Moving to a New Blog

It's been a very exciting few months as God's put on my heart to start an internet based show about Evangelism.

The focus is very much what this blog is all about, encouraging and equipping Christians in evangelism.

As a result this blog is now moving to www.lovetowntv.com.

So if you want to continue to be encouraged in sharing your faith, then I'll see you at the new blog.

Kia ora,

Simon Kolo'ofa'i
LovetownTV

Practical Ways to Share the Gospel Message

We've been exploring the book of Acts at church and have been encouraged by our pastors to share the gospel message with others, as we should.

So, how are you going to do that? What's your plan of attack? We know we should be doing it but where do you start?

Here are some practical ways that you can share the gospel with people. They range from fairly easy to more difficult. I would encourage you to start where you feel comfortable and progress once you feel you are able.

1. Give out gospel tracts when no one is watching. You could put on a fake moustache, some glasses and a wig then go down town, or maybe a night-time letter box drop might be better.

2. Give out tracts in daylight, being seen by others doing it. E.g. Putting one on staff smoko table, or given as a gift.

3. Give tracts away to friends and family as part of a gift. E.g. a birthday gift.

4. Giving out tracts to non-Christian strangers after kindly introducing yourself.  E.g. "Hi there, did you get one of these?" or "Hey, I'm from one of the local churches, how's your day going? Have you seen these?"

5. Verbally sharing the gospel to groups inside a church. E.g. at after a mens breakfast or small group.

6. Verbally sharing the gospel to a non-Christian that you know. E.g. on break, at a work do or social event, in town.

8. Verbally sharing the gospel to a non-Christians that you don't know. E.g. On the street, at a work do, or social event

9. Verbally sharing the gospel to a non-Christian group that you don't know. E.g. On the street, at a work do, or social event.

BE CREATIVE
There are so many ways to communicate the message I encourage people to get creative with it, paint a picture that you can explain the gospel through, write a song, make a video, rehearse a drama or dance, enter into a debate. Whatever your gifts may be use them to glorify God and spread the message of forgiveness through Christ alone.

We have the message of everlasting life! We need to go public with this. The important thing is to start doing something, even if it's small. 

I pray that God gives us the strength, courage and boldness to share the gospel message, as we should.

Is Miley Cyrus Christian?

The entertainment world seems to be talking non-stop about Miley Cyrus and her shocking 'sexually charged' performance at the MTV Video Music Awards this year. She has definitely made the history books, along with her big sisters Madonna and Britney.

I haven't followed the news on this one but it was hard not to hear about it. To be honest when I heard about it I was curious about what all the commotion was about so decided to check out. Big mistake. I got through a few seconds of it before I had to stop, realising that this was definitely not good for the soul.

I've listened to a number of conversations about what she did and frankly I'm uninterested in the whole thing. So why am I posting about it? Well what she's done has brought to light two very important thoughts that I'd like to share with you.

Before I share with you the first thought please take some time now to watch this video about Miley Cyrus talking about her faith. This may be more shocking than her VMA performance!



When watching this I seriously couldn't believe my ears! Miley openly professes her faith in God and Jesus Christ. She said that she "does everything for Jesus." Really? Wow does that mean that she's is a Christian? That's what the creator of this video thinks but I'm not convinced. Something's wrong with this picture. I mean, can you simply just say your a Christian and then live whatever sinful way you want and still be with God in heaven when you die? I'm not so sure. What's going here? Does scripture have anything to say about this obvious disconnect?

Yes it does. Scripture sheds light on what's going on here in a few areas. In Matthew 7 Jesus talks metaphorically about a group of people who disguises themselves as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. He goes on to say this "You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act." He continues to tease out this analogy until he repeats His main point.

"Yes, just as you can identify a tree by it's fruit, so you can identify people by their actions."

What would you think of a man who tells his wife that he loves her but then spends most of his time committing adultery on pornographic websites? His love is nothing but lip service, and Jesus addresses hypocrites like this in Matthew 15:8. He points people to a prophecy in the old testament by Isaiah about false worshipers of God. Isaiah stated clearly that there will be certain people who honour God with their lips, but in truth their hearts are far from Him. I believe this is what's going on here with Miley's profession of faith.

So am I saying the Miley's not a Christian? Is there a definite way to know if someone is a true and genuine follower of Christ? Well in all honestly we can't tell whether people are or not. Only God can judge our hearts and see us for who we truly are. But what we can do though is learn from Jesus and realise that we show people who we truly are not by our words, but by our actions.

Jesus went on to say that on judgement day many will say to Him "Lord! Lord! We lived for you, danced, acted and sang for you, we did everything for you." But He will reply "I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws."

