REVIVAL!

Should time continue, our gospel meeting at the Archdale church of Christ in Charlotte begins tomorrow night, 2 September, 2012, at 6 p.m.  It is entitled; "That Ye May Be Healed."  We are making no political statement whatsoever.  Our goal is to publicly preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to a city in the world spotlight this week as the DNC is holding its national convention here.

We do not call our gospel meetings "revivals."  "Revivals" in the American tradition are public, contrived and staged events.  They are dominated by various forms of religious entertainment and wild emotion.  "Revivals" are events that attempt to manipulate a "reviving" of the collective heart and soul.  Biblical revival, on the other hand, is a private, humiliating and mournful experience between an individual Christian and his / her God.  The church is revived only when the individuals within Her bring their broken and contrite souls back to the Father begging Him to restore their spiritual lives.  Biblical revival is a gift of restoration from the Heavenly Father to His ailing child.

Why is revival so urgently needed?  Peter puts it very simply in I Peter 4.17 - 19:

1. Judgement begins at the House of God

2. The righteous will scarcely be saved

3. The ungodly and the sinner have no standing at the Judgement

I need reviving and you need reviving so that we, first as individuals and then as a congregation, will speak of God's amazing grace to the vast ocean of sinners around us every day.  

Tomorrow morning we will study the revival of just one man, King Josiah, who by asking for and receiving God's revival kept an entire nation from destruction for 31 years!  What will YOUR revival do?  Or will you have one?  The choice is yours.  BE THERE!  Our texts are from I Peter 4, Psalms 85 and II Chronicles 34.  Read them ahead of time.

Red Flags for Evangelism

The other day I ran across a blog posting on http://prdaily.com, written by Michael Sebastian. Though not having anything to do with evangelism per se, Michaels thoughts are very instructive for our evangelistic efforts. We must never give the wrong impression to anyone, especially in regards to our integrity. We must never come across as anything "less than honest."

Sebastian says that there are four "catch phrases" that people often use to "underline" a point that actually do far more damage than good. These "catch phrases" actually send the signal that the person saying them is not to be be trusted.

When sharing the gospel our words must be "seasoned with salt" so as to focus totally on Christ and His Word alone. Let's avoid using these four "catch phrases" when we share the gospel:

1) "Let's be clear."
2) "To be perfectly honest."
3) "Frankly."
4. "Just between you and me."

When people use these phrases, this is what people HEAR:

1) "Often times, I am NOT clear!"
2) "Often times, I'm NOT perfectly honest."
3) "Often times when I speak I am NOT frank."
4) "Often I say different things to different people based upon the circumstances."

Sharing the gospel is literally a LIFE AND DEATH message! Let's not jepordize a soul by being careless in our conversation for "...knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men!" (II Corinthians 5:11)
- Russ McCullough - Distrubuted Through JTC Media

Overlooked Soul Winning - We Need More of It!

Our mission is clear; make disciples, baptize and teach all things whatsoever Christ commands us in the Gospels, the Acts, the epistles and the Revelation.

What is often NOT CLEAR is the extreme value of over looked soul-winning efforts by many who may not even "appear" to even be soul winners! We read of one such "soul winner" in Acts 9:36-43, Dorcas (or Tabitha). Here is what the Scripture says of her:

• She was full of good works
• She was full of charity
• Her passing caused much lament
• Her passing caused Peter to leave Lydda and come to Joppa
• She had made many tunics and other garments for the saints, her loss was
devastating to the church in Joppa
• Her loss drove Peter to prayer and God raised her from the dead
• Vs.42: "And it became known throughout all Joppa and MANY BELIEVED on the
Lord"
• Peter then stayed in Joppa with one Simon the Tanner where he was readied by
the Holy Spirit to preach the good news of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

When we think of all the great soul winners in the New Testament, do we consider Tabitha? Not likely. When GOD considers the great soul winners of the New Testament, does He consider Tabitha? VERY likely. The life she led in SERVCIE TO OTHERS, her support of other soul winners and what God did for her and through her caused "MANY TO BELIEVE."

We cannot baptize or teach all things until we make disciples. Disciples are made when? Disciples are made when "they see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven."

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:15-16

Tabitha loved God, did good works of kindness and charity, died, was lamented, was raised and caused much glory to be given to God resulting in many baptisms!

We have many soul winners among us, some are "Peters" and some are "Tabithas"…but ALL soul winners none-the-less! Praise God for each of you for your "good works and charity" that makes disciples of all the nations! In God's economy there is no such thing as a "random act of kindness." "Whatsoever ye sow, ye shall also reap." Tabitha reaped a bountiful harvest and so shall we when we follow her example.