Category Archives: Evangelism

Out of the Blue

Posted on by

LGLPPRecently I received a gift out of the blue from Tina, one of my blog readers. It was a high quality t-shirt of sky-blue, boasting a powerful one-liner:

Love God. Love People. Period.

Tina and her husband have similar shirts in their wardrobes, and she thought I would enjoy wearing the same simple but potent message. The t-shirts (and other gift products) originated from a man named Eddie, who was looking for an uncomplicated way to share his faith. The inspiration for his straightforward message was Matthew 22:37-39:

“When Jesus was asked by a lawyer which was the greatest of all the commandments, he replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments’.” 

Eddie took Jesus’ words and distilled them down to a couple of short sentences along with a “period” for emphasis. His desire was that this not be just a clever slogan but a way to tell strangers of the hope that was within him.

Eddie passed away in 2012 at age 58, but his shirts continue to speak the Gospel in a clean, no-nonsense way. His prayer had been that the “LGLPP” products would continue reminding Christians what they stand for, while creating opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ.

Tina wrote, “We appreciate the simplicity of the words and the direct but subtle responses we get in various airports and on planes from people thankful for the ‘short and sweet’ one liner message.”

She and her husband have discovered that along with those who are curious about the shirt’s message, there are others in anonymous crowds who readily agree with what it says. “Hey! I like your shirt,” some say. And others give a thumbs-up approval.

US Supreme CourtBelievers in Christ can feel muzzled these days. For example, last week’s news reported that the Supreme Court will determine whether or not prayer in public places (graduations, town hall meetings, board meetings) is ok, and if the content of those prayers ought to be monitored. One journalist said 80% of public prayer to this point has been Christian, but now that must change. The Court will rule in mid-2014.

So far, though, wearing the LGLPP shirts is still ok. As Tina put it, “We’re wearing outside of our hearts, what’s in them. Hopefully loving God and loving his people will never go out of style.”

LGLPP.Tina’s gift made me question how faithfully I’ve been a public witness to my personal belief in Christ. Have I done as well as Tina and her husband? Or as Eddie?

“In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

Genuine or Counterfeit?

Posted on by

New $100 billToday is a special day for anyone who deals in Benjamins: hundred dollar bills, that is. A newly designed model was put into circulation today, since too many counterfeiters have figured out how to make the old ones.

The Feds are bragging that this bill with a blue, 3-D security ribbon will “make it easier for the public to authenticate, but more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate.” Apparently the blue ribbon is made of thousands of tiny lenses magnifying objects beneath them, causing an illusion of movement. Sounds complicated. And foolproof.

This is the place.They were so foolproof, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had trouble making them at first. The Benjamins have other new security features, too, and surely Ben Franklin would be proud. Nevertheless, counterfeiters have probably already begun trying to duplicate the new bills.

Counterfeiting was a problem 2000 years ago, too, not with bogus money but with something far more important: counterfeit religious faith. Scripture warns us to be on the lookout for fakes:“There were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them.” (2 Peter 2:1)

Just like today’s counterfeit money-makers, false teachers will do their sinister work in secret, substituting “destructive heresies” for God’s truth. Although getting tricked into accepting counterfeit Benjamins causes financial loss, believing false heresy does something far worse, leading us to base our lives on lies.

None of us want to put our trust in an untrustworthy religion or, worse yet, an untrustworthy god. The trouble is, counterfeits always look pretty good on first inspection.

Lots of new BenjaminsOur family visited the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington DC a few years ago. We watched money being created on an automated assembly line from behind a glass partition much like watching a car move through a car wash. What appeared to be white paper “pages” about a yard square were stamped with the familiar green ink, transforming them into dollar bills. Afterwards they were flipped, printed in black on the reverse side, and cut into bills. It looked like anyone could do it.

 

Checking the billsBut at the end of the line, the bills were authenticated, inspected to be sure the engraving was legitimate and the printing was done on the correct linen/cotton paper. But who inspects our religion? How do we know we’re not being duped?

The Bible tells us how.

We’re to believe only in a Gospel that puts forth the name of Jesus Christ as the God who came to earth in man-flesh and sacrificed his life for ours. When we hear that, we know we’ve found the real deal.

And Jesus Christ will never need a 3-D security ribbon to authenticate him.

“This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” (1 John 4:1-3)

Celebrity or Commoner?

Posted on by

September never fails to include a few lovely summer days, and today was one of them. Rather than have my devotions at home, I grabbed Jack and headed for the beach, our shared favorite place.

Pretty stones.While he romped in the dunes and did happy dances upside- down on the sand, I took a few minutes to walk the wave line looking for pretty stones and the occasional piece of beach glass.

Since the waves were small today, the stones were small, too. “Mini’s” we call them. But they’re every bit as pretty as their larger counterparts. Walking along slowly picking up stones, I spotted a piece of aqua-tinted beach glass. A few feet further there was a brown one, then two frosty-white ones. Step-after-step I found more and more until I had 24 in all, quite an unusual yield for a short strip of beach.

24 pieces.It’s interesting that beach glass is man-made and stones are God-made. Both are frequently taken home as treasures, but they’re very different from one another. The bits of etched glass are glamorous, rare, the “celebrities” of beach finds. Attractive stones are more common, easier to find, and have no special sparkle.

People come in those two varieties, too. Some sparkle with fame and fortune, whether through Hollywood, Washington DC, Wall Street, or even in a pastorate. We can easily become enamored with these superstars, putting them on mental pedestals, since the rest of us are much like commonplace beach stones by comparison. We’re ordinary and have no reason to grace a magazine cover or be interviewed on TV.

Because of the stark difference between celebs and non-celebs, we commoners can sometimes fall into the trap of wondering if we’re accomplishing anything significant in our lives. If we fall prey to this kind of analysis, though, God has some comforting news for us.

Let’s pretend we’re the beach stones, and the “movers and shakers” of this world are the beach glass. God is the one walking along the shore, except that he wouldn’t do what I did this morning, picking up only the choicest finds. He would arrive at the beach with a giant scooper big enough to lift every single piece off the sand, glass and stones alike. They’d mix together indiscriminately, and once he got us home, he wouldn’t separate us into separate piles. Every piece would be equally valuable.

Mixed together.Picturing God on the beach behind the controls of a scooper is silly but expresses the truth that he loves each of us equally and offers eternal salvation to all in the same way. Living an ordinary life without sparkle or flash does nothing to diminish our “chances” with him. He loves us all, and when we say yes to him, he’ll take us home.

“God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. This is the message of Good News…. that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” (Acts 10:34-36)