“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would strongly be tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

It’s not easy, it does cause us to get uncomfortable, people will think you are crazy and following the command of Christ will create tension at times…

Nonetheless we are still called and empowered to do this!

So, today I hope you will take a little time to read Acts 8:4-8 and then Acts 8:26-40 and let’s think about six things together…

#1 – Evangelism Is The Proclamation of Jesus Christ–PERIOD!  (Acts 8:4-8)

One of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard in my life is, “preach the Gospel all of the time and, when necessary, use words!”  DUMB!!!!

Because…GOD SAID in Romans 10:14-17 its through THE WORD that people are saved.

Listen, good deeds are never a bad thing…but please don’t try to convince me that cutting someone’s grass or paying for their coffee is evangelism…it’s NOT!  The BIBLICAL definition of evangelism is when we PROCLAIM CHRIST…and unfortunately a cowardly church culture has turned it into a whole lot of things that Jesus never intended for it to be.  The Bible says in Acts 8:5 that Phillip proclaimed CHRIST…Acts 4:12 says there is no other name by which we must be saved…I Timothy 2:5 says there is ONE mediator and we’ve been commissioned and commanded by Jesus with this calling/responsibility!  (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:45-48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, II Corinthians 5:17-21!)

#2 – Evangelism Will Disrupt Our “Normal” Routine!

In Acts 8:4-8 Phillip is declaring Christ to the masses…but notice in Acts 8:26 God specifically speaks to His heart and leads him in a different direction.  One of the things we’ve GOT to do is beg God to disrupt our “normal” routine and make ourselves available to do whatever He wants us to do.  (I HIGHLY recommend “Just Walk Across The Room” by Bill Hybels, the BEST book I’ve ever read on the subject of Evangelism!)

#3 – God Is Preparing The Hearts Of The People He Is Prompting Us To Share Christ With!

Check out Acts 8:27-28, the reason God sent Phillip down this road is that He was working on the heart of a man who desperately needed Him!  Please understand that we NEVER know what God may be doing in someone else’s life.  They may portray that they have it all together and they are not interested…but you never know what God is doing in their heart.  If God is prompting you to share Christ with someone then He has gone ahead of you and is preparing them as well!!!

#4 – Be Normal!

Please notice in Acts 8:29-30 that Phillip did not say, “Hello hell bound sinner, did you know that unless you repent of your sin and give your life to Jesus you are going to fry like bacon in a devil’s hell?”  He did not scream, yell, hold up signs…

He simply listened to the Spirit, ran up to the chariot (it does take effort) and asked a simply question, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

It’s amazing the opportunities that God puts in front of us every single day…and when we see them and embrace them we simply need to be normal, engage them in conversation and communicate that we are interested in them.

#5 – Evangelism Must Come Back Around To A Conversation About Christ.

I said it in point one…I will say it here…we are called to PROCLAIM CHRIST!!!  Notice in Acts 8:31-35 that Phillip began where the eunuch was and brought the conversation back around to JESUS!  It HAS TO come back to Christ…we can’t allow the conversation to get sidetracked with political and sociological issues…no one EVER surrendered their lives to Christ because they had all of their questions answered!!!  Always bring it around to JESUS!!!

PLEASE understand this…if Phillip had simply said, “I am not going to share Christ with him…I’m just going to buy him a cup of coffee and give him a warm smile” then we would have had nothing more than a story about a caffeinated eunuch who felt good about himself for a moment but NEVER HEARD ABOUT JESUS!!!  BAD STORY!!!

#6 – Evangelism Isn’t A One Time Deal.

Notice Acts 8:36-40 (one of the coolest sections in the Bible…God literally teleports someone!!!)  The eunuch receives Christ, is baptized and then God moves Phillip some where else to KEEP proclaiming Christ.  We are NEVER done with this…God has strategically placed each one of us in places of work, in neighborhoods and in certain social situations NOT for our comfort…but rather He placed us there with specific relationships so that we can literally tell others about Jesus!!!  It’s NOT a one time deal…it’s a core value that we must embrace in our lives if we are going to follow Christ!!!

ONE MORE THING…

• Here is a message I preached in the “I Love My Church” series on the subject of “Found People Find People.”
• Here is a message I preached entitled, “Hosanna” about the need to go GET people and BRING them to church.
• Here is a two hour evangelism seminar I taught last year explaining WHY we should share the GOSPEL and HOW TO DO IT!!!

Can’t wait for Sunday!

