More on the subject of the “casual Christian”

I also have been seeing the words “casual Christian” around latley. Today I received an e-mail from Andrew Strom at http://www.revivalschool.com that has to do with the subject.
It is written by Darren Smith who is the founder of Streetscape Ministries,
an awesome ministry to the homeless seeing miracles on the streets
in Galveston, Texas.

IS THERE Any SUCH THING AS a CASUAL CHRISTIAN??
-by Darren Smith.

Is there any such thing as a casual Christian? I have heard this
term a lot in recent times and to tell you the truth it makes me sick.
But, as I have thought about this subject and spent time looking
around at the body as a whole, I venture to say for the most part
it is true of most of the church today. Before you get angry and
stop reading, please hear me out. How many believers do you
know that are really sold out for Christ? When I say this I mean
that Christ is the central focus of their life. I mean a person that
has died to self and relies on Christ for his substance, willing to
sacrifice even to the point of their well being, to serve the Lord.

For a long time we have heard sermon after sermon on giving 10%
to the church and yet from the modern church accounts, only 30%
of the people give 10%. This is sad but considering that most of
that doesn’t go to do the work of the ministry, its not surprising. I’m
not teaching on the tithe system, I’m using this as an example on
the casual attitude of believers. But I want to take it much deeper
than this and ask some very hard questions. How much of your
time do you give to the Lord? Do you spend more time on you
than you do the Lord? More on entertainment or hobbies than
service to the Lord?

Many times people tell us that we would love to come and help you
guys in the street but we are just so busy we simply can not find
the time. I wonder if they ever stop to think that we have to sacrifice
and make time ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining,
the Lord blesses us and I wouldn’t be anywhere else, but it requires
sacrifice for us to be here as well. I want you to see that if you are
willing to serve, God will bless you. We have people all the time
say, “I have never seen God’s power and grace like this in my life.”
Many of these guys have been in church all their life and have never
ministered to anyone.

Another response we get is, “I’m not called to do that type of ministry.”
Oh, really? I believe we are all called to take the Gospel to the
world, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and to take care of
the widows and orphans. To be able to put off these things places
you in the casual realm. Many will go to church once a week and
then go right out and serve themselves all week without doing
anything for the Lord. Trust me, “I didn’t have time” will not help
them when they stand before the Lord.

What makes this so sad is that many of them will never hear a
message on repentance and total commitment to the Lord because
this type message is not popular in the modern church. It doesn’t
fill the offering plate or the seats. Instead we hear funny stories
and jokes from the pulpit as well as humanistic teaching on self-
help and prosperity. This system has created the casual Christian
which is no Christian at all. So many have been converted to a
false religion of self and greed and what is worse, they think they
are fine because everyone they know is a casual Christian as well.

When they come in contact with a sold out believer, it makes them
uncomfortable. When they hear a repentance message they label
it extreme and harsh. These same casual Christians see the world
going to hell around them and are not affected at all. The thought
of sacrifice is foreign to them. Material wealth is equated with
blessings from the Lord – after all, many pulpits teach this for self
enrichment – so in their mind it’s OK.

The reason I write this is for an awakening. We all must look into
our heart and see if we are sold out to the Lord. We all have areas
we can improve and should! We must get this type of word out
and the body must mobilize for the battle. We all will have to
sacrifice, but we were not put here to live our best life now – our
best life is yet to come when the Lord returns. I know this is very
convicting, but it must be said. We must repent and give our whole
life to the Lord and that means everything, all of us, everything we
are and all we could ever become – we must give it all to the Lord.

So I ask you again, is there any such thing as a casual Christian,
or maybe more important, are you a casual Christian?

-Darren Smith

http://www.streetscapeministries.com/

It’s a mess out there!

Don’t be fooled into thinking that many are on their way to heaven. Jesus said that “few there be that find it” and I can see what he meant.

Based on the percentage of what I see and hear out there, few are on their way. What can I base this on?

Well, I can base it on Jesus and their receptivity to him. He is the one that I share out on the streets. Many snub their nose up at the mention of His name. Many laugh and make fun at Him. Most don’t take it serious. Occasionally, one will smile and make some kind of positive jester.

