Why Christians Ought To Be The Most Loving People In The World

This month for Calvary Baptist Church is what we call Love Works Month. I will be encouraging the members of the church to perform individual acts of kindness and then use that kindness to then share the Gospel. The church will also be involved in several corporate activities including: making lunch for first responders, giving away cookies at our local 5k run, holding a special offering for Hart Life, and giving donuts to fast food workers all across town. I adopted the Love Works concept from several other churches, but as the years have gone by my own personal feelings toward it have grown and even changed. The purpose of Love Works, for us, used to be to give out the Gospel in a unique way; that is certainly still what it is all about, but over the last few years another purpose for Love Works has emerged in my heart and that is this: Christians ought to be loving people. It breaks my heart that when I look at the landscape of our solid independent, Baptist churches I see a few dots of loving, caring people in the midst of a sea of mean-spirited people. I understand that sometimes our stand for doctrine will make us seem mean-spirited, and that is not what I am talking about; instead, I am talking about the rude behavior, the grumpy attitudes, the “get off my lawn” mentality that so many have. But here is the things: Christians ought to be loving people, not just any kind of loving, but the most loving. To not be so is a poor representation of what we are and who we serve. Here are three reasons why Christians ought to be the most loving people in the world:

We Have Christ

There is no greater example of love than Jesus Christ. He lived 33 years on this planet, despised and rejected of man. But even through the mistreatment, the name calling, and the hatred, Jesus still went to that cross and died on it out of a love for me, out of a love for you, and out of a love for them. It is hard for us to fully grasp that when Jesus was on that cross, he was able to look down at the people who were cheering his death and were mocking but was able to truly say that he loved them. Jesus loved every Pharisee that was standing around the cross, he loved every Roman centurion, he loved Herod and Pilate, he loved Judas, and he loves us.

Sometimes we feel like we have just cause for hating someone because of a way they mistreated us, but we would be wise to remember that no one can do as bad to you as you have done to Jesus, yet he still loves you and he died on the cross for you. The love that Jesus displays for me motivates me to love others in a greater way.

We Have The Capability

Because we have the example of Christ, we are capable of loving in a greater way than the rest of the world. The “acts of love” that a lot of people perform today are not completely sincere. A lot of people give time and/or money to feel good about themselves, sometimes they do these things because of a feeling of guilt. In both of those cases, the action is performed, not for the person that is the recipient of the action, but for the person doing the action. Now, I am not saying that every Christian is always completely sincere when they are loving, but I am saying that Christians have the distinct capability of being self-less in our love because of the purpose of our love: sharing Jesus Christ. When we give out 300 bags of cookies in a few weeks, we will not be doing it to feel good about ourselves, we will be doing it to get the Gospel into the hands of 300 people. It’s not about us, it is about those who are still lost and on their way to Hell, and an action of love by a Christian may very well push them over the edge and they might accept Christ.

We Have The Command

If the other two reasons were not a reality, this one stands by itself. Countless times in the Bible, we are shown that we ought to be kind, loving people:

Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love…”

John 13:34,35, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Romans 12:10, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another”

Do I need any more than that? Because there are more! There is no legitimate excuse for a Christian to be a hateful person, to be so is to either be ignorant of what the Bible says or to resist what the Bible says. Let’s be loving people, because Christ commands us to be.

When we display the love of Christ, that is when we will make a difference in this world, Jude 22, “And of some have compassion, making a difference”. It does not say that our stand against wickedness will make a difference, or that our standards will make a difference, both are very important, but the passage tells us that compassion is what will  make a difference in our world. Could it be that Christians today are not seeing the world turn upside down for Jesus because they do not have compassion that makes a difference? Give me your thoughts in the comments!

Also, don’t forget to check out my newest book, Level Up!

