317 Sermon Illustrations on Conversion

One of the most remarkable aspects of the current world-wide movement of the Holy Spirit has been a reawakened sense of the awe, mystery, and wonder of God. Within the last several years, events such as the revival in Argentina, the Toronto Blessing, and the Pensacola Outpouring — not to mention numerous lesser-known revival activities — have caused Christians world-wide to grapple with the controversial phenomena surrounding the work of the Holy Spirit.

Most of us create within our mind a picture and concept of God that fits neatly within a three-volume systematic theology that we can proudly display on our bookshelves. Along the very noble path of attempting to explain God and His ways, we tend to domesticate His awesomeness and attempt to create Him in our image. This approach usually works well until God shows up in our midst with His manifest presence. At that point, we quickly discover our faulty misperceptions of God — namely that He is manageable and that His ways are fully rational to humans.

According to the Barna Research Group, a majority of people who attend Christian worship services leave without feeling that they experienced God’s presence. Less than one-third of the adults feel as though they truly interacted with God. Stunningly, one-third of the adults who REGULARLY attend worship services say that they have NEVER experienced God’s presence at any time during their life. According to George Barna, “The research shows that while most people attend church services with a desire to connect with God, most of them leave the church disappointed, week after week. Eventually people cease to expect a real encounter with God and simply settle for a pleasant experience.”

So what happens when the pleasant experience is replaced with the real encounter? “God is, of course, present everywhere,” writes author John White. “But there seems to be times when He is, as it were, more present — or shall we say more intensely present. He seems to draw aside one or two layers of a curtain that protects us from Him, exposing our fragility to the awesome energies of his being.” Theologian Guy Chevreau explains: “Theologically, what we are talking about is the omnipresent and eternal God localizing and actualizing His presence, in space and time.”

The theological works and journals of men such Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley have been studied and analyzed within the last five years by curious Christians in search of some way to gain a theological grasp upon the phenomena of falling, crying, trembling, and laughing. While I had assigned these kinds of manifestations to Pentecostal and charismatic Christians, it has been interesting to discover that many of these curious responses to God’s presence appear within my own Methodist and holiness roots, long before Azusa Street. This often comes as quite a surprise to the heirs of the 18th century Wesleyan revival. Over the decades, our history has been written in such a way as to make it more palatable and acceptable to modern sensibilities. In the process, unfortunately, we have lost sight of the marvelous wonder of God’s dynamic presence.

With the Scripture and Church history as our guide, it becomes very evident that when a holy God encounters sinful people three things usually occur: 1) Sinners are radically converted, 2) Christians are transformed and renewed, or 3) The mind of the saint or sinner is offended and the state of his heart revealed. Just as a storm is produced when high and low fronts converge, so too a storm of a different kind emerges when the glorious and radiant presence of the Lord comes near.

1. THE RADICAL CONVERSION OF SINNERS

How different would our perception and understanding of God be if we had been one of Saul’s companions on the road to Damascus? As you were traveling with him, “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’

“‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked.

“‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’”

Luke says that the “men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything” (Acts 9:3-9).

Without wanting to make this a normative conversion experience, it is safe to say that witnessing the holiness and awesome power in that one encounter would forever shatter your one-dimensional, flannel-board-Sunday-school concept of Jesus. Conversion, in this instance, was not merely an intellectual ascent to the doctrinal positions of Christianity. Nor was it an emotionally cathartic event. It was just plain terrifying!

As one reads the testimonies of early Methodist converts who eventually became preachers, it is not difficult to see a pattern of anguish and terror as they wrestled with Holy Spirit conviction that literally shook their body and soul.

Philip Gatch describes his encounter with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit at his conversion on April 26, 1772. “Immediately I felt the power of God to affect me, body and soul. I felt like crying aloud,” he testifies.

God said, by his Spirit, to my soul, ‘My power is present to heal thy soul, if thou wilt but believe.’ I instantly submitted to the operation of the Spirit of God, and my poor soul was set at liberty. I felt as if I had got into a new world. I was certainly brought from hell’s dark door, and made nigh unto God by the blood of Jesus. I was the first person known to shout in that part of the country. A grateful sense of the mercy and goodness of God to my poor soul overwhelmed me.

Benjamin Abbott began preaching in New Jersey in 1773. He describes his conversion like this: “The word reached my heart in such a manner that it shook every joint in my body; tears flowed in abundance, and I cried out for mercy, of which the people took notice, and many were melted into tears.”

Peter Cartwright (1785-1872) attended a meeting in early 1801 where the “power of God was wonderfully displayed” and “Christians shouted aloud for joy.” He wrote:

To this meeting I repaired, a guilty, wretched sinner. On the Saturday evening, I went with weeping multitudes and bowed before the stand and earnestly prayed for mercy. In the midst of a solemn struggle of soul, an impression was made on my mind, as though a voice said to me, ‘Thy sins are all forgiven thee.’ Divine light flashed all around me, unspeakable joy sprung up in my soul.

Austin Taft was taught that Methodist preachers were “full of wild fire” and that it was very dangerous to hear them preach. At a prayer meeting in Huron County, Ohio in 1833, Taft writes, “Eternity with all its dread realities opened up before me and it’s impossible for any pen to describe the awful agonies of my mind. It is beyond all human description.” Taft continues:

It seemed to me I had already entered the dark abodes of eternal night, and right here something seemed to whisper to me — that there was mercy for me. I stopped and listened for a moment. What a word — mercy for me. It was the best news I ever heard. From that moment my faith laid hold upon the Savior’s promises with an unguiding grasp, and I saw a light in the distance far above my head, which grew brighter as it came near, and when it reached me I fell to the floor as quick as the lightning flash, and that moment was filled with the fullness of God. Old things passed away and all things became new. My happiness was complete....And I remained motionless for 45 minutes without power to move a muscle. My good Presbyterian father thought I was dead and talked of sending for the doctor.

Although these testimonies may strike some modern observers as highly-charged exaggerations, it seems very clear that they were exposed to the terror and joy of a God who shakes mountains and blesses children.

How would our perception of God be different if we were friends of the prophet Isaiah? What would we say to the friend sitting in your living room explaining that he saw “the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory’” (Isaiah 6:1-3)

As he attempts to retell the experience, he tells you that at the “sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke” (v. 4). You can see the holy terror in his eyes even as he tries to describe the indescribable. Then he blurts out with a cry, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (v. 5).

Once again, the explanation for such an encounter is difficult to process. How do we explain Daniel’s breath-taking encounter with an angel (Daniel 10), the glorious radiance on the face of Moses (Exodus 34:29-35), or the life-giving anointing on Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:21)? Rather than embracing the mystery and sovereignty of the God of the Bible, we often work overtime to domesticate him so that we can comfortably maintain the illusion that somehow we hold the upper hand in the relationship.

“It is time for Christianity to become a place of terror again,” writes Michael Yaconelli in his recent book DANGEROUS WONDER, “a place where God continually has to tell us, ‘Fear not’; a place where our relationship with God is not a simple belief or doctrine or theology, but the constant awareness of God’s terrifying presence in our lives. The nice, non-threatening God needs to be replaced by the God whose very presence smashes our egos into dust, burns our sin into ashes, and strips us naked to reveal the real person within.”

Yaconelli points out that religious leaders in the days of Jesus had the same tendency we have today. “The Pharisees wanted Jesus to be the same as they were. His truth should be the same truth that they had spent centuries taming. But truth is unpredictable,” he writes. “When Jesus is present, everyone is uncomfortable yet mysteriously glad at the same time. People do not like surprises — even church people — and they don’t want to be uncomfortable. They want a nice, tame Jesus.”

Over the years, Jesus has been re-formatted into a cross between Ghandi and a sentimental, doe-eyed host of a Saturday morning children’s show. We superimpose his image upon our pet political dogmas or water him down so that our sin does not seem so bad. “How did we end up so comfortable with God?” asks Yaconelli. “How did our awe of God get reduced to a lukewarm appreciation of God? How did God become a pal instead of a heart-stopping presence? How can we think of Jesus without remembering His ground-shaking, thunder-crashing, stormy exit on the cross? Why aren’t we continually catching our breath and saying, ‘This is no ordinary God!’?”

2. THE TRANSFORMING AND RENEWING OF CHRISTIANS

As the former president of Syracuse University, Daniel Steele was one of the leading theologians for the 19th century holiness movement. On November 17, 1870, he had a powerful experience that shifted his priorities and transformed his life. In describing his baptism in the Holy Spirit, Steele says that he “became conscious of a mysterious power exerting itself upon my sensibilities. My physical sensations, though not of a nervous temperament, in good health, alone, and calm, were indescribable, as if an electric current were passing through my body with painless shocks, melting my whole being with a fiery stream of love. The Son of God stood before my spiritual eye in all his loveliness.”

Have we experienced the “fiery stream of love” Steele describes? While each of our experiences will differ greatly, there can be no question that all of heaven longs for us to know and experience divine love.

“I know for the first time I realized ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ.’ Reputation, friends, family, property, everything disappeared, eclipsed by the brightness of his manifestation,” maintains Steele.

He seemed to say, “I have come to stay.” Yet there was no uttered word, no phantasm or image. It was not a trance or vision. The affections were the sphere of this wonderful phenomenon, best described as “the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost.” It seemed as if the attraction of Jesus, the loadstone of my soul, was so strong that it would draw the spirit out of the body upward into heaven. How vivid and real was all this to me! I was more certain that God loved me than I was of the existence of the solid earth and of the shining sun. I intuitively apprehended Christ.

In the manifest presence of God, we are given a more accurate understanding of his penetrating and extravagant love. We are given the grace to intuitively apprehend Christ, and our concept of his holiness deepens.

The prolific Methodist evangelist E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973) was one who discovered the palpable presence of God. Before graduating in 1906 from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, he experienced a remarkable event.

“Four or five of us students were in the room of another student, Jim Ballinger, having a prayer meeting about ten o’clock at night,” recalls Jones. “I remember I was almost asleep with my head against the bedclothes where I was kneeling, when we were all swept off our feet by a visitation of the Holy Spirit. We were all filled, flooded by the Spirit.” Although none of the students there spoke in tongues, he emphatically states: “Everything that happened to the disciples on the original Pentecost happened to us.”

He admits that he was “tempted to tone down what really happened, or to dress it up in garments of respectability by using noncommittal descriptive terms. In either case it would be dishonest and perhaps worse — a betrayal of one of the most sacred and formative gifts of my life, a gift of God. To some who have looked upon me as an ‘intellectual’ it will come as a shock. But shock or no shock, here goes.”

Being willing to be misunderstood, Jones writes, “For three or four days it could be said of us as was said of those at the original Pentecost. ‘They are drunk.’ I was drunk with God. I say ‘for three or four days,’ for time seemed to have lost its significance.”

Basking within the glorious presence of God, E. Stanley Jones — who would later become one of Methodism’s most cherished cross-cultural missionaries to India — was swept off his feet and became inebriated within the love and peace and righteousness of a merciful God. What was the fruit of the experience? “I was released from the fear of emotion. I had tasted three days of ecstasy — drunk with God,” testifies Jones. “And yet they were the clearest-headed, soberest moments I have ever known. I saw into the heart of reality, and the heart of reality was joy, joy, joy. And the heart of reality was love, love, love.”

This life-altering revelation of the love of God draws us into a deeper walk and a more fruitful ministry. Take, for example, the extraordinary example of Phineas F. Bresee (1838-1916), one of the co-founders of the Church of the Nazarene. He describes an unforgettable encounter with a holy God one evening while he was sitting near the opened door of his parsonage.

As I waited and waited, and continued in prayer, looking up, it seemed to me as if from the azure there came a meteor, an indescribable ball of condensed light, descending rapidly toward me. As I gazed upon it, it was soon within a few score feet, when I seemed distinctly to hear a voice saying, as my face was upturned towards it: “Swallow it; swallow it,” and in an instant it fell upon my lips and face. I attempted to obey the injunction. It seemed to me, however, that I swallowed only a little of it, although it felt like fire on my lips, and the burning sensation did not leave them for several days.

Taken as an isolated incident within the life of this holiness preacher, this experience would leave us all with a great deal more questions than answers — something that God seems quite content to do within our lives. Nevertheless, Bresee goes on to explain that there came within the experience “into my heart and being, a transformed condition of life and blessing and unction and glory, which I had never known before. I felt that my need was supplied.” Although he admits that he said very little publicly in relation to the encounter,

there came into my ministry a new element of spiritual life and power. People began to come into the blessing of full salvation; there were more persons converted; and the last year of my ministry in that church was more consecutively successful, being crowned by an almost constant revival. When the third year came to a close, the church had been nearly doubled in membership, and in every way built up.

Interestingly enough, Henry Clay Morrison (1857-1942), the founder of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, had a very similar experience. He was outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, with his friend, Dr. Young. After debating whether or not to draw some revival meetings to a close, Morrison felt the presence of God.

“Doctor,” said Morrison, “I feel the power of God here in this room right now.”

Later he testified: “At that instant the Holy Ghost fell upon me. I fell over on the divan utterly helpless. It seemed as if a great hand had taken hold upon my heart, and was pulling it out of my body. Dr. Young ran across the room caught me in his arms, and called aloud, but I could not answer.”