And of course, the demons rise up every so often. The very mention of the name Jesus brings out the demons. The mention of God usually doesn’t stir up much. But Jesus, that’s a different story.

One brother that I met this week was not convinced that we could know for sure what was God’s plan and purpose for us personally while here on the earth. He believed that we could only go on “I think I know”, but not with certainly. This kind of mentality is why we don’t see things happening as we should out there. The Kingdom of God would be happening on the earth if each believer would seek Him and find out what they were created to do on the earth. But, most are doing their will on the earth, not The Fathers.

And there is something that has never ceased to amaze me. And that is when Jesus is being preached, along comes sister or brother so and so, and they want to stop the preaching and add their two bits to it or correct you. Whatever happened to common courtesy? Or how about letting the message go forth and standing back and praying? You think? (praise God there are those who do, behind the scenes).

Of late, I am running across more and more people that have once walked with Christ, and now have taken up with some far out teaching or religion. His Spirit helps me to remind them that they have knowledge of Christ and will be held responsible for that knowledge.

However, we press on and count it a great privilege to be able to share Jesus out in the open. The good thing is that there will be no excuse on the day when they stand before God alone. They will have had lots of opportunities to hear about Christ. This is His mercy, giving them opportunity time and time again to turn.

If Jesus is truly Lord of your life, then you will be taking every opportunity to share him. If you are obeying His commandment to “love your neighbor as you love yourself” than you will not be stuck on having your own salvation, but will reach out in love to help your neighbor obtain salvation through Jesus. Neighbor means anyone close to you.

One thing I know for sure, and that is that time is short. The harvest is ripe. The labourers are few based on the amount of unsaved people out there. Staying in the church building won’t get the job done. In fact, I don’t see where trying to get them to come to church is the answer. What did Jesus do? He went out.

Understanding the Homeless and Christ also

Lest we forget, remember that Christ was homeless also.

Over the past few years, I have come to a better understanding of the homeless. A good number of my friends are homeless. Like anything else in life, we can’t understand one who is homeless, unless we spend some quality time with them. We have no right to judge them. Why? Because we do not know them and have not listened to their story.

Each one is different and unique. Not all have fallen into addictions that have put them where they are. In all fairness, addictions have led most down the road to homelessness. However, if we are not careful we judge and stop there. I have spent time with some that have not fallen into addictions.

Even if most of the homeless are bound in addictions, what makes them worse off than those who are bound also, but are not homeless? Society and most of the church going, tell us that if we don’t have a job, a car, a home, something is desperately wrong with us. Who set those standards?

How about the person who works 50 to 60 hours a week and cheats on his or her spouse? Or the guy on the 14th floor who is severely addicted to crack? What makes him or her any different than one who is homeless?

Most tend to classify people. God’s word says that, “man looks on the outside appearance, but God looks on the heart”.
After listening to many homeless people over the years, I have found that some have, some of the deepest spiritual insight that one could find.

Part of this, I believe, is that they have walked a road that allows understanding into things that most of us have no clue. Living on the streets gives one a different understanding into life. They rub shoulders with people of all backgrounds, all problems, all kinds of suffering, all kinds of sickness etc. They are far from living life in a “glass bubble”. They experiance real life where the rubber meets the road.

I think there was one who also lived that way? Was his name Jesus?

In closing, I have a suggestion for those who may be reading this and wondering what it must be like to be homeless. You may be trying to understand them, but don’t know where to start.
Suggestion:
Grab a brother or sister, and make up some sandwiches and throw in some homemade cookies (they hardly ever get the real homemade stuff). Head off to the city and pray as to where to go. As you hit the sidewalk,(the open air) ask The Holy Spirit to lead you to someone who is truly homeless and would be willing to share with you. When you find them, sit down (literally) next to them. Give them a sandwich, smile and let God go from there.

Now this is “HUGE”. LISTEN TO THEM!

If it is silent for a period of time. Ask the Spirit as to what to say. Don’t be in a hurry! Ask the Spirit to open your ears and calm your mind. God will bless him or her, and you both. You will walk away with a new understanding on life. Spiritually, you will be enriched.

