Is there a time when it is too late?

That's an interesting question isn't it?  Is there ever a time when it is too late to be saved?  We talk so much about a loving God and how He wants all to be saved.  Many seem to think that they can put off choosing because they can take care of it later.  But can they? 

I remember watching the 700 Club once where they were interviewing a guy who had had a near death experience.  He was a college professor who made it his mission to talk college kids out of their faith.  When he had his NDE instead of going up towards the light and feeling all this peace and love, he was dragged down and he experienced terror like he had never known.  He cried out to Jesus, was immediately brought up to the light and then sent back to earth like so many others who have had NDE have reported.  He became a Pastor and has since led many to Christ.   

That's his testimony.  Does that mean we all get one last chance?  I don’t know.  Here are two things that I do know though because they come from Scripture. 

Matthew 12:31-32(NKJV)

31“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 

32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

That seems pretty clear doesn't it?  You can talk smack about God and be forgiven.  You can talk smack about Jesus and be forgiven.  But don't talk smack about the Holy Spirit, you don't get a do over!

Luke 13:23-30(NKJV)

23Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, 

24“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 

25When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 

26then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 

27But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 

28There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 

29They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 

30And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

I find that wording interesting.  "Once the Master has risen up and shut the door."  That indicates to me that there will come a time when it is too late.  Whether that is at the instant you die or whenever I don't know but I do believe that there is a point of no return.

So where does that leave you?  Have you made the decision to follow Christ yet?  If not why not?  As far as I can tell you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.  Don't delay because you just might run out of time!

Your Elevator Speech

This is a topic that has been on my list for quite some time and I received an email yesterday that seems to make this an ideal time to address it.  In sales there's a concept called your elevator speech.  The point is a sales person is taught to develop a 30 second story or phrase, something short that could be a good way to answer the question "what do you do?".  The purpose is to engage that person to see if they are a potential prospect for your particular product or service.

The reason I am writing about this today is that we need to reach people for Jesus.  To do that we need opportunities to talk to people about Jesus.  And to be effective I think we need to talk to people that ask to learn about Jesus instead of trying to force our view on those that don't want to listen.  The whole pearls before swine thing.  I think we can adopt some of the ideas from this email for our purposes.

The email I am referring to came from a gentleman named Steve Lewit.  He trains sales people.  (His website is http://www.stevelewitselling.com in case you'd like to read more of his stuff.)  His email was about the 30 second elevator speech but with a new twist.  So let's walk through it together.

"The elevator speech is the speech you need to deliver when time is short -- at parties, in line at Dunkin' Donuts, on the golf course, or any other place where you bump into people who ask you what you do. It also serves as an introduction to a longer overview about what you do that might be called for when you are sitting on a sales call with a client."

"The Goal of the Speech:

Old-school selling says the goal of the elevator speech is to engage someone in a conversation. 

The Length of the Speech:

Old-school selling says less than a minute. 

Content of the Speech:

        Old-school selling says lots of features and benefits. "

Steve's new twist on it:

" I say less than 15 seconds.  I say that the goal is singular and well defined -- to elicit a question from the inquirer.  I say lots of mystery and  emotion."

Now let me comment on this first part before we move on.  Fifteen seconds fits right into the philosophy of a book called Mind Capture by Tony Rubleski.  His point is that we live in a fast paced world.  We have a very short time span to capture someone's attention and once we have done so we have to provide enough value in that short time span to get someone to alot us more of their time and attention. 

I like the well defined goal.  It's not to tell them about Jesus yet.  It's about getting them to open up by getting them to ask a question which give us the opportunity to start the conversation.  If we simply lead with "Hey let me tell you about Jesus" in many cases we just forfeited our right to ask for more of their attention and it didn't lead to our first goal which is to elicit a question from them.

Let's go back to Steve and look at how he tied this all together for himself and then we'll look at how we can use it.

