We’ve Stopped Sharing Our Faith

Welcome back to Ignite. I want to talk to you about evangelism is not a program. I mean, we had so many evangelism programs through the years. And I want to come back for just a second say, thank God for them, because I would dare say millions of people have been saved because of evangelism programs. They're not all bad. I mean, they have worked for a lot of people, but I'd like to give you a little fresh perspective. And the reality of the fact that 90% of the people in the United States are unsaved, all right? 80% of the enslaved are wanting to be. I mean, the statistics are clear that they know the world's out of control. They're looking, they're looking for God. They're looking for somebody to tell them about God. I mean, the fields are white for harvest, but the laborers are few. I mean, the scriptures have come alive. They're right in their face. 80% of those around us are looking for God, but only 1% of us are telling them. It is exactly that scripture. How are they going to know that somebody tells them we're not telling them, but who's going to tell us they're being sent? Nobody sending us church. I mean, I wouldn't the last time you heard your pastor say, my job, according to Ephesians 4.11 is to equip the states for ministry and send you. Wouldn't you hear that last? You're not hearing that. Nobody's sending you. So we have this ministry on our attempt is to send you to bring it to your attention. It is the great commission. It's the most important thing in our whole lives to do after accepting Jesus Christ our own Lord and Savior. We're obligated to do that. But why is it that Muslims aren't sharing our faith? Because we're so caught up in programs and programs can be deadly and they make it hard. It's like, oh, I got to, I got to follow all these points and you know, I got to, I got to memorize my memorize my life story. Every time I get a challenge, I'm going to tell my life story. Well, I have hundreds of life stories. Which life story do you want? And if I just pick one, does that got to relate to anything that's going on? We just had Dan on a podcast and I talk about he just lost his daughter. That was not the time to go down and reach and tell my story or go through a series of points needing a salvation. He needed help. He needed help right then. He was already a Christian, but he needed help to get him back to where he's on the on the right side of the coin and having him restoring his joy. I mean, every situation is different. And when we would we do this? I mean, I did it wrong for years. I was a student of some of the programs and I would get so upset when sometimes between point two and point three, the conversation would go way over here somewhere. I'm getting unhappy with the person sharing my face. I got to get him back so I can get an point four. It was just crazy. I would got so frustrated. Then if it didn't end with salvation at that moment, then I was perplexed by that. And I'm wondering, where are you guys? And I had all these, it was so structured. I made it so hard. And then I read this scripture just popped off the screen at me says, they'll know you're by disciple, by your love, not by your Bible memorization, not by your oratory, not by anything. Just your love, your genuineness, your ability to love on people. That's all it takes. There's no training required. You don't have to be trained to love on people. You didn't have to be trained to love on your girlfriend or your boyfriend or your husband or wife. You don't have to be trained to love your friends. You don't have to be trained to love people. It comes automatically, particularly when you allow God to love them through you. That's, I mean, that's really what it's all about. Matthew 10, 19 actually says, you know, don't even think about it. It's the opposite of having a progress. Matthew 10, 19 said, don't even think about what you're going to say in advance. And Luke 12, 12 gets this wonderful statement says, the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say, when you need them. Wow. Wow. And it happens. I mean, it happens. You, you meet somebody and I'm meeting them all the time in such a, I had no idea walking to a restaurant all of a sudden. I'm in this full-blown conversation with a, with a rapper. I told you that story and other podcasts. I never, I never didn't know who the rapper was. He's a famous rapper. Also, and I'm talking to him and I'm praying with him and you can't prepare for that. He just can't. If I did, if I, if I did, let's say I could prepare for those, you could prepare for these kind of things. And you, you hit point two, point three, point four, you get him saved on the spot. You walk away and say, man, I was really good. That's, that's bringing pride to yourself. You know, that's kind of the opposite of the whole process. Oh, but when you meet somebody and you're just fresh and there's no preparation, I had a guy this week who just got hit with the stroke. And that's what I call you, you need to call him. And I thought, what can I say? I took it out of the number. I said, oh, I'll call him. I'll call him sometime in the hospital. I called him. I got, I don't even know what to say to him. I called him. I got his voicemail. And I think it was best I got his voicemail. I said, I, I could do just pray for you. I started praying in the Holy Spirit prayed through me and prayed words I never could have come up with myself. I never could have done that. And it just floated. I cried. I broke, I was broken hearted for him. And I just prayed and I gave him scripture. I gave him words. I think I haven't heard back from you. But I couldn't have done that had I prepared for it. It was only as I just relaxed and allowed God to speak to me. You follow what I'm saying? It wouldn't, when, when you're ministering to people and God gives you scriptures that you haven't thought of for years and brings a life experience to your mind as somebody else's life experience. And you bring that all together and see the person being emotionally changed on the spot. You can see it. They're changing before you bury eyes. And it may or may not come to a total prayer, but you know you have moved them. You've really moved them closer to Jesus. You are like, God, you just used me. I think I have metal car wax. Who am I? Who am I? You used me to minister somebody like that. You used me. You spoke through me. And there's an intimacy to that folks that you can't experience any other way. And that's what sharing your faith is all about. It's secondary to win the last. The most important thing. The reason God wants you to share your faith is He wants to save you. He wants to enlighten you. He wants to keep you from drift, mission drift, all the woes disappear. Fallen of false doctors. You're not going to do that. If you keep your eyes on Jesus and keep sharing it every day because when you do that, He speaks through you and He's intimate with you. You have intimacy with God. I mean, there's no way else to experience that. I told you before I'll say it again. There's lots of scriptures. The Bible's written with scriptures about you should share your faith, go eat, proclaim the God, you know, all of this stuff. There's only one I can find is Isaiah 43, 10. It says, why? Okay, why? Isaiah 43, 10, it says, the say of the Lord, I appoint you as my witness so that you will understand and believe and know that I am God. He didn't say you understand more. He didn't say that you'll know more. He said, this is when you really know because when you have God speaking through you, when you know He's speaking through and using you and He's right there, whether you know He's God, nothing's going to rob your joy and nothing's going to rob your faith. And you know how you get there? You get there by moving, determined right now from now until your last breath. You're going to move everybody every day closer to Jesus. And then life is easy. It really is. It's amazing how that works. See you next time.