Connected

I've said before what an awesome thing it is to have the ear of God who created the universe. But you know how things go sometimes. Sometimes you start to doubt yourself or doubt God. Sometimes you're not sure if you're being led by the Spirit or just making something up in your head. Sometimes you're not sure that you believe some of the things you say.

So check this out.

Last week I got this push from the Spirit to give the "I Dare You To Pray This" post I printed out to this woman at work. I thought that was kind of weird and tried to ignore it. Not really a good idea. I said to God, "Look, that seems weird; I don't have a Bible with my story like I like to give out and so on." Trying to get off the hook you see. "Go get one out of your office." Oh bother.

Turns out I did have one Bible left sitting in my office. So I brought the Bible, my printed out story, and the "Dare Prayer" to this woman and shared a little bit with her, stumbling and bumbling through it per usual. I found it difficult to talk to girls in high school and not much has changed. She thought that was nice and thanked me and I left for home.

On the way home, something I listened to the man Francis Chan talking about -- related to what I said up at the top -- just how awesome it was to see answered prayers, and not just pie in the sky could be anything answered prayers, but specific answers to specific prayers. With that going in my head, and some doubts running around as well, I went to God. I said something like "If this is really from you, would you please show me something real out of it? Just give me something from this woman that it wasn't all in my head."

Fast forward to the next day. When I walked into her building she told me that she hadn't read the Bible for some time and she started reading it again and that it was very nice of me to share that with her. I thought "Thanks, God, you did it!" I went home and bragged about my God to Jamie, as if she didn't get already what takes me a good thwomping in the head.

I thought that was it and was happy with the answer. I didn't ask for much, but I did ask for something specific.

Now fast forward to this morning. I walked into her building again. You know what she told me? One of her friends passed away over the weekend, and that the reading in the Bible she had been doing prepared her for it, as she never lost someone close and young like that before. And not only that. She told me that she wanted to share that with me to confirm that what I felt was real and that it was the right thing to do.

Holy Spirit, Batman. Don't you tell me my God isn't real or doesn't speak to me or doesn't listen to me. I'll take the ever increasing pile of evidence in my own life over whatever you've got.

A Tale Of Two Gangsters

Today I want to talk about some gangsters. Yeah, gangsters. Two of them in particular.

The first is Mikey Cohen. More than a half century ago, Cohen was involved in all kinds of bad stuff and hung around all kinds of bad people. But then later in his life he met Billy Graham at one of his gatherings. He made a public confession of Jesus Christ there. Awesome! But wait. He kept being involved in all kinds of bad stuff and still hung around all kinds of bad people.

What's up with that?

Some Christians confronted him about this. He responded that no one told him he had to change his lifestyle -- there's Christians football players and Christian politicians, so why not Christian gangsters? If he had to give up his lifestyle, he was out, fuhget-about-it!

I think he missed something big there.

Fast forward a couple of decades to our second gangster, Michael Franzeese. Talk about a Saul to Paul story! He went from big shot in the Colombo family -- making more money for a crime family since Al Capone -- to born-again Christian and motivational speaker. It wasn't a big tent revivial that God used here, but a dancer named Camille Garcia. He goes around today sharing his transformation with church congregations and also speaks to professional and student athletes about the dangers of gambling. I've seen his testimony on a DVD from when he came to speak at a church here in San Diego, and what a story he has to tell.

Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but consider that a big wig in the mafia breaking with the family usually has nasty side effects -- death, for example. He risked his life to put away the only lifestyle he knew for something greater, service to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Clearly Mike #2 had a much different encounter with Christ than Mike #1.

Again, what's up with that?

I can't answer anything about why one person was truly changed and one was not, but I can make this observation:

When you are really saved, really born again, really a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, guess what? You're changed. Completely. From the inside out. The Bible calls you a new creation, for the is exactly what you are.

So what can we learn from this?

First, I think it says something about the superficial and the emotional. Yeah, sure, man, I don't want to go to hell! Sign me up for the Jesus bus! Okay, but how's your walk with the Lord 10 years later? 5 years? 1 year? 1 month?

