Election Fuels Mission

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It is often charged that if you believe in election then you won’t evangelize. But the same Lord who gave is the Great Commission spoke of the “elect.” It is also said that, “If you believe in election then you believe that people are created for Hell, and therefore you have no consistent reason to share the gospel.” A.W. Pink talks more about this in his book, “The Sovereignty of God.” Honestly, this response to the doctrines of grace is partially right and partially wrong. Do those who believe in election believe people are “created for” Hell? If by this they mean that God creates an individual fully knowing their eternal destiny, then yes. I would say that every Christian believes this. If God knows everything, then He knows the eternal destinies of those He creates when He creates, thus He creates people knowing they will not repent. I disagree, as does the Bible, that this leads to fatalism and to lack of evangelistic zeal. In fact, God’s sovereignty in salvation becomes a fuel for Paul in one of the Bible’s most controversial chapter: Romans 9. To this we will turn and see how unconditional election empowers and emboldens personal evangelism.

In Romans 9, Paul is speaking of the glory of God’s sovereign mercy, he also writes of the glory of God’s sovereign wrath. This is usually where people begin to raise issues with the doctrine of unconditional election. But Paul never made it a barrier to his evangelism, but saw it as a boulder that crushes human pride! He begins the conversation in Romans 9 speaking of Israel and of God’s choosing of Jacob over Esau (before either were born or had done good for bad – Romans 9:11-12). Paul, anticipating a heckler responds back, “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!” (Romans 9:14). His response? God is God and you are not.

Paul gives yet another case study, the Exodus. He draws his readers back to Moses and Pharaoh. Similar to what he does in v. 22-23, he begins by speaking on God’s mercy. It depends not on human will or exertion but on God’s who gives mercy verse 16 tells us. He even quotes from Exodus to further prove his point! He then turns to the other side of the coin- God’s severity. He quotes from Exodus 4:21 to say, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” God’s purpose in the life of Pharaoh was to show his wrath and power through him. This would proclaim his name in all the earth!

Pharaoh was an example of what happens when you rebel against God and God let him rebel. He freely let him pursue what He wanted- disobedience. Disobedience through a hard heart always gives way to further hardening. In fact, Romans 1 makes clear that the judgment for a hard heart is a harder heart. Hard, disobedient, hearts are, apart from God’s grace black holes of God’s judgment, never emptying. Such is the severity of our sin! And God choosing to judge and further harden the heart of Pharaoh’s heart is an example of us of God’s severity and provides a basis for our message. The darkness of our sin only makes his mercy shine brighter! This provides a foundation to declare the sinfulness and emptiness of sin. It also provides a foundation for declaring the judgment of God against sin, without which we cannot understand the mercy of God in Christ!

In fact, later in Moses account of Exodus, God makes this clear to Moses, saying, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.’” - Exodus 10:1-2

Moses is told to preach to Pharaoh “for” God had hardened his heart. For means because. His hardening provided a basis for him to do so. This text gives us two primary reasons which we have seen throughout. First, Moses is told to speak so that God might show signs. Signs of his power. The plagues. He wants the Israelites to know that He was the Lord of power! Second, Moses is told to speak to show “how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians.” Speak so that I might show the severity and vanity of sin! Pharaoh was a test case of the life in the pursuit of sin! It doesn’t end well. It ends in judgment. Pharaoh is what happens when one tastes the bitterness of hatred for God and doesn’t taste deep of humility and kindness of God. This is even given as a foundation for teaching the future generations of Israelites! Flee to God’s mercy where is may be found! The sovereign judgment of God gives the basis and foundation for preaching the bad news- which gives way to the glorious news of God’s mercy and rescue!

Paul continues this theme as he continues in Romans 9. He writes in verse 22-23,

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory

He juxtaposes God’s judgment with God’s mercy showing that God has created a world in which both of these will be displayed to the glory of God. The darkness of judgment makes mercy look brighter. While many will want to point a finger at God for the dark side of unconditional election, they will not rest in the brightness of God’s unconditional mercy. Unconditional election does not just show us the severity of sin, but it shows us the glories of mercy. He chose to extend mercy so that we might know the riches of glory. Those whom He has chosen are the vessels of mercy, and He has chosen for us to know riches. The greatest riches in all the world is the glory of God through redemptive history. Ephesians 1:3-6 brings this truth to the forefront,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

He chose us before the foundations of the world. He chose us knowing all we would be, past, present and future. Charles Spurgeon said it this way, “I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love.”

