Evangelism; Sharing GOOD News

 

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.  Acts 8:4

Dr. Don L. McCutcheon, Sr., ^{(pictured above)} is a longtime friend and fellow-laborer[1] in Christ.  Some years ago Dr. McCutcheon retired from the North Carolina Baptist Convention, where he served as Director of Evangelism.  I could tell you a lot about Don and his loving spirit, laughter, and lifetime commitment to sharing Christ with others.  This time, allow me to have our youngest daughter, Carrie tell it from the pew where she sat as a 16-year-old as Don preached in our church:

“Had a great evening catching up with an old friend and meeting his mother!! He and his sweet wife Kathy have been special to my family for many years now....I won't say exactly how many because that would tell MY age!! But I'll say, as a teenager, I took detailed notes from the pew as Pastor Don McCutcheon preached to the youth about ‘Dudes and Dudettes’”.

You gotta love a preacher who elevates youth as “dudes and dudettes”!  I preached this past Sunday on the importance of evangelism for the church, and that it is each individual member of the church’s responsibility to be involved. 

I asked Dr. McCutcheon to send me a few words about what evangelism has meant to him.  After appropriately  reminding me just how difficult it is for a Baptist preacher to write a few words about anything, he sent me these few paragraphs about sharing the GOOD News:

Having been raised in a non-churched family, I thought and was taught that if I were good I would certainly to go to heaven.  When I heard the gospel I realized the error of my worldview and the truth of the Biblical worldview.  After conversion, I realized how many did not understand the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  God helped me to see through the Scriptures, especially John 3:16, that His great love moved Him to send His only begotten Son to die for our sins and give us eternal life. Our response to that love calls us to turn from and confess our sins to Him and trust and follow Him completely with our lives. Matthew 28:19-20 reveals the command for all Christians to love, witness and disciple all people to Christ and teach them to follow Him as Lord.

Evangelism is the highest form of Christian love and obedience as the goal is for people to come to be born again, know and follow our Lord and Savior.  The greatest gift you could ever give anyone is the opportunity to know Christ and have eternal life.  The most heartbreaking and unending regret Christians will have in heaven are the ones with whom we did not even try to share the gospel.  I took His commands personally and seriously. I believed the agape love of God in John 3:16 clearly proclaims He loves us.

Secondly, the will of God is that none should perish (which happens to all who do not know Him) but that all should come to Him through repentance as communicated in 2 Peter 3:9. I should be doing all I can to love, pray for and verbally witness to those who do not know Him and face an eternity separated from Him.  It is never easy to share the gospel, but it is so important to our families, friends, neighbors, work associates and all people to hear God's way of salvation.  Ask God's Holy Spirit to give you courage and strength to witness and then watch Him work through you.

For You Today

My friend is one of those believers who joyfully shares Jesus wherever he goes.  For any follower of Christ, preacher or not, man, woman, or child, that is what should be the heart of our following, being ready, and being willing to share the GOOD News.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

GO TO VIDEO

Title image, Facebook image   W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For another post on Acts 8 see:  Upside Down  

---

[1] 2 Thessalonians 3:2

 

Making Plans

[1]

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year.  We will do business there and make a profit.”  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.  What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”  Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.  James 4:13-16^(NLT)

A long-time and good friend of mine, Dr. Don McCutcheon recently posted a picture of he and his fiancée, Debbie.  It was an announcement of their engagement.  Naturally I asked him:  When’s the big day?  His reply was nothing short of what I’ve come to love and respect about my Godly friend; he began his response with:  Lord willing….   

And then, today, the Apostle James showed-up in my inbox. 

I love that about God’s timing.  Sometimes I read a Bible passage and later that day or the next, a challenge shows up to reinforce the message of what I’ve learned.  Sometimes a challenge shows up and then later I read Scripture which reminds me God wrote it through the hand of a prophet ages ago, and now twenty or thirty centuries later God places it on my reading plan as a reminder that He is sovereign and can handle my battles.  Either way – before or after – I am blessed with the comfort that God has always had my back!

And that (as always) begs the questions…do I have His…and am I listening and submitting to His leading?  Are my plans made Lord willing?

James, the apostle and half-brother of Jesus, understood he was not in charge of the universe; he didn’t even claim to be in charge of his life as a whole, or the next ten minutes.  His plans were made with the proviso that everything was subject to the will of God; he was ready for change at a moment’s notice…or with no notice.  When you start your day or any project with Lord willing, it means you’ve accepted having God make the major decisions.     

There is a marked difference between having confidence and living-in confidence.  Having confidence in self (the product of your will), means you know you’re up to the task and your strength will accomplish that which you’ve planned...the polar opposite is living-in confidence.  The latter is a matter of settled choice that, having begun in prayer and study of God’s Word, you placed your will second to His will; you have become confidently-assured in the knowledge that God will guide you to His perfect outcome for you and His Kingdom. 

That is living Lord willing!

For You Today

I have always had the free will to choose my will, making plans my way; that is God’s gift to us all.  In my case (and perhaps in yours as well), every time I chose my will over God’s ways I have made a mess of things.

The best choice I can make with my will is to surrender it to His!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

---

[1] Title Image: Courtesy:  Pixabay.com