Repentance: What Is It and How Do We Present It?

Today Ray Comfort posted a defense of the biblical warrant for preaching and commanding repentance on his Facebook fan page. His purpose in writing his defense is to speak out against those who would “..say that we should never tell a sinner to turn from his sins, because that implies that he must “do” something to be saved” and those who would “..say that repentance merely means a change of mind about Jesus.”

You can read the entire article here: Is Repentance Just a Change of Mind?

While I certainly agree that repentance is more than “changing your mind about Jesus,” I would add a few things to Ray’s presentation.

Repentance does not have as much to do with what you are turning away from, as much as it has to do with the One to Whom you are turning. A turn toward Christ will always result in a turn away from rebellion against Him. If He be lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself. To explain repentance solely as a "turning away from sin", without exalting Jesus as the reason for that turning, will surely produce legalists.

How many times have you heard this explanation of repentance following the preaching of the Law and Grace?

"To receive this free gift of God's grace through Jesus Christ you must repent and believe. Repentance is this - Remember all of those laws which you broke, that found you condemned before God? You must now turn from your Law-breaking! Stop lying, stop stealing, stop looking with lust and hating. Turn from your sin and God will save you. This is what faith is..."

This is an unbiblical presentation of repentance, unfortunately, this is how many people continue to share the gospel. Why is this wrong? Consider this, if you tell someone that they must now keep the very Law that condemned them to be saved, have you really given them any good news? You've just told them that it is impossible to keep the Law and 5 minutes later you tell them that they must keep that same Law to be saved. It makes no sense.

Let's clean up both our definition and presentation of repentance.

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The Kindness of God that Leads to Repentance

Have you ever had a well meaning Christian suggest that you not speak to unbelievers about God's wrath or judgment; that such speech is divisive and may very well be counterproductive to the very thing you are attempting to accomplish? Have they further suggested that you simply let the world see Jesus through you, in your life and through kind actions? Have they ever used, "It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance." as proof-text for their position? If so and you've not known how to properly respond to this application of Romans 2:4, then keep on reading.

"Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" Romans 2:4

The first thing to look at with any verse that is used as a proof-text is to see the verse in its actual context. You'll immediately note that this portion of Scripture, which is so often quoted, is actually not even contained in the text. It is a clause contained within Romans 2:4 that has been modified to stand alone as a sentence. The problem with this is that when this clause is lifted out of its context it completely changes its intended meaning. This is not only made clear by reading the entire verse but further established by considering the surrounding verses.

So let's take a look and see why this common application of Romans 2:4b does not fit the text.

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

It is clear, Paul was not saying that God grants repentance through the conduit of kind actions, he was saying that God is kind in that He does not crush us for our rebellion immediately. Paul was addressing the hypocrisy of those who were standing in judgment over others in the church while at the same time committing the very same sins as those whom they were condemning. He asked them a rhetorical question, "..do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience [of God]..?" And then we come to our proof text,"..not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" So what is the kindness of God that is meant to lead us to repentance? Is it kind actions? No, the antecedent of the "kindness of God" is "the riches of His kindness, forbearance, and patience." In other words, Paul was saying, "The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty. You who are judging unrighteously are despising and showing contempt for this gracious patience of God; the very thing which is intended to lead you to repentance."

Obviously, to use Romans 2:4 as a suggestion that a faithful Gospel witness does not speak of God's wrath or judgment but rather shows the love of God through kind actions, simply does not work. Especially when you consider the following verse, Romans 2:5, where Paul speaks of God's wrath and righteous judgment.

"But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed."

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Doing My Job While I Work

I had the wonderful blessing of sharing the faith while at work today. I have done this in the past but I distinctly felt like today's witnessing encounter was ordained by God. Granted, they are all ordained but this one was a bit different. Let me try and explain...

One or two days ago I was struck with the curious thought of why unbelievers in the past have often apologized for cussing around me. I sat and contemplated the possible reasons why that might happen. Is it merely a matter of respect? Are they just concerned that a Christian might be overly sensitive to vulgarities or is it something more? Maybe they feel convicted around us. Is it a visceral response to a person whom they perceive spiritually to be a representative of God? I thought it might be a little bit of both. While it had been some months since this last happened I thought I might considered how I should respond to an apology should it ever happen again.