Here's Steve's old elevator speech:

“I’m a financial professional who works with people who are retired or near retirement.  The kind of people I work with are typically tired or upset because of the volatility of the market; unhappy with the returns they are getting on their CDs; or worried that they might run out of income.”

Here's his new approach:

"John:    So, Steve, what do you do?

Steve:  John, that’s a pretty interesting question.  If I told you, you might run the other way (with lightness and a big smile).

John:    Really, do you run a funeral parlor (or something like that)?

Steve:  Not quite, but some people have a hard time with my profession.

John:    I’m a big boy, I think I can handle it!

Do you see how the set up works?  The delivery has to set up some magic, some mystery, and create some fun.  Now my inquirer is primed to hear what I have to say.  He’s never had this response before, and it’s all in the delivery.

“John, what I do for a living is simple.  I take people, most of them kicking and screaming, and show them how to become financially independent.”"

See the difference?

Now how can we use this concept to spread the Word of God?  Simple.  We can use these techniques to steer the conversation so that we can share what God has done in our lives AFTER the person enthusiastically asks us to do so.  Instead of beating people over the head with the Bible, we get them to ask us to share with them.

Let me give you an example. 

Standing in line at the store the person in front of me says to me:

Person: You sure seem happy today.

Me (jumping up and down and screaming as I thump them over the head with my Bible):  Hallelujah brother, I'm happy because I have Jesus.  Let me tell you about Jesus."

As you can imagine, that's not going to be too effective. 

Instead how about this approach. 

Person: You sure seem happy today.

Me:  Thanks, I found out a long time ago that it's easy to be happy when I'm not stressed out all the time, so I just found out how not to be stressed all the time, it's really quite simple.

Person: Really?  How do you do that?

Me: Aw, you wouldn't believe me if I told you.

Person:  No really try me.

Me:  Well...…(and now you have an invitation to share what God has done in your life. )

And lest you think I am contradicting what I wrote about yesterday, here is where you step out of the way and let the Holy Spirit flow through you as you share your personal faith with each person you meet.  Here is where you don't have it preplanned, you let God speak through you because God knows what's on this persons heart and what they need to hear, not you. 

Now I'm not saying we will save every person with this approach but what it does is opens more doors for us to tell about Jesus.  Our job is to plant the seed and this simply gives us a way to create more opportunities to do that under favorable circumstances.

Let me know what you think.

Do Not Worry Beforehand

I read these verses in Mark back in January and then never got to write about them so when I read pretty much the same story in Luke today I figured it was time. 

Mark 13:9-11(NKJV)

9“But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will £be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. 

10And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. 

11But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, £or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 

Luke 12:11-12(NKJV)

11“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 

12For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

I got to experience this whole depending on the Holy Spirit for the words many years ago and it was pretty cool.  This would have been back in the 80's.  Our church had been invited to do the Sunday evening service at the Gospel Mission.  I was asked to give the message.  By this time I had taught both Senior High and Adult Sunday School as well as gave a sermon about giving once so I wasn't terrified of speaking in public , so I said sure.

I approached this kind of like I approached choosing what book we were going to study in Sunday School each semester.  I used to go to the Christian Bookstore and wander around until a book jumped off the shelf at me.  If nothing did I'd leave and come back another day until God led me to what book I was supposed to use next. 

I figured it would work pretty much the same way for speaking at the mission.  I'd sit down and let God lead me in writing down what I was going to say.  Well the first time I sat down to do it I got nothing.  No big deal.  The second time I got more nothing.  This went on over and over to the point that I was sitting there with my name being called to speak and I had nothing.  Being familiar with these verses I was left with no choice but to trust God.  And you know what?  He didn't let me down.  All those words that flowed out sure didn't come from me.

Why am I writing about this?  Because it reminds me again that I don't need to be Billy Bible to be an effective witness for Christ.  Witnessing can be as simple as relaxing and letting God speak through us if we'll let him.

How far should we pursue the desires of our heart?