God bless you as you began to understand the homeless. And not only the “homeless”, but Christ also.

Sin renders us powerless

As believers, unconfessed and unforsaken sin in our lives limits the power of God flowing through us.
From personal testimony, I have found this to be without a doubt true.
Not only does sin limit the power, but also the blessings of God. Both cannot flow when known sin is present.
We will stay retarded/stunted in our growth. We will only be able to go so far and not advance to the next level, so to speak.
God who is faithful, will hand us a flashlight from time to time and ask us to go to the far corners of the dark closet and locate that hidden sin. It’s in the dark closet because no one else knows about it.

As we all know, Satan does not want us to have the power of God operating in our lives. He wants to take the power from us and thus “render us powerless”. How does he do it? He takes the power through sin. Sin limits the power of God. Satan knows the effect of God’s power in our lives. Power to further God’s Kingdom here on the earth.

Satan continues to present sin to us. Temptation to sin has always been here and always will be while we are on this earth. We as children of The Most High are to resist temptation to sin through God’s grace and strenght. And of course, The Blood. We can’t do it on our own, that’s for sure. But through Him, it is possible.

So the question is, do we want to advance? Do we want the continued power of God in our lives? Do we want to turn the world upside down for Christ? Or are we contented to stay where we are? The choice is up to us. How bad do we want it?

Church on the bus!

Four black brothers got on the bus ahead of me. Three of them sat in the back. The other sat a few seats up. I sat in my usual side seat in the back.

I thought the usual, this is going to be good or not. As the bus left, I watched and listened. After about five minutes, I pulled out a tract and handed it to the guy who was closest to me. He took it. Then I got out two more and handed them to the other guys.

THEN CHURCH BROKE OUT!!!!!

The guy in the middle shouted out, “It’s the only way to get to heaven”.(this was in response to my tract that says, “Why do you need Jesus?”)
I said Amen!

Then all three guys began to share out loud (now I mean loud, loud enough for everyone on the bus to hear, including the bus driver)
The guy in the middle was sharing that Jesus is the only way to the Father. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. (one of my favorites)

Then all three of these guys began to get real pumped up. The back of the bus was alive with the Spirit of God. One would preach, then the other. Scripture was flowing all through out the bus. There was probably eight to ten more people on the bus. No one, including the driver tried to stop “the service”. All that were there had no choice but to hear The Word for the next 20 to 25 minutes.

There was rejoicing like I haven’t seen in years. Truth was being poured out all over the bus. It was truly an awesome sight to behold!

The other brother that had sat up a few seats, was turning around and smiling. Finally he stands up and comes back to join us. Then he begins to share some spirit filled poetry out loud. We all could barely keep our seats. The guy in the back middle seat, had one leg on the seat, the other on the floor. Still no one tried to stop what God was doing on the bus.

The brother that came to the back, had to get off at the next stop. So we gave him “knuckles”, and off he went.

Two stops later, it was my turn to depart. I didn’t want to. This was so rich. I have had numerous “church” gatherings on buses, trains, street corners etc, but this was special. Just like God, so spontaneous.

I am a firm believer in that “church” is “wherever two or three are gathered in His name”. It doesn’t have to be in a “church building”. It can be in a home, a mall, a car, on a street corner etc, or even ON A BUS.

Beware lest you be deceived

My heart is heavy tonight with the thought of how easily we can be deceived.
We who are still in The Way, no doubt have known those who once walked with God and now walk no more. Or in some cases, now all they do is profess to still know Him, but their actions prove a different story.

It doesn’t matter how long you have been saved. It doesn’t matter if you have “boat loads” of knowledge. The bottom line is that you or I can be deceived.(period)
“Our adversary (Satan) walks around like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour” (1Pet.5:8).
If he can come to Eve in the garden (the perfect place), and come to one who knew no sin, don’t think for one minute that he can’t come to you and that you cannot be deceived.

We have all heard this before, “The problem with being deceived, is that you don’t know that you are”. It’s crafty, just like the one who uses it all the time.