Flip the calendar forward to today. This afternoon I stopped to speak with a coworker about some work related issues and during the course of the conversation he let a 4-letter word fly. Guess what he immediately did next? He apologized.

In a split second I determined that God was in this encounter. God had brought the very scenario that I was immediately involved in into my heart just days before. Realizing that the Holy Spirit had orchestrated this conversation gave me great boldness to witness.

So I immediately went into my line of questioning. It was a very short line as I only needed to ask one.

"Why did you just apologize?"

"Cause some religious people get offended by cussing."

"Funny it really doesn't offend me too much."

"None of it?"

"Well, yes actually. I do not like it when people blaspheme God?"

"What is blaspheming?"

"When you use God's name as a cuss-word. Have you ever done that? Said, 'Jesus Christ' or 'G. D.?'"

"Yeah but not too often. I sometimes say Jesus Christ when I hurt myself."

"Have you ever considered what you are doing when you do that?"

And that was the transitional point in the conversation.

We spoke for about 10 minutes from that point on about the Law and the Gospel. I could truly see the conviction of his sin and the fear of judgement upon him. He became fidgety and he tried to dodge the topic a few times but we were able to keep the conversation on point. It went very well and I am overjoyed that I was afforded the opportunity to share the Gospel with him while at work.

Witnessing on the job is almost as hard as witnessing to a family member.

Please pray for Scott.

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Deborah 13: Servant of God

Late last year I posted a video on YouTube called "How to Make Your Child a False Convert". What you will see if you watch this video is an evangelistic invitation in which a pastor invites a room full of children to become Christians without explaining sin, Christ's atoning work on the cross, His death, or His resurrection. She simply has the children repeat an impotent prayer after which she popishly pronounces them saved.

For the most part the majority of the responses to the video were positive. I did however receive my fair share of negative commentary. Most of the negative comments revolved around a singular complaint; namely, that the speaker was addressing the audience at a level of their understanding. Therefore, my criticisms were unwarranted.

well considering she is talking to children and its really up to the parents to teach about God and salvation , I don't see any thing wrong in the video.pretty tame actually and sounded ok.

This is for kids remember. She just talks to them in a language they understand!!Give it a rest whith those stupid comments!!!

Pharisees!

In response to the video I wrote an article which I entitled "How To Not Make Your Child a False Convert". In it I argued that children are much brighter and have a much greater capacity to understand than we give them credit. I contended that while we should use age appropriate language when proselytizing children we should not remove those essential elements that actually make the Gospel good news. The children can get it!

Consider Deborah Drapper. Deborah was saved at 6 years old and is now 13. Watch this short biography on Deborah and you decide if you think that this young girl has the mental capability to understand the doctrines of Salvation.




To view the full length video please hit the following link: Deborah13:Servant of God

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The Fallacy of Relevancy

So, what's wrong with this picture?

Nothing.

Josh Elsom captured this moment; and a picture is worth a thousand words.

The picture reminds me of the old Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the others. Which one is different? Do you know?"Four kids on bikes. Their bikes are similar. Their clothing is similar. Their hats and sunglasses are similar. And standing in the midst of those four kids, proclaiming the Law and the Gospel, is Mark Mackey--a 57-year-old bread truck driver and evangelist.

Mark doesn't look like the people to whom he is speaking. He isn't dressed like them. He's old enough to be their father. And he doesn't have a spiffy BMX bike so that he can relate to them.

What Mark has, however, is of far greater value and is far more powerful than relevancy. The reason Mark was able to engage these four young people in spiritual conversation is simple, really. Mark loves God and loves people.

Mark long ago realized that he didn't have to be "of" the world in order to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unlike so many so-called ministries these days that cater to the worldliness of the lost, Mark is modeling Christ-likeness in his evangelism efforts by speaking the truth in love.

Yes, it is true that those kids would have remembered Mark had he rode up to them on his own BMX bike, sporting the hair, clothing, and backward hat of a person 1/4 his age. They would have remembered how silly and unauthentic he looked.