Here's the short answer.  Until God tells us to stop!  God admires persistence/perseverance.  Let me give you some scripture to back up that belief. 

Luke 11:8-10(NKJV)

8I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

9“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 

10For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 

Romans 5:3-5(NKJV)

3And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 

4and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

(This is one of my favorite all time scriptures!)

Revelation 3:12(NKJV)

12He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

While this one doesn't specifically say persistence/perseverance I think it takes those attributes to overcome many things so I've included it here.

God tells us that He will give us the desires of our hearts as long as those desires align with His will.  The cool thing is that in Luke He gives us a pattern to follow.

We have to be persistent in seeking the desires of our heart.  We need to Ask God for guidance and help.  We need to Seek ways to reach and achieve those desires.  As those ways are revealed to us we have to Knock on the next door of opportunity on the path to that desire.  When that door opens up we have to walk through to the next one.   If it doesn't open up we need to go back to God and make sure the pursuit of the desire is still within God's will. 

Now the key here is that we always need to subjugate our desire to God's will.   If at some point God let's us know that the desire is no longer in line with His will, then we have to be OK with that because we want to follow God’s will even more than we want the desires of our heart.  Does that make sense?  And rest assured that if it is His will that we no longer pursue that desire, He has something even greater in store for us if we will just trust Him and give His plan time to develop. 

So if God has put a desire on your heart then pursue it until you achieve it or God tells you to stop, and not one second longer!

Don't Major in the Minor

I've always loved this story as an example of "don't major in the minor". 

Luke 10:38-42(NKJV)

38Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 

39And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at £Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 

40But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

41And £Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 

42But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

We live in a fast paced society with lot's of things vying for our attention.  We have our spiritual lives, our marriages, our families, our careers, and our outside interests all needing attention.  It's easy to get overwhelmed.  How do we chose?

As we look at the story above what do we learn?  That's right.  Don't major in the minors.  In this case the major was the fact that Jesus was there in person teaching.  Whether all the people got tea and cookies just wasn't really all that important was it?

This principal works in all areas of our lives.  Make a written list each day of the things that need your attention.  Now go down the list and put either a M or a m next to each item.  M is for major and m is for Minor.  Now look back over your list and evaluate each item.  Is it really a major?  Is it really a minor?  Make adjustments.  By the time you are done you should have no more than 3 or 4 major items, everything else is minor for that day. 

This process will help you stay focused on the Major.  If you just knock off your 3 or 4 majors everyday you've had a successful day.   Now for all of you overachievers out there you could take it a step further.  You can have categories: spiritual, marriage, health, kids, whatever.  You could have to do's for each category.  Make adjustments to the list so that you only have one major for each category that day.  As long as you do the one major from each category each day you've had a successful day.

Jut another example of practical Christianity at work!

An Interesting Juxtoposition

As I was reading in Luke this morning I came across this verse.

Luke 9:56(NKJV)

56£For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

That made me think of this verse in Matthew.

Matthew 10:34-39(NKJV)

34“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 

35For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 

36and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ £ 

37He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 

38And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 

39He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

These are both quotes from Jesus.  Are they contradictory?  What does this mean?  Here's my take on it.

As I've written about in the past, I try to focus on what I call everyday Christianity.  How following God can have very practical, everyday applications that improve our lives. 

Today will be a little different. 

I think that when you look at what Jesus said in Luke 9 you see Jesus' main goal.  He came to save the world.  The Bible tells us that someday every knee shall bow.  Jesus' desire is that every person have the opportunity to be saved.  Notice I said "opportunity to be saved".  That is way different from "everybody will be saved". 

You see, we still have free will.  I don't see anywhere in the NT where Jesus suggests that free will be over ridden.  That means that there will always be people that just flat our reject Jesus.  I believe that is where the verses from Matthew come in. 

He's letting us know that he didn't come to bring peace on earth.  He doesn't expect everyone to sit around holding hands and sing cumbaya.  He's letting us know that we have to chose sides and that there are real consequences to choosing the wrong side.  He's letting us know that there is a spiritual battle going on in the world and His sword will rightly divine the teams. 