Deception starts slowly. It comes to change our thinking, one thought at a time. After many thoughts are thought on and believed, we are led down a road of deception that keeps growing and before long we could even say, “Well, I don’t know about all that Jesus stuff.” “I think now that there has got to be some other ways also.” “After all, God is so much bigger than all that narrow mindedness stuff.”
“And the Bible? Well, I don’t think that was the only book.” “After all it was written by men.” “And don’t forget, it has been re-translated so many times, how could we began to believe everything that is in it.”

Hard to believe, isn’t it? But it happens all the time. I, like many, have run across people who once walked with Christ but now are “Muslims”, “Buddhists”, “New Age followers” etc. They might not have intended to become one of these followers in the begining, but now they are deceived into thinking that it is OK, and that they are on their way to heaven.

Don’t think for one minute that many of them didn’t have a deep relationship at one time with God, because they did. But now they have been so far removed from The Truth through deception, they think that they are heading down the right path. Down is correct, but not right.

Satan plants doubts first, then deception is it’s outcome.
Let’s take a look at Eve in the garden.
“The serpent (Satan) was more cunning (crafty) than any of the beast that God made”
Don’t think for one moment that Satan is not so. He is the master of “cunningness”. He is sly and slick.
Satan said to Eve, “Oh come on, has God really said that? “That you cannot eat of every tree of the garden?” I could hear him continue on…
Come on Eve, you don’t believe that do you? He kept pushing the buttons of doubt intil she became deceived.

Then Satan said to the women (Eve), “you will not surely die” Come on Eve, you can’t believe that one can you? What, eat the fruit then die! Just how gullible are you Eve? The doubts just kept coming. And it’s the same today in 2009. They just keep on coming, the seeds of doubt.

Another thing to be on the look out for, is that deception could be coming through another person or persons. Satan is just like God, in that he uses people all the time. “Sheep’s in wolves clothing” They appear pretty nice and attractive on the outside, but on the inside, they are raging wolves filled with deceit.

They can come to us through people who are close to us. Our co-workers, neighbors, friends and the like. And the deceiving thing is, that they have appeared to us all along that they were believers. “Oh they are good people” “I trust them” “He or she is so kind”

Little do we know that they could be, “false apostles, deceitful workers (there you have it), transforming themselves into apostles of Christ” (2Cor.11:13) Satan is in the transforming business. Didn’t you know that? Why, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (vs.14)
It goes on and talks about Satan’s ministers in verse 15.

Can you see how powerful deception can be?

The Apostle Paul writing to the church at Corinth says, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2Cor.11:2-3)

See Satan wants to deceive us through our minds. He wants to get us to think that the simple Gospel of Christ is a bunch of bologne. There are other ways to God also. Don’t be so narrow minded, he would say.

“For if he (the person or person’s that Satan sends your way) preaches (talks about) another Jesus (or way) whom we have not preached,(or heard about) or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received,” (vs.4)

See, I want to stop right here and mention what we need to be on guard for and aware of. We could receive from Satan another spirit through the influence of another person. We could become so deceived that we will not even know it. That’s deception.

Continuing on with verse four, “or a different gospel which you have not accepted – you may well put up with it!” (2Cor.11:4)
Deceptive. Deceived into accepting another gospel. Before long your buying into it. All the words, all the charm, all the seduction, bought without any consideration. You have been deceived.

What’s the prevention? How can we prevent this happening to us? We must stay in the Vine. We must be found daily with Christ. And to that, minute by minute. We must pray and be on our guard. We must fight hard in this battle. We dare not let a day go by without feeding on His Word. The Holy fear of God must be upon us daily. We must have fellowship with Him and with other’s in His body. If the only people you see, day in and day out, are unbelievers and you very rarely spend time with followers of Christ, your in trouble.

In closing, we also need to be very careful about who we receive counsel from. If it doesn’t line up with God’s word, you best run for your life. The deceiver could be at work.
Also, the devil loves to use the opposite sex to get us to listen. BEWARE! We must be on guard! Don’t give place to the devil! By God’s grace we must not let our guard down.
“Close to Him I must stay”
“I know of no other way”
“For He is The Truth”
“The Life and The Way”
“Jesus Christ my Lord”
“And my Saviour”
Amen

Warning! Take inventory with Christ!