Morrison says that just “as I came to myself and recovered the use of my limbs, a round ball of liquid fire seemed to strike me in the face, dissolve, and enter into me. I leaped up and shouted aloud, “Glory to God!” Dr. Young, who was holding Morrison in his arms, threw him back on to the couch and said, “Morrison, what do you mean? You frightened me fearfully. I thought you were dying.”

“Why did you act that way?” asked the doctor. “I did not do anything, Doctor,” said Morrison, “the Lord did it.” Morrison testifies to being “lifted up so closely in touch with the supernatural that I had but little thought of material things. I was floating in what seemed to me a fathomless sea of peace and joy.”

Dr. Young was indignant and cautioned him not to become a fanatic. Nevertheless, Morrison’s ministry was transformed. He reveals that “under my preaching, while I was under the baptism of the Spirit, there was an almost irresistible power. It was never so at any other time. And if we as preachers would keep so close to God as to be ever under this influence, would not his word truly ‘run and be glorified’ and a veritable Pentecost be repeated in these later days?”

3. OFFENDING THE MIND TO REVEAL THE HEART

Whenever I hear the call for the return of New Testament Christianity I am always reminded of the haunting story of Ananias and Sapphira found in Acts 5. This is the story of the husband and wife who sold a piece of property in order to help out the church. In the process, they both lied to the Apostles (and to the Holy Spirit, according to Peter) about how much money they were keeping for themselves. When Ananias heard Peter’s rebuke, he fell down and died. About three hours later, the same thing happened to his wife, Sapphira. “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events,” says the Scripture.

Now, this is New Testament Christianity. And quite honestly, it is terrifying. The holiness of God is not something to be treated lightly. I recalled the Ananias and Sapphira story as I was reading Abel Steven’s HISTORY OF AMERICAN METHODISM, published in 1867. He writes about the persecution that early Methodist preachers faced in Salem, New Jersey, during the Revolutionary War.

A profane club of the town continued the persecution, in burlesque imitations of the Methodist worship, but was suddenly arrested by an appalling occurrence in one of their assemblies,” reports Stevens. “While they were amusing themselves with jocular recitations of hymns and exhortations, a female guest rose on a bench to imitate a Methodist class. “Glory to God!” she exclaimed, “I have found peace, I am sanctified; I am now ready to die!” At the last word, she fell to the floor a corpse. The club, struck with consternation never assembled again, and Methodism became eminently influential in the town and all its vicinity.

Two-hundred pages later, in the chapter dealing with the period of 1796-1804, Stevens recounts another similar incident. This time, Henry Boehm is quoted as reporting on the opposition the Methodists faced in Reading, Pennsylvania. He says that while some men were meeting together,

a young man undertook to mimic the Methodists. He went on to show how they acted in their meetings. He shouted, clapped his hands and then he would show how they fell down. (The Methodists in that day would sometimes fall and lose their strength.) He then threw himself down on the floor, and lay there as if asleep. His companions enjoyed the sport; but after he had lain for sometime they wondered why he did not get up. They shook him in order to awake him. When they saw he did not breathe, they turned pale, and sent for a physician, who examined the man, and pronounced him dead. This awful incident did two things for us: it stopped ridicule and persecution; it also gave us favor in the sight of the people. They believed that God was for us.

It goes without saying that these are not exactly the kinds of stories that we want to share with non-believers in order to persuade them to turn to Christ. Nevertheless, this kind of ominous power is part of the package. “The same love that can ravish us can also consume us by its flames,” observes John White. “And though the idea of being ravished in the flames of holy love may sound poetic, even romantic, we are not sure whether we want such a dangerous kind of love.”

The perilous nature of God’s presence in our midst is still true, even if it makes us uncomfortable. “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions,” observes novelist Annie Dillard. “Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews.”

There is no telling what Annie Dillard would have thought of the Cane Ridge camp meeting held in Bourbon County, Kentucky. In August of 1801, there were crowds estimated from 10,000 to 25,000 gathered. The Methodist circuit rider Peter Cartwright testifies that he saw “more than a hundred sinners fall like dead men under one powerful sermon, and I have seen and heard more than five hundred Christians all shouting aloud the high praises of God at once; and I will venture to assert that many happy thousands were awakened and converted to God at these camp meetings.” What was the response of the onlookers? “Some sinners mocked, some of the old dry professors opposed,” recalls Cartwright, “some of the old starched Presbyterian preachers preached against these exercises, but still the work went on and spread almost in every direction, gathering additional force, until our country seemed all coming home to God.”

Cartwright reminds us that God will do it however he wants to do it. No matter what the mockers or theologians say or think, God is free to do it however he wants. In describing the common revival phenomena of involuntary bodily jerking, Cartwright stated: “I always looked upon the jerks as a judgment sent from God, first, to bring sinners to repentance; and, secondly, to show professors that God would work with or without means, and that he could work over and above means, and do whatsoever seemeth to him good, to the glory of his grace and the salvation of the world.”

Marching under the banner of “Blood and Fire,” the Salvation Army insisted on going to the least, the last, and the lost. Founded by William and Catherine Booth in the slums of London in 1865, they pursued holiness in their private lives and preached Jesus in the streets. Within Salvation Army history, there emerged a peculiar phenomena known as the “glory fits.” During one meeting led by Commissioner Elijah Cadman, “about a hundred persons were in ‘glory fits.’” According to Cadman, people came up to the leaders saying, “I don’t believe in this,” and while speaking “fell under the strange manifestation of the Divine Presence.” Cadman explains that the “glory fits” were “ecstacies during which the individuals affected were insensible, usually silent, and remained thus for one, or many hours....The prostrations were commoner in Holiness services and nights of prayer. Medical and other means devised to control or restrict the symptoms were useless.”

Cadman described the experience as:

nothing but a complete conquering of the body by the soul in its reach upward to its Creator and Redeemer. It is the condescension of Infinite Love in Christ to so uplift it to Himself for a foretaste of joy with Him in Heaven.”...We could not say when, where, or how they would occur, and we certainly did not know how God worked — we only saw them as signs of His Presence. People were more curious and bothered about them, of course. That’s the way of the human mind. But conversion is much more of a miracle; that is the entire change of a nature and its inclination in a moment, the instantaneous shutting of the door on the power of the Devil and sin, and the opening of blind eyes to the reality of God, His Christ, and Salvation.

Cadman resigned himself to the fact that a sovereign move of God was bursting out in his midst and that it is best to allow the Lord to have His way. He also realized that God was more than willing to offend the mind to reveal the thoughts of the heart.

THE FRUIT OF GOD’S PRESENCE

It is not my intention to make the case for curious revival phenomena such as jerking, laughing, trembling, or falling. It is my intent, however, to make clear that there is a certain unpredictability when we encounter the holiness of God. Strange things can and often will occur. Nevertheless, the most important element of the power encounter with God is to produce good fruit in the lives of those whose hearts are steadfast after him (Matthew 7:20).

Within particular seasons throughout John Wesley’s entire life, he saw people weeping, violently shaking, crying out, losing consciousness, falling down, and occasionally becoming uncontrollably agitated during his meetings. In response to one who was concerned about the “strange work” that occurred in his meetings, Wesley testifies: “I have seen (as far as a thing of this kind can be seen) very many persons changed in a moment from the spirit of fear, horror, despair, to the spirit of love, joy, and peace; and from sinful desire, till then reigning over them, to a pure desire of doing the will of God. These are matters of fact, whereof I have been, and almost am, an eye or ear witness.”

Wesley continues: “I will show you him that was a lion till then, and is now a lamb; him that was a drunkard, and is now exemplarily sober; the whoremonger that was, who now abhors the very garment spotted by the flesh.” Wesley judged by the “whole tenor” of their lives and called these people his “living arguments.”

He then offers the following remarkable explanation for the outward signs:

Perhaps it might be because of the hardness of our hearts, unready to receive any thing unless we see it with our eyes and hear it with our ears, that God, in tender condescension to our weakness, suffered so many outward signs of the very time when he wrought this inward change to be continually seen and heard among us.

Wesley was 81 years old when he recorded the following episode at one of his meetings: “After preaching to an earnest congregation at Coleford, I met the Society. They contained themselves pretty well during the exhortation, but when I began to pray the flame broke out: many cried aloud; many sunk to the ground; many trembled exceedingly; but all seemed to be quite athirst for God, and penetrated by the presence of his power.”

What a scene that must have been in 1784, fully 45 years after the Wesleyan revival began to set England ablaze with the fiery holiness and love of God. Wesley records the phenomenal occurrence almost nonchalantly, as if it was merely one more Methodist meeting.

When Wesley prayed, he says that the flame broke out. That same fire of God’s holiness is available to us today. But we must be like the men and women in Wesley’s meeting: “athirst for God, and penetrated by the presence of his power.”

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Steve Beard is the editor of Good News magazine and the founder of Thunderstruck Online. This essay first appeared in the book, Power, Holiness and Evangelism: Rediscovering God’s Purity, Power, and Passion for the Lost (Destiny Image Publishers 1999). The unpredictability of encountering a holy God

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It takes time to win Muslims to Christ, and when Christians hurry the process they can turn the Great Commission into a “great debacle,” Carl Ellis, a featured speaker said at the National Conference on Islam Aug. 15-17 at LifeWay's Ridgecrest (N.C.) Conference Center.

“Microwave conversion just doesn't work with Muslims,” said Ellis. “We have to understand that it's more than a matter of differing doctrines. It's also each person's unique situation -- what's happening in their lives right now. And it's understanding their goals and motivations -- why they are Muslim, and what they hope to achieve through their faith.”

Ellis offered the guidelines to Christians eager to share their faith with Muslim friends and acquaintances, including:

-- Begin discipling before insisting on conversion.

“In the Great Commission, Jesus commands us to make disciples -- people in the process of learning to obey all that Christ commands. If we do that, He will take care of the conversion,” Ellis said. “Discipleship begins when we first engage people through day-to-day encounters and casual conversation, and it builds from there. Don't wait for a Muslim to become a Christian before discipling him.”

-- Be a good listener.

“Don't evaluate a Muslim only on the basis of his doctrine,” Ellis advised. “Ask questions. Examine the situation that led him to Islam and the goals he is trying to achieve through it.”

-- Try to understand Islamic doctrine from the perspective of Islam.

“Recognize that the Christianity Muhammad encountered was corrupted. Study the history of Islam's development.”

-- Be careful how you present and handle the Bible.

“Do not use a King James Version. According to the teaching of some Muslim sects, King James himself translated this version and corrupted it,” Ellis reported. “Also, never use a Bible in which you have made any marks. This appears disrespectful to Muslims, who would never write on the Koran. Do not put the Bible on the floor, either, or hold the Bible with your left (unclean) hand.”

-- Avoid all pictures of Jesus or any other biblical characters.

“A Muslim thinks that's idolatry.”

-- Allow them to reveal their personal situations, issues, concerns and fears at their own pace.

“Usually, they reveal more superficial issues in the early stages of a relationship, and save deeper life issues for later.”

-- Be respectful of them and their beliefs.

“It's crucial that we are not judgmental. Remember how Jesus dealt with the woman at the well. Rather than focus on her moral failures and theological shortcomings, He offered her living water.”

-- Wisely apply God's Word to the issues they choose to share.

“The Bible addresses every life issue. When we are able to demonstrate how practical and relevant the Word of God is, we've come a long way in leading our Muslim friends to Christ.”

Yosef Alfaris* returned to Iraq in the summer of 2003 a very different man than when he fled the country in 1991.

Alfaris was one of 32 students from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary who traveled to Iraq this summer to provide humanitarian aid to people struggling to recover from the ravages of war. He saw the country with a vision he had never known before -- as a believer with a new faith in God, a new outlook on life and a new hope.

He also saw his family for the first time in 12 years.

The spirit of the Iraqi people has been badly crushed, Alfaris said. Their way of life seems to be dominated by fear -- a product of living nearly 40 years under dictatorship.

And even though the people are now in one sense free, he said, they still do not know what freedom truly means.

“It is going to take a lot of time for these people to understand what freedom is, to live as free [people], but I still believe there is no real freedom without Christ,” he said. “I think God is going to do something beyond our imagination.”

A DIFFICULT JOURNEY

Alfaris' journey to political freedom in the United States wasn't an easy one. Nor was it easy to accept the truth about Jesus.

Alfaris was a soldier in the Iraqi army during the first Gulf War, but while he was fighting in the desert he said he felt like God was telling him he needed to leave the country.

“I couldn't recognize this voice because I wasn't a believer [at the time],” he said.

Still, after four days in the desert, Alfaris continued to hear the voice and was convinced that the voice was that of God -- and that if he didn't leave, he would die. He decided to flee to Saudi Arabia, hoping he might one day return home.

Making his way through the desert, Alfaris arrived at what he thought was the Saudi border. Actually he was at the border of Kuwait, which was under Iraqi occupation. A car filled with Iraqis passed within yards of him, but no one saw him.

“I believe it was God's will,” he said. “God, He wanted to bring me here to save me. God will do anything just to make sure I hear the Good News.”

Alfaris eventually made it to Saudi Arabia, where he remained as a refugee for two years and eight months before being allowed to emigrate to the United States.

Settling in Texas, Alfaris began seeking a Catholic church to attend. “Since I was 10 years old, I went to Catholic Church,” he said. “I never quit until I left the country. I was very faithful and active.”

Three weeks later, however, he accepted an invitation to attend a Southern Baptist church instead.

WRESTLING WITH THE TRUTH

Alfaris said he began to wrestle almost immediately with the tradition of his past and the alternative that was before him.

