarification, my jokes aren't bad..... :P
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Sharing your Faith // Part 1: Friends
Today marks the beginning of a new two-part series. One of my readers asked me to do a post on sharing your faith with your non-Christian friends. Here it is!!
Today I'm going to be chatting about sharing your faith with your non-Christian friends, then in three days time as the end of the series, a lovely guest poster is going to talk about sharing your faith with strangers. Wahoo! Who's excited? Me!
Evangelism. What do you think of when you hear the word? Many Christians quake in fear when they hear the word. I mean, I think we all know that we're supposed to be sharing Jesus with the people we meet. But it's so hard. And scary. And what will they think of us??
A lot of Christians find it a lot easier (and safer :P) to leave evangelism for the 'gifted' or 'called' ones. I mean, evangelism is a specific spiritual gift, right? And not everyone has the 'knack' for talking about Jesus to random people, be they friends or strangers.
Stop beating around the bush.
Stop making excuses.
I don't care who you are - a shy ten year old, a thirty year old with no social skills - everyone can share the gospel. And should be - I mean, Scripture makes it clear that it is the responsibility of every Christian to share Christ! :)
Mark 16:15
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Romans 10:17
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ...
So how do you share your faith?
Good question.
Remember, today I'm focusing on sharing your faith with your friends who aren't Christians. In a few days time our guest poster is talking about evangelizing strangers.
Can I make it clear before I sort of get into it that I'm not very experienced in today's topic. All of my close friends are Christians. The only non-Christians I come across are my workmates (an interesting bunch of people) and some slightly more-distant acquaintances. That doesn't stop me from telling you all about how you should be evangelizing your close friends, however! :P
Friendship evangelism, to me, is all about sharing the faith that makes your life worth living, with the friend that doesn't share that common interest.
I think that there are a few principles to keep in mind when you go about sharing your faith.
Firstly, know what you're talking about.
If you and your friend start having a great spiritual conversation and then the opportunity comes up for you to share the gospel... it would be a good idea to first of all know the basics. There are lots of great ways (or 'formulas' if you like) to help you share the gospel. Let's face it - it's easy to struggle to remember things when you are in the moment and the person has lots of questions! I recommend Ray Comfort's material and Two Ways to Live as good places to start!
Secondly, be sensitive.
What you don't want is for your friendship to deteriorate because you are pushy in sharing the gospel or you try and do things your friend isn't ready for. We are all on a journey. Don't try to rush anything! Be sensitive as to where your friend is at.
Thirdly, don't stress!
This leads on from the previous point. It's important not to stress out if your friend isn't interested. We can share the gospel until we are blue in the face... but in the end of day, your friend must make this decision on their own, and we must respect their decision. Of course it's hard because we don't want our friend to miss out on eternity with the Lord! But be patient and trust in God and his perfect timing.
Fourthly, pray for your friend.
It is the Holy Spirit alone who can bring about a conviction of sin. Pray for your friend often. If they volunteer that they are going through a hard time, you can also offer to pray with them!
Fifthly, don't neglect your testimony.
Nobody can argue with personal testimony! Share what the Lord has done in your life and how he has changed you. This is one of the most powerful weapons you have in your arsenal. Your story is so powerful. Share it.
Sixthly, pick the time and place carefully.
Obviously you're not going to want to share the gospel during a five minute phone call. But that sleepover where you're together for a nice length of time? Maybe the opportunity will come up to chat about deeper things during it. Be sensitive about where the conversation is and steer it towards Christianity if you want it to go there. It's surprisingly easy to steer conversations if you need to!
Seventhly, your life is a testimony.
A famous saying is "Preach the gospel every day, and if necessary, use words." I don't agree with the full extent of this but I do think it holds a lot of truth. Your friend, who knows you are a Christian, is watching you and how you live. Do you let out an involuntary swear word if something unexpected happens? Do you secretly cheat on that test? Your friend is watching you all the time. Philippians talks about shining like stars in the world. Your life, how you live, the joy of Jesus in your heart, your example; is shining the light of Jesus. Don't underestimate it! :)
Eighthly, be an awesome friend.
Be that friend who is always there to listen. Be that friend your friend can count on no matter what. Grow your friendship!
And pray for them constantly. I know I said that before but it works. Don't stress if they aren't receptive immediately. Just be an awesome friend and pray that lots of opportunities would come up that you can use to share your faith.