This morning my heart was stirred with the need to warn the Body of Christ, that they need to take inventory of their own relationship with Christ.

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip”(or drift away from them).
“For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;” (Heb.2:1:3)

The words, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;”. This rings in my spirit because, hardly a day goes by when I am out and about when I hear people all around saying that there is many ways to God. This “great salvation” is Jesus Christ! None other! “No other name that we can be saved by”

It is high time that we wake up ourselves and take inventory of Christ in us. Do we believe 100% that Christ is “The Truth?” Do we believe in what He said in John 14:6? that “no man comes to the Father, except through me?”

Do you know that the Muslim religion is the fastest growing religion in the world? Do you believe that it is false?
I believe that the greatest persecution to the true church in the near future is going to come from the Muslims.

Don’t think for one minute that it is not working on those around you. Those at work, your neighbors, your family etc. because it is. It’s high time to wake up and get out of your “church box”, and take a look around.

I have a lady at work who once walked with Christ, now she is a Muslim. She wares the head scarf the whole time. She is a white women.

Last week the Lord led me to a young girl, about 16 or 17. She was talking about the “Quran” and trying to convince me as to what it said.
The young generations are buying into it as “truth”.

A few weeks ago, I was sharing Christ as The Only Way, and a man started shouting “Allah is the way”. This went on for about five minutes intil I move on.

False ways to God are growing everyday. Our “tolerant” motto here in America is even effecting believers in Christ. It is causing them to keep quiet everywhere they go. “Oh we don’t want to offend other’s” “We need to accept all religions” “Be tolerant of everything”

Well guess what. The devil is working overtime on believers. He is getting them to consider the worlds ways and teachings. It is having a bigger influence on us than we care to consider.

It’s WAKE UP TIME!

Those of us who believe in Christ and teach that He is The Only Way to The Father, need to stand up and be counted for. Start speaking “The Truth in love”.

Guess what? The Truth will offend. There is no way to escape it. Take a look at Christ’s life here on earth. Did he offend people with his teaching of The Truth? Sure he did.

It’s not that we set out in a given day to offend people. No. But if we share Christ and share that He is the only way to The Father, believe me the devils will rise up in people if you do.

I see it all the time when I am on a street corner preaching Christ. Just last week, I was sharing Christ and The Spirit was really moving, people were listening, there was a holy hush in the air, even though it was busy and people were at lunch rushing here and there. All of a sudden, this man stops across the street on his bicycle and starts yelling at me. Of course, I didn’t stop. Soon off he went, in the name of Jesus.

So let us take inventory of our own lives. Is Christ number one? Do I believe that he is the “Messiah?” Do I believe all that the scriptures say about Him? Or do I have doubt? Do I doubt His Word? Is it the Word of God? Or are other books just as good, just as inspired?

Because of what’s coming upon the earth in the near future, we best get closer to Christ and his teachings. If not, we too will “slip away” into some other teaching and begin to believe that there are other ways. You can count on it, if you do.

May God help us all

Sharing the Gospel with the pope

As I looked out the window, there he was. I could not believe my eyes.

I was headed out to an area that I had not been to for a while. It is a popular part of town, especially for the younger crowd.

The bus was making it’s usual stops along this road that leads to this district that I was headed to. At this one stop, I looked out the window, and there the pope stood with his tall headdress(mitre) on. He also was holding on to his staff with it’s cross on it.

As I watched him get on the bus, he started to sit up towards the front, but his eyes caught mine as I was bending over to get a better look at him down the aisle. He turned and headed back to where I was sitting at the back of the bus. We smiled at each other and began to talk right away.

We talked for awhile, then I handed him a “Why do you need Jesus” tract. As he took it, he smiled and said “now I get it”. This is why I came to the back of the bus.

He shared how he had went to “Catholic School” when he was a kid and also church. He talked a lot about how he was raised etc. I told him how it was not about “Religion” and all of man’s ways. I shared about how Christ was the Way to The Father. Not Religion, nor church. He agreed, which really surprised me. We had one awesome visit. I can’t remember the last time I shared with the pope.