It took him more than three years to realize that Jesus Christ died for him on the cross. Heaven, he came to understand, is not achieved by good works.

Shortly after accepting Christ as his Savior, Alfaris began to feel a longing to share his faith with others. When he traveled to Russia in 2000 for a two-week mission project, he sensed God's call to service as a missionary. When he returned from the trip, he knew God wanted him to attend seminary, and he enrolled at Southwestern.

Alfaris was surprised to learn earlier this year that he had an opportunity to return to Iraq.

“Now, God opened the door to go to Iraq,” he said. “I felt that the time is very short, because I never wasted time,” he said.

MORE THAN A FAMILY REUNION

The highlight of the three-week project was that Alfaris finally was able to see his family again and tell them what had happened in his life.

But his journey was much more than a family reunion. He was able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with more than 100 people through an unexpected opportunity to preach at one Baghdad church and visit two others.

Alfaris was discouraged early in the trip because he heard several Iraqis saying negative things about the team.

“I let them talk, to say what they think about us,” he said. “And when they finished, I told them the truth. ... I started telling them that these people, they are all students, they have to raise the money [to come to Iraq] ... these people are here just because they love you.”

When he told them about the group's heartfelt mission, Alfaris saw tears in their eyes. On another day, a group of Iraqis approached him and said there was something “amazing” about the American students -- they were faithful and honest.

It was then that Alfaris began to see that the group's efforts already were being used.

“I was amazed at how God started touching these people,” he said.

Alfaris's trip was made sweeter still by discovering that several family members also had experienced salvation in Christ since he saw them last, including one brother, two sisters and his mother. His father also had accepted Christ before he died several months ago.

“Last time when they saw me, we were all not saved,” he said. “It was a blessing to see my family, how they are saved, how they are praising the Lord.”

CHALLENGES AS WELL

Though there were many reasons for Alfaris to celebrate in Iraq, there were challenges as well. He said that for 10 years he had led a comfortable life in America, while life for people in Iraq is hard.

“It was discouraging to me, because everywhere I turned there was something burned or something destroyed,” he said. “I have a different picture of Baghdad completely.”

He said the people he remembered there were well-educated, but what he saw of the people recently was that they were struggling just to survive.

“Everywhere you go is not comfortable because there are no rules,” he said. “They don't understand how to be organized with no rules. Still they don't understand what is the meaning of freedom.”

Alfaris is encouraged that believers are taking the love of Christ to the nation of Iraq. The window of opportunity, however, may be very small.

“We don't know what kind of regime is going to take over after the U.S. leaves,” he said.

_____________

* Name changed for security reasons.

Testimony of Paulo Ordoveza, a Christian in the Philippines:

I used to call myself Catholic, but in truth I was one of those pluralistic drifters, attracted to anything that caught my eye, from atheism and agnosticism to horoscopes and Chinese numerology. I tried on beliefs and morals like clothes on a rack, keeping what suited me and discarding whatever was inconvenient or unappealing to my ever-changing sensibilities. God was little more to me than an idea, a philosophical abstraction.

That began to change at the DAYS WITH THE LORD spiritual retreat in Ateneo High School. In three days of prayer, seminars, and nighttime spiritual excursions, I came to know God in a deeply personal sense. Jesus became more to me than just an eccentric historical figure who had started a church; at Days, Jesus was “Kuya Jess,” a friend and brother, who lived not only long ago in Palestine, but here and now, active and present in our lives. Suddenly, God was more than just some sort of abstract energy; he cared for us intimately as loving Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Long after the Days “high” faded, I served God in singing, and I knew he loved me, and I loved him; but I could not always get a firm grasp on that love, and my spiritual life was still less than perfect.

Things got better in college. It was Tiffany who first introduced me to an old, yet somehow new, concept: the Bible, the Word of God, which tells us all we need to know about Him. So I got down and read, seriously read the Bible, and as I studied, I realized how little I actually knew about God. Things I had always taken for granted suddenly leaped out at me, and I reconquered whole new territories in faith and doctrine.

We've all learned about original sin in grade school Religion class, or Sunday School, as the case may be with others (“With Adam's fall, we sinned all”), that we are all born with an inherent tendency towards sin. Paul, the author of Romans, puts it in a harsher way as he quotes from the Psalms: “There is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3.12) All of us are sinners. Even those who have lived good lives cannot claim never to have done something wrong. Jesus himself said that just the thought of lust is adultery (Matthew 5.28), and simply being angry with a brother will subject one to judgement as though it were murder. (Matthew 5.22)

All this time, I had thought that the path to salvation was simply a matter of living the best life I could, and following God's Law. But I can't follow God's law the way he wants me to; if I try, I must do it perfectly! “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of Law.’ Clearly, no one is justified before God by the law, because 'The righteous will live by faith.'“ (Galatians 3.10-11) My life, then, has been stained by sin, because I have not followed God's law absolutely. With that stain on my soul, how then could I be justified before God? How can anyone be justified before God, if no one is perfectly sinless, and “the wages of sin is death”? (Romans 6.23) You can't save yourself by following the Law, because any effort to do so will inevitably fall short.

That was how I realized why Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1.29) Jesus sacrificed himself on our behalf, dying for our sins, even though he himself, God-as-man, had lived a perfectly sinless life. And so he was offered up as a sacrifice for sin that no other human could possibly make, because God demands an offering “without defect.” (Leviticus 1.13, 1.10, 3.1, etc.)

The pattern set in Old Testament times called for an animal's blood to be shed on the altar as a sacrifice for sins. The Book of Hebrews says, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9.14) Jesus carried the burden of all our sins up to the cross and died with them (Matthew 27.32-54). Better still, he did not remain dead, but rose again (Matthew 28), showing that he had conquered death!

By Jesus' death and resurrection, we are saved from our sins and gain eternal life; this salvation is freely available to all people who repent of their sins and put their faith entirely in Jesus. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3.21-24)

In 1995, after several months of fervent prayer and intense study, I prayed to God, repented of my sins, and accepted Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Savior.

Since then, my life has changed. Soon after I received Christ, many of my goals and dreams fell into place, and my spiritual angst disappeared. I've become a better, happier, more peaceful person, and my life has a clarity and focus that was never there before. There's a reason they call it becoming “born-again,” and never once have I had reason to regret my faith.

The story doesn't end there. I continue to pray and study, dialogue with other people about faith, and share Jesus with them. I have found God, and I am at peace with him, trusting him in all things and loving him with all my heart, mind, and soul. My faith in God is an adventure that is constantly unfolding but is never final, because God is so boundless in nature, so rich in meaning, so infinite in love, that He will never end. He is Jesus, my brother, teacher, protector, savior, and friend; who has done everything to save me, even die, and for whom I would do anything in return. “Basta Ikaw, Lord!”

*

Diane Venus' testimony:

My name is Diane Venus and I am a child of God. I am also a sinner, saved by grace. I am filled with pride and self-righteousness and I ask the Lord to break me of it, even now.

I'd like to share a verse from Scripture that has become my story. “On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity. Then He put His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.” Luke 13:10-13

Well, I am like that woman, except that I've been in bondage for 31 years and that's been to the slavery of lesbianism. I come from a very dysfunctional family. I was an only child for fourteen years and my parents were Catholic, but Sunday-only type of Catholics. My father was a transvestite, emotionally absent from both my mother and myself, and was mentally ill. My mother was very needy. Since she received no real love from her husband, she used me to fulfill “spousal” needs. Although, up until a few months ago, I had been sure there was actual sexual abuse by my mother, now I think that it was more of an emotional incest. I had to mother my mother at a very early age and this continued into my adulthood. I remember one incident when I was about three or four years old. We lived in the country and there was a very severe thunder storm. I was really scared and wanted my mother to soothe my fears. Instead, my mother came to me, laid her head on my lap, and wanted me to comfort her.

In the 6th grade, I began developing attractions to older, nurturing women, mostly nuns and teachers. I would tell them all my problems - they would comfort me and physically hold me. Then when I was fourteen years old, my sister was born. She was three months premature and was very hyperactive, but the doctors told us that with the right interventions she would be fine. However, when my sister was three years old, my mother came to me and told me that she wanted to give her up for adoption because she was too much for her. This was traumatizing for me and I began to wonder if my mother had wanted to give me up for adoption too.

I begged my mother not to give my sister up for adoption. Since I was already planning a career in Special Education, I implied to my mother that I would actually take care of my sister and that things would be all right.

Upon graduation from a Catholic high school, I left the church and became an ardent atheist and existentialist. I went to college and majored in Special Education and minored in philosophy, and I thought that I was, just tops. It was at this time, that my need for same-sex love actually became sexualized. I quickly moved in with another woman, and within a few weeks, we became lesbian lovers. At first, this relationship was very Unfilling, and exciting, and romantic. We did everything together; we were inseparable and became very dependent on each other. We associated with other lesbian couples, participated in orgies, sado-masochistic rituals, and dappled into drugs. After about three years, the relationship started to deteriorate. My lover was growing tired of me sexually and subsequently I had an affair with a mutual lesbian friend.

I confessed this to my lover, only to find out to my complete surprise, that my lover was leaving me for that friend. I was devastated, my world fell apart, I became suicidal and was hospitalized briefly.

There were several lovers after that. I engaged in many one-night stands, was active in the bar scene, went on dyke marches, pro-abortion rallies, and even to a “women-only” farm, where there was nudity and free and open expression of lesbian sexuality. During this time, I was proudly known as a Lesbian Feminist Militant.

Surprisingly, also during this time, I became interested in religion again and returned to Catholicism. I entered spiritual direction and continued for many years, but never told anyone about my “double-life.” In 1982, at the age of 27, 1 entered a Catholic convent. While I sincerely thought I wanted to serve God, I really wanted a lover in “religious” garb. Although I couldn't admit this to myself, I did actually lie about my previous hospitalization and sexual activity. I tried to repress my past, but instead, developed a sexual attraction to my superior and subtly tried to act on it. She rejected that relationship and I retreated into infantile behavior, got sick and was asked to leave two years after joining. I was again devastated, and was hospitalized several times for very brief stays.

Since then suitable lover. It was sort of a tongue-in-cheek celibacy. However, I remained very active in the gay and lesbian world in New York City and got involved in Metropolitan Community Church, a very pro-gay church.

All this time, I kept seeking “pseudo-romantic” relationships through emotional dependencies on “stronger” women. I was a master manipulator of women who were mother figures to me. To keep them tied to me, I would become very dependent, and acted like a child to get attention. Whenever I felt rejected, I “feigned” sickness and went to the hospital just to book a woman in. I thought “If I'm suicidal, then she'd have to care for me. “ This culminated in what I call the “stoking hair incident.” Once during a feigned suicide attempt, my “friend” came with me in the ambulance to the hospital. As we were riding together, I started sobbing and she put her arm around me and began stroking my hair for the entire ride of about five minutes. This felt soooooo good, and afterwards, after a stay in a hospital, thousands of thousands of dollars of medical bills not covered by my insurance, countless visits to psychiatrists, zombie like medications, loss of reputation, and an almost collapse of a 20 year thriving career, not even beginning to consider the untold pain and suffering, I thought it was all worth it for that five minutes of a woman stroking my hair.

Well, the Lord had had enough. A little over 2 years ago, a friend, who was not a mother figure, led me to the Lord. She introduced me to a small evangelical church. For the first time in my life, I admitted my lesbianism and double life to my female pastor and accepted the Lord as my Savior in February of 1997. Though my pastor accepted me, she was clear about Scripture regarding homosexuality and I finally wanted to stop. She led me to Dave Wanner, a Biblical counselor with-a ministry to those struggling with homosexuality.

However, quickly my relationship with my female pastor became very dependent. She rejected this dependency and once more, I feigned sickness, went to the hospital and tried to hook her in. But this time Dave squarely confronted me about this. And then the Lord showed me that it was actually my pride, not my weakness that was the deep-rooted sin. All along, I had thought that I could get my own needs met through M extreme manipulations, instead of allowing God to care for me. I thought I knew better than God. I finally admitted my true helplessness to the Lord and turned my life completely over to him and in December of 1997, 1 asked him to be Lord of my life, and not just Savior.

For the first time, it was me who left an unhealthy relationship ( the one with my female pastor) and I joined a larger, healthier, evangelical congregation. The Lord started a painful and arduous process of real growth. I started to see the pattern in my past relationships. I realized that all along I had been looking, for a “mother” to love me and nurture me, which I had never received from early childhood on up. But then, I began to assume responsibility for my sin, and no longer played the role of victim. My actual physical attraction to women quickly stopped. It was the Lord who healed that. My desire for women as mothers was gradually and continues to be replaced by a growing desire for the Lord. My emotional dependency on other women was gradually and continues to be replaced by a TOTAL AND RADICAL DEPENDENCE ON THE LORD. Now, I have absolutely no desire for women as sexual partners, and totally reject lesbianism. I have a growing sense of myself as a mature, blossoming, heterosexual woman.

The Lord and I have developed a deep intimacy and intense prayer life. When I do struggle with feelings of dependency, or feel rejected or abandoned, I try to remember to turn to the Lord in prayer. We spend quality time together in prayer, and I mean lots of time. He nurtures me as mother, as well as my long-lost father. When I don't turn to the Lord, I begin to return to slavery. It's as clear as black and white.