Second, I think it says something about evidence of faith. When we have real faith in Christ, we put him first. He's "Lord" not "Some dude". If our lifestyle is more important than serving Christ, we've got a problem. If anything has wrapped around our hearts and taken over our lives, it has become our god. We have to guard against that. I know this first hand. There are things in this life I enjoy that I get really really into -- I must be wary not to let them become idols in my life.

Finally, I think it says something about the power of God. But don't get me wrong here, I'm not knocking Billy Graham and his methods. I'm not knocking anyone's methods. My point is that no matter how much enthusiasm and money is piped into something, no matter how good the intellectual arguments are, no matter how much Christians love a program or an event -- nothing, absolutely nothing, takes the place of the Spirit of God working in the heart and mind of the unsaved person.

God has to do the work from inside to effect real change on the outside -- anything that starts from the outside in is bound to fail, period.

Praise God for salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ and his Spirit living in all believers!

Grace and Peace friends.

Assurance and Emotion

That kid from Toy Story wrote his name on the feet of Woody and Buzz. Homer got a bowling ball with his name on it (for Marge, but that's a different matter). Old school moms theoretically write the kids' names on their underwear. There are titles for cars, deeds for houses, patents for ideas, trademarks for names, and so on. What's the point? Ownership. In a fallen world where people don't do the right thing, we feel the need to be able to show who owns what.

Well, that doesn't stop in the material world. There is ownership in the spiritual world too. Those true believers who genuinely follow Christ are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and that's God's way of showing that he owns us. When we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit as promised. Now that's some seal! We have the spirit of God living inside of us, guiding our actions and guarding our hearts. At that point, we're his and he's not going to let us go.

Check it out. Romans 8:9 says that "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." You see? If you have the Holy Spirit, you know without a doubt you belong to Christ. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, you know without a doubt you do not belong to Christ and need to repent and turn to him.

So how do we know if we have the spirit of God in us? Well let's ask some questions. Is our faith in Christ alone? Are we trusting him for our salvation? Is there evidence of that faith through a changed life, through walking in obedience with the Lord, through conviction when we sin?

If the answers to these questions are yes, yes, and yes, then the answer seems pretty clear to me. We do have an assurance of salvation. There is no doubt. God seals us with his Spirit, and we know we are his now and forever. Freed from sin. We can live our lives in service to our king without ever doubting, without ever asking "am I going to make it?"

And when we yield to the Spirit God has put in us, and let him guide us, the feeling it brings is wonderful. I have never experienced the peace and joy that being filled with the Spirit brings through anything worldly. It is an absolute pleasure to serve Christ, who has given me the most precious gift imaginable. If wonder if all unbelievers could know, understand, and feel the same up front, would there be any unbelievers left in the world? Probably (what a stiff necked people we are), but not as many!

That is not to say we should based our assurance of salvation on our feelings alone. There are plenty of people following numerous false religions across the world who have emotional experiences that are very powerful. You'll be able to find "conversion experience" stories from people joining any of the major world religions and cults that seem powerful and moving. And there is no doubt in my mind that for those people, the emotions they felt are completely real. And why not? Satan is the king of counterfeiters, and he can certainly manufacture a false sense of closeness with God, to keep people away from actually following Christ.

Clearly emotions are not enough. Our hearts are so deceitful, we cannot trust the feelings we think we have all on their own. Rather, we need to get into the written word of God so that it gets into us. We need to understand what it means to repent and turn to Jesus. We need to understand the significance of what he did on the cross for us. We need to understand what it means to die to self and live for Christ. When we follow the Living Word in the manner given to us in his written word, we know we are his without a shadow of a doubt. Then when, not if, the joy in serving him comes, we know also without a shadow of a doubt that it, too, is real.

If you, dear reader, do not know the light and love of Jesus Christ, then please turn to him. Know and admit your utter spiritual bankruptcy, that you have nothing to offer God on your own to make yourself right with him. Turn to Jesus for your salvation and trust in him. Receive the free gift God is offering you. Follow Jesus and experience the greatest joy in this world. You won't regret it, especially when you consider that such joy is merely a pitiful shadow of things to come.

Grace and Peace