Instead, what those kids will likely remember is that an older guy who they will never likely see again cared enough about them to speak honestly and lovingly to them about the things of God.

And it is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not worldly relevance, that the Lord uses to draw unbelievers to repentance and faith.

Thanks for your godly example, Mark.

-Tony Miano

The Lawman Chronicles

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Bobby Schott

1 Corinthians 1:21 tells us that,"..it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." and in verse 27 of the same chapter that,"God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong..."

God is in the business of taking weak vessels and using them for His glory. He uses the shepherd boy to defeat the giant, the farmer with an army of 300 to defeat a nation, and rag tag group of 12 to change the world. Such is the case of Bobby Schott.

Please watch the following video and consider how God uses the most unlikely people to do the most amazing things for His Kingdom.

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Christ's Only Prayer Request

Did you know that Jesus made only one request for prayer in the Scriptures?

Yep, and it is found in Matthew 9:37-38.

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Sadly this is a prayer which is woefully neglected in the hearts of most professing followers of Jesus Christ. Why do we not pray with great sincerity to the Lord to send more laborers into the harvest? There can only be three reasons; ignorance, apathy, or self-preservation.

First, one may have no knowledge that this request has been made by our Lord. This state of ignorance would indeed be temporary, of course. For if one knows what he has been saved from and how he has been saved from it then his conscience would demand that something be done. Intuitively the regenerate man will pray for laborers to be dispatched into the world.

Second, the professing christian may be apathetic to this request. They simply do not care whether other people (neighbors, friends, or family) are saved from the wrath of God. They may claim with great passion that they care but in the deepest parts of the heart they do not. This is a very dangerous place to live by the way. Charles Spurgeon said,"Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that."

The third reason that this prayer fails to be uttered is because of self-preservation. Understand, there is no way that this prayer can be honestly spoken without taking action. How can one genuinely pray for laborers to be sent while sitting on one's own hands? It can not be done, the faithful child of God knows who they are and knows to what they have been called. The carnal man may know as well but still refuse to execute faithfully that which is required of his commission. So because of the burdening of the conscience this third man will not pray the request of his Lord. He knows that praying this prayer for laborers would implicate him in his lack of zeal for the lost. He would therefore rather remain quite, exclude the prayer for laborers, and remain safely planted in his home. There is no suffering for the sake of Christ for this one. There is no mockery for the one who does not move, there are no stones thrown at those who do not speak, and there is no burning stake for those who do not love.

You know the only safe person of these three would be the one who is ignorant, but if you've read this far then you no longer have an excuse.

So pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He would send more laborers into the fields; that is, in addition to you.

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Atheists Who Inspire

The life of C.T. Studd stands as one of the great stories of sacrifice and service in modern Christian history. Charles Thomas Studd was from a wealthy English family and was an all English-Cricketer. He had everything a young man could desire; he had enough money to last a lifetime and he had fame. Although C.T. enjoyed all of these things he gave them all up to become one of the greatest missionary leaders of his day.

His life stands as a sign to all succeeding generations that it is worth while to lose all this world can offer and stake everything on the world to come. His life will be an eternal rebuke to easygoing Christianity. He has demonstrated what it means to follow Christ without counting the cost and without looking back.[1]

So what was it that caused this wealthy athletic Brit to turn from a life of fame and comfort to a life of relative anonymity and sacrifice? God certainly used many circumstances to transform the life of this young man. But perhaps the most defining and catalytic moments of C.T. Studd's life came in the form of a tract. Not a gospel tract mind you, but an Atheistic tract intended to insult weak-minded Christians. The tract read:

"Did I firmly believe, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, religion would mean everything to me. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as dross, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking thought and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labour in its cause alone. I would take thought for the morrow of Eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences should never stay my hand nor seal my lips. Earth—its joys and its griefs—would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon Eternity alone and on the immortal souls around me soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season, and my text would be, ‘What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?"

He was never the same again.