(I took my dad to lunch back in about 2002 because I was incredibly burdened for him and wanted to know that he knew Christ…and he told me the following.)

My mom and dad had a very rocky relationship…and then I was born (when my mom was 39 and my dad was 38!)  When I was about two years old my mother decided to begin going to church and taking me (thank God for godly mothers!!!)  My dad decided to do the typical male thing and send us to church while he did more important things…like sit at home!  :-)

One evening he got home from work and poured himself a drink (he told me he was a very heavy drinker at the time) and sat down in the living room…and after doing so my mother informed him that the pastor and a deacon from the church she had been visiting were going to come by for a visit.

My dad lost it!  He told me, “Perry, I cussed your mother out and told her that I didn’t want a damn preacher in my house.”  BUT…he didn’t forbid it, he simply told her that he would allow it to take place this one time…but it was to never happen again.

The preacher and the deacon showed up and sat down in the living room to chat.  (I don’t even know the name of the church…all I know is that it was a Baptist church somewhere in Whittier, CA where I was born and we were living at the time.)  My father told me that the preacher shared the Gospel with him and my mother…and that on that evening both my dad and my mom received Christ.  (I can still see his face as he shared this story with me!)  Within several weeks they both went public through baptism…and although I do not remember it he told me that I was on the front row of the church when they were baptized.

I’ve got to be honest…my father did not always follow Christ; in fact, when we moved back to SC (when I was four) he became involved in a church and because of a very unfortunate incident in the church walked away.  (I am more convinced than ever before that when someone walks away from church it is impossible for them to maintain an intimate walk with Jesus!)  As I reflect on his life I can now see the pain, struggle, and conviction that he wrestled with during those times.

When I began NewSpring Church in 2000 my dad was there…and when we went to two services he would attend both.  One of the privileges I had as a pastor was being my dads pastor…and I literally saw a prodigal son come home the last few years his mind was right.

So…today, as I’ve said before, there is an amazing sense of peace and joy because I know He is in heaven.  And…I know NOT because I assumed but because I really did care enough to ask.

Anyone in your life that you are unsure of?  I would challenge you with the hard truth that praying for them is easy…if you want to know…ask them!

Thank you for allowing me to wrestle with my struggles this week on this website.  It has been awesome to write out my thoughts and I appreciate you all taking this journey with me.

#1 – Something was lost.  (We live in a world that is lost, without hope because they do not know Christ.)

#2 – A passive attitude was NOT taken towards what was lost.  In fact, in two of the three stories an all out search took place…and in the third the father was watching for his lost son to come home.  As followers of Jesus what is important to Him MUST be important to us…and Luke 19:10 tells us why He came.  We CANNOT be passive towards people who are far from God.  (Read II Corinthians 5:16-21)

#3 – When what was lost was found a party/celebration took place.  When people receive Christ the church should absolutely LOSE THEIR MINDS!  Someone literally crossed over from death to life!  And…if heaven rejoices when someone meets Jesus then we, as His followers, must learn to do the same.

Found people find people!

It’s sad…but Father’s Day is one of the lowest attended days nationwide in regards to church (and Mother’s Day is one of the highest.)  NewSpring Church…we can NOT be ok with this.  This Sunday is going to be one of the most incredible Sunday’s we’ve ever had…the GOSPEL is going to be presented and lives ARE going to be changed.

So…who are you bringing to church on Sunday?

ALSO…check out these articles.

• What If Part One
• What If Part Two
• A Divine Slap In The Face
• THIS Quote From CS Lewis ALWAYS Gets Me!
• A Story About The Guy Who Didn’t Give Up On Me!
• Urgency Part One
• Urgency Part Two

What if there was a cancer center that had the cure for cancer?  And…you discovered that you had the disease?  And….someone told you about the cancer center…so you went there, received treatment and were cured!!!

How would you respond?

• Would you simply be content with going back to that cancer center once a week (or month, whenever you happened to find the time) and sing some songs about the healing you received?
• Would you want to dive into the complexities of the ingredients that were used in your cure and try your best to form an opinion and debate with others who had been healed of that disease?
• Would you be ok with after you were cured that NO ONE ELSE was ever cured at “your cancer curing center” because you simply wanted to become a bunch of former cancer patients who were obsessed with your own healing, forgetting what it was like to actually have the disease and forgetting those outside the walls that still desperately needed to be cured?
• Would you pass by hundreds and thousands of cancer patients in your lifetime, looking down on them and feeling superior to them because you don’t have cancer anymore but they do?
• Would you find other cancer centers that are actually still being used to cure people and try your best to attack and discredit those cancer centers?

