Marriage Retreat
We went on our annual Marriage Retreat in Gatlinburg, TN this weekend and had some great Divine appointments. And satan was mad!
In one of the outdoor, corner shopping areas, Franklin was encouraging me to get up and o/a. The fear I felt was paralyzing. However, he and God were more persistent than my fear. I got up and went through about 20 love/Valentine trivia questions to about 8-10 constant people with approx. 25 or so wandering by. I ended with, “What is the greatest act of love ever demonstrated?” Rom 5:8 “God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us”. I left it at that. As I got down a lady hollered Good job at me and gave me a thumbs up.
A little while later Franklin did the same thing, but had no one stop. He still pushed on though. After he got down I saw a group of kids and started giving them all MDB (Million Dollar Bill) and he came up and asked them the million-dollar question. He ended up going all the way through the Gospel with them. It was great!
Then Sunday, my sister forgot her purse in our cabin and we had to go back. The beauty of this is my sister NEVER forgets things; she is compulsive about getting her stuff together but God had a different plan:
By the time we leave the cabin (after getting her purse) we head to the outlet mall for a bit of shopping and Franklin has an opportunity to witness to 2 different ladies. One of which got totally convicted and cried. She thanked him for talking with her and he gave her some tracts and some info. I passed out many tracts.
Over the course of the trip (Thur - Sun) we passes out approx 50 tracts, this includes the many left in rest stop restrooms and given to rest stop attendants and had maybe 20 people hear the Gospel.
A side note: While in downtown Gatlinburg 3 young girls were stopped at a candy store, watching the taffy being pulled and stretched by the taffy-pulling machine. My sister walks up and asks if they know why it does that. They start guessing and she says No, but good guess. Then looks at Franklin and me and says Gimme a million! None of the girls knew the answer but she gives each of a MDB for their guess. I think her tract total may be up to 6 now, for her entire life. I praise God for how she is growing!!
By Ginger
My beautiful wife is correct and inspiring in her telling of the story. I am just going to add a little color on one of the incidents.
One of the girls I shared with was Jennifer. I was feeling like I have been unfaithful in pursuing God and the lost lately. I was walking around the mall and had just finished asking God to forgive me and to let me see any divine appointments He had for me that day.
I felt God's leading to talk to Jennifer. Conversation went like this.
me: I like to ask people interesting questions. Can I ask you an interesting question?
Jennifer: Yes.
me: What do think happens when you die?
Jennifer: To Heaven.
me: Does everyone go to Heaven?
Jennifer: I like to think everyone goes to Heaven
.
me: If there was a standard for going to Heaven, would you want to know what it is?
Jennifer: Yes
me: For example you plan for your vacations, college, jobs and other things. We know that we will only be on this earth for 70-120 years max, you would agree its important to plan for the eternity beyond, right?
Jennifer : Yes
me: The Bible reveals that the standard is the Ten Commandments. Have you heard of them?
Jennifer : Yes
me: Do you mid if I take you through a few of them to see how you do?
Jennifer: No.
me: Have you ever stolen?
Jennifer: no, not that I can remember.
me: I stole staples from my teacher when I was in kindergarten(actually first grade I misspoke) and it made me a thief.
me: Have you ever told a lie?
Jennifer : Yes
me: What does that make you?
Jennifer: A liar
me: have you ever used…..
I took her through the third commandment and the 7th commandment. She was guilty of both.
I told her that by her own admission she was a liar, adulterer at heart, who has blasphemed God's name. Bearing in mind that the Bible says all liars will have their part in the lake of fire, and no adulterer will inherit the kingdom of Heaven, and He will not hold anyone guiltless that takes his name in vain, will you go to Heaven or hell. She said hell.
I asked her if she knew what God did so she would not have to go to hell? She started weeping at this point. She mumbles something about Jesus. I told her that valentines is coming up and I was preaching earlier using valentine questions and one question I asked was, what is the greatest demonstration of love ever shown.
I spoke Romans 5:8 into her life. I explained to her, “That God demonstrated His love toward us that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” I explained to her sin was the transgression of the laws we had just talked about. I told her that God had seen every sin that she has committed up until now, and everyone after today and still choose to send His son to die for her.
I told her of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and His ascension. I explained to her that her part in receiving this gift was to repent and place her faith in what Christ has done for her.
I ended up praying for her. We hugged as she continued to weep. I gave her the only tract I had so she can remember what I told her and encouraged her to go to the website and find "Save yourself some pain". I also gave her a second tract.
When I said I am giving you an extra tract, she said" to give to someone else." I said yes. You have people in your life you love and do not want to see go to hell, just like I did not want you to go to hell. Pass it on to them.