Penn Jillette, comedian/illusionist/juggler/writer best known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, is also an outspoken atheist. He has on many public occasions in Carlin-esque fashion picked apart and ridiculed the faith of millions. He is an enemy of God and no friend of the faithful. Nevertheless, Penn Gillette said something recently that sounds very much like the atheistic tract that landed in C.T. Studd's hands. Penn's words should stand as a rebuke to the "easygoing christian" and a charge to the faithful.


[1] C.T. Studd: Cricketer & Pioneer by Norman Grubb

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Ten Indictments

Ten Indictments was delivered by Paul Washer at the 2008 Revival Conference, October 21st - 23rd in Lilburn, GA.

Audio can be downloaded here.

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Has Jesus Ever Accepted You Into His Heart?

John Piper tells the story about the first time he was offered an opportunity to speak at his alma mater, Wheaton College.

“It was my first chance in this big, chandeliered, blue, beautiful chapel. And I stood up and said, 'The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.' And all my friends who were up in the balcony just went, 'Oh no, he blew it on his first chance at his own alma mater to speak to these students, coming back after 20 years, and he misquotes the Westminster Catechism right off the bat and says, 'The chief end of God' instead of 'The chief end of man.' And to their great relief I went on to say, 'I really meant that.'"

Well I really meant what I said in the title of this article too. Has Jesus ever accepted you into His heart? You see we get it backward when we ask people this cliché in its original form, “Have you ever accepted Jesus into your heart?” First of all we do not accept Jesus, as if the Almighty needed a review of His worthiness to be accepted by us. Unfortunately this is often the gospel that has been pitched to the unbeliever. “Give Jesus a 60 day trial. If Jesus doesn't change your life then you can get your money back". No, we can only receive the gift of Jesus Christ, and it may only be obtained on His terms.

Secondly, “accepting Jesus into your heart” implies the idea that Christ has come merely to supplement the sinner’s life. We know this to be false. God did not descend from His throne on high to take on the likeness of sinful flesh and lay it down on a Roman cross to one day compliment an already okay life. Jesus Christ had to brake into human history to save sinners that were otherwise hopeless. Without the purchasing power of Christ’s blood there would be no repentance and no faith given to the sinner. And without the imposition and power of the Holy Spirit, no sinner whose heart is desperately wicked would ever choose Him. Jesus did not conquer death so that He could conform to our lives. He has come so that we may be conformed to His. There is only one reason for God needing you and that's to bring you to the place where, in repentance, you've been pardoned for His glory. And in victory you've been brought to the place of death that He might reign.

Finally, while I understand the sentiment and implied theology behind Jesus being invited into the sinner’s heart, it would perhaps be better to cast off all unbiblical evangelical jargon all together. Let us be so consumed with the heart of the Father that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God would flow uninhibited from our hearts upon the ears of the unbelieving.

Oh God accept me into your Kingdom and let me be conformed to your heart!

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Preach the Gospel Always, and if Necessary Use Words?

I recently found myself in a sparring match with some friends of a friend on Facebook. My friend had written a note wanting some encouragement about a rather insensitive email that she had received about the “lie” of Christmas. She has good friends because they all were ready to give her the support she needed. However, during the course of the dialogue there was some language that I was not entirely comfortable with. One well meaning friend, I believe, gave some ill-informed advice.

The best way to show you are a Christian is to not argue. Show them through your loving example what being a Christian really means... Actions speak louder then words. Love people to Christ. :)

To which I replied:

Great post Anonymous but I want to take exception on a couple of points. You are correct we should not argue, except when an assault comes against the faith. In which case we are commanded to defend it with great vigor. (Jude 3-4)

Actions can lend credence to your words but they do not speak louder. The best way to love people to Christ is to tell them the truth. That is why Jesus told us to go into all the world and PREACH the Gospel.

This was soon rebutted by another person on the thread who claimed that “Actions will always speak louder than words.” And,

“Arguing and constant defense only continues to perpetuate the negative stigmas christians are viewed with in this day and age. It's not about you're wrong I'm right...it's about loving God and people.”

He later revealed that he chooses not to argue the merits of the Gospel with unbelievers because he does not want to alienate them. I will leave this one alone except to say that the Gospel is an offense to the unbeliever and Jesus tells us this. He says that the Gospel is a sword and that it will turn family and friends against us. The Savior also warns us that unless we love Him more than we love our earthly relationships we are not worthy of the Kingdom of God. So we are to anticipate persecution and we are to expect that we will alienate people. That is the nature of the Gospel.