No one with a compassionate bone in their body would even THINK of doing the scenarios listed above if they had cancer, been healed and knew others who needed that same healing…and if people DID respond like the scenarios above we would call them cruel, rude, inconsiderate and ungoldy…

Yet in church would we call them normal!

Reality is that if you are in Christ then you were cured of something WAY worse than cancer!!!  AND there are BILLIONS on this planet that need that same cure…let’s go get them!!!

For some reason when a large hospital is built people applaud…but when a large church is built people get mad.  I am simply asking…which one does more good when it comes to the perspective of eternity?

We’ve got so many more people to reach NewSpring…so many more than need Christ…and we will NOT slow down or shut up until we’ve reached them ALL!!!

So…who are you bringing with you THIS Sunday!  (Remember…we are moving our Sunday night services in Anderson at 4 & 6 and in Columbia at 6 to Saturday night for THIS WEEKEND ONLY!)  AND…I can promise you that this Sunday will be one of the top five services that we’ve EVER had at NewSpring Church as we continue last weeks question, “Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People!”

I’m so thankful for a church that is willing to do WHATEVER it takes to reach people far from God!  You guys are awesome/amazing!  See you Sunday!

THIS question hit me this morning…and to be honest I am quite challenged AND convicted by it, here goes…

WHAT IF you were a non-Christian…and Christians treated you the way you treat non-Christians?

• Would you ever get invited to church?
• Would you feel looked down on?
• Would you feel condemned?
• Would you be ignored?

Reality is that most of us have forgotten what it was like to be lost (see I Corinthians 1:26-31 & Ephesians 2:1-5).

We’ve lost sight of the fact that the Bible says that Jesus LOVED THE WORLD…not just the people in the church.  (See John 3:16)

We’ve lost sight that Jesus commanded us to reach the world (see Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, II Corinthians 5:16-21)  AND…FYI, there is another group of people that are quite passionate about this (per THIS article on CNN today).

We’ve lost sight that we’re not just supposed to pray for people to come to Christ…we’re actually supposed to ENGAGE them in a conversation.  (See Romans 10:14 and Romans 10:17, Acts 8:26-40, John 1:35-51)

FOUND PEOPLE FIND PEOPLE!

So…with all this in mind…who are you bringing to church with you THIS Sunday?  (If someone just popped into your mind…I can promise you that was not the devil telling you to invite someone to church.  Literally…if you just thought of someone then pray for them RIGHT NOW and then invite them RIGHT NOW!!!  I honestly believe if we were convinced of the reality of heaven and hell that no one would have to talk us into this!)

This Sunday (just like EVERY Sunday at NewSpring Church) the Gospel IS going to be presented…and Jesus is going to change lives.

Stop and think for just a second…WHO told you about Jesus?  Who invited you to church?  It’s always been God’s plan for people to reach people…so, who are you reaching?

Jesus didn’t want us to gather as a group of people and proclaim theological and moral superiority in regards to the rest of our community and give them “the middle finger of fellowship”…we’re called to REACH people…people who we already have a relationship with.

If you are nervous then pray this prayer and then GO FOR IT!!!

Let’s be a church that treats those far from God like we would want to be treated if we were the ones who were far from God!

As I reflected on my final two points from yesterday (about how I had forgotten to use a PC and how I had looked down on the guy for using a PC) I had two parallel thoughts in regards to how many of us treat those outside of the church in our own walks with Christ.

#1 – As a Christian it is incredibly easy to forget what it was like to be lost.

One of the main problems that exists in church culture is that too many people have forgotten what it was like to be lost…or…let me put it another way…they’ve gotten over the cross.

So…instead of going all out to reach people far from God, you know, the very thing that Jesus came to do…we begin to get obsessed about reaching our own and keeping ourselves happy by creating safe and comfortable environments where we never really have to make any bold moves or take any radical steps of faith to reach other people for Christ.

We forget what it was like to be lost…and so the church begins to answer questions that the world really isn’t asking…we begin to obsess over things that the world is not obsessed over (seriously…they don’t give a crap where you are pre-trib, mid-trib or post-trib)…and we begin to load down the church with programming that caters to the personal preferences of those inside the church and completely neglects those outside of the church.

We forget what it was like to be lost…and that is one of the most dangerous places a church can be.

#2 – As a Christian it is incredibly easy to look down on people who are far from God…not understanding that we used to be those very same people.