God’s predestination of us should lead us (the vessels of mercy!) to gaze upon God’s glory and to fall before Him in worship. We are predestined according to the purpose of His will for the praise of His grace. Sovereign grace leads to praise. We treasure His mercy more when we recognize that it wasn’t a response to foreseen faith, but solely out of His kindness. We proclaim what we treasure. Treasuring His grace empowers the proclamation of grace. 1 Peter 2:9 further brings this out when he writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We have been chosen to proclaim His excellencies. His excellency is declared in His sovereign mercy and His sovereign judgment. Once we wrap out minds around what we can of God’s eternal rescue plan through our election, our purchase through Christ, our calling, our eventual glorification, it will stop our mouths. Not from declaring His gospel, but from declaring our supremacy. How are we to talk back to God? He is the potter, we are the clay (Romans 9:20-21).

Paul continues in Romans 9 to give further hope. In fact Romans 9 is sandwiched between two heartfelt pleas and desire for men to be saved! Paul wished himself a accursed that others may know the riches of mercy (9:3)! His hearts desire and pray that men would be saved (Romans 10:1)! Paul could feel this evangelistic agony not in tension with the doctrine of election, but precisely because of it!


The doctrine of election gives the hope that even the greatest outcast to be saved. Paul continues in Romans 9,

even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
"And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” - Romans 9:24-26

God’s vessels, his chosen ones, are not a select few, but a multitude from every tribe on earth. It was not just the Jews who had the covenant, and the worship, and the Old Testament, (9:4), but God even chooses and calls and saves the furthest from God! God calls the Gentiles. The ones who were not his people are now His beloved. This gives us hope that even the most vile, God-hating, resistant people we know can be offered the gospel. We don’t know who the elect are, and this is exactly why we must declare the gospel to everyone we know! No one is outside of rescuing power of God. Those who freely rebel against Him can be rescued if His Spirit draws. The hope of 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is extend to all whom we share-

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

“Such were some of you.” There is much hope found in these words. We pray, we anguish, we labor, because God is sovereign and uses these means to accomplish his saving purpose! All things will be conformed to the “purpose of His will” (Eph. 1:11), but He has chosen the proclamation of the word of truth to be the means by which he rescues sinners. God’s sovereignty does not empty the use of means, but fuels the use of means. Sovereign grace fuels the proclamation of the gospel.

In fact, this is the last point that needs to be brought out. Not only does sovereign grace fuel gospel proclamation, but it fuels long term gospel endurance. We can endure the trials of life and ministry as a Christian because God ensures the success of His Word and the accomplishment of His mission. Sovereign grace fueled Paul in Corinth when he felt hopeless to see results the Lord came to him in a vision. Acts 18 records this event

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,  for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”  And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. - Acts 18:9-11

He tells Paul to continue to endure in ministry because He was with him, He was sovereign to protect him and because He was sovereign to save those who are “His people.” God can save whom He will save, and this empowered Paul to stay for 18 months teaching the word of God. Election empowered this. Election fuels the fire of Paul’s passion to see souls saved and keeps it burning through the long restless nights of ministry! So election will do for His people today and for endless ages to come. The words of Issac Watts echo the cry of a soul gripped by the doctrine of election. May it be our song as well.

How sweet and aweful is the place, With Christ within the doors,

While everlasting love displays, The choicest of her stores!

Here every bowel of our God, With soft compassion rolls;

Here peace and pardon bought with blood, Is food for dying souls.

While all our hearts and all our songs, Join to admire the feast,

Each of us cry, with thankful tongues, “Lord, why was I a guest?

“Why was I made to hear Thy voice, And enter while there’s room,

When thousands make a wretched choice, And rather starve than come?”

’Twas the same love that spread the feast, That sweetly drew us in;

Else we had still refused to taste, And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God! Constrain the earth to come;

Send Thy victorious Word abroad, And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full, That all the chosen race

May with one voice, and heart and soul, Sing Thy redeeming grace. 