The following is an unabridged version of my response to these arguments. I trust that the following will be an encouragement to some and a catalyst for others.

I never said that we should not live out the Gospel. Not in the least. 1 John 3:18 says that very thing, "…let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." It is similar to what we see James arguing when he says that faith without works is dead faith. So, in this case it could be said, that preaching without a lifestyle that supports the message may cause the message to be irrelevant to the hearer. We can stand together on that all day long. But deeds without the words are completely worthless. “Loving people to Christ” by doing unendorsed deeds can never convey the Gospel. People who feed the hungry, care for the sick, and build houses for the poor and never share the Gospel have ultimately failed. Sure they offer temporary comfort but in the end these poor hungry people who have been served die in their sin. I can help the proverbial woman across the street a million times but if I fail to tell her about the Gospel what good have I done? It would do her as much good as giving a guy in the electric chair a hand tailored Kiton suit and a $200 haircut.

So again my point is not for apologetic argument and preaching devoid of caring for people. Quite to the contrary, in fact I would say that the most loving thing a person could ever do is preach the Gospel. Sometimes this preaching takes place over a cup of coffee or in an email, sometimes it happens from a soap-box in the middle of the city, and sometimes it is manifest in the defense of the faith. My primary point of contention is this, that actions alone are never enough. It is a mistake to put a cliché like "Actions speak louder than words" above the authority of Scripture. I challenge anyone to find me a single scripture that support such a notion. I can guarantee that I will find you a score of admonitions to preach the Gospel, and preach it using actual words. The idea that we can be defenders of the faith and heralds of the Gospel without opening our mouths is ludicrous. Jesus certainly did not disciple His followers this way. He stood up against the self-righteous people of His day and He did it by proclaiming the Word of God with great authority in the public arena. Peter did this, as did Paul, John, Stephen and a thousand others that were killed for their public defense and proclamation of the Gospel. And we as Christians are called to nothing less than this.

It is my belief that people fall into a "let me show them Christ through my actions" lifestyle because of one of three reasons. The first, which I believe to be the most common, is that ultimately this person is ashamed of the Gospel. The end result of this shame is that the person attempts to pacify their guilt for their shame by doing random acts of kindness. And if we examine this a little further we see what this is in truth, self-righteousness. This person manages to suppress the truth of God and attempts to appease His God by “doing” good things.

The second reason, which I fear most of all, is that the person who fails to be obedient to the Lord’s command to preach the Gospel is self deceived and not truly saved. It has been said that there are only two types of people who truly believe in Hell; those who have been saved from it and those who are suffering in it. And if we as believers truly believed in a place where God’s omnipotent wrath is being poured out continually and eternally on the unrepentant sinner how could we not proclaim the Gospel? What would you say of a fireman who sat idly by and watched as a family burned in their house because he was too busy helping an old lady get her cat out of a tree? You would scream that their blood was on his hands. Sure it was nice of him to help the old lady with her cat but his priorities were completely wrong. And so are our priorities when we choose “do” without the “tell”.

Listen to the Word of the Lord in Ezekiel:

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.”

These words should terrify the passive Christian. Do you hear what this text is saying? It is saying that if you fail to open your mouth about the judgment that is going to be poured out upon humanity that God will hold you accountable. God goes onto say that you will have saved yourself only if you have warned the perishing. I think Spurgeon captured the heart of this text perfectly when he said, “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.”

The third reason I think Christians trade the proclamation of the Gospel for social action or “loving them to Christ” may be ignorance to the command of Scripture. But listen, the Great Commission was not upon those alone who stood at the Mount of Olives, it is upon you and upon me. We are all called as ambassadors of Christ and ministers of reconciliation. We are a unique people because we are a kingdom of priests to the Most High GOD.

If you happen to find that you have been living in this third category of ignorance let me serve you notice. You have now just been evicted by truth.