The Two Times The Gospel Was Presented To Me (In My Adult Life)

All my life, I have grown up in churches that taught the importance of personal soul winning. I have been challenged to go out of the church building and tell as many people as I can about Jesus. Every Christian ought to be a witness for the Lord, Jesus has commanded that we “Go and Tell”. In my adult life, there have been two occasions in which someone confronted me with the Gospel. I want to tell you about both encounters:

The first encounter was when I was working at Panera Bread. I was in seminary in Florida. I had just gotten married and was earning my Masters Degree. I worked at Panera to pay my school bill and for us to survive. I often worked at the cash register and had the privilege of meeting a lot of people. One day, as I was taking a lady’s order, after she paid she handed me a piece of paper, she smiled, and simply said, “Read this paper when you have a chance, it will show you what the Bible says about going to Heaven!” And then left. Of course, this blessed my heart. I am already saved, but it is always nice to see other people spreading the Gospel. I looked at the  paper (we would call it a tract), the church named on it was a local non-denominational church. As I read what the tract said about the Gospel and the plan of salvation, I was pleased to see that it was doctrinally sound, a person could read it and be saved by believing!

My second encounter was actually yesterday. I was pumping gas, and a truck pulled up onto the other side of the pump. A man got out and started pumping gas. The man said hi to me, and I said hi back. I was wearing a suit coat and tie because I was about to go to a funeral, and maybe that was why he asked me, “Are you from Hartwell?” I then told him that I was actually the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church. He went on to talk to me about the Bible. He told me that he was a Mennonite and we talked a little about Biblical interpretation ( we were in agreement that the Bible ought to be taken literally). After that, he asked me about how I was certain about Heaven! I was shocked and pleased. Most people, after hearing that they were talking to a pastor, would not have the courage to ask that question. But this man was not afraid, and he asked me about my soul. I explained to him that I was saved by grace through faith, not by my own works but by the finished work of Christ on the cross. We shared a little bit of conversation about the Gospel and how sweet it is. After that he said to me, “A long time ago, I made a decision to tell as many people as I possibly could about the Gospel!” What a blessing!

As I dwell on both of these encounters, I cannot help but be convicted by them. There are actually two things about these encounters that convict me:

First, why do I not witness like that? This may come as a surprise to you, but I am a relatively shy person. I am very introverted and it makes me nervous just talking to people that I do not know. As I think about my encounter from yesterday, I cannot see myself suddenly initiating conversation with a random stranger at the gas station. But I most certainly can do what that woman did when I was working at Panera. We are already forced to talk to people at fast food restaurants that we are ordering from, why can’t I take an extra 5 seconds (at the most) and say, “Hey, can you read this when you have a chance? It’s about how to know you will go to Heaven when you die!” It is not that hard. I am convicted by the fact that, yes, I am a soul winner. I try to get out every week to knock on doors and spread the Gospel and as pastor of Calvary I enjoy creating opportunities for our church to spread the Gospel even more through special days, Love Works, Neighborhood Bible Time, and others. But when I see someone taking relatively mundane experiences like ordering at fast food or getting gas and then turning them into soul winning opportunities, it shows me that these people are truly serious about the Gospel. I need to have a heart for lost souls like these two wonderful people have, not just at designated times of the week, but ALL THE TIME.

Second, those of you who come to Calvary or are familiar with me know that I am an independent Baptist. I am more than an independent Baptist: I am an independent, fundamental, Bible-believing Baptist. These two that witnessed to me were non-denominational and Mennonite. I will preface what I am about to say with this: I have very little issue with Mennonites and very little issue with (most) non-denominational churches. I have met many sincere and doctrinally sound people in both of those categories. But I am an independent Baptist, and I cannot ignore that. As I said, all of my life I have been brought up in independent Baptist churches that have told me that I need to make my Gospel witness personal. And to be honest, I do not think I have ever met an independent Baptist pastor who was not also passionate about personal soul winning in his preaching. But again, the two times I was witnessed to were when a non-denominational lady gave me a tract and when a Mennonite asked about my soul. I’ll take it further, the only time that someone has ever knocked on my door to ask me about my eternity was when the Mormon missionaries came by (I understand that they are in doctrinal error, but they did show concern for my soul). As independent Baptists, we claim that we have a fire and a passion to see people get saved, but from my personal experiences I have seen that this is mostly not true. Baptist friends, stop talking about soul winning and start actually soul winning. Nothing gets accomplished by talking about something you ought to do, things get accomplished when you actually do it.

