Get Off The Fence

A lot of people have a tendency to put things off until the last minute. Unfortunately, that includes receiving salvation. Examples of procrastinators in the Bible include Pharaoh delaying deliverance from the plague of frogs in Exodus chapter 8. When the Apostle Paul presented the gospel to Felix in Acts 24, the governor’s reply in verse 25 was to meet again “at a convenient time.”

When you are out evangelizing, you’ll encounter people that claim they will get right with God at a later time. Some have this idea they must clean themselves up first before they can commit their lives to the Lord. Yesterday in Lincoln, Illinois, the Lord led me to approach a woman sitting by herself on a park bench. This woman used to go to church but had backslidden and admitted to having an affair with a married man. I reminded her of various Scriptures including Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” After ministering to her for a few minutes, I asked if she would let me pray a blessing over her. She agreed and so I prayed for her and bound the devil. Then I offered to lead her to salvation. This time she was receptive and asked Jesus back into her heart. Praise God!

Jesus said in Luke 14:23, "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." Of course, we are not to beg or pressure people to come into God’s kingdom. In Luke 18, Jesus did not make another appeal to the rich young ruler who wouldn’t forsake all to follow Him. However, people need to realize it’s dangerous to resist the drawing of the Holy Spirit because it will harden their hearts (Hebrews 3:7-15). The Bible says in Genesis 6:3 that God "shall not strive with man forever."

Unless the Holy Spirit leads me otherwise, I like to point out to procrastinators that they are gambling with their eternal destiny. If they get killed instantly in an accident, terrorist attack, or shooting (I often cite 9/11 or the Virginia Tech Massacre as examples), then it's too late for them to say a quick prayer of forgiveness. There are no guarantees for tomorrow.

As stated before, a tool that I sometimes use to help procrastinators “get off the fence” is offering a prayer of blessing. Another time while evangelizing at Union Station in downtown Toronto, I approached a young man who was standing around smoking a cigarette. Sean heard the gospel before but hadn’t given much thought about what would happen to him after he died. So I asked Sean if I could say a quick prayer for him. When he agreed, I prayed, “Father in the name of Jesus, I ask you to bless Sean and make yourself real to him. I bind all spirits of the enemy that would hinder Sean from making the right decision in receiving salvation.” Then I asked Sean, “Would you like to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” He replied, “Absolutely” and got born again.

Do you know people who need to get off the fence regarding their eternal destiny?

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” - Joshua 24:15

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Gospel Soul Winning Script

Image
During my early days with evangelism, I developed an approach called the Survey Technique . By asking short direct questions, you can maintain control of the conversation and find out quickly what a person’s spiritual beliefs are. Although the Survey Technique has helped me lead thousands to the Lord, I’m still open to utilizing new methods in reaching people with the gospel. Rodney Howard-Browne 's ministry uses a tool called the Gospel Soul-Winning Script , which originated during their Good News New York campaign in 1999. I became familiar with it a few years later during evangelism outreaches with Rodney’s church in Tampa, Florida. At first, I resisted using the script. I found it restrictive and thought sinners wouldn’t be receptive to me reading the whole thing to them. Then while taking part in a 2009 outreach with Rodney’s ministry in Washington, D.C., my team leader asked me to “stick with the script.” Wanting to maintain unity, I complied with his request. Initially it fe
Read more

Toking the Ghost Revisited

Image
Back in February 2007, a fellow missionary I was traveling with started talking about “smoking the weed from heaven.”   He would pretend to have a joint of marijuana between his fingers and have “smoke breaks with Jesus.”   He also encouraged other believers to take “hits.”   I was a bit uncomfortable with this idea but didn't contest it. Then in October of that year, I heard John Crowder preach on “toking the Ghost” at a church in my hometown of Fargo, North Dakota.   I was inspired to make a video with John to share with my missionary friend.   During the filming, I experienced much laughter. I decided to make the video public figuring other people might enjoy it also. Two weeks later at a church in Minnesota, I heard Benjamin Dunn share testimonies of people getting healed from “toking the Ghost.”   This was just before he and John Crowder started ministering together.   I believed this was God confirming His word in the mouth of two or three witnesses.  
Read more

Is That Gold Dust Real?

Image
Twenty years ago I made my first visit to Calvary Campground in Ashland, Virginia. One of the speakers for their Winter Campmeeting was a Brazilian named Silvania Machado. After standing on the platform for about twenty minutes during praise and worship, Sister Silvania brushed gold dust out of her short blonde hair plus had oil flow from her hands. I didn’t dismiss these signs but questioned the purpose of them. A few people in the congregation later testified of being healed. I’ve seen gold manifestations at other places. The year before during a church service in Oklahoma, the fillings in my mouth changed from black to a whitish-gold color. Other people supernaturally received gold teeth (I later met a man in Germany who received four of them). I’ve also seen gold dust appear on ministers such as Joshua Mills while they are preaching. Although I don’t seek after signs like this, gold dust has shown up on my face and in my Bible. One time with the latter, I found some w
Read more