I desire to have a meaningful relationship with a mature Christian man, but do not “go” after it. Instead wait quietly on the Lord. If it's His will ,it will happen and in His perfect timing. If it's not His will, I am very happy being a single Christian woman, very involved in the service of my master. I reality, it is the Lord Himself who is my mate, my Bridegroom, my husband. In the meantime, I have been developing healthy and meaningful relationships with the men and women in my Christian community, my new family, in the Body of Christ.

20 years of secular therapy, 13 brief hospitalizations, thousands of dollars in medical bills, countless visits to psychiatrists, large amounts of medication, and years upon years of intense pain and suffering. and of course my hell-bent life of sin - none of these ever helped me nor ever brought me the love I so desperately needed.

Well, I have found that love in the Lord. Two years with the Lord, and here I am speaking to you today.

On March 20, 1999 I gave this testimony at a United Methodist Conference on “Homosexuality: Hope and Healing.”

I would like to give a special thanks to Dave Wanner, counselor, mentor and friend.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate in KeruxID 25837-26027]

If you stand on the shores of Lake Michigan and watch a man with a long gray mane and beard labor on sailing boats, don't automatically assume that he's an aging flower child. He may just be Father Luke, an orthodox cleric, trying to make ends meet.

Luke, 58, could not even pay his rent with a mission priest's $1,000 stipend. So he has two other jobs. He works for a boat vendor and keeps book for the Chicago Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America.

Three years ago, when Luke was known as the Rev. Robert Nelson, his material life was easier. Then he was the pastor of Salem, a Lutheran congregation on the South Side of Chicago.

He had a reasonable income then and some 300 parishioners, chiefly black, who loved him and whom he loved. “Leaving them was the hardest part about converting to Orthodoxy,” he told United Press International Tuesday.

But leave he did, driven by his “search for a spiritual source,” as he described it. Now he is pastor to 30 faithful in Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in the center of Chicago.

Luke is anything but an oddball. In the Midwest alone, the OCA maintains a dozen mission churches among whose priests are four former Lutheran ministers, one former Episcopalian and an Amish.

And if you look beyond, converts are an increasingly important feature in two Eastern-rite denominations in America, the OCA and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese. “About half our bishops come from other traditions,” said Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky, the OCA's ecumenical officer.

Kishkovsky ticks off some names: Dimitri Royster, bishop of Dallas, a former Southern Baptist; Seraphim Storheim, bishop of Canada, formerly Lutheran, then Anglican; Pierre (now Peter) Huillier, bishop of New York and New Jersey, a former Catholic from France.

Most stunning perhaps was, in 1996, the conversion of Jaroslav Pelikan, Yale University's celebrated church historian and Luther scholar. Here is a man who has co-edited 22 of the 55 volumes of Luther's Works in English, and then late in life he “moved East,” as some theologians like to say.

“I was the Lutheran with the greatest knowledge of the Orthodox Church,” Pelikan reportedly quipped, “and now I am the Orthodox with the greatest knowledge of Luther.”

He is has also been quoted as saying, “When the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod became Baptist, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America became Methodist, I became Orthodox.”

Presumably, his implication was that the former two denominations were on the verge of losing their doctrinal clarity.

But he does not talk to the media about this move that exemplifies a trend of sorts among some Protestants and Roman Catholics.

“I have received hundreds of requests for interviews and decided not to respond to any of them,” he told UPI Tuesday.

Some former associates say that he simply does not wish to hurt his former Lutheran coreligionists. But a ranking OCA cleric gave a clue: “Pelikan said he joined us after he had read a work on the Cappadocian Fathers for a fifth time in the original Greek.”

The Cappadocian Fathers were St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and St. Gregory of Nyssa, three brilliant leaders of philosophical Christian orthodoxy in the late 4th century.

The study of such church fathers is, of course, en vogue among seekers in the West, who are often disenchanted with Protestantism and with what some call the tainted teaching of modernist Catholic theologians.

Outsiders aver three principal motives for the conversion of Western Christians to Orthodoxy, according to journalism professor and religion columnist Terry Mattingly, a Southern Baptist pastor's son, who has himself journeyed this way.

“First, people allege that converts are those who could not live without certainty,” he said. “Second, there is supposed to be the attraction of the liturgical beauty, the smells and bells, the icons.

“But in my case, the third reason applies: the beauty of the doctrine and faith.”

Purity is what Mattingly's former pastor, Father Gregory of Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church outside Baltimore, was seeking. Luke, whose congregation, like so many Antiochian parishes in the U.S., consists predominantly of converts, was once Gary Mathewes-Green, an Episcopal priest.

His wife, Frederica, a prolific writer, described in one of her books how he became a “spiritual wanderer,” to use Mattingly's words.

She wrote, “It became fashionable to doubt Jesus' miracles, the Virgin birth, even the bodily resurrection ... Gary at last decided he could no longer be under the authority of apostate bishops.”

A meeting with another, by now famous, “spiritual wanderer” ultimately swayed this Episcopal clergyman to become one of 5 million Orthodox Christians in America, Frederica Mathewes-Green said.

That man was Peter E. Gillquist, a former Campus Crusade for Christ staff member, who led more than 2,000 evangelicals into the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Back in the late 1960s, Gillquist and some friends were “looking for the true New Testament church,” said his wife, Marilyn, who participated in this venture.

“We had become convinced that the church was the means to fulfill the great commission,” he later wrote. Gillquist and his fellow evangelicals then became, in a sense, forerunners of one particular set of contemporary seekers: the ones who systematically study what most non-liturgical Protestants have been deprived of -- the Church Fathers.

“Our background as evangelical Christians meant that we somewhat knew our way backward to the Protestant Reformation, and that we knew our way forward to A.D. 95, the end of the New Testament era,” he wrote. In other words, they had missed out on what happened theologically between the 2nd and the 16th centuries.

What Gillquist and his friends found out was this: “From the start the church of Christ and his apostles were liturgical and sacramental, with a clearly defined laity, governed by bishops, presbyters and deacons.”

So they founded, in a sense, little orthodox house churches, vested, burned incense, celebrated the liturgy, and became the Evangelical Orthodox Church that was eventually accepted by the Antiochians.

If there is an amazing story about American Christianity in flux, this is it. Here were low-churchmen, whose pastors did not even wear a preaching gown, much less vestments.

Here were people whose churches had a congregational polity and frowned on distant hierarchs. And now they are under the roof of an ancient church whose patriarch lives in Damascus and whose primate in America, Philip Saliba, reigns from Englewood, New Jersey.

And now Father Peter E. Gillquist is archbishop Philip's director of Mission and Evangelism, doing what he used to do for Campus Crusade for Christ: gathering souls, except this time for a church where the Apostle Paul had his own conversion experience, which changed him from a persecutor of Christians to the Church's first and most important theologian.

*

Stephen Baldwin had just told a packed auditorium of students in Dallas about his conversion to Christ following the 9/11 attacks.

In the hallway next to the stage, a purple-haired teen, probably 12 or 13 with tears flowing, bent Baldwin's ears for several minutes before the veteran actor whisked him downstairs to the hospitality room to talk. After a 15-20-minute conversation, Baldwin gathered several others around and prayed with the student.

“Good luck, man,” the teen told Baldwin as he stood to leave. “I don't need luck, bro,” Baldwin said grinning. “I've got Jesus.”

That Baldwin has Jesus is curious to some.

He's the youngest of the Baldwin acting clan – with older brothers Alec, Billy and Daniel -- and a veteran of more than 60 movies, including “The Usual Suspects” and “8 Seconds,” and television shows “The Young Riders” (1989-92), “Celebrity Mole” and “Fear Factor.”

His conversion and his work in producing an “extreme sports” DVD to reach kids in the skateboarding and stunt biking culture has been reported in places like USA Today, The New York Times, salon.com, Fox News Channel and CNN. Lately he's been a regular at Christian rock festivals and similar evangelical events -- even advocating that Christians turn out for the November elections.

Baldwin said he's not concerned with potential negative consequences of being a vocal Christian in the entertainment business.

“In my position, I just don't think I'm supposed to keep my faith to myself,” Baldwin told the Southern Baptist Texan over breakfast after addressing the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention's Youth Evangelism Conference (YEC) at Criswell College.

“I'm just doing what the Lord's telling me to do. You know, if the Lord's not telling anybody else [in Hollywood] to [talk publicly about their faith], well, then God bless 'em. But I don't think that's the case. I think there are a lot of people who don't put their faith before everything else, you know. And that's a big problem. I'm just doing what the Lord's calling me to do. Period.”

Baldwin told the 2,000 YEC students and sponsors how he came to Christ through the witness of his wife, Kennya, a believer of 10 years, and the 9/11 tragedy.

“'If the impossible is now possible,'“ he recalled thinking after the terrorist attacks, “'anything's possible. And if anything's possible -- my wife's a born- again Christian, I've been reading the Bible and I've been praying to the Lord to like, tell me what this is all about -- then Jesus could come back tomorrow.’ That's what I thought. 'Well, if Jesus could come back tomorrow, I've got a lot of work to do, because I ain't the guy that I want to be when Jesus comes back.'“

Baldwin said he made a covenant with God and was baptized at the evangelical church he and his wife attend in upstate New York.

His appearance at the Youth Evangelism Conference included a plug for the DVD he co-produced with the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association aimed at the extreme or “core” sports culture of skateboarding and BMX stunt biking, an $8 billion a year consumer segment with its own counterculture music and often hard-edged lifestyle.

The “Livin' It” DVD, which Baldwin directed and hosts, was released this spring, the brainchild of the actor and Palau's son, Kevin; they conceived the idea last year after Baldwin attended a Palau organization event in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., featuring leading skateboarders who shared their Christian faith with youth attracted to the “core sports” subculture.

The 40-minute documentary features extreme sports action, footage of engaging street outreach and stories from 11 top “core sports” athletes.

The Palau organization planned 10,000 copies for a 24-month distribution; in five months 40,000 DVDs have sold, Baldwin said.

A Long Island, N.Y., native, Baldwin, 38, told the YEC students the nanny he and his wife hired for their first child was Brazilian -- like his wife -- and was a devout Christian. She told the couple she believed God sent her to them to help lead them to Jesus and even predicted they would become Christians and have a ministry, Baldwin said.

After Baldwin moved his family to upstate New York, Kennya began attending Bible studies and became a Christian. By September 2001, her faithful witness had moved him toward conversion, Baldwin recounted.

Baldwin told the Texan he sees how God, years earlier, was orchestrating his conversion. Raised a nominal Roman Catholic who didn't attend church much after about age 10, Baldwin said his experience in his mid-20s in a 12-step recovery program awakened his senses to God, but it took no concrete form.

“In reality, there's just no comparison to the experience I'm having now,” he said.

Baldwin said Jesus Christ has given him peace and has helped him be a better father and husband. “And I couldn't do that unless I had some understanding of what God's will was for me. And again, I only have that understanding because I know what it's based on, which is the Bible, and I read it every day.”

Baldwin said since his conversion he's had numerous discussions with his brothers about his experience. Baldwin's brother, Alec, made news in 2000 after he said he'd leave the country if George W. Bush, a professed Christian, won the election.

“The Lord, very early in my walk, was very clear and just said, 'I'll deal with them.’ He said, 'I need Stephen to focus on Stephen's relationship with Jesus Christ.’ So I've just been walking my walk and I've been really busy with everything the Lord's had me doing.”

Baldwin said Alec, for instance, has questioned him lately about his speaking schedule, which includes many Christian venues. They talk frequently and their kids play together.

“Now with this election coming up, you know, people know that I'm a Christian, so people he interacts with are like, 'Oh, so, what's your brother doing?’ And what he explained to me most recently is -- probably two to three times a week he walks down the street in New York and probably folks who are visiting New York City from the South and this and that ... will go, 'Oh, my, Alec Baldwin.’ And he'll go, 'Oh, how are you. Nice to meet you.’ And they'll go, 'Please tell your brother, Stephen, God bless him for everything he's doing for Jesus.'

“He said he can't get away from it,” Baldwin said, chuckling.

“I just talk to people and I let them know that I act on what I believe, and that belief is based on the Bible. And I'll tell anybody, 'If you're reading the Bible every day, and you share in that same understanding, then we can talk. And if you don't agree with me, then you're not agreeing with me based on your understanding.’ That's what I like to tell people.”

*

The opening of a new store in town usually creates a buzz. Something like one of those major discount stores, for example, or that mecca do-it-yourself place, Home Depot - which stirred things up when it opened in our community for sure. This is not a commercial for them, just an observation. Some observers say that Home Depot's comprehensive inventory and competitive prices have actually helped interest a whole new wave of people in doing their own home improvements. It's meant to be sort of one-stop shopping for everything you need to build your home.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Everything You Need to Build Your Home.”

If only building or improving a home was just a matter of plywood, sheet rock, and tile. That will take care of a place called home, but not necessarily the people who are really what home is. Building a marriage, building your children - that's far more challenging. And you can't just go to a store to pick up the materials you need to be the right kind of mom or dad, to be what your wife need, what your husband needs.

And there's nothing like trying to make a family work to make you face the things that need work inside you; inside your personality, your heart, your soul. Living in the intensity of a family really exposes the baggage that you're carrying from your past, your weaknesses, your selfishness, your dark side. There's this person we want to be that our family really needs for us to be. Then there's this person we really are, and we just don't know how to get from who we are to who we need to be. The ugly stuff in us is now marking another generation and hurting the very people we love the most. If we could change, we would have changed by now.