Pretty negative post, so let me tell this story to balance things out a little bit. My family and I were traveling from Florida back home to Georgia a few weeks ago. We stopped at a Chick-fil-a to get some food before continuing our journey. At one point I went to the restroom. When I was at the sink washing my hands, there was a Gospel tract from a Baptist church sitting against the mirror. I examined the tract, the pastor of the church was listed, I saw that the pastor was a close friend of my dad’s. This church was all the way in North Carolina, and I was in a Chick-fil-a in Georgia. I realized that someone from that North Carolina church, in their travels, left a Gospel tract in the restroom to try to be a witness to whoever was coming next. What a blessing!

Being a witness of the Gospel can truly be simply, but we MUST determine to actually do it. In closing, here are a few simply ways you can share the Gospel in your day to day activity:

• Give a tract to the fast food worker that you give your money to
• Leave a tract (and a good tip) for your waiter/waitress at a sit down restaurant
• Leave a tract in a public place where someone will easily find it (a restroom, a condiment stand, an ATM, or at the laundromat)
• Take opportunities to talk to people (gas station, in lines, in commute)

Soul winning is more than a weekly church activity or something we do on Sunday, it should be a part of our daily lives, bleeding into our most basic of interactions. The Gospel message is deserving of it. Be a messenger of the Gospel.

Question for the comment section: How are you being a witness in your day-to-day activity?

Don’t forget to check out my new book- Level Up!

Observing the Sower

Matthew 13:3, “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;”

As the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, I believe that God has called me to be a sower, and also to get the members of my church to be sowers. I am unashamed that I heavily emphasize the subject of spreading the Gospel in my preaching. Plenty of other pastors focus on “hobby horses” that may or may not be central in God’s Word, but I believe it is important to keep the Great Commission as our top priority. This upcoming year, 2016, is going to be a great year for Calvary Baptist Church. We are stepping out in faith and are planning an unprecedented year of outreach with Love Works Month, Friend Day, door knocking goals, Thursday and Saturday visitation, as well as several other events and programs. The members of Calvary Baptist Church will know (if they do not already) that we are meant to be a lighthouse for the lost, sowing the seed of the Gospel wherever we are able to. With that vision in mind, I was reading the parable of the sower and I made a few observations about this character that will help us in our service for the Lord:

1. The Sower Sowed the Seed

This may sound like an incredibly obvious point, but sadly it is overlooked. The seed, in this passage, is the Word of God. It is the job of the sower to sow the Word of God. Notice, the seed was the only thing that the sower sowed, nothing else. We live in a world that is becoming increasingly socially conscious, which is not bad thing. I fear though that in this consciousness, we (as the church) have lost track of being spiritually conscious. Let me give an example: A few weeks ago I received a pamphlet in the mail at church. It was about churches giving special love offerings to these agencies in order to help people in 3rd world countries get livestock, such as cows, water buffalo, chickens, etc. I believe that it is a good thing to give livestock to third world countries, but I believe that giving the Gospel is better. If I am going to give time, energy, and resources to something, it ought to be to the spreading of the Gospel. Why? Because a cow or a chicken is not going to save a soul from Hell, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will. In this Christmas season, there will be a lot of causes vying for your attention and your donations, all of which are noble and good, but do not get sidetracked and forget that the Gospel is the most important. Giving to the missions program at your church, give of your time to go door knocking and telling people about Jesus. If you are a sower, you must sow the seed. A sower that does not sow the seed is a worthless sower.