- Issac Watts. "How Sweet and Aweful is the Place" 1707

Missionary Ann Judson on the Topic of Missions:

"I want the Baptists throughout the United States to feel, that Burmah must be converted through their instrumentality. They must do more than they have ever yet done. They must pray more, they must give more, and make greater efforts to prevent the Missionary flame from becoming extinct. Every Christian in the United States should feel as deeply impressed with the importance of making continual efforts for the salvation of the heathen, as though their conversion depended solely on himself. Every individual Christian should feel himself guilty if he has not done and does not continue to do all in his power for the spread of the gospel and the enlightening of the heathen world. But I need not write thus to you. You see, you feel the misery of the heathen world. Try to awaken Christians around you. Preach frequently on the subject of Missions. I have remarked it to be the case, when a minister feels much engaged for the heathen, his people generally partake of his spirit." (Letter to Francis Wayland, 22 January 1823)

Charles Spurgeon Quote

"Give away a tract whenever you can; better still, give a little book that will not be torn up, one that has a cover on it, for you will probably see it upon the table when you call again. Speak a word for the Master whenever it is possible; and offer a short prayer at every convenient opportunity. I think we should make it a rule, whenever we hear a foul or blasphemous word in the street - (and, alas! we constantly do so) - always to pray for the person who utters it. Perhaps then the devil might find it expedient not to stir up people to swear, if he knew that it excited Christians to pray. Try it, at all events, and see whether it may not have a subtle power to stop the profanity which is so terribly on the increase."

D.L. Moody Quote, "Wake Up Church!"

“People talk about our being earnest and fanatical—about our being on fire. Would to God the church were on fire! This world would soon shake to its foundation. May God wake up a slumbering church! What we want you to do is not to shout ‘amen’ and clap your hands. The deepest and quietest waters very often run swiftest. We want you to go right to work; there will be a chance for you to shout by and by. Go and speak to your neighbor and tell him of Christ and heaven. You need not go far before you will find someone passing down to the darkness of eternal death. Haste to his rescue!”

A Conversation With Philippa

Here is a Gospel conversation I had on some down time through Omegle. She was from England. I think it went well and I know that the Lord ALONE has the power to save. Pray for her and her salvation.

*Also, please excuse her foul language.

”And they cried out in a loud voice “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” ~Rev. 7:10

The Armor Of God: Fitted Feet

"and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." ~Ephesians 6:15

As I write this, I begin to prepare my heart to take the Gospel to the streets. A team will be down at a weekly local downtown festival in Owensboro to pass out tracts and engage in conversation. Our team would appreciate our prayers, that God would give us boldness and open the hearts of those we talk see and grant salvation to even just on tonight.

God calls us to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15)

What comes to my mind when I think of "fitted feet"? Well, one sermon I had just recently heard talked about the prophet Isaiah, and what he said I think fits with this well.

I think the best way to keep our "feet fitted with readiness" is to never turn our phone off. What do I mean by that? Well, always be ready to be faithful to God's mission and purpose, no matter when, where or how it comes about.

How then does this connect to Isaiah? While most preachers will preach out of Isaiah 6, most won't finish it.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” ~Isaiah 6:8

But, look at what the Lord is sending Isaiah to preach:

He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused;make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
~Isaiah 6:9-10

He is saying, "Go preach to a people who will not listen to you and do it because you love me and wish to be faithful." Will we be ready to be faithful to God's mission even if it means going to a hostile, hardened people? God calls us to plant and water seeds, but its God who grows the seed of salvation. (1 Cor. 3:6)

God Bless!

Closing the Deal: An Unbiblical Component of Modern Evangelism

By Tony Miano

Last week I asked on Twitter for suggestions, for blog articles. Mike King, from Mount Vernon, WA, gave the following suggestion:

If you haven't already, a written follow-up to your Q&A at Jon Speed's church, about how to "close out" a Gospel conversation.

Sometimes people ask, "How many people have you led to Christ?" My answer: "All of them." When I share the gospel, I bring everyone with whom I speak to the foot of the cross, where I leave them in the hands of the sovereign Creator and Savior. Salvation is of the Lord. I am simply one of his ambassadors.

During the earlier years of my Christian life, from time to time I would share the gospel with people. I was more evangelistic than some, but nowhere near as evangelistic as I should have been. On rare occasions, a person would indicate a desire to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. So, I would do what I was taught to do: lead the person in a "sinner's prayer."

READ MORE.......................

Prayer Request And Update

Be in prayer for me and an evangelism team as we go to a bluegrass festival near our church to share the Gospel with the lost and to fulfill our Lords Great Commission.

We leave after our VBS and it will be over 100 degress outside.

Also, I hope to have some more "Tales of a fearful fisherman" posts soon.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~Matthew 28:18-20

God Bless! Go share the Gospel, while you still have time.

Charles Spurgeon Quote

“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 about 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.”

