“The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays — not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.” — Martin Luther
We tend to have a tendency to share our testimonies instead of the gospel. After all, no one can say that we’re wrong, right?
We are to present people the gospel instead of “feel good” 21st century mantra. We are not to make evangelism more palatable by dodging the heavy issues of sin and hell. For example, people can say, “I was alone and now I have my small group and friends. My church is great. I love my life now. God has just blessed me so much.”
Don ‘t get me wrong. Testimonies are awesome. After all, what is more exciting than being dead and brought back to life? The problem is that we tend to focus testimonies on us, instead of our Father. The heroes of the New Testament suffered terrible injustices in their testimonies- illness, persecution, financial troubles, stonings, and death.
Arguments, testimonies , personal experiences cannot permeate a heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). Only the Word of God can pierce through that.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.- Hebrews 4:12
(Random tangent- too many times people talk about their testimonies and how bad they were before they were saved. ->This leaves people thinking, “Woahhh that person was a drug dealer before !”-> which leaves their identity found in their past, and not in Christ. Instead of dwelling on the past, it should be equal parts of 1) before saved 2) when saved 3) after Talk about the transforming power of grace, striving for holiness, fighting against sin, and taking an active role in sanctification. NOT just dwelling in your past)
Please do not substitute your testimony for the gospel. We are to present Christ with Scripture! Our stories are not more applicable than the Word of God Himself. We can never wield the Bible unless we read it! So let us come to the Word with humble, teachable, and repentant hearts. Eager to learn. Eager to share the saving power of the gospel (Romans 1:16)!
Oh how sweet the gospel sounds to ears like mine.
One of the happiest moments of my life!! March 26, 2010. #homies #jmac #johnmacarthur #tmc #flashbackfriday #blessed #ilookthesamesincehighschool #itstheasian #wonderifheremembersme
Just finished this book:
Teach me to be content with Your Will, even when it conflicts with mine.
We Can Love Like He Loves | THE GOSPEL FOR OC -
Through the power of the gospel, we can love others the way that God loves us.
“Perhaps all the world’s suffering is just the shadow of the Cross.” — David Van Heemst (via churchjanitor)
A woman who exudes a quiet dignity and gentle spirit
Although I wrote this as a reminder for myself, I desire this for all Goldy women. There is so much more than this that God has given me the desire for, and so much more He is calling me to be as a Godly woman.
Even with all this, I keep in mind that, like Paul, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)
Recently I wrote and posted this as a personal reminder for myself, but since so many of you liked it, here it is again :) So glad to see so many women desiring to live out who God has called them to be! You are all an inspiration and encouragement to me.
“Out of the blue someone I hadn’t heard from in two decades wrote me an email. It was a long letter mostly detailing what they had been doing in the ensuing years. Then they reminisced about the last time we saw each other way back when. I didn’t remember the event at all, but they did in detail. The gist of it was we were crossing a busy street together when a dog ran out in front of us and was hit square on by a speeding car. The impact was so great that it spun the large dog round and round like a top. I had forgotten this completely and only after reading their description did I have one of those “Oh yeah, I remember that!” moments. It led me to wonder how much else of my life have I forgotten—lost— but other people still possess because *they* remember. So many things happen to us along the way that we forgot. But someone often does remember them, as we remember things about others that they have forgotten. Isn’t it strange that events in our lives— OUR lives—belong to others now? Unless we see and talk to these people again, we will never know those things again. Yet even without us those experiences, those parts of us, are still very much alive in other peoples’ lives and memories.” — Jonathan Carroll
(Source: facebook.com, via calvingoestogotham)