Bible Quiz: Each week this blog will begin with two questions. The answers are at the end of the blog. Have fun!!
According To the Bible 1. The statement from Jesus consisting of “My God, My God...” on the cross was evidence of a crisis of faith. 2. While on the cross, Jesus was separated from God the Father; God turned His back on Jesus.
Dear Prayer Warriors,
First let me get the appropriate apologies out of the way. You see, the following accounts are witnessing testimonies of men coming to Christ and of others being motivated to witness resulting in men coming to Christ. The apologies are, of course, due to those whose sensibilities will be offended by the “Rules” which were broken. The one giving the witness in all of these stories is not a career missionary who has studied the language, the culture and then spent months if not years inserting himself into the lives of the hearers before broaching the subject. Rather, Mike Daily is an Oklahoma boy with a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. He now hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is in his 50’s and the only country/culture he has traveled to in his adult life outside of the United States is Canada. All were led to Christ using a concise formatted five minute testimony which entailed the quoting of 12 or more Bible verses. In each case, Mike asked outright the question, “Would you like to pray now to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” Also, I apologize to those who will either say out loud or think to themselves, “Were these REAL decisions for Christ or people just being polite?” Each profession resulted in baptisms, marriages healed, men beginning to meet daily in Quiet Times Alone With God and others sharing bolding with their friends and leading them to Christ. You will have to take your skepticism and rules elsewhere. In the following testimonies, Jesus, the written Word of God, the divine working of God the Holy Spirit and the effectual call of God the Father reign supreme.
These are true stories from Zambia. They have been repeated though in Russia, in Cameroon and throughout the world. Jesus has already told us the state of the harvest - that the fields are ready. This reality is the constant (John 4:35-38).
The question is not the state of the harvest but the willingness of the sowers and reapers to labor hard and long in the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38).
How you can initiate sharing Christ On an airplane: Sit in your seat without reading anything. When the person sits down next to you, let them get settled in and then introduce yourself and ask their name. As soon as possible, let them know you are a Christian (i.e. What do you do? I’m an engineer by training but I enjoy working with teenagers at my church). If they want to talk go ahead and talk, if not don’t. After the plane takes off and reaches a relatively stable altitude say, “May I share with you how I became a Christian – it only takes 5 minutes?” Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem natural. Just say it.
In town: If you are in a situation where it seems like a person has five minutes without a likely interruption or distraction, and they already know you are a Christian you can ask the question at will, “May I share with you how I became a Christian – it only takes 5 minutes?” For my barber, I used this introduction but added that “if a customer comes in, I’ll stop” so he would not have to worry.
How ready you found the listener When I asked, “May I share with you how I became a Christian?” a few individuals hesitated until I quickly added, “it only takes 5 minutes,” then they all said OK.
Your basic approach in sharing your witness Have a piece of blank paper and a "Steps to Peace with God" tract from the Billy Graham organization in your shirt pocket with a pen. Draw the Bridge Illustration on the blank paper with the 11 verse references on it as you speak. When you are done, ask if the listener would like to keep the paper. I also give them the tract and tell them it has the same information in a slightly different format. Quote the 11 verses as you share with them. Keep information about yourself to a minimum.
How you ask the question After I share how I became a Christian, I ask them 3 questions: 1. If this is true, what would a person have to do to get to God’s side? (Answer: Believe these things and receive Christ as Savior and Lord. If they aren’t sure, just tell them.) 2. Where are you right now on this Bridge? (If they don’t immediately point to God’s side, then go to question 3. If they point to God’s side, ask them how long ago they prayed to receive Christ. If they can’t put a time on it, go ahead and ask question 3.) 3. Would you like to pray and receive Christ as your Lord and Savior? (Don’t worry about if they have started talking about something else. Just wait for them to stop talking and then ask this question – it doesn’t have to seem natural, just ask the question – jam it in there.)
Their response Out of 9 people, 4 were already Christians but were either not attending church or reading their Bibles so I encouraged them to spend 5 minutes a day reading a chapter of the Bible and asking God to teach them from it and to attend a church that believes the Bible. Four people said that they wanted to receive Christ so I took their hand and prayed with them to receive Christ and gave them the Billy Graham tract and some advice about finding a church and reading the Bible. One person did not want to receive Christ. We talked a little bit more, and then I thanked him for letting me share this information with him.
Follow-up, if any For people on airplanes, I provided the GCI website and some advice on churches and Bible reading. For example, the first lady I talked with lives in Albuquerque so I gave her the names of 3 good churches I am familiar with in Albuquerque for her to consider. For others, I gave them my email address if they had any questions. Those in Zambia indicated a desire to continue in Bible study. Two were baptized, one marriage was healed with husband and wife attending a conference and the husband meeting in daily devotional time with me. The other individual is meeting with a Zambian national. One lady who heard of this approach has already led two people to Christ.
Here is what God the Holy Spirit says about this method in Revelation 22:17, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost."
What are you saying?
By His mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon Director – Grace Community Int.
Answers to this week’s Bible Quiz
1. False - The short answer to this question is that God the Holy Spirit never fully explains why Christ uttered these words. Inferences can be made, though; some are plausible while others are blatantly incorrect. Whatever explanation you give to these words, must conform to several important Scriptural principles:
- First, it cannot be sin. It must be the perfect, sinless action of the perfect sinless Messiah – God the Son (Hebrews 4:15).
- Secondly, since it cannot be sin nor any doubt (for in fact anything not based on faith is sin), then it must be a statement of faith and not of doubt (Romans 14:23).
- Thirdly, since it cannot be sin and knowing the right thing and failing to do it is sin, then it must be the perfect, the correct statement to be made in this situation. It must be Jesus cognitively knowing the right thing to say and saying it. It must be Jesus knowing the right reaction to have and responding accordingly (James 4:17).
Consequently, whatever explanation you provide for this statement must acknowledge these words of Christ as the perfect, sinless response based solely on faith with no doubt as made by God the Son, who though tempted as we are, yet was without sin, and knowing the right thing to do, did it by saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
2. False - This is the second doctrinal misconception taught by many from the pulpit who should know better. One of the immutable, eternal attributes of God is His oneness. God is three, yet one. For God to cease to be one would mean that God ceases to be God. Three principles must guide our rejection of this statement as shallow and based on our imputing to God our false convictions regarding His nature and what He can and cannot do. God is three persons, yet one and as one being is indivisible one from the other in both existence and experience. God the Father can no more turn His back on Jesus than God the Holy Spirit can turn His back on God the Father. There are a number of basic Scriptural passages to consider:
- First, we must acknowledge the Unity of God (Deuteronomy 6:4).
- Secondly, Jesus and the Father are indivisibly one (John 10:30; 14:9; 17:22).
- Thirdly, rather than turning His back on Jesus while Christ was on the cross, God was intimately involved in this event right up to its very end as seen in the truths from Scripture that a. the Unity of God was never dissolved (2 Corinthians 5:19), b. the sacrifice of Christ was presented to God not in mere finished form but also in duration (Hebrews 9:24), c. it was God carrying out the just punishment of Christ which was infinitely greater in magnitude than any Roman solider could carry out (Isaiah 53:10), and d. God both Sacrificer and Recipient of the Sacrifice was “satisfied;” not that He just knew intellectually that it happened but that He looked, He saw all of the anguish of the soul of Christ from start to finish (Isaiah 53:11).
Rather than turning His back on Jesus while Jesus was on the cross, God was intimately aware and involved in every aspect of the punishment, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, second member of the Trinity.
Now ask yourself – what other things about the Bible do I believe which are in reality false?
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