You are a leader. You already have everything. Your life is not a mess. You live a good life. You have a home and a car. Your kids seem to be doing well. You did alright by them. You have a retirement plan in place and your future looks secure. Why do you need Jesus? Isn’t he a crutch for the weak?
For those who have a broken leg, a crutch is a good thing. Is it not? The crack addict who comes to Jesus and changes their life is on a better path. Would you not agree?
Most people who do not see Christianity as something they would like for themselves do agree that it is good for others. They see the projects of the church and the wounded being cared for as something that is noble. Just recently in fact a lady told me that she did not believe in God and that she was not interested in hearing about Him. We chatted pleasantly for a few minutes about other things and then at the end of our conversation she left me with this surprising statement, “Keep up the good work Pastor. People really need what you do.” Isn’t that interesting? She saw Jesus as someone that others needed but not someone that she needed. She was OK. Jesus is for the weak. She is strong. Jesus is not for her.
I use to struggle with that mentality. I didn’t understand it, I guess. I know that Jesus really helped me, so I think I just felt He could help anyone. But if you don’t think that you need any help, why would Jesus appeal to you?
Then there are the obvious blemishes of the church. They sure don’t help. We see hypocrites everywhere. People who say that they are Christians and yet they lie, they steal, they hurt others. Some of them even use Jesus as the reason for their actions. How ugly is that?
I can understand your reluctance to want to have anything to do with people like that. I wish I could tell you that we don’t have any of those in “our church.” “Our people are different. They are all well-behaved, honorable people who care for one another and they look after their responsibilities. We love people, animals and our planet.” But honestly, we both know that would be a lie. You see Christianity is perfect, until you get the people involved. Jesus really does have all the answers, but even many of us who call ourselves by His name don’t always do what we are suppose to do. In fact, many of us are just plain selfish. Like most others, I suppose. We don’t really plan it that way and map out another person’s destruction. We, like most others on this earth, just think of doing things our own way, for our own benefit most of the time. If we study the Bible and really begin to respond to the teachings of Jesus we do become compelled to live by a higher standard that puts other people first. But many “Christians” have not been taught well to live the life Jesus spoke of. Some of them do not realize that they have been called to something greater. So they continue to be prideful, critical and hurtful. Please forgive them. Please forgive me. I want to tell you that I am going to try and make up for them, but really I am only one person. Perhaps if you join us we would be two people and then together we could make an impact. There is a thought.
Maybe it is not about you needing Jesus to fix your problems. Maybe it is about a higher calling. Yes, you already have it pretty good. You are happy. You have joy. You are fulfilled. But what if life is more than just being about you? What if you could go higher and rise above the selfish pursuit of your own happiness? What if there is more than the preoccupation of your own things, your own family, your own problems? What if you could add your strength to a group of people who really make a difference for others in this world? What if you could be part of the overall solution to humanity’s ills? What if you were even chosen by God for something like this, and all of your life you have not fulfilled the greatest destiny and assignment that you were even created for? What if you could apply your life to be a blessing to something that is greater than yourself? Is that the kind of Christ that you would be interested in?
So you don’t suffer from oppressive guilt or devastating despair. You are not a “screw up.” You are one of the strong ones. You apply yourself to good deeds. You raise money for worthy organizations. You care about your environment. You are already a good person. What if you could be even better? What if you could add your energy to the energy pool of a greater source than you could ever imagine?
Perhaps you wonder, “What about this sinner stuff?” After all, you have never murdered anyone. Have you?
That may be true. You are a good person. You probably have lied though. At least once, I would suspect. I am sure that you probably at least looked at someone once and thought, “they look pretty good!” So you probably have had at least one lustful thought. You would not be human if you missed that experience. Most of us have taken something that didn’t belong to us at some point in our life as well. So really all of us are sinners. There really are no levels of sin with God. Sin is sin. So really we would all qualify on that plane. So we are all guilty. That is true. So we have Jesus. Willing to take the blame for that sin. That is a good thing. I am sure that you would agree. It could be important for the whole eternal life thing. Which would be nice to be sure of, would it not?