"Can a Prophet Lie?" A Conversation With A Muslim

Here is an Omegle conversation with a man from Turkey. He claimed to be a Muslim.

I got to use a couple of apologetic Truths during the conversation.

And even through what seemed to be a tad bit of a language barrier, the Gospel went forth.

Pray that God will save this man. The Gospel is the power of God, for the Atheist or the Muslims.

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

A Giraffes Neck Disproves God!?

So, sometimes when I am in a dry spell on doing Evangelism I go onto chat site Omegle (warning, be careful who you run into on this site) with the purpose of engaging in spiritual conversation to then share the Gospel (through my own presentation or an online resource)

You can read our conversation HERE.  I pre-apologize for some of the "mature" (if you want to call it that) language in the conversation.

We see here the power of Biblical presuppositional apologetics, and the Gospel in action.

In this Omegle Evangelism encounter (not perfect by any means). The guy (from Israel), after I had torn apart his worldview and tried my best to present the Gospel in the time I was given, resorted to using Girrafe necks as somehow disproving God.

Pray for him. I trust that "the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation." (Romans 1:16)

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  (1 Cor. 15:58)

Straight From My Heart...

Today, I go out to take the Gospel to the streets. I come just as Paul did to the church at Corinth. I do not come with eloquence, or intelligence, just as Paul did. I come with much fear and trembling, just as Paul did. The Gospel comes not with wise and persuasive words, but with the Power of the Spirit of God, so that those who come to faith may not rest on mans wisdom but on God's Wisdom. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Jesus, bless us. Open eyes, open hearts, invade lives with your Spirit. Keep us humble, make our eyes, Your eyes; our hearts, Your heart...We ask for a harvest, as workers in your field. (Matthew 9:37-38) In Jesus name, Amen.

A Time for Silence: When to Stop Sharing

Found this awesome article through the StonethePreacher blog. Taking them to heart. The article was written by Dr. Bob Gonzales. Hope it blessed and encourages you as it did me.

 One of the marks of a Christian is a desire to share the good news of the life-transforming gospel with others. In the words of the apostles, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). But what if a friend, fellow worker, schoolmate, or family member asks us to desist? Does there come a time when we should refrain from speaking to a person about Jesus and Christianity?

A few years ago, I sent John Piper’s booklet The Passion of Christ: Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die to several close friends and relatives. To my knowledge, most of them were not Christians. I had already shared the gospel with some. With others I had not–at least not in a more comprehensive way. I wanted to be able to face Jesus on Judgment Day with the knowledge that I had attempted to share the gospel with those who were close to me.

Disappointingly, one couple replied with a letter and some materials that made it clear they rejected Christianity, affirmed materialistic evolution, and wished me to relinquish my attempts at trying to convert them. They were polite. But they were also resolute. They didn’t believe in God, and they preferred that I give up any attempt in persuading them otherwise.  Read More...

"Dream big dreams for God, run with it, and when you hit the wall, keep walking. "

~Ray Comfort

Happy Valentines Day!

Image from:
http://www.fernerb.com/images/GodsValentinePicture_HeartWithJohn3-16.jpg

 Check out this post from one year ago today about Valentines Day!

It feels so long ago and I've grown so much since I wrote it...

If someone were to ask me, “What was one word to sum up the last couple weeks of my life?” I would emphasize one word; SNOW! Yes, snow, we’ve been spending the last several weeks of school on edge as to whether or not they will close and today, we were sent out in the freshly dusted world an hour early.

With all this going it’s hard to remember the scariest day of the year for guys everywhere…Valentine’s Day. “Oh, what am I going to get her?” “Please, don’t say anything stupid.” “Aw, she’ll love me even if I don’t get her anything.” Guys don’t forget love is shown through works! Our love can only be shown through what we do and how we live our lives. This is similar with God and how our relationship stands with Him.......

Fantastic Evangelism Tool!

These are the surveys, created through the ministry of H.L. Hussmann, we've used in the past, including this past weekend at a door-to-door evangelism outing.

Pray for the conversations they have started and will start!

If you'd like to use these surveys find out more info about them HERE.
You can get these surveys to print off HERE.

Check out my testimony to the surveys in a mall "contact evangelism" outing but clicking on the word "Survey" above.

To God to be the Glory!

"Go and preach the Gospel to all creation" ~Mark 16:15

John Piper on Evangelism

Image from HERE.

"Millions of Christians live with a low-grade feeling of guilt for not openly commending Christ by their