But what about the "every knee shall bow" thing.  Doesn't that mean that in the end, all will be saved?  I don't believe so.  I think that it simply means that in the end, in Christ's moment of victory, all will end up recognizing that His claim was true.  He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  In that sense I think, every knee shall bow but that doesn't mean all will be saved.  Only those that have chosen to call on Jesus will be saved.

If you haven't chosen Jesus to be the Lord of your life yet, what are you waiting for? 

One of my Favorite Scriptural Principals

Luke 8:18(NKJV)

18Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

This has always been one of my favorite Biblical concepts.  This same principal is echoed in the Parable of the Talents.

Luke 19:20-26(NKJV)

20“Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. 

21For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 

22And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. 

23Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

24“And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ 

25(But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) 

26‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 

Please note that both of these passages are red letter passages indicating that Jesus himself said these words. 

Is this about money and finances?  Yes it is, and about so much more.  Let's start with the money issue first so we can get it out of the way and talk about the deeper issue. 

Contrary to popular belief I think the majority of people of wealth are decent hard working, everyday people.   There is an interesting book that was written back in 1996 called The Millionaire Next Door.  This book focuses on the everyday people in our lives who are millionaires, many of whom you would never guess it if you didn't know. 

Here is a little bit from the review on Amazon.com.

"How can you join the ranks of America's wealthy (defined as people whose net worth is over $1 million)? It's easy, say doctors Stanley and Danko, who have spent the last 20 years interviewing members of this elite club: you just have to follow seven simple rules. The first rule is, always live well below your means. The last rule is, choose your occupation wisely. You'll have to buy the book to find out the other five. It's only fair. The authors' conclusions are commonsensical. But, as they point out, their prescription often flies in the face of what we think wealthy people should do. There are no pop stars or athletes in this book, but plenty of wallboard manufacturers--particularly ones who take cheap, infrequent vacations. Stanley and Danko mercilessly show how wealth takes sacrifice, discipline, and hard work, qualities that are positively discouraged by our high-consumption society."

Pasted from <http://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Next-Door-Thomas-Stanley/dp/0671015206>

So one of the reasons that whoever has, more will be given is because they are following good Biblical principals on financial management.  In other words, as they have shown them selves worthy in the management of their finances at a smaller level, Good has continued to bless them at higher and higher levels as they have earned it.  This leads me to the deeper issue.

I believe the underlying principal is that when God sees us using the talents that He gave us we grow and when we aren't using those talents we don't grow, we atrophy.  I believe this principal works in all areas of our lives.  And if we apply this principal to all the other areas of our lives, the financial area will take care of itself.  Here is what I mean.

We are all given 24 hours in a day and we are all given many blessings, talents and abilities.  Are you using them to the best of your ability?  If not your skills will probably slowly deteriorate.  Are you actively doing anything to maintain and improve your health?  If not your health will probably fade more quickly than someone who does take care of themselves.

Are you doing anything to actively improve your job skills and your value to your employer?  If not you may find yourself out of a job and no good prospects for the future.  Are you actively doing anything to improve your relationship with your spouse and kids?  If not, why not?  And most importantly, are you actively using your time, talents, and ability to further the Kingdom of God?  If you are then expect growth, if not then expect atrophy.

Folks, as Christians we have all been given much, we all fall into the category of those to whom much has been given.  Therefore much is expected of us.  I believe that the more we apply our talents and abilities to God's Kingdom, the more He will turn around and take those skills that we develop in His service and He will use those same skills to bless us in all other areas of our lives including the financial.  

That is why I have always said, "When God calls, answer the call.  And the more uncomfortable the call, the more important it is to answer the call because God has identified an area of your life He would like to help you grow in."  If you will just trust God and follow His lead, more will be given; if not, well you know the rest of that story.  It's your choice!