But what if we took this even a step further and put the sin thing aside for a minute. In the Bible, John the Baptist came before Jesus. He had a ministry where he went around hollering, “Repent! Turn away from your sins!” He told people to change in order to avoid the punishment to come. But when Jesus came, people changed because wonderful things happened right in front of them. Jesus proclaimed grace, while John had used guilt. A lot of our preachers today are also using guilt. In fact, I use it sometimes too. Guilt can be an effective tool to cause one to reflect on the error of their ways, supposing that their error is obvious. I think you know what I mean. There could be a place for that still in some circles. Some people feel more loved once they have been spanked. That however does not work for you does it? So Jesus used grace. He went around telling good news. He used healing and blessing instead of guilt.
Grace is the unconditional, unending love extended to you by God. It is not about “finding Jesus.” He was never lost. It is about allowing Him to find you. It takes a strong, confident, and stable person to admit that you could be wrong about God, and that you may need Him after all.
God is not your enemy. He does not want to take away your fun. The Bible tells us in fact, that the devil steals from us, lies to us, and tries to destroy us. He tries to convince you that Jesus is a big killjoy. But Jesus, came so that we would have life, and life more abundantly. God is friend who can be trusted. He does not want to clobber you with guilt. He wants to clobber you with grace. While we have been looking for peace we have been looking in the wrong places. We have overlooked God, who has been looking for us. He is not interested in destroying you. He is not after your money. He just wants a small thing. He wants your life.
Oh now that is scary, isn’t it? Is it really? What else requires the life from you? Your payments require hours of life to pay for the things that you like, do they not? Sin requires life, doesn’t it? In fact sin is a hard task master. Think of the alcoholic. What does that demand from him? Life, health, relationships? Our jobs and careers require life to be put into them. Our family requires life? Yes many things require life from us.
Jesus too requires life from us. He tells us to lay down our lives for Him. He doesn’t promise any frills for it either. He doesn’t say it will get real easy for you if you do. In fact, He says you may even be persecuted by others who do not understand your decision to follow Him. He promises peace, but He does not promise a storm free existence. He loves you now, and promises to love you forever. He won’t turn away when you have been naughty. He won’t desert you when you are wrong, sick or ugly. He will love you through eternity. You will know it. You will feel greater joy in the knowledge of it. You will walk in the freedom of it. It won’t be easy. But it will be a life worth living. A life, where your life counts for others. Many others, even outside of your family and work relationships. He will add His SUPER to your natural.
If you had done a whole lot of bad things and felt that you needed a savior then Jesus would obviously be an answer for you. But in the shadow of grace, no sin would matter anyway would it? In our preoccupation to “make a decision for Christ” we forget. God accepts us. He accepts you. It is a free gift. All you need to do is say “yes.” “I want the gift. It is free. I will take it. I believe in Jesus Christ.” Saying “yes” to Jesus once and then saying “yes” to Him daily is what real Christianity is all about.
You don’t have to shut your brain off and close off reality. “Blind faith” is not necessary. The Christian faith is not weakened by good questions. Ask your questions. Seek the answers. The Bible and history are full of the answers that will satisfy your curiosity. Real Christianity is strengthened by examination. Only the ignorant are threatened by evolution, science, or historical study. Come with us in real Christianity where we do what Jesus did and see the evidences of the here and now miracles as well as the ones in the past. Go ahead and study what the Bibles says about creation and compare it to the known facts discovered by science today. We are not afraid of your intellect. In fact, we welcome it. And we challenge you to put it to good use. Let’s really make a difference in the world that we live in. Let’s serve together in an army that makes a difference. Let’s use our knowledge to eliminate poverty, to overcome social injustice, and to make our planet a healthier better environment to raise our children. God has given you a heart for something that makes a difference. What is it?
Join us, and start the greatest adventure of your life.
If you are ready then say the following prayer with me and we will begin this exciting journey together. We will get you connected with like-minded people and begin the process to putting your gifts to work. We will enjoy good times together and endure some struggles as well. You will have a new family, not to replace the existing one, just to enhance it, and extend it.
On the other hand if you still have questions about Jesus, science, the environment, social issues or other things, then I suggest that you continue to look over our site before making a decision. We are not afraid of your skepticism. Go ahead and examine us, examine the Christian life. Somebody wise once said, “the unexamined life, is not worth living.”
If you are ready though to give your life to a new effort, a new grand design, and accept the unconditional love and grace of God, then go ahead and pray with me now, out loud.