And now “The rest of the story”.
Remember when I said that when he had first came to the back of the bus, “we talked”? At that time, I noticed that he had a Portland Trail Blazers jersey on. Come to find out, he said that he was “The Blazers Pope”. He had just spent all night camping out for play-off tickets. He had scored tickets for the first two games at home as was very happy.

Through it all, I had one awesome opportunity to share Christ with this guy. He listened well and I am believing that good seed was planted that day.

This all happened in the city that has signs everywhere that say, “Keep Portland weird”. I am blessed to be a part of what God is doing here in his Kingdom. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, no way.

The message of Faith

“So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.” (Rom.10:17)
What is this message of faith?
“What it says is this: God’s message is near you, on your lips and in your heart – that is, the message of faith that we preach. If you will confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved.”
“For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved”. (Rom.10:8-10)
“Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved”.(10:13)

But wait we have a problem!

“But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed?”(vs.14) Good question, is it not?
“And how can they believe if they have not heard the message?”(vs.14) Better question?
“And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed?”(vs14) Message not being preached?

Well, what about this?

“And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out?” (vs.15)

Herein lies the problem. Are preachers being sent out to proclaim the message of Christ?

We have Mormon boys and girls out there proclaiming “Mormonism”.
We have Jehovah witnesses knocking on the doors proclaiming “the kingdom”.

Where are the preachers out there being sent out to proclaim The Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Not church, not religion, but Jesus Christ!

“So then faith comes from hearing the message, (the Gospel of Christ) and the message comes through preaching Christ” (vs.17)

May many answer the call to go out there and preach Christ.
God bless you all.

Evidence of change

Sometimes change in ones life is gradual but it is indeed change. So it is with this young guy that we have been working with over the course of the last six months. Originally when we met him, he was far away from God and did not mind telling us so.

He was raised in a Christian home. His dad is a minister. So it is with some of the young people out there today. He is not the first we have met. For what ever reason besides rebellion, they have decided to check out of typical church and religion. They don’t want the usual status quo that comes with organized religion.

In one since, I can’t blame them. I do tell them that it is not all about “church and religion”. It’s more than that, a whole lot more. They are not interested in going through the motions of playing church. They want the real deal. If God is real, show me. Let’s see the power of God, they would say.

I believe the day is coming soon when many young people are going to be coming to God through Christ. I’m afraid it might be in a way that most are not familiar with. Could it come in a way that has never been seen before? Unusual ways, with unusual people? God truly only knows.

We are seeing some get on board, glory to God. However, until the church in the four walls begins to open it’s doors to all types of people and also get out to the people on a regular basis, it will remain stuck within the walls of religion. Also, some other good advise would be to minister to them right where they are at. Don’t just invite them to church, do some ministering on your own. Pray with them. Befriend them. Love on them right there. They may already have a church that is close by them, that’s OK. It is not all about numbers or bringing them to church.

Back to our brother who is soon going to get on track with God. Today, I walked into the coffee shop where he works and said hello. Just Hi, and asked him how he was doing. Nothing more. After about a half an hour he stopped by the corner where James and I were ministering. Now, he could have taken another route once he left work. There were several ways he could have gone to avoid us. But, praise God he didn’t and came right over to me as James was preaching.

He asked about James preaching. He asked if we were seeing any good things happening from his preaching. I assured him that if he would stay for awhile he would see. It wasn’t long before a whole group of young kids showed up to wait for the bus. As they waited, most listened, they got to hear The Gospel (these where kids around 8-10). James brought it right down to their level. Our friend smiled. He knew what was going on then. Who knows, it might have brought back memories when he was with God and his family.

He began to ask questions regarding his relationship with God. I could immediately tell that he was seeking after God. The beautiful thing was that he was now opening up to God. Where as before, it was obvious that he was running.

God can do something if their hearts are not shut and He is indeed drawing them. This is the case with Steve (not his real name, to protect the guilty). I am believing, that as we continue to pray for him (I’m sure there are family members that have been praying a lot longer than us) he will turn back to God.

All to the glory to God!