Ephesians 2:1 has been rocking my world lately…seriously…read it…Ephesians 2:1.

“YOU WERE DEAD…”  AND…keep in mind that the Apostle Paul was writing this to people INSIDE the church…church people…Bible study people…deacons…elders…reminding them that THEY WERE ALL DEAD!

I was DEAD…not suffering from bad habits, not caught up in destructive patters, not trapped in a system of making bad mistakes, not addicted, not unfocused…BUT DEAD!!!

BUT…Ephesians 2:4-5 tells me that GOD MADE ME ALIVE IN CHRIST!

So…I was dead…God made me alive…so…that transaction had EVERYTHING to do with HIS effort and not my own!  (Because dead people can’t decide to be better people…because…THEY’RE FREAKIN DEAD!!!)

God saved me by HIS grace…not because I am great but because HE IS GREAT!

BUT…as Christians we forget that fact.  We forget that salvation was (and is) and gift…quite often because we slip into a system of legalism that allows us to be defined by what we do and do not do rather than the finished work that Christ has done for us.

We get angry at spiritually dead people for…well…acting spiritually dead.  So…we protest them, we picket them, we yell at them and damn them to hell…completely forgetting that if it were not for the amazing grace of God we would be the very people that we try to isolate ourselves from!

It is incredibly difficult to look down on someone when you realize that you WERE that person…and God brought you out of that death by HIS SON and not your effort!

The church is not called to condem the world (John 3:17) but to reach and impact the world…and that will NEVER be accomplished until those IN the church realize the reality of the Gospel…and instead of using the cross to beat people with we simply kneel at the foot of it and began to declare that there is still room for those who are far from God.

We can’t forget what it was like to be lost…

And we can’t yell at people who are the very people we would be if it were not for God’s grace.

I believe the grasp of those two concepts could CHANGE our churches…and through that would eventually CHANGE our world!

BUT…things haven’t always been that way for me…

There was a time when I was walking in the darkness…when there was little to no hope for me at all…many of you know those days well, back when we had a PC.

My life with the PC was awful…I can’t remember EVER having one that made it three months before it crapped out and crashed.  My PC would always freeze up…and it seemed like we needed a full time IT guy just for me to keep the computer I had going.

Friends began to tell me about MAC’s…and that I should get one.  They talked about how “life changing” a MAC would be…how much better it would make my life…how much more simple it was to use.

But…I had a hard heart and resisted the truth they were trying to speak to me.  I was somehow going to make this PC thing work…I just needed to get the right computer, the right system, the right software, the right…uh…something.

YET…the result was more and more frustration.  And…all the while my MAC friends kept telling me, “Perry, trust me, come over to a MAC, you will never regret it.”

SO…I did.  Understand that I was still very much a skeptic and I didn’t want to become a MAC evangelist like my buddies were.  (Seriously, they were obsessed with converting the world…they looked down on people who had PC’s and quite often would make sneering remarks about them.)  I agreed to get a MAC…to try it out…but I was NEVER, I mean EVER, going to be a MAC snob.  :-)

I didn’t like the MAC at first…my conversion was not an easy one.  It was SO different…yet after about a week I had the hang of it…after about two weeks I fell in love with it…after a couple of months I bought my wife one…when the ipad came out I got one…I became a guy who became fiercely loyal to MAC products and (GASP) actually began telling people about them.

And today…I’m “that guy,” you know…the guy I said I would never become.  Two things happened to me recently to put an exclamation point on that subject…

#1 – My sister in law was at our house and had a problem with her PC…so I said I would take a look at it (which if you know me is funny because of my lack of computer knowledge.)  UH…I didn’t even remember how to use it.  I am so used to a MAC and the way it is SO user friendly that I had a hard time even looking at the menu items on it…

AND…

#2 – I was in an airport recently and walked by a guy using a PC…and both looked down on him and felt sorry for him at the same time.  It was right then that I realized, “CRAP…they got me!”  I said I would NEVER do that…but now I was…

And then I began to reflect on how we as Christ followers often go through the same thing when it comes to our conversion…I will explain that in detail tomorrow…

Here’s the way it happened…

Charisse (my three year old daughter) and I went to get ice cream last Friday night.  (One of her favorite things to do!)  There is a place near our home called “Yogo Express” that has become one of her favorite places…you go in, get a cup, put the yogurt in it, THEN go to the toppings area and put your toppings on and then you pay…by the ounce.

When we walked in the place was slammed, there were people everywhere.  So…I held her hand and we walked together to the area where we got our yogurt cups…she wanted chocolate yogurt with mint chips for her topping, so, I put all of that in her cup and then got ready to get mine.