“Heavenly Father,
I have never really thought about You like this before. I have not really considered these possibilities. I think now that perhaps I am missing something. Open my eyes to see spiritual things. Open my ears to hear You better. I want to know You. I want this free gift of grace that you are offering. I want to acknowledge Jesus. I believe in You Jesus. I believe that you are more than a man, in fact You are God come to earth. I get that now. I understand that I have sinned. I do ask for your forgiveness. I want to know more about You. I want to understand even better. I have many questions and I ask You to help me find answers that make sense to me. Show me this kingdom of God on earth. Show me how I can be a part of it. Help me to find my destiny and to have that peace and fulfillment that you offer to those who are yours. I willingly give my life to You. I look forward to serving You all of my days and joining with others who want to make a difference here on earth. Holy Spirit I invite You to be my guide and my teacher. Fill me now with Your presence and give me the direction that I need to live my life as a true follower of Christ. Amen.”
Now as an intellectual you understand that nothing great comes except through study and sacrifice. Right? So here is a next step to get you onto the greatest journey of your life.
The Next Step
1. Read the Word
Some people think the Bible is a big ugly rule book, but in reality the Bible is God’s love letter to you. If you were a father who loved his kids you would want them to know how to have the best things in life. You would want to protect them from the things that would hurt them and you would want to encourage them. That is what the Bible is all about.
Start by reading the book of John. It is a wonderful story of how Jesus walked this earth and it will really bless you. Then try Luke and Acts. You will be captivated by the love that the Father has for you. If you do not have a Bible let us know. We can help you get one.
2. Pray
Jesus has been waiting for this day for you to come to Him. He is excited to hear from you. Begin to pray. Just talk to Him like you would talk to anyone else. Praise Him and thank Him for all that you have and all that you are. Thank Him for dying for you on the cross. Let Him know how you are feeling. It is alright to tell God that you are tired, angry, or frustrated. He understands your pain as well as your triumphs. Don’t be afraid to tell Him what you think. But then ask Him what He thinks. Ask Him to show you His way in the situation. It does not matter if you get answers immediately or if you get goose bumps. Just ask Him for direction and that direction will show up. Go ahead and ask for His peace and for the fulfillment of His promises.
Learn to pray out loud. Yes, God can hear you in your head. But prayers of faith are always out loud. Also you need to pray out loud so that the devil, who can not read your mind, know that he has lost all power over your life. This is a way of resisting his influence, and the Bible tells us in the book of James that if we resist him, he will flee from us! Sounds good, doesn’t it?
3. Come meet with other believers
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:25 not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. In other words, come together. The devil is a wolf who loves to devour a lone sheep. He is just waiting for you to get alone so that he can bug you with doubt, make you angry and steel your joy. He wants to whisper in your ear, “Nothing really happened,” “You are still the same,” “You are unworthy,” and other such lies from the pit. He wants to use fear to keep you away from the body of Christ where you will get strong enough to kick his butt. He wants to build distrust in you toward other believers so you will not gain relationships that will help you on your walk to victory. He will tell you, “they are all a bunch of hypocrites at that church,” and “they don’t really accept you for who you are.” Recognize his tactics and take a stand against him.
It is true that there are sinners in the church. There should be. The church is meant to be a spiritual hospital where the spiritually sick come for healing and restoration. There are no perfect people anywhere but we serve a perfect God. He is well able to use even us imperfect people, and He may even use you and I in spite of our shortcomings if we will obey Him and do as He asks us to do.
Go to church, learn to be the church wherever you go and be an enemy to the enemy. There are people out there who are just like you and they need Jesus. This is how you will become strong enough to tell them what Christ has done in you. He is beginning such a miracle in you. Grow strong!
We welcome you to attend with us at New Life Valley Ministries. We have home churches being established all across Canada and beyond. To attend or host one of our home groups give us a call or an email today. If we are not yet having a service in your community, we would be happy to recommend a vibrant and life giving church in your area. So please contact us and let us know about your new commitment to follow Christ. We want to help you and pray for you.
Our Head Office phone number is 403-933-7804 and our email address is pk “at” newlifevalleyministries.com
We also have some great blogs for women and men. Check them out!
www.destinymen.blogspot.com and www.destinywomen.blogspot.com