If you find that you are in the first or second category let me plead with you to examine the validity of your salvation. Matthew 7 paints a very grim picture of the judgment of Christ. Jesus tells us that many will come to Him on that day proclaiming Him as Lord and professing the many works that they did in His name. But He will say to them, “Depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you.” Calling Jesus Lord is not enough to enter into the Kingdom of God; it is only he that does the will of the Father that will gain entrance.

You know what is absolutely terrifying? That most of the people that we work with, most of the people we see at the grocery store, and perhaps some of you that are reading this right now will one day hear those very words from the Lamb of God.

DEPART!

I am certain that on that day we will care little about the alienation we may have risked or the offense that we might have caused. And for those whom have we failed to warn, who are even now being cast into everlasting darkness, they will have an eternity to wonder why we did not care enough to open your mouth.

"If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for." - C.H. Spurgeon.

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How to Make Your Child a False Convert.

Read the follow up article How to Not Make Your Child a False Convert.


Check out Tony Miano's thoughts on this video at The Lawman Chronicles.

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How to Not Make Your Child a False Convert.

I am constantly amazed at my son Noah. He is only 2 years old but already he can count to 20 and with a little help can even count to 10 is Spanish. He knows the alphabet, his colors and shapes, he knows animals and he has an amazing memory. When I read him his children’s books at night he will often finish the sentences because he’s heard the story already and when we sing songs together he can finish the line if I stop singing. He is really doing well for being only two years old. Of course, I am probably just like any proud father who believes his child is advanced beyond his peers. But truth be told, I think that dads like me are impressed with our children not because the child is necessarily advanced for their age but because we just underestimate how intelligent our children really are.

Jeff Foxworthy’s television show Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader has proven to be a big hit over the last couple of years. The show’s success probably has to do more with displaying how foolish grownups can look than being a stage for how bright the children are. Unfortunately, I believe that many parents do not understand how smart their young child really is and how much potential they have for understanding and doing hard complex things. This seems to be a late development in the evolution of our society. Did you know that John Hancock entered Harvard University when he was 13 years old, that Samuel Adams completed his master’s degree before he turned 21 and that Thomas Jefferson frequently studied 15 hours a day during his time at the College of William and Mary?[1] There truly has been a fundamental shift in how we raise and educate our children.

By misunderstanding a child’s ability to learn and understand hard and complex ideas a parent can potentially stunt their child’s intellectual and cognitive growth. I think this can happen in a couple different ways. The first way a parent can bring a child’s development to a crawl is by speaking and teaching the child below his or her current stage of development. The second, which is really just the flip side of the first, is done by not challenging the child beyond their current stage of development.

So right about now you may be asking, “What does this have to do with leading a child to Christ?” Well I will tell you. I believe that we do a serious disservice to our youth and blaspheme the Lord by contextualizing and dumbing down the Gospel for our children. Children can handle much bigger ideas and concepts than you think. They can understand their depravity, their need for salvation and that God’s wrath was satisfied through the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. They need to understand Heaven and Hell, faith and repentance. Serious harm can and has been done by offering a pseudo-gospel to children. Unfortunately, today our Sunday Schools and Vacation Bible School programs have become the breeding ground for false converts. Our kids are being fed an impotent gospel that, in reality, is no gospel at all.

Another issue, which does not relate to our underestimation of our children’s ability to understand and reason, is the problem of leading a child in the decision for salvation. Children can be manipulated very easily and it does not take much effort to persuade them in any one direction. So parents and teachers we must be very careful not to be overzealous and usurp the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is His job to convict a person of sin and the work of the Father to draw them to Jesus. Children are prone to make false professions simply to please their overzealous parents or teachers. Let us not make this grave error of pressuring our children to make a decision; the result of which can have damnable consequences. Leading a child, or any person for that matter, in a decision for salvation can give a false sense of security. A person’s faith should not be put in the raising of their hand, the signing of the card, the baptism, or the sincerity of their decision; it should be in Christ alone. If the child is genuinely converted then they have become a new creation in Christ and will henceforth bear fruit in keeping with their repentance. Also be wise in your language. Avoid evangelical jargon such as “ask Jesus into your heart” or “plead the blood”. These terms are not only confusing but they are often unscriptural.

