Gifts of God

This is a good reminder of the priorities of the kingdom of God. I confess I often forfeit the joy which would be mine for earthly baubles. Lord, I pray for the grace to turn away from those fleeting things to You, the true source of all true joy.

"God oftentimes withholds riches and honours,

and health of body from men...

Honours and riches and bodily strength are none of God's good things;

they are of the number of things indifferent which God bestows promiscuously upon the just and the unjust, as the rain to fall and the sun to shine.

The good things of God are chiefly peace of conscience

and the joy in the Holy Ghost in this life."

~ C. H. Spurgeon

35 Reasons Not to Sin

I found this on the Rebelution blog a few months ago.
Reading through this list is like a punch in the gut.
But it's a pain that does me good.

35 Reasons Not to Sin

Because a little sin leads to more sin.

Because my sin invites the discipline of God.

Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.

Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.

Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.

Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.

Because I am doing what I do not have to do.

Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.

Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.

Because my sin saddens the godly.

Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.

Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.

Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.

Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.

Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.

Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.

Because my sin may influence others to sin.

Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.

Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.

Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.

Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.

Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.

Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.

Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.

Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.

Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.

Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.

Because my sin is adultery with the world.

Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.

Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.

Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.

Because to sin is not to love Christ.

Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.

Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it's own.

Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

Devoid Evangelism

Does anyone else have a problem with impersonal evangelism, that is, evangelism seperated from at least a basic relationship with the other person? Boy, I do.

This weekend I was highly pressured to participate in a program whose premise I felt was all wrong. I was led to believe that the people in question "needed" me to be their friend. But not to be their friend because they are, as I am, created in the image of God and endowed with an inherant value that comes from that very fact, but because they are "lost" and, apparently, need my help to be found. Wrong. Now, I will never entirely build a relationship with another person uninterestedly, but I do believe that being someone's friend simply for the sake of proselytizing that person is dehumanizing, and what's more, unnecessary in God's economy.

I flatly refused to participate. Since I am a missionary, I will add the disclaimer that this had nothing whatever to do with my job or the organization that employs me. But I have often had problems with "random" evangelism. Although I believe that God can and does use this type of evangelism (that is, evangelism divorced from a basic relationship between the two parties) in the lives of individuals to draw them to Himself, I also believe that nothing is done outside of relationship. So while God may use an open air type ministry to finally draw us to Himself, it is not the only deciding blow. And we must be careful ourselves when participating in this type of activity that we don't look at others as simply a notch on our spiritual belt.

It was interesting then that I should come across this passage in a book I'm reading by Francis Schaeffer called "True Spirituality":

"We are not to stop with a proper legal relationship - for example, to think of a man as legally lost, which he is, in the sight of a holy God - without thinking of him as a person. Saying this, we can suddenly see that much of evangelism is not only sub-Christian, but subhuman - legalistic and impersonal."

Now, I'll be intellectually honest enough to say that this particular quote did in fact cause me to throw up my arms in victory and adopt a sort of "yes, I'm right!" stance, but even though I am imperfect in my reasons for pointing it out, I still thought it was a valid point. A very interesting, valid point.