May God lead you to pray for Miley and her family.

If by reading this you suddenly realise that you've been giving God lip service but your heart is far away from God please visit www.needgod.com to see yourself in truth and hear how you can be forgiven and brought back into a right relationship with God. I would also love to hear from you personally so write to me in the comment section below.

So how do you react to Miley's VMA performance? This question will be the issue for my next thought which I will post at a later time.

If you're interested in hearing this topic being discussed more please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5G4Qk1ZkdA.

Remember to like, and share. Please leave a comment, a question, or a topic you'd like to see discussed. I would love to answer any questions you have.

Being labelled a Religious Fanatic

Many of us Christians don't verbally share our faith because of a fear of being labelled by others a

religious fanatic or a Jesus freak.

As people we so naturally want people to like us and accept us that we automatically live in such a calculated way so that we don't offend anyone. This is the politically correct culture we live in. A world that tells us to be careful and avoid thinking, saying, doing anything that may offend a single soul in the slightest.

 Here are a three points that I hope will help you overcome this obstacle.

1. Cultivate a fear of God. Scripture tells us in Matthew 28:10 to not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, we should be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

2. Answer this question, if a person dies without Christ where will they spend eternity? Some Christians can struggle with answering this one. Scripture tells us in Revelation 21:8 that the unbeliever's fate will be the fiery lake of burning sulfur which is the second death. Our love for the lost should causes us to swallow our fears and insecurities and to reach out to them with the gospel.

3. Get used to the fact that some people in the world will always think this about you and may even hate you. When Jesus talked with crowds some listened, believed and cherished him as the Saviour, others listened and thought He was a babbling idiot. So be prepared to leave the results of your witness to God. Jesus said something to his disciples in John 15:18-19 which I think is very relevant to us regarding this third point. He said to them "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you." 

So today cultivate the fear of God, meditate on the terrible fate of those tho die without Christ and remember that the world hated Jesus, so expect some opposition.

Evangelism Obstacles

Evangelism makes me hide behind trees

I had a good time out witnessing today. I gave out some tracts and had a great conversation with two open minded guys who acknowledged they were sinners but weren't exactly sure how they could be forgiven or if it was even possible. One of them even said to me that he was thinking of going back to church and asked me for my church details. This was encouraging. I pray God does a mighty work in hearts of these bros.

Evangelism is hard going and many (including me) have intense battles with it. Here are some obstacles that can hinder a person engaging in evangelism.

• They don't want to be seen as some kind of religious fanatic (especially with people they know)
• They don't know what to say or how to get into a conversation
• They don't agree with the 'street' approach
• They are apathetic and lazy
• They fear tough questions
• They have a misunderstanding of what evangelism is.

I will look to address these obstacles in future posts and how we as Christians can overcome them. We must overcome them if we truly care about people and where they will spend eternity.

Here comes the sun

I was asked to film a drama at our school which was about sustainability. The focus was on solar
panels and how we can use the sun's rays to generate energy. The drama was organised by an energy company which was visiting our school.

I heard some of the drama students reading the script and something they said got my attention. There was a line in the script that stated that God made the sun. I was totally surprised as I didn't expect to hear this in a secular school.

I later found out that the script they were practicing with was from the previous school which was a religious school. 

As I filmed the performance the "God made the sun" line was omitted, and this I feel is a reflection of the culture we live in. We don't honor God by acknowledging Him as the creator and sustainer of all things. We can easily appreciate the beauty and taste of a well ripened kiwi fruit but for some it's not so easy to see the God who made the kiwi fruit.

Our energy company visitors have been the catalyst for many conversations about solar power and solar energy within our school. Many would agree that the sun is absolutely amazing and vital for life on earth. Many would appreciate the sun and what it does. But many stop there, failing to see the God who made the sun.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

Romans 1:20

There was a part in the drama where the MC's said "without the sun... we would die!" and all the students on stage would fall down and act dead. The truth is without the sun life on earth would cease to exist.

Aren't you grateful for the sun and what it does? Isn't it time you thanked God for the joys of creation?

A great day at church

Pastor Peter Foster praying for these newcomers.

I enjoyed church this morning. Especially when I saw a guy Zeke and I shared the gospel with the previous day walk into the service with a friend.

This is what it's all about. Going out into the world and seeking people who are lost in their sins and sharing Christ with them, offering them reconciliation with God.

Jesus came into the world to seek and save that which is lost and I couldn't help but feel a sense of this with sharing the gospel with one of these guys and then seeing him rock up to church the next day with a friend.

What a joy it is to be used by God to reach others with the gospel.

May God do a work in these guys' lives. May they be born again.

 "...he who wins souls is wise."

Proverbs 11:30