In closing let me just add that while I am not a trained psychologist, and my advice should not be treated as if I were, it would appear to me that what I have shared is grounded deeply within truth and logic. Your children are smarter than you think and you should treat them that way. Treat them as fools and that is what they will become. Train up a child in the way that they should go and when they get older they will not depart from it. Find the balance of using age appropriate language when sharing the Gospel with your child without compromising on those areas that are hard and that sting. And finally, don’t fret. Remember salvation is of the Lord and He is sovereign over your child’s election. Now let the truth of that knowledge guide you as you as you disciple your little ones and point them to the cross of Jesus Christ.


[1] The Rebelution

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Stepping on the Box.

I suppose it has been about 3 years now since I was walking in the West End of downtown Dallas. Last I was there I saw a young man standing on a step stool preaching. To that point, in my 30-some years of life, I don't think I had ever witnessed anybody ever preaching in the open-air. I had seen people in the past wearing sandwich boards or holding up signs but never had I heard a person preach in public outside of a church. I had certainly heard about people doing this in the past; I had even heard a few preachers talk about what they use to do back when they had "zeal without knowledge". But I had never seen it myself.

Oddly, one of my initial responses to the preaching of the Gospel in public was embarrassment. The difficult part to understand though is that the embarrassment was not necessarily for the man yelling from the stool, it was for myself. I felt strangely uncomfortable, like every eye in the gathering crowd might at anytime turn toward me. It was kind of like watching a television program where the characters are in a very awkward and embarrassing situation and somehow their embarrassment is transmitted to you. I always end up watching those shows through cupped hands. That is how the preaching made me feel.

There was also a hint of anger that I felt toward the preacher. I thought he sounded arrogant, angry and hateful. His message was true but somehow it lacked the love that I knew Christ held for the lost. After about 10 minutes of watching the preaching we left and jumped into the car. I am quite sure we ridiculed that poor guy the entire ride back to Duncanville. I think we all felt that the preacher was courageous but he lacked love and was likely ineffective.

As I lay in bed that night and considered everything that I had witnessed that evening I became honest with myself. Honest about my embarrassment and honest about my angry reaction toward the preaching. Ultimately, I had to concluded that my embarrassment and anger was due to a singular fact; I was ashamed of what the man was saying and I was mad that I lacked the courage to do what that man did. I certainly believed in what he was saying and I had up to that point even dared shared my faith with non-christians. But something within me that night wanted to find a shovel, dig a hole and jump in.

One thing I was absolutely sure of that night was that I would never do what I saw that man do.

Fast forward about a year, my good friend Chad Cossette, who I actually led to Christ in high school, gave me a message to listen to; Hell's Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort. I instantly loved it, but what I did not realize at that time was that one message would have more impact on me than any other message I had ever heard. That message altered the course of my life. As I began to seek out more teaching by Ray Comfort I discovered that his ministry had a daily two hour radio show called Way of the Master Radio. The radio show often played clips of Ray Comfort preaching open-air. I absolutely loved it and it didn't take me long before I started to fear that I would one day soon find myself preaching from on top of a box.

This past July, a mere two years after I swore my oath of never publicly proclaiming the Gospel, I did it. This Independence Day I stood on a concrete barrier and preached the very same message that had once caused me so much embarrassment. It was my Independence Day, I was exercising my liberty and freedom from the bondage of shame, anger and pride. Since that July 4th I have preached in the open air about 15 times and was even blessed with the opportunity to be personally trained by the man whose message had meant so much to me. Preaching in the public square has proven to be the most terrifying thing that I love to do.

I now find myself in a very privileged line of preachers, Ray Comfort, Todd Friel, Tony Miano, David Wilkerson, Dwight Moody, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, John Knox, Stephen, the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, Jesus Christ and it is my hope that you will one day join me and experience the absolute pleasure of heralding the Good News of Salvation!

"No sort of defense is needed for preaching out-of-doors; but it would need very potent arguments to prove that a man had done his duty who has never preached beyond the walls of his meetinghouse. A defense is required rather for services within buildings than for worship outside of them." C. H. Spurgeon

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