But there is a place you can go to find everything you need to build your home; to someone whose spiritual resources have transformed millions of people for thousands of years. Our word for today from the Word of God spells out concisely but clearly the secret of a home that works. In Psalm 127:1, the inventor of the family says: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” The simple truth is: you need the Lord to make you what your family needs you to be. Because the darkness inside us is a cancer we can't cure; the “disease of me” that no one on earth can cure. God calls it “sin,” and the Bible makes it clear that the cancer is incurable. It's terminal. It says, “Sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15). That death has included the death of many marriages and parent relationships over the years.

We're like a drowning person or a person trapped in the rubble of an earthquake. Our only hope is a rescue. And because God loves you so much, He launched a rescue mission for you and for me on a skull-shaped hill outside Jerusalem called Golgotha. The Bible says, “He loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood” (Revelation 1:6). Your new beginning starts when you, in your heart, find your way to the cross of Jesus to claim His forgiveness for every wrong thing, every hurting thing you've ever done. He died to forgive you, and then He rose from the dead to prove He has the power to conquer anything including the darkness inside you. In the Bible's words, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

You begin this transforming relationship with Jesus Christ the moment you claim what He did on the cross for yourself personally - when you tell Him with all your heart, “I'm totally yours, Jesus, from this moment on.” That new beginning could be today for you.

The greatest gift you can give the people you love is for you to give yourself to Jesus. He alone can give you everything you need to build your home.

________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

*

Bitter over the death of his mother, Sundar Singh blamed God. The fourteen-year-old boy became vicious toward his Christian teachers. He threw filth on them, mocked their Scriptures, and interrupted classes. Then he made the ultimate gesture of scorn. He bought a Bible from the Christians. Outside his house he built a fire and page by page tore up the Scripture and burnt it.

“Although I believed that I had done a very good deed by burning the Bible, I felt unhappy,” he said. Within three days Sundar Singh could bear his misery no longer. Late one night in December 1903, he rose from bed and prayed that God reveal himself to him if he really existed. Otherwise -- “I planned to throw myself in front of the train which passed by our house.” For seven hours Sundar Singh prayed. “O God, if there is a God, reveal thyself to me tonight.” The next train was due at five o'clock in the morning. The hours passed.

A DRAMATIC CONVERSION

Suddenly the room filled with a glow. A man appeared before him. Sundar Singh heard a voice say, “How long will you deny me? I died for you; I have given my life for you.” He saw the man's hands, pierced by nails. This could only be Christ. In that moment of recognition, the boy who had burnt the Bible became a man who would endure anything for the Christ taught in it. He knew Christ as the Savior of the world and fell to his knees with a wonderful sense of peace. To meet Christ was only the beginning for Sundar Singh. He was a Sikh. Sikhs had endured terrible persecutions in their early history. As a consequence they were fiercely loyal to their faith and to each other. Conversion to Christianity was considered treachery. Now every effort was made to woo or coerce Sundar Singh back to his ancestral faith.

WHATEVER IT TOOK TO RECLAIM HIM!

His father pleaded. An uncle opened his cellar full of treasures and said they were all Sundar's if only he would return to Sikhism. A cousin with connections at court introduced him to the prince, who appealed to the boy's patriotism. His own brother spread lies about him. The gang he had led hurled muck at him. He was made to feel that his actions endangered others. Because of him the mission was attacked. Christians were denied service at the stores and driven into exile. A boy who followed Sundar Singh was poisoned to death. Sundar's father alternately pleaded with tears and raged with fury. Thinking marriage would change the boy's attitude, Mr. Singh ordered the fourteen year old to marry. Although parental commands are law among the Sikhs, Sundar Singh refused in Christ's name.

ACCURSED FOREVER

Finally Sundar Singh realized he must break with his people. He cut off the hair he had worn long like every Sikh man. Then he heard the words of outcasting spoken over him. “We reject you forever.... I declare you are no more worthy to be called our son.... We shall forget you as if you had never been born. You will leave this house with nothing but the clothes you wear on your back... .” Hours later he experienced wrenching pain in his gut. His family had poisoned his last meal. He staggered to a mission hospital. The missionary-medic was able to save the young man's life. Sundar now had a decision to make. Conventional Indian churches were willing to grant him a pulpit, but their rules were foreign to his spirit. Indeed, he felt that a key reason the gospel was not accepted in India was because it came in a garb foreign to Indians. He decided to don the yellow robe of India's holy men. Unlike them, he would not let dirt accumulate on his body or torture his body with ascetic practices. Dressed in his thin yellow robe, Sundar Singh took to the road. Wherever he went he preached the gospel of Christ. Sometimes he was blessed, sometimes cursed. He visited his own village and many of the gang members listened to him with curiosity and interest. A few became Christians. Sundar Singh was still a very young man. Already he had endured far more than most mature Christians ever experience. And his sufferings had only begun.

INTO FORBIDDEN LANDS

The mountains of Tibet called to him. In those remote regions were souls starved for the word of God. Buddhist monks exerted tremendous power over the nation. They wanted no part of the Christianity which might rob them of income and influence. Sundar Singh determined to enter the forbidden land with the gospel of Christ. Before his death he would travel into Tibet about twenty times.

HOW DID HE ESCAPE?

In 1912 in the Tibetan village of Lazar, he was beaten and thrown to die in a pit filled with rotting bodies. His arm was broken; the pit was sealed above him, and only the Grand Lama had the key. The stench was unbearable. Three nights later, Sundar heard the grate open. A shadowy figure lowered a rope and pulled him out. Next morning he boldly showed himself again, preaching in the streets. The Grand Lama seized him. Furious questions followed. Who had helped him? Who had stolen the key? He pulled the key ring from under his robe. But the key to the pit was still on it. Terrified, he freed Sundar Singh, expelling him from town.

REPEATEDLY DELIVERED

One time, Sundar was left bound to die in the forest of Nepal. Secret Christians came to his rescue. Another time, when he sang of Christ in prison, he was bound in stocks and hurled into the jungle to die. Again secret Christians came at night and released him, speaking to him for long hours of the faith they shared. Men who knew him said he was more like Christ than any other man they had known. He himself said, “A Christian is one who has fallen in love with Christ.” Later -- and amazingly -- his father became a Christian. To make amends for his former actions, he paid for Sundar's passage to the West to preach. Sundar visited Europe, England and America. What he found here upset him deeply. Shocked by Western materialism, Sundar Singh paraphrased Christ's words: “Come unto me all ye that are heavily laden with gold, and I will give you rest.” The Sadhu was glad to return even to Tibet after his experience in the West. Worn down, he no longer possessed the strength and will power of former years. For months he was very sick. In 1929, before he had fully recovered, he climbed again to Tibet. He never returned. Nothing was ever heard from him again.

JESUS WAS THE WATER OF LIFE TO SUNDAR

In Sundar's words: “Christ is my savior. He is my life. He is everything to me in heaven and earth. Once while traveling in a sandy region I was tired and thirsty. Standing on the top of a mound I looked for water. The sight of a lake at a distance brought joy to me, for now I hoped to quench my thirst. I walked toward it for a long time, but I could never reach it. Afterwards I found out it was a mirage, only a mere appearance of water caused by the refracted rays of the sun. In reality there was none. In a like manner I was moving about the world in search of the water of life. The things of this world -- wealth, position, honor and luxury -- looked like a lake by drinking of whose waters I hoped to quench my spiritual thirst. But I could never find a drop of water to quench the thirst of my heart. I was dying of thirst. When my spiritual eyes were opened I saw the rivers of living water flowing from his pierced side. I drank of it and was satisfied. Thirst was no more.”

ANOTHER SIKH, ANOTHER SINGH

Another Sikh who became an internationally known Christian was Bakht Singh. Born to wealthy parents in 1903, Bakht Singh was converted in 1929 (the same year Sundar disappeared) while studying in Manitoba. Knowing that his parents (like Sundar Singh's) would not accept his conversion, he returned to India with great trepidation. His fears were well-grounded. His wife left him. His parents and relatives rejected him. Despite suffering from a speech impediment, Bakht Singh became an evangelist. He spent hours a day on his knees studying the Scripture. He carried the Bible wherever he went and urged converts to read it daily. His sermons quoted extensively from Scripture. Revival followed wherever he went, but he was unsatisfied. Converts were not receiving the follow up they needed. What should he do? After a night praying on a mountain, he determined he must form a new kind of congregation for Indian believers, a congregation based on New Testament principles. He started over 500 of these local assemblies in his lifetime. Thousands of these Christian brethren gather each year in designated cities to hold Christian festivals which Bakht Singh established. They march singing and holding aloft Scripture banners. Bakht Singh helped make Indian Christians independent, the very thing Sundar Singh had wanted to do.

Remember CORRIE TEN BOOM, Heroine of the WWII Story The Hiding Place?

As a teenager, Corrie so badly wanted to hear Sundar Singh when he visited Europe that she came to his conference with a blanket, prepared to sleep in a field. It was not necessary. A kind student found room for her. So Corrie listened with awe as Sundar told how he had met Christ. Disturbed that as a Christian she had never seen a vision of Christ or performed miracles, she asked the Sadhu why. Sundar responded that she was the real miracle. He believed in Christ only after seeing Him. She, on the other hand, had merely heard and believed. He quoted to her Christ's words, “Blessed are those who have not seen but believed.”

The 10 Commandments

Read: Deuteronomy 6:1-9 — Write them on the doorframes of your houses. –Deuteronomy 6:9

You think your school has a lot of rules. That’s nothing! The Old Testament Jews had tons of laws about everything from diet to dress to touching dead bodies. Lots of them were picky; others were heavyweights, like the Ten Commandments.

Many of Israel’s regulations have been set aside because of the coming of Christ. But the principles behind all of God’s laws, including the Ten Commandments, still stand. Carved in stone by God Himself (Exodus 31:18), they were stored in the ark of the covenant (Deuteronomy 10:5).

The Ten Commandments have great moral authority. They are basic to life. When they are ignored by society, the people suffer.

So it’s easy to understand why some people say problems started in the United States when we began to ignore the law of God. They firmly believe that if the Ten Commandments were taught in the schools, we would be stronger morally. We would not have such a high crime rate and an exploding prison population.

They make a good point. One of the purposes of the law is to restrain sin. Seeing the Ten Commandments may make some people think twice.

But posting the Ten Commandments will never do what some people hope it will. For one thing, the heart of man is deceitful and depraved (Jeremiah 17:9). For another, the law can only condemn; it cannot save anyone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

One more thing. When we read Deuteronomy 6:1-9, we discover that the law was to be posted in our houses, not in our schools. What some expect the government to do, we should have been doing all along in our houses. The best place for moral teaching is in the home!

So, it’s good to post the Ten Commandments in our schools, but it’s even better to put them up in our homes or dorm rooms. Best of all, we must engrave them on the walls of our hearts. When they are there, with God’s help we will become the people He wants us to be. –DE

REFLECTION

• I will write out the Ten Commandments. Which ones have I been forgetting? (see Exodus 20).

• Would it be a good idea for me to post the Ten Commandments somewhere in my room so I can see them every day?

• What is my general attitude toward rules and laws? Am I usually compliant, or am I a bit of a maverick? Why?

Post the Ten Commandments in your heart.

Acts 9:1–19a — “Saul’s Conversion” (outline by F. F. Bruce, NICNT) « Leader information shown in this fashion »

{A.} The Birth of the Church (1:1–5:42)

{B.} Persecution and Expansion (6:1–9:31)

{1.} Stephen (6:1–8:1a)

{2.} Philip (8:1b–40)

A. Persecution & Dispersion (8:1b–3)

B. Philip in Samaria (8:4–8)

C. Simon Magus Believes (8:9–13)

D. Peter and John Visit Samaria (8:14–17)

E. Peter and Simon Magus (8:18–24)

F. The Apostles Return to Jerusalem (8:25)

G. Philip and the Ethiopian (8:26–40)

{3.} Conversion of Saul of Tarsus (9:1–31)

A. Saul’s Expedition to Damascus 9:1–2 (NKJV)

1. 1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

2. Right of extradition by high priest dates back to 2nd century B.C. (an example found in 1 Maccabees 15:21), confirmed by Julius Caesar (BC 47; Antiquities 14:10:2) « — also, comment on Damascus (cf Gen 14:15) and Aram (Syria) the home (in Nahor) where Abram dwelt (Deuteronomy 26:5) and the languages of the Old Testament: Aramaic (spoken in Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian-Median Empires; found in some chapters in Daniel et alii, used in Jesus’ day, a parent language of …) and Hebrew »

3. How had the church been prepared for Saul / Paul? « — the Holy Spirit to help it answer rulers; the persecution driving them out on the great commission; the conversion of Samaritans, them of a proselyte, heads to gospel for Gentiles, Paul’s apostleship »

4. How had Saul / Paul been prepared for the gospel? « — Stephen’s testimony including their guilty status and of Jesus’ exaltation »

5. What led Saul to harry Christians (Acts 26:11, Romans 10:2)? « — exceeding anger against them; misguided zeal »

6. What title is applied to Christianity? … what is its basis? (See Acts 16:17, 18:25-26) « — “the Way” first because Jesus is the Way, then the message is the Way of Life, or of God, or of Salvation »

B. The Light and Voice from Heaven 9:3–7 (NKJV)

1. 3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

2. Acts 26:14 tells us this speech was “in the Hebrew dialect” which in the New Testament refers to the current Jewish Aramaic. The later testimonies in Acts 22 & 26 naturally constitute a personal account while this is more that of a third party.