2. The Sower Didn’t Focus on the Ground

My wife and I have tried gardening for two years now, one year was a great success whereas this last year was an utter failure. I am not good at making straight lines, but my wife assured me that it was important to plant the seed in straight lines. Not only that, but it was important that the ground be tilled so that it was nice and loamy enough for a plant to grow. I am by no means an expert in gardening, and it confuses me when gardening experts talk about “PH balance” and “full sun”. We are meticulous about how seed gets planted these days. In the story of the sower though, we do not see that. In fact, by the way the story looks, it would seem as if the sower is just tossing the seed wherever with little to no regard as to where the seed landed. And that is the whole point. The sower did not inspect the ground and say, “Well, this ground is good, but this ground is thorny” instead he threw the seed wherever he could. As sowers for Christ, we cannot be picky and choosy over who we spread the Gospel to. When my dad was a young pastor, he was standing outside the door of his church with a member. A young couple pulled up in their car, they were visitors, and they began to walk into the church. My dad and the member greeted them and they went inside. The member looked at my dad and said, “They look like our kind of people!” Dad asked him, “What do you mean?” and the member said, “They are breathing!” The truth is, if they are breathing it is our job to reach them with the Gospel. Too often churches get focused on reaching a certain type of person, maybe someone of your own race or economic status or age; maybe someone who looks like a “church person” instead of just a random person from off the street. That is not how it should be. Often times I am guilty of this and the Holy Spirit has pricked my heart. I will tell myself, “That person doesn’t want to hear what I have to say!” And the Holy Spirit will say to me, “Tough! Tell them anyway! They need to hear the Good News!” Some churches will focus on getting the rich people to church at the expense of the poor, but the true sower does not care whether a person is rich or poor. The master told the servant (in another parable) to go to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. Where was the servant supposed to go? EVERYWHERE! Jesus told his disciples to go to Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. Where did Jesus tell them to go? EVERYWHERE! Who did he tell them to witness to? EVERYONE! Stop focusing on the ground and focus on the seed and getting it out to as many people as you possibly can.

3. The Sower has No Name

I understand that one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ parables is that none of the characters ever have a name (the rich man and Lazarus is not a parable). But I feel it is especially significant in this story. We call this parable “The Parable of the Sower”, but interestingly enough, the sower only appears in one verse, and all that it says about him is that he went forth to sow. Really, I believe that it would be more accurate to call this parable “The Parable of the Seed and Ground” because the sower plays a minor role, at best, in this story. What is the point? The sower got no attention, he just did what he needed to do. Too many Christians seek the praise of men instead of seeking the glory of God. They want their name in the bulletin or they want the pastor to mention them from the pulpit for a job well done or maybe even they want a thank you. But this sower was not thanked for his work, he was not named, he did not receive any attention at all, he simply did what he was supposed to do. I have found that Christians who constantly seek attention for their service are miserable people, reason being is that they lost their focus. The happiest people on earth are the Christians who learned that this life is not about them, but it is about giving glory to God and spreading the Good News of the Gospel. When a Christian loses focus of the importance of the Gospel he becomes caustic, bitter, and more prone to get his feelings hurt. That can be combatted with focusing on what God wants us to focus on: The salvation of the lost. My challenge to you: Put your nose to the grind and get to work for Jesus. Do not care about attention or praise, do not make sure people see what you are doing. God sees, and He is the only one who matters! Focus on spreading the seed.

I hope you are doing your part in spreading the Gospel. As we enter into a new year, make it a point to commit to God to be a better soul winner in the year 2016. Be a sower.

My Three Favorite Verses On Eternal Security

There is a false teaching that is spreading all over Christian churches today that has created great destruction in people’s walk with God, and that is the false teaching that one can lost their salvation. Preachers all across America are telling their churches that if you sin after you get saved then you have to confess in order to continue to be saved. This belief yields itself to a lack of certainty in the Christian life. As I read my Bible, I see that God wants me to have certainty in my beliefs and in my future. 1st John 5:13 says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” That passage tells me that God wants me to be certain about my eternity. In this post, I would like to highlight three different passages in the Bible that show me that I am eternal secure in my salvation

Ephesians 4:30, “…sealed unto the day of redemption.”

This may be my favorite Bible verse on the matter of eternal security. This passage tells us that we are sealed unto the day of redemption. The “day of redemption” being referred to in this verse is the day that the transaction of our salvation is completed, and that is the day we arrive in Heaven to be with the Lord. So we are sealed until the day we are in Heaven with Jesus. But what does “sealed” mean. This is where the truth gets amazing! To be sealed means to be marked for ownership or to be held securely. When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you put yourself under the ownership of God, and the fact that we are sealed means that nothing will change that until the day of our redemption. There was a practical illustration of this in Bible days, that Paul may have been alluding to: When lumber was being sent from one place to another the person who owned the wood to sell would put his mark (or seal) on it, this mark would indicate that it was his. The only time the seal could be taken off of the shipment of wood would be when it arrived to the person to whom it was being sold to. Do you see the simple truth here? When I got saved, I was sealed. That seal can only come off once I reach Heaven, because that is my final destination. You would get upset if you had a loved one who tried to mail a package to you but instead of it getting to you, instead it went to the mean neighbor across the street. The same is true here, you have a specific destination that God had you starting toward once you got saved. It can’t be Hell, it certainly is Heaven. Do not forget that you are sealed.