Keep a look out for the second post in this series - sharing your faith with strangers!
Today I'm going to be chatting about sharing your faith with your non-Christian friends, then in three days time as the end of the series, a lovely guest poster is going to talk about sharing your faith with strangers. Wahoo! Who's excited? Me!
Evangelism. What do you think of when you hear the word? Many Christians quake in fear when they hear the word. I mean, I think we all know that we're supposed to be sharing Jesus with the people we meet. But it's so hard. And scary. And what will they think of us??
A lot of Christians find it a lot easier (and safer :P) to leave evangelism for the 'gifted' or 'called' ones. I mean, evangelism is a specific spiritual gift, right? And not everyone has the 'knack' for talking about Jesus to random people, be they friends or strangers.
Stop beating around the bush.
Stop making excuses.
I don't care who you are - a shy ten year old, a thirty year old with no social skills - everyone can share the gospel. And should be - I mean, Scripture makes it clear that it is the responsibility of every Christian to share Christ! :)
Mark 16:15
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Romans 10:17
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ...
So how do you share your faith?
Good question.
Remember, today I'm focusing on sharing your faith with your friends who aren't Christians. In a few days time our guest poster is talking about evangelizing strangers.
Can I make it clear before I sort of get into it that I'm not very experienced in today's topic. All of my close friends are Christians. The only non-Christians I come across are my workmates (an interesting bunch of people) and some slightly more-distant acquaintances. That doesn't stop me from telling you all about how you should be evangelizing your close friends, however! :P
Friendship evangelism, to me, is all about sharing the faith that makes your life worth living, with the friend that doesn't share that common interest.
I think that there are a few principles to keep in mind when you go about sharing your faith.
Firstly, know what you're talking about.
If you and your friend start having a great spiritual conversation and then the opportunity comes up for you to share the gospel... it would be a good idea to first of all know the basics. There are lots of great ways (or 'formulas' if you like) to help you share the gospel. Let's face it - it's easy to struggle to remember things when you are in the moment and the person has lots of questions! I recommend Ray Comfort's material and Two Ways to Live as good places to start!
Secondly, be sensitive.
What you don't want is for your friendship to deteriorate because you are pushy in sharing the gospel or you try and do things your friend isn't ready for. We are all on a journey. Don't try to rush anything! Be sensitive as to where your friend is at.
Thirdly, don't stress!
This leads on from the previous point. It's important not to stress out if your friend isn't interested. We can share the gospel until we are blue in the face... but in the end of day, your friend must make this decision on their own, and we must respect their decision. Of course it's hard because we don't want our friend to miss out on eternity with the Lord! But be patient and trust in God and his perfect timing.
Fourthly, pray for your friend.
It is the Holy Spirit alone who can bring about a conviction of sin. Pray for your friend often. If they volunteer that they are going through a hard time, you can also offer to pray with them!
Fifthly, don't neglect your testimony.
Nobody can argue with personal testimony! Share what the Lord has done in your life and how he has changed you. This is one of the most powerful weapons you have in your arsenal. Your story is so powerful. Share it.
Sixthly, pick the time and place carefully.
Obviously you're not going to want to share the gospel during a five minute phone call. But that sleepover where you're together for a nice length of time? Maybe the opportunity will come up to chat about deeper things during it. Be sensitive about where the conversation is and steer it towards Christianity if you want it to go there. It's surprisingly easy to steer conversations if you need to!
Seventhly, your life is a testimony.
A famous saying is "Preach the gospel every day, and if necessary, use words." I don't agree with the full extent of this but I do think it holds a lot of truth. Your friend, who knows you are a Christian, is watching you and how you live. Do you let out an involuntary swear word if something unexpected happens? Do you secretly cheat on that test? Your friend is watching you all the time. Philippians talks about shining like stars in the world. Your life, how you live, the joy of Jesus in your heart, your example; is shining the light of Jesus. Don't underestimate it! :)
Eighthly, be an awesome friend.
Be that friend who is always there to listen. Be that friend your friend can count on no matter what. Grow your friendship!
And pray for them constantly. I know I said that before but it works. Don't stress if they aren't receptive immediately. Just be an awesome friend and pray that lots of opportunities would come up that you can use to share your faith.
Keep a look out for the second post in this series - sharing your faith with strangers!
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