BUT…when I looked down to tell her that hers was ready…she was GONE!

GONE!!!

I looked around and didn’t see her anywhere.

She had been right by my side five seconds before that…

I panicked!

Seriously…the scenarios that can run through a parents mind in a short amount of time are unbelievable.

I began calling her name…and I literally was plowing over people…trying my best to control my heart as it was literally about to explode out of my chest.

Then, after only about seven seconds (seemed like an eternity though) I saw her…she had gone to get napkins for us but had not told me.

I scooped her up and hugged her…and I can’t explain to you the overwhelming joy that shot through my body as I knew that she was not lost!  (If you are a parent and this has happened to you…you know exactly what I’m talking about.)

I kept her close to me for the rest of the night…and when I put her down to bed I hugged her a little longer and and little tighter…I thought she was lost, gone…but she wasn’t, and for that I was (and AM) so thankful.

However, later on that evening I felt the Lord say to me, “Now you know how I feel about lost people.”

BAM!

Seriously, I have preached on the importance of evangelism for a long time.  In fact, one of our core values here at NewSpring Church is, “Found People Find People.”  However, I had NEVER viewed the importance of evangelism through the lenses of a father who is obsessed with the lost…not like that!!!

The feeling God allowed me to feel for seven seconds was one of the deepest, most intense feelings I’ve EVER felt…and because of that Luke 19:10 has taken on a whole new meaning!

God is PASSIONATE about reaching lost people…and HIS followers SHOULD BE AS WELL!  Evangelism is not an option for those who say they are followers of Jesus…it is a COMMAND!  AND…read through Luke 15 and notice that in each of the three stories something is lost, what is lost is found…and because of the lost being found a party/celebration begins!!!

Lost people matter to God; therefore, they should matter to HIS church!

One more thing…NewSpring Church, let’s keep doing this…let’s keep doing ALL WE CAN to reach out to people who are far from God!  Let’s share our faith with them…let’s get them to church THIS Sunday…and let’s continue to BEG God to give us a harvest of souls unlike the world has ever seen!!!

As I said in last nights post I feel like the Lord is doing something amazing in our church right now…I have never witnessed this level of excitement and anticipation at any point in our 10 year history.

A couple of weeks ago (on August 8th) we began our current series (I Love The 80’s) with a message entitled “Found People Find People” where we looked at the story in John 1:43-51 about how Phillip found Nathaniel.  In that service we passed out refrigerator magnets and had everyone write the names of people who we were going to pray for AND invite to church on August 29th.  (THIS COMING SUNDAY!) BTW…you can watch/listen to that message here if you missed it…OR if you want to see it again.

We also had a live event at each campus where I taught for two hours on why evangelism is so important AND how to practically share Christ with someone (and we are already hearing stories of people receiving Christ as a result!)  Over 4,000 people attended and were trained! (You can watch that event here or download it for free on itunes – it is on the NewSpring Church podcast.)

And so…this coming Sunday is THE SUNDAY I asked you to pray for and invite people to in regards to us doing a service where a very clear presentation of the Gospel is given…and there is a very clear call to respond.

Every time we have done a service like this we’ve seen HUNDREDS of people come to Christ…and our church is NEVER the same as a result.  Needless to say…I can’t wait for Sunday…and would ask you as our church family to do several things…

#1 – Take some time every single day this week to pray for our services this Sunday.

We have worked hard and prepared for months for this day…but if God does not move then we’re screwed!  Let’s take some time this week to BEG HIM to move in and be THE DIFFERENCE in our services…let’s LIVE OUT Isaiah 62:6-7 and literally not leave Him alone all week long!!!

#2 – Make yourself available this week by praying every single day, “God, here I am, take me and use me to invite people to church and/or share my faith today!”

#3 – Do whatever it takes to get people to church on Sunday.

I know that it CAN be discouraging to keep inviting people and then you are told “no,” don’t give up…they may need just one more invite.  Let’s live out II Peter 3:9 to those who so desperately NEED HIM!!!

#4 – Get to church a little earlier this Sunday.

We are expecting record attendance at each campus…so whatever time you normally get to church…try for about 10 minutes earlier.

Like I said earlier…I cannot wait to see what Jesus does this weekend!  I really do LOVE our church…and I love the way that you respond each time this challenge is issued!!!!

Let’s do ALL we can to reach ALL we can and then place it ALL in HIS HANDS!!!