It has been months since God has let me see some fruit of my efforts as far as doing a 1-2-1. It has brought me encouragement. I see fruits in other areas, but I told God that I would obey Him and His word regardless of the results I see, or even if no results occur period.
By Franklin
Monday, February 05, 2007
Modern Idolatry
Modern Idolatry
What is idolatry? In a nutshell, idolatry is the creating and or worshipping a false god. It can be one that was created in physical form such as a golden calf, or one that is created in the mind. Both are displeasing to the one true God.
I would like to tackle the idolatry that is mainly in the mind. I am going to ask you some questions to help you determine if you serve a god conceived in the mind of man or the God revealed in the Bible.
If you answered no to any of those questions then you are not worshiping the one true God. It is possible that you have not been told all these things about God, it is possible through your own studies you have not found these passages. I must also mention that is not an all inclusive list of God’s characteristics that He has revealed through His Word. I encourage you to read your Bible daily, Old and New Testament seeking out who God is, so when you do worship and serve, you know who you are serving and worshipping.
That kind of covers those who may be worshipping a god, believing it is God, but because of not studying the scriptures has been led into this idolatry. They would be similar to the ones who worshipped gods created by another’s hand.
What about those who are creating this false god in the minds of others. If you (as a pastor, evangelist, Sunday school teacher, or Christian) do not convey an accurate image of God to others, you are creating idols for them to worship in their minds. If you only talk about His wrath you are creating a God who is wrath, while God is love. If you only talk about God and His love, you are creating a God that has no wrath in the minds of those you influence.
I encourage you to go back through the list and see if you cover all of these characteristics of God when you describe Him to people. Do you tell people God hates sin but loves the sinner? Read Psalm 5:5,6 and see if you are talking about God or an idol you are creating in their minds, and maybe your own.
Do you have to cover every characteristic of God every time you talk to someone or every sermon you preach? No! I challenge you to ask yourself if you tend to always focus on one side, therefore ignoring another aspect. This creates idols in others minds, even if you know the truth.
So I challenge you this day, determine to worship the one true God, and to quit creating idols in the minds of men that lead them into idolatry and away from the true God.
What is idolatry? In a nutshell, idolatry is the creating and or worshipping a false god. It can be one that was created in physical form such as a golden calf, or one that is created in the mind. Both are displeasing to the one true God.
I would like to tackle the idolatry that is mainly in the mind. I am going to ask you some questions to help you determine if you serve a god conceived in the mind of man or the God revealed in the Bible.
- Do you worship a God that is love? (1 John 4:8)
- Do you serve a God that has always existed and will always exist?(Psalm 90:2)
- Do you serve a God that is long-suffering (patience)? (Exodus 34:6,7)
- Do you serve a God that is compassionate? (Exodus 34:6.7)
- Do you serve a God that is Holy (separate/different from everything else)? (Isaih 6:3)
- Do you serve a God that is angry at sinners? (Psalm 5:5,6)
- Do you serve a God that did create a place of eternal punishment?(Matthew 25:41, Revelation 21:8)
- Do you serve a God that will send people to an eternal place of punishment? (Revelation 20:15, 21:8)
If you answered no to any of those questions then you are not worshiping the one true God. It is possible that you have not been told all these things about God, it is possible through your own studies you have not found these passages. I must also mention that is not an all inclusive list of God’s characteristics that He has revealed through His Word. I encourage you to read your Bible daily, Old and New Testament seeking out who God is, so when you do worship and serve, you know who you are serving and worshipping.
That kind of covers those who may be worshipping a god, believing it is God, but because of not studying the scriptures has been led into this idolatry. They would be similar to the ones who worshipped gods created by another’s hand.
What about those who are creating this false god in the minds of others. If you (as a pastor, evangelist, Sunday school teacher, or Christian) do not convey an accurate image of God to others, you are creating idols for them to worship in their minds. If you only talk about His wrath you are creating a God who is wrath, while God is love. If you only talk about God and His love, you are creating a God that has no wrath in the minds of those you influence.
I encourage you to go back through the list and see if you cover all of these characteristics of God when you describe Him to people. Do you tell people God hates sin but loves the sinner? Read Psalm 5:5,6 and see if you are talking about God or an idol you are creating in their minds, and maybe your own.
Do you have to cover every characteristic of God every time you talk to someone or every sermon you preach? No! I challenge you to ask yourself if you tend to always focus on one side, therefore ignoring another aspect. This creates idols in others minds, even if you know the truth.
So I challenge you this day, determine to worship the one true God, and to quit creating idols in the minds of men that lead them into idolatry and away from the true God.
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