3. What are the implications of Jesus’ first question to Saul? « — (1) Jesus is with His people (2) the Head feels the pain in the body (3) attacks on the body are attacks upon its Head »

4. There have been attempts to explain this medically as a nervous condition resulting in light sensitivity and temporary blindness. What do any such attempts fail to resolve (2 Corinthians 4:4–6, Philippians 3:7)? « — the radical 180° change in Saul/Paul from persecuting antagonist to suffering defender of the Way; with a change in will, thought, love which dictated the rest of his life. »

5. Consider Saul’s response to the first question, with Galatians 1:16, 1 Corinthians 15:8, 9:1, Ezekiel 1:26, Acts 9:17, 27; what did Saul now recognize that was previously hidden from him? « — the majestic place of Jesus of Nazareth testified by Stephen »

6. What did Saul’s fellow-travellers experience (see also Acts 22:9)? « — they saw the light (but were not illuminated to the truth as was Saul); a careful comparison of the Greek shows they heard the voice (as a sound, cf John 12:29) but not as the “speaking words voice” that Paul heard. »

7. Quotation from The Sadhu (London, 1921), B.H. Streeter and A. J. Appasamy « — see The Book of Acts, F.F. Bruce, NICNT, p. 184 »

8. George Lyttelton (1747): “The conversion and apostleship of St. Paul alone, duly considered, was of itself a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity to be a divine revelation.”

C. Saul Enters Damascus 9:8–9 (NKJV)

1. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

2. Describe Saul’s state! « — all of his theological training, his correct Pharasaic understanding of the Torah and other Scriptures has received a celestial beating; he is physically without sight; he is shocked in mind (and body, needing to get up from the ground and be led, unable to eat or drink). »

3. How did Saul’s experience resemble that in

a. Ezekiel 1:28, 3:15 (context is 1:1–3:15) « — a vision of the glory of God leaves Ezekiel totally astonished »

b. Daniel 10:7–11 (context is 10:1–21)? « — only Daniel, and not his companions, saw the vision; he was physically stricken »

4. What do we learn about God in this? « — He is Awesome »

D. Ananaias Sent to Saul 9:10–16 (NKJV)

1. 10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

2. What do you discover of Ananias’ character?

a. Verse 10 « — recognized the Lord; responded with obedience »

b. Verse 13 « — close enough relationship to God to raise question »

c. Acts 22:12 « — deservedly good reputation among the Jews »

3. Straight street, Darb al-Mustaqim, is still a main thoroughfare

4. How was Saul spending his 3 days of blindness? « — praying to the Lord newly-revealed to him and receiving an answer from Him »

5. Ananias’ qualms were answered by Jesus’ purpose for Saul; what was this? « — bearing Jesus’ name to the three groups who had rejected Him and consigned Him to an unjust execution »

6. What marks out “saints” in Ananias’ words (Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21)? « — “saints” is the common New Testament designation of believers (especially by Paul) consisting of those invoking Jesus’ name in saving faith (”brethren” is the second such designation) »

7. When the Lord choses servants, what should their expectation be (John 15:20)? « — it is a privileged position, but being identified with the Lord Jesus Christ involves participation in His sufferings (Philippians 3:10) »

E. Ananias Visits Saul 9:17–19a (NKJV)

1. 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. 19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. …

2. How did Ananias demonstrate his trust in Jesus’ words? « — (1) he went (2) he addressed Saul as “brother” not as an enemy; even as a fellow believer (3) he expressed his mission as from Jesus »

3. What information does Paul add in his testimony in Acts 22:13ff? « — (1) Paul’s divine election (2) Paul’s mission (3) Paul’s need to confess Jesus’ name and saving power in baptism »

4. There has always been some dialogue as to whether Paul was fasting for these three days or was his not eating the result of the traumatic experience that he had had; it is doubtful if a final answer can be given. What were the major effects on Paul of Ananias’ visit? « — (1) restored sight (2) baptism (3) power of the Holy Spirit (4) answer to his prayers (5) renewed physical vigour »

Watergate figure Charles Colson wrote this about his own conversion: “I remember the first day I walked into: the executive suite of Tom Phillips in 1973. I had not seen him in four years. Within minutes it was obvious that he was a changed man -- kind, compassionate, caring about me. It seemed incongruous somehow; this self-made, hard driving young man had catapulted in a few short years from a middle echelon engineer to president of Raytheon, one of the largest corporations in America. Yet he was gentle in his demeanor.

“When I pressed him about, what had happened he replied, “I have accepted Jesus Christ and committed my life to him.” It was said as matter-of-factly as he might have described the plate of ham and eggs he had eaten for breakfast. I was stunned at the strange sounding words I had never heard before. Yet that bold witness led me later to make a similar decision which radically transformed my life.

“Tom told me later that he had prayed the night before our scheduled meeting. The answer he seemed to get was; 'Tell Chuck Colson about me; he needs a friend.' This was not easy for Tom Phillips. His natural reserve rebelled against any outward show of religiosity. He knew nothing about the inner hollowness in my own life that I had experienced since election night, 1972. I had disguised my torment well.

“Tom had carefully rehearsed what he would say. But the next day when I walked into his office, seemingly proud and confident, he suddenly felt timid, fearing that I might think him some sort of religious fanatic. He took several deep breaths and found an opportunity to make his statement of faith. When I failed to respond positively he was dismayed, convinced he had failed.

“To this day I wonder what might have happened if Phillips at that critical moment had flinched and ignored what seemed to be God's clear call. Neither of us in our wildest dreams could have imagined what would follow from that one moment in the spring of 1973.”

Phillips didn't try to cover the whole ground. He shared the hope he had found in his own life and God used that.

==============

BreakPoint commentary by Charles Colson, August 12, 2008:

"Thirty-Five Years in the Light: Reflections on My Conversion"

A lot of people have asked me what I think about when I remember back to that hot, humid August night in 1973 when Tom Phillips, then the president of the Raytheon Company, witnessed to me in his home. I left his house that night shaken by the words he had read from C. S. Lewis’s MERE CHRISTIANITY about pride. It felt as if Lewis were writing about me, former Marine captain, Special Counsel to the President of the United States, now in the midst of the Watergate scandal. I had an overwhelming sense that I was unclean.

After talking to Tom, I found that when I got to the automobile to drive away, I couldn’t. I was crying too hard — and I was not one to ever cry. I spent an hour calling out to God. I did not even know the right words. I simply knew that I wanted Him. And I knew for certain that the God who created the universe heard my cry.

From the next morning to this day, I have never looked back. I can honestly say that the worst day of the last 35 years has been better than the best days of the 41 years that preceded it. That’s a pretty bold statement, given my time in prison, three major surgeries, and two kids with cancer at the same time, but it is absolutely true.

That’s because, for the last 35 years — whether in pain, suffering, joy, or jubilation, it makes no difference — I have known there was a purpose. I have known that I belong to Christ and that I am here on earth to advance His kingdom.

Would I have ever known that if Tom had not witnessed to me?

The reason I visited Tom that fateful night was that I was coming back to his company as counsel. But before he met with me, Tom prayed about how he should treat me. After all, here was his lawyer, mixed up in the Watergate affair. Tom later told me that God spoke to him: “Tell Chuck Colson about me, because he needs a friend.” God was certainly right! I was as desperate and lonely as a man could be.

But get this: Never before in Tom Phillips’s life had God told him to share the Gospel. Never before had he done so.

But in total obedience, Tom followed God’s lead, and the result? A ministry that now spreads all around the world to 114 countries, tens of thousands of men and women coming out of prison being redeemed by the blood of Christ, and then finding their place in community; and the whole Church being sensitized to the needs of the least of these in our midst.

I also wonder what might have happened to me, personally, had I not encountered the living God that night or some other time. I do not really think I would be alive today. Before my conversion I drank, partied, and smoked heavily. I do not think I would be seeing my 77th birthday, which I will this October.

And if I managed somehow to survive the high-powered party life in Washington among the rich, famous, and powerful, I would have been so miserable I don’t think I could have lived with myself. If I did not know for sure that the God who created us sent His Son to die on a cross that my sins might be forgiven, I would have long ago suffocated in the stench of my own sin.

So how do you celebrate 35 years as a Christian? By recommitting yourself to use every available moment, every ounce of energy, in service of the King. For what He has done for me, how could I ever do less?

________

Copyright (c) 2008 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Acts 16:25–40 — Conversion; and Departure (from Philippi) — (outline by F. F. Bruce, NICNT) « Leader information shown in this fashion »

{A.} The Birth of the Church (1:1–5:42)

{B.} Persecution and Expansion (6:1–9:31)

{C.} The Acts of Peter & Beginnings of Gentile Christianity (9:32-12:25)

{D.} Church Extension from Antioch & Apostolic Decree at Jerusalem

(12:25–15:35)

{E.} Paul Leaves Antioch & Moves to the Aegean World (15:36–19:20)

{1} Recently Planted Churches Revisited (15:36–16:5)

A. Paul Parts Company with Barnabas and Takes Silas as His Colleague (15:36–41)

B. Paul & Silas in South Galatia; Timothy Joins Them (16:1–4)

C. The Churches Grow in Faith & Numbers (16:5)

{2} Philippi (16:6–40)

A. The Call from Macedonia (16:6–10)

B. Troas to Philippi (16:11–12a)

C. The Faith of Lydia (16:12b–15)

D. The “Pythoness” (16:16–18)

E. Paul and Silas Imprisoned (16:19–24) … review

1. Only concern of the girl’s owners was P « rofit » _______

2. Paul & Silas had harmed their P « roperty » ________

3. In imprisoning Paul & Silas, the Philippians failed to check the C « harges » ________ or their C « itizenship » _________

F. Earthquake at Midnight: the Jailer’s Conversion 16:25–34

1. The Earthquake and the Jailer (16:25–28, NKJV): 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying « {present participle} » and singing « {imperfect} » hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening « {imperfect} » to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

a. How can praise grow out of prayer in the midst of trouble?

(A) Acts 5:41 « – the situation confirmed their service »

(B) Psalm 50:15 « – the promise confirmed God’s purposes »

(C) Psalm 149:4–5 « – the grace of God shown in saving us »

b. What interrupted this ongoing prayer and praise meeting? « – the answer of God (”God’s ‘Amen’”, Dr. John M. Moore) »

c. What marks this event as supernatural rather than natural? « – its selective effect: doors opening, bonds releasing, but no deaths nor burying under falling debris »

d. How were the keeper and prisoners situated with respect to each other? … how can you tell this? « – they were in the dark, but with some visual contact; the keeper could see the open prison doors, Paul could see the keeper about to kill himself as well as tell that the prisoners were still there »

e. Who shows the most authority here? … how? « – Paul is in command; at his word, the keepers sword hand is stayed; Paul knows the situation in the prison and can account for all the prisoners. »

f. Discuss: What is our normal response to persecution and pain? How can our attitudes and reactions (toward self, God, circumstances, and others) be shaped so as to be more like that of Paul and Silas? E.g., see Philippians 4:11ff

2. The Jailer and Salvation (16:29–34, NKJV): 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down « {and came} » trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. « Dr. John M. Moore: “from earthquake to soul quake” »

a. Where was this first prison ministry held? « – outside of the prison cell, in the keeper’s quarters within the prison-house; going into his own house came later on »

b. Who attended? « – the keeper, his household servants; his family; the prisoners »

c. How well the keeper understood his own question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” is hard to ascertain fully:

(A) Was he just thinking about his life being spared from punishment or death on account of what had just happened? « – if he believed and had assured himself that indeed all of the prisoners were still there his risk in this instance was minimal »

(B) What would have just reduced his clarity of thought? « – being roused from sleep by being shaken in soul as well as body by the earthquake and surrounding events »

(C) What events would have given the question spiritual (as opposed to physical) meaning?

(1) for some days « – fortune-telling girl had broadcast that they were giving the “way of salvation” »

(2) other? « – probably going to sleep to hymn-singing »

d. How did Paul & Silas understand and answer his question? « – as being spiritual »

e. How do we know that this was the Holy Spirit’s intent? « — by the subsequent salvation of him and his household. There is a lesson here in personal evangelism, which is? … even if the seek is not clear about what he or she is seeking, Christ is still the answer! »

G. Paul & Silas Leave Philppi (16:35–40, NKJV) 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.” 38 And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. 39 Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

1. Of what was the magistrates order a tacit admission? « – that there was no legitimate cause for their imprisonment »

2. Why could Paul and Silas not accept a summary dismissal from the prison?

a. The charge against them was … « unproven »

b. Their beating and incarceration was … « illegal (also terrible in its agony as there was no Jewish limitation to 40 stripes) »

c. To accept it would adversely effect … « the reputation of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the good news of salvation »

3. Did the recognition of Paul’s and Silas’ status deliver the new believers in Philippi from persecution (Philippians 1:27–30)? « – they had continuing adversaries and their experience mirrored that which Paul had in their midst and later in Rome »

4. Even though knowing the rights of Paul and Silas, what would prompt the magistrates to plead for them to depart « – their possible inability to protect them from the Philippian people, who already showed uncontrolled public tumult and passion »

5. Where did Paul and Silas go on leaving prison? … what had that place become? « – Lydia’s residence (or business; she could have still maintained a residence, or “head office”, in Thyatira); it was a place where the believers had become accustomed to meet … a pattern we meet again, especially after the “sect of the Way” became excluded from some synagogues. Note: it seems the Jewish community is Thyatira was sizable, that in Philippi, minuscule; therefore, Lydia may have become a God-fearer in her home town. »

I can’t give an exact date for my conversion. I can’t describe the moment when I finally bowed and admitted God was God and Christ was Lord. This used to bother me -- particularly when it was my turn to speak after going around a room of believers with specific dates and encounters to tell. I’ve since learned that conversion is more than one moment of waking -- even for those who indeed have one moment that stands out among all others. But I’ve also come to love the diversity of means and ways God appears before a life -- gently beckoning one to follow, pursuing over a lifetime the one lost or running, dramatically opening the eyes of another in an instant.