John 10:29, “…no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

We often use this group of verses as proof of the deity of Christ, and of course, this is a go-to passage for that. It is spelled out plain and simple. But this is also a passage about eternal security. First, let’s identify the “them” in this passage. Several verses previous to this, Jesus is referring to his “sheep”, when he says, “My sheep hear my voice…” The “them” in this verse is the sheep. Who are the sheep? Those that believe on Jesus, in other words, those that are saved. That makes me a sheep! Pretty cool. This also makes sense because of what we saw from Ephesians 4:30, we belong to God once we are saved. All of that being said, this verse tells me that since I am saved, I have been placed in the hand of God and no man is able to pluck me out of the Father’s hand. There is not a single person in this world that can make you “unsaved”. Let me ask you something: Are you a person? I’m sure the answer is “yes”. If you are a person, than you are a part of this “no man” category that this verse refers to. You cannot do anything to be taken out of the hand of God once you are saved.

I like to explain it this way. What if I were to go out today and commit a heinous crime, let’s say that I killed someone (remember, this is just an illustration, I have never actually killed anyone). After I commit the crime I call my dad and tell him what I did. Now, would my dad be happy with me? No way! He would be incredibly disappointed in me. But would I still be his son? Of course I would. Ultimately, nothing could change the fact that I am my father’s son. I have his DNA inside of me, his blood runs through my veins. It doesn’t matter what happens in life, I will forever be the son of my father. When you got saved, you became a child of God, Jesus’ blood covers you and accounts for you. You are securely held in the Father’s hand, and no one, not even you, can change that. You cannot be plucked.

1st John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This truth is very simple. When you got saved, you were cleansed from all unrighteousness. Does the verse say, “All past unrighteousnesses”? No! It says “all”. I once heard a preachers say, “all means all and that is all that all means”! Very true statement. When I asked Jesus to save me, he cleansed me from all unrighteousness past, present, and future. After all, future unrighteousnesses are a part of “all”, aren’t they? You may ask, “How can that be?” But let me rebuttal with a question of my own, “How can it not be?” How long ago did Jesus die on that old rugged cross? It almost 2000 years ago. I do not know a single person on this planet who has lived for 2000 years, that means this, every sin that you ever committed was committed in the future for Jesus. Your past sins were committed in the cross’s future. Remember, God transcends both time and space, therefore, he is able to cleanse us of our sins, even before they are committed. When I came to Jesus and confessed my sin to Him and believed that he would save me from them, not only did he save me from my past, but also from my future. The Bible calls those of us that are saved “justified”. Justified means to be “declared righteous”. When I got saved, I was declared righteous before God, that is what makes it possible for me to go to Heaven. But how can I be declared righteous? It isn’t because of anything I did, it is because Jesus cleansed me from my unrighteousnesses. I can only be righteous by not being unrighteous, and that is what Jesus did for me when he saved me, took away my unrighteousnesses.

Ultimately, you need to understand the essence of salvation. Salvation has nothing to do with you but it has everything to do with Jesus. Salvation is not dependent on your goodness or the thing that you do, it is dependent on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. If I can be saved by the grace of God, but then lose my salvation because of bad works, then ultimately Jesus’ death was in vain (Galatians 2:21). You are not saved by grace and then kept by works, that doesn’t make any sense (Romans 3:28, Galatians 3:1-5) Salvation is either all about Jesus and his saving grace or it isn’t really salvation at all. And that is enough for me to believe that what God promises he will do, that he will do. The Gospel is simple, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved”, let’s not add man’s doctrine because we think God’s plan is to simple. I am saved by grace, through faith, and not by works. In just the same way, I am kept saved, I am eternally secure because of the grace of God.

If you have any topics for me to write about in "My Three Favorite" series, let me know in the comments!

Curtis King is the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Hartwell, GA