The apostle Paul describes the converted one “like a letter from Christ... written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:2). In this description, we discover conversion is inherently personal -- a letter from creator to creature, written not in ink but in God, not on paper or tablet, but on living flesh. Accordingly, there are as many stories of God drawing near a life as there are words one could put in a personal letter. Like Paul, I have come to expect and to admire the compilation. Some will speak of waking to God’s truth gradually; others will describe being moved nearly to blindness as they encounter Christ more fully than they have eyes yet to see.

But like the God we discover, conversion stories can still surprise us. I met someone recently who told me that pivotal to his waking to faith was a desire to give. He said he found himself thankful and wanted somewhere and someone before he could act out his appreciation. There was something in this confession that made me marvel at the God we both profess, as if I was shown another facet to appreciate, another layer I hadn’t fully considered. Not only is there someone to thank, but there is one who moves within our desire to give and our realization that much has been given.

When we learn to see our conversions as reflections of God, letters that come to us personally and communicate something of Christ, we also learn there is something of God to behold in our neighbor. Standing within a community of believers, it is hard not to marvel at the unsearchable riches of Christ, the depths of the person of God written on hearts all around us. What other god comes so personally, meeting the world as individuals, moving followers into a community that reflects more of him? Gratitude is a natural response.

A tradition in the Jewish Passover celebration called Dayyenu marks in the Passover ritual a rising crescendo of thanksgiving. “Dayyenu,” which essentially means, “It would have been enough for us,” is sung as a response after merciful acts of God in history are remembered one by one -- the parting of the Red Sea, the giving of the Sabbath, the completion of the temple. Each act alone would have been enough to sustain our praise and faith, but God moves well beyond our imaginings.

God is indeed gracious in ways we never anticipate, meeting one in his desire to give, another in her suffering, coming to all in the sending of the Son and the manifestations of his life, death, and resurrection. It would have been enough to sustain our praise in the Incarnation of the Christ child or in the ministry and miracles of Jesus -- “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor” (Luke 7:22). But God wanted to bring more. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). And that Son was sent to the Cross, where he was crucified, died, and buried. This too would have been enough to elicit our gratitude -- an innocent sufferer, God hanging with us on the gallows. But then Christ rose from the grave, defeating death, and inviting us to follow and do the same.

God is always moving beyond our imaginings. “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it -- the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know’” (Jeremiah 33:2-3). As we live further into our conversions, as we tell the stories of God’s acts in our lives and in history, as we remember again the unfathomable mercies of Christ, might our gratitude be heard across the land, a rising crescendo of thanksgiving for the one who is worthy of our praise.

________

Copyright © 2007 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #20948]

Some years ago, I was visiting a place known for making the best wedding saris in the world. They were the producers of saris rich in gold and silver threads, resplendent with an array of colors. With such intricacy of product, I expected to see some elaborate system of machines that would boggle the mind in production. But this image could not have been farther from the real scene.

Each sari was made individually by a father and son team. The father sat above the son on a platform, surrounded by several spools of thread that he would gather into his fingers. The son had just one task. At a nod from his father, he would move the shuttle from one side to the other and back again. This would then be repeated for hundreds of hours, until a magnificent pattern began to emerge.

The son certainly had the easy task. He was only to move at the father's nod. But making use of these efforts, the father was working to an intricate end. All along, he had the design in his mind and was bringing the right threads together.

The more I reflect on my own life and study the lives of others, I am fascinated to see the design God has for each one of us individually, if we would only respond. All through our days, little reminders show the threads that God has woven into our lives.

Allow me to share a story from my own experience. As one searching for meaning in the throes of a turbulent adolescence, I found myself on a hospital bed from an attempted suicide. It was there that I was read the 14th chapter of John's Gospel. My attention was fully captured by the part where Jesus says to his disciples, “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). I turned my life over to Christ that day, committing my pains, struggles, and pursuits to his able hands.

Almost 30 years to the day after this decision, my wife and I were visiting India and decided to visit my grandmother's grave. With the help of a gardener we walked through the accumulated weeds and rubble until we found the stone marking her grave. With his bucket of water and a small brush, the gardener cleared off the years of caked-on dirt. To our utter surprise, under her name, a verse gradually appeared. My wife clasped my hand and said, “Look at the verse!” It read: “Because I live, you shall live also.”

A purposeful design emerges when the Father weaves a pattern from what to us may often seem disparate threads. Even today, if you will stop and attend to it, you will see that God is seeking to weave a beautiful tapestry in your life.

________

Copyright © 2006 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

For many years football had been my first priority because I thought it could fill the hole in my heart and give me the fulfillment I longed to experience. I had always wanted to be an admired, successful football coach, but my game plan excluded God. I had run my life my way. That way seemed good and right, but it was the path of destruction, emptiness and frustration.

God had been on the sidelines of my life. I had put Him on the bench, but I learned that God won’t stay on the bench and He doesn’t remain on the sidelines forever. He demands to be the “Head Coach” of my life -– and yours.

Although I didn’t really understand what it meant to have a relationship with Christ, I walked down the aisle at First Baptist Church in Friendswood, Texas, to make a profession of faith at the age of 8. A few years later, I was the “All-American” teenager who could excel in athletics and be a fine, young Christian. The first part was true, but the second part was just an act.

Years later, in 1984, God led me to a genuine salvation experience when I went to hear evangelist James Robison preach. He spoke about people being in bondage and needing to be set free. He told us how, in the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah said the Son of God would come “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1).

I knew I was a captive. I was in bondage because of self-centered choices, and I was a prisoner of my own desires. James Robison said God could set captives free from whatever was binding them. His message pierced my heart. When the invitation was given, I was finally ready to totally surrender my entire life to Christ. I went forward and knelt down on my knees at the altar and cried out to God for forgiveness.

Immediately, I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my heart. I was free from the bondage of sin that had dominated my life for so long. The Holy Spirit used the sermon that night to penetrate the hardness of my heart. God’s love captured me and turned my life completely around.

That night, I found Jesus Christ as the permanent cure for my sin problem. Christ became the Savior of every fiber of my being. Previous worldly conviction had touched only my emotions. Now a godly sorrow led to a genuine repentance and conversion. Christ changed my emotions (feelings), my intellect (beliefs and thought patterns) and my will (desires and choices).

It was like the Apostle Paul’s Damascus Road experience. From the first moment of my salvation, I had a tremendous longing to know the One who died on the cross for me. I wanted to know the One who inspired the Bible and I fell in love with the Author who told me about His infinite grace and mercy toward me.

________

Rick Gage, once dubbed “the Small Town Billy Graham” by an Associated Press reporter because of his emphasis on holding crusades in small communities, is founder of Go Tell Ministries.

A multi-generational, ethnic rainbow of worshippers, Mosaic Manhattan Church, grew from the tragedies of 9/11 into the triumphs of today. Whether executive or ex-addict, the people to whom Mosaic ministers hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and become His disciples.

New York University senior Emily Moore is a member of Mosaic, a Southern Baptist church plant that meets in a dance studio a few blocks from Ground Zero.

Mild-mannered and modest, Moore once thought she knew who she really was. But that all changed when she met her friend, Christy -- and Christ -- at NYU.

Christy, who attended Mosaic, wasn’t the first person to talk to Moore about spiritual matters. A few years ago while on a spontaneous trip to Virginia Beach, Va., to visit a friend, she met a boy who “was the first person ever to talk to me about faith,” Moore said.

“He was saying all these things as a believer, and they really shook me because I didn’t have any kind of roots like that,” she recalled. “That made me ask a lot of questions.”

The questions and searching continued off and on until Moore enrolled at NYU.

“So I was in that first semester process, in New York City away from home, and the relationship [with the boy from Virginia] had ended,” Moore said. “That really threw me. It made me feel like I wasn’t a part of the [Christian pursuit] anymore or that I was even worthy of it.”

Confused, desperate and lonely, Moore told Baptist Press that she got on her knees and prayed, “‘Jesus, if You’re real, I want to know who You are.’”

Describing her life as “really fortressed” and unwilling to “let people in at all,” she did open up to Christy, another student in the dance department.

“I was talking to her, I mean, really talking to her for the first time, and she mentioned something about God,” said Moore, who only a month before had prayed on her knees.

“Christy took me to lunch and she shared the Gospel with me,” Moore recounted. “She told me about the Holy Spirit and how God can live through us. I’d never heard that before.”

Moore said she prayed “the second prayer of my entire life” -- a simple prayer from the back page of a tract that Christy showed her.

“When I prayed to ask Jesus to live in my heart, all of this stuff just exploded in me. And I saw how He had been reaching out to me in a million moments from my past,” said Moore, who finally understood the source of love that had pursued her most of her life.

“As far as coming to believe, there was always a pursuit of love for me in motion. Love was pursuing me,” she said. “And you know, it still is happening. I still see God’s love everywhere, just reaching out.” Moore believes God wants her to let that love flow out of herself and on to others. “And to encourage it wherever I see it, also, to help bring it out.”

“Jesus healed me in an amazing way from stuff that had hurt me very deeply,” Moore said. “And He freed me to be relational with other people. That’s been quite a journey -- being around people and seeing love in them and being able to give it back.”

Two years later, Moore still attends Mosaic because “I felt really welcome there. And that was pretty radical for me compared to my other church experience,” said Moore, who recalled attending a church as a fifth-grader and feeling “unwelcome and excluded.”

Moore describes her relationship with Christ as “expanding and growing,” and says that Mosaic is part of that.

Reciting the church slogan of “explore, belong, become,” Moore credits the church’s small group meetings called Life Groups for her ongoing Christian development.

“It was great to be a new believer and have that available to me as a resource to connect with people and read the Word with people. I really grew some spiritual roots,” she said.

Looking to the future, Moore isn’t sure what God will have her doing. But for now, she is confident that her pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in fine arts has spiritual import.

“Most surely, dance can celebrate who God is,” she said. “Dance really lets the true person radiate out and shine through –- not only in the watching of it, but in the doing of it. It can really show you who you are in so many ways from your soul and your heart.

“...Another wonderful thing about dance is that it can be so relational,” Moore said.

The love of dance brought Moore together with Rachel and Elaine Farah, daughters of Mosaic’s pastor, Greg Farah. Moore taught the two girls some choreographed moves in a session one weekend.

Moore believes the desire to dance celebratively is innate as she describes teaching the girls: “Seeing that life in them and that excitement in them. All of that stuff is already in place. That’s really inspiring to me and motivating. It reminds me of what I want to give people. I want to give them back that which has gotten so buried.”

Moore isn’t sure where God will place her in His service, but she is sure she will be “surrounded by peace and grace and joy and hope -- and breathing all those things in and out,” she said.

You became followers of us and of the Lord. —1 Thessalonians 1:6

Leslie Strobel became a Christian in 1979 and modeled her faith in such a way that it influenced her atheistic husband Lee to begin his own search for God. In his book The Case for Christ, he tells of his 2 years of intensive research that finally led him to receive Jesus as his Savior. With a law degree from Yale and an award-winning career in journalism at the Chicago Tribune, Lee had the ability to answer tough questions raised by unbelievers and cynics.

The change in his life also influenced their 5-year-old daughter Alison, who said, “Mommy, I want God to do for me what He’s done for Daddy.” Leslie’s faith created a ripple effect that changed the whole family.

This pattern of modeling or imitating is what Paul described in the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians. His example, along with that of Silas and Timothy, motivated the new believers in Thessalonica to imitate them (the word followers carries that idea). Then, as these new believers suffered for Christ with patience and endurance, they in turn became models to believers in Macedonia and Achaia, inspiring them to new levels of devotion.

Our example can be our most persuasive influence for Christ. Do others imitate us because we model Him? —HVL

Only one life, so live it well,

And keep your candle trimmed and bright;

Eternity, not time, will tell

The radius of that candle’s light. —Miller

The one who follows Christ leads the way for others.

In the spring of 2006 1,000 British Muslims were polled. The results were alarming:

• 28 percent wanted to see Great Britain become an Islamic state

• 68 percent held that Brits who insult Islam should be arrested & prosecuted

• 25 percent had either never heard of the Holocaust or contended it never happened

• 45 percent held that 9/11 was a conspiracy between the U.S. & Israel (another 35 percent said “don’t know”)

The objective of many Muslims is to Islamicize the world. When a person or a country stands in the way of Islam’s efforts, these regard it as a “war on Islam.” This does not mean all Muslims hate Christians. For over a thousand years there have been many friendships between Muslims and Christians. However, Muslims who have befriended Christians have disregarded the Koran in the process, since it prohibits such friendships (Q 5:51). So what are Christians to do? I would like to suggest three initial responses by evangelicals to Islam.

• Understand that we stand in the way of Islam intentionally. We believe that Islam is a religion that promotes false teachings about God. The Apostle Paul wrote, “But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a Gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!” (Galatians 1:8). Since Islam’s message differs fundamentally from the Gospel, it is clear what Paul taught regarding the fate of Muhammad and those who propagate Islam. A few years later Paul wrote, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). It is the responsibility of evangelical Christians to promote the Gospel of Christ to the exclusion of the core messages of other religions -- including Islam. In the eyes of Muslim Islamicists, this places evangelical Christians at war with Islam.

• Love Muslims! Jesus predicted the current dilemma. He warned that false prophets would come (Matthew 16:11-12) and that the day was likewise coming when religious zealots will kill Christians and think they are offering a service to God (John 16:2-4). It is natural to feel anger and hatred toward Muslims who want to kill us. On a national level, we can support politicians who are committed to hunting down and destroying terrorists, upholding free speech, and standing in the way of Muslim thugs who declare war on everything which does not allow Islam to dominate. On a personal level, Jesus tells us plainly what our response should be:

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.... If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ... But love your enemies, and do good ... and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men” (Luke 6:27-35).

Jesus calls us to a “holy war” -- the difference is that our holy war actually involves, well, holiness, and does not involve weapons and violence. These words of Jesus were not easy to hear for the early Christians who were persecuted and killed by Jewish and Roman authorities. It will not be easy for us either. However, this is a day when cooler heads must prevail and holiness is our goal.

• Know that God is bringing Muslims to Christ. A few years ago, Al-Jazeera reported that roughly six million Muslims are leaving Islam and becoming followers of Jesus every year in Africa. In 2005, roughly 250,000 Muslims converted to Christianity in Iran. Between 2003-2005, roughly one million Muslims converted to Christianity in Arab countries. Muslims are coming to Christ in North America, too, although not to the same extent as in Muslim countries. Ergun Caner came to North America in order to build Mosques and Islamicize the U.S. A persistent evangelical Christian led him to Christ. Ergun then led his entire family to Christ, with the exception of his father who disowned him. He is now the president of Liberty Theological Seminary and his brother Emir is the dean of The College of Southwestern.

Abdu Murray is an attorney in the Detroit area who became a Christian after wrestling with the preponderance of evidence in its favor. He is now active in sharing the Gospel with Muslims. Nabeel Qureshi was a committed Muslim whose father is a Muslim leader in Virginia. In 2005 Nabeel became a Christian. After being shaken by the evidence for the truth of Christianity, Nabeel traveled to Europe and Canada and met with Muslim leaders in search of answers to his questions. In both cases, he returned unsatisfied with the answers he was given. Wanting Islam to be true, Nabeel prayed that God would give him three dreams that would provide guidance. His prayer was answered. Against what Nabeel had hoped for, God confirmed the truth of Christianity to him. Nabeel is now in medical school and is simultaneously completing a master’s degree in Christian apologetics, and has already engaged in a public debate with a Muslim Imam.

In “Me and Becky,” Christian artist Chris Rice challenges believers to get out of their comfort zone. He sings about a girl who has a home on Abundant Life Blvd., butterflies in her yard and a fish on her car. She tears up in church and sings her harmonies loud. She reads her Bible, keeps a prayer journal, and is careful to give thanks before meals in restaurants. But is that enough?

There’s a world out there that we left behind

Full of souls as important as yours and mine.

Looks like a reckless road and a sacrifice

And I’m crazy scared it may cost our lives

But then I remember Jesus died

So come on Becky. Let’s go for a ride.

We may also remember Paul’s words: “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Now is the time for Christians to begin serious dialogue concerning how we may be used by God to get His glorious Gospel to Muslims in North America, a people whom God loves passionately.

Alexander Popov, senior pastor of Baptists in the Russian region of Udmurtia, isn’t in a hurry.

But he doesn’t waste time, either.

By his count, Popov has looked death squarely in the face at least 20 times. So he’s more aware than most that he lives on God’s time schedule, not his own. He makes the most of his time in reaching the Udmurt (OOD-mert) people.

In his younger years, the former geologist survived an airplane crash landing and a mine explosion. Twice he was saved from drowning; three times he escaped job-site electrocution. Once he was attacked by a bear in the woods. He nearly froze to death in the wilderness on another occasion. He drank some toxic homemade liquor that killed others, but he lived.

“Why am I still alive?” Popov started to ask himself.

An ethnic Russian, he was raised in a Baptist home in Udmurtia during the hard years of Communism. He read the Bible (smuggled from abroad) many times. “I knew every chapter, but I was an unbeliever,” he says. He was a scientist, an intellectual, a businessman. Yet for some reason he kept the Bible with him everywhere he traveled.

God answered his question with a dream: “He showed me myself, dead in a coffin. The grave didn’t have a bottom. That terrified me. God spoke to my heart and said, ‘This is your last chance.’”

Popov repented and experienced God’s grace and mercy through Christ. A breath of religious freedom was returning to the dying Soviet Union at the time, and Popov heard God’s call to bring the Word he now embraced to Udmurtia. Bible school and seminary followed.

He fulfills his call today by starting churches, mentoring younger Baptist leaders and having a passionate commitment to Bible distribution. Before Bibles were available in Udmurtia, he frequently made an 18-hour train trip to Moscow to buy them and bring them back.

His evangelistic work and Bible distribution efforts extend beyond Udmurtia as well. He takes several trips a year to Mongolia (six days by train) to spread the Word.

“I heard from some missionaries that there were 100 people in Mongolia to one Bible,” he says. “That gave me a desire to help. Bibles cost $5 apiece there, a huge sum for Mongolians. I started collecting money to buy Bibles for Mongolia. Russia went through a time when we didn’t have Bibles for believers.”

In Udmurtia, meanwhile, he has plenty of plans and dreams: befriending Orthodox priests who need encouragement (and Bibles), starting creative community evangelism projects that connect believers to searching people at all levels of society, multiplying churches, unifying Christians in a vision for outreach.

Above all, “He’s a man of prayer,” says Southern Baptist missionary Tim Wicker, a close friend. “When you’re in the office with him, you pray. When you get in the car, you pray. When you get there, you pray.”

When it comes to the Word, Wicker says, “Alexander doesn’t just talk about it, he lives it -– and God blesses it.”

Russell Garbett got mixed up with drugs and alcohol as a teenager. “It was marijuana, LSD — whatever I could get and I was abusing alcohol too,” he says. What started out as youthful experimentation quickly deteriorated into serious abuse. Apart from using, Russell also sold addictive substances to other people.

His drug use became a crutch he relied on to cope with his own problems. The addiction destroyed his defacto relationship, with his partner and daughter moving overseas. Russell slipped into a state of depression and entertained thoughts of suicide.

Realizing through the fog that he had to do something to turn his life around, Russell packed up his belongings and sought relief in a new place — what he calls “a geographical.”

“I had had enough of life as it was and wanted to change things for the better,” he recalls. He found his way to Christchurch, New Zealand, but despite the new environment his addictions would not go away.

Having heard about the work of The Salvation Army in helping people to overcome their addictions, Russell entered the Bridge Program. The 12-week residential course was a mix of educational classes, adventure activities and a positive environment away from alcohol and drugs. “It was a life-changing experience,” he says. “It showed me that there was another way of life that didn’t depend on artificial substances.” Pleased to have gotten the better of his addictions, Russell is however cautious about saying he is cured. Instead, he likens his situation to having a disease that is in remission.

After completing the program, Russell embraced Christianity and became an active member of The Salvation Army. He later met his wife, Kathie, on a leadership training course in Wellington. After a number of years working as lay members of the church, Russell and Kathie embarked on two years of officer training, emerging as ordained ministers. They are now in their second year [as of 2004] of ministry work in the rural township of Matamata.

Russell, now Captain Garbett, says that his own experiences with addiction are proving invaluable in helping to guide others towards a more positive path. “My experience gives me a certain amount of empathy for those struggling with alcohol and drugs.”

His pastoral work among the local community includes counseling people as they adjust to and overcome crises such as the loss of loved ones, marriage breakups and children going astray. He also refers people to other Salvation Army agencies.

“The Salvation Army helped turn my life around, so it’s great to give something back by helping others in need,” he says.

Dr. Seamands tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. “Some of his friends asked him, ‘Why have you become a Christian?’ He answered, ‘Well, it's like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go, and there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one alive -- which one would you ask which way to go?’”

Just as there are physical laws that govern the physical universe, so are there spiritual laws which govern your relationship with God.

1. God LOVES you and offers a wonderful PLAN for your life.

(References contained on this page are from the Bible and should be read in context wherever possible.)

GOD’S LOVE

“God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).

GOD’S PLAN

[Christ speaking] “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” [that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).

Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abundant life?

Because...

2. Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for his life.

MAN IS SINFUL

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin.

MAN IS SEPARATED

“The wages of sin is death” [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).

HOLY GOD // SINFUL MAN

This diagram illustrates that God is holy and man is sinful. A great gulf separates the two. The arrows illustrate that a man is continually trying to reach God and the abundant life through his own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion - but he inevitably fails.

The third law explains the only way to bridge this gulf...

3. Jesus Christ is God’s ONLY provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.

HE DIED IN OUR PLACE

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD

“Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred...” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’” (John 14:6).

GOD >> JESUS

This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf which separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.

It is not enough just to know these three laws...

4. We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.

WE MUST RECEIVE CHRIST

“As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).

WE RECEIVE CHRIST THROUGH FAITH

“By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

WHEN WE RECEIVE CHRIST, WE EXPERIENCE A NEW BIRTH

(Read John 3:1-8)

WE RECEIVE CHRIST BY PERSONAL INVITATION

[Christ speaking] “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation 3:20).

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

These two circles represent two kinds of lives:

(SELF) Cross

1. The Self-directed life

Self is on the throne. Interests are directed by self, resulting in discord and frustration. Christ is outside the person’s life.

(SELF + Cross)

2. The Christ-directed life

Christ is on the throne. Self is yielding to Christ. Interests are directed by Christ, resulting in harmony with God’s plan.

Which circle best describes your life?

Which circle would you like to have represent your life?

The following explains how you can receive Christ:

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer:

(Prayer is talking to God)

God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my

sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior

and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal

life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind

of person You want me to be.”

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, I invite you to pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

Did you pray this prayer?

”… God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions … “ (Ephesians 2:4-5)

A Hindu once said in my presence: “A man may change his acts but not his character.” He was saying that a change is possible, but not a vertical change; there can be improvement, modification, a change of attitude, but no deep radical change. The Christian church is not without a sprinkling of what yesterday I called “horizontal” conversions.

Many historians have called attention to the fact that when Christianity swept through Europe, there were many genuine conversions to Christ but many horizontal ones too – people taking the Name of Christ for political or economic expediency. They were converted horizontally but still in need of a vertical conversion.

When I was about fourteen years of age I was “horizontally” converted. I was a mischievous young man, and one day in church I made up my mind to be “a good boy.” I tried hard to give up such things as swearing, stealing, and so on, but it didn’t last. Although I felt religious, there was no great inward change. On a horizontal level I was converted, but not in relation to God.

About a year later, sitting in the same church and under deep conviction of sin, I made a complete and total surrender to God. I was vertically converted. I walked out of that church feeling as if I had been turned inside out. From that moment my life was changed, old habits began to disappear, and my whole being was flooded with light. I tell you with all the conviction of my being, the vertical was much different than the horizontal.

PRAYER: O God, help us not to be converted to the things surrounding Christ – religious rituals for example – but to Christ Himself. For if we don’t touch Him we don’t touch life, and there will be no deep inward change. In His dear Name we ask it. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

Titus 3:1-5; Ezekiel 36:26; John 3:3-7; 1 1 Peter 1:23

1. How is the change in a person described?

2. How is it accomplished?

“… they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad.” (Acts 15:3)

Salvation is the word Christians use to describe the experience of sins being forgiven and receiving the gift of eternal life. Conversion is the word to describe the way we enter into that experience. Other religions also use the word conversion, but usually what they mean by it is the act of changing from one religion to another. Nothing is known of a deep inward spiritual change, which is what happens in the Christian faith when we are saved or converted.

In the book Mirrors of Downing Street the author finishes the characterization of Winston Churchill, one of Britain’s most famous prime ministers: “General Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once told Mr. Churchill that he stood in need of conversion. That old man was a notable judge of character.”

But Winston Churchill was not alone in his need of conversion. Everyone, says Scripture, has to experience it in order to enter into the kingdom of God.

Sometimes non-Christian religions use the word conversion to describe a change of attitude in one of their adherents, but the change is always on the horizontal level rather than a vertical one. By a change “on the horizontal” I mean a change on the human level, a change of thinking or approach, but not a change in relation to God – the vertical level. In Madras once, I read in a local newspaper about a group of Hindus who were ready to fight a court case over the conversion to Islam of a hotel maid. That was a horizontal conversion.

The Bible knows nothing of horizontal conversions. Conversion in Scripture is always vertical.

PRAYER: O God my Father, is there anything more wonderful in heaven or earth than to be vertically converted – changed by You? I know of nothing. I can do no other than gratefully accept. And am I grateful? I most surely am. Thank You, my Father. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

John 15:19-24; 3:17-18; Romans 8:1

1. How does Jesus describe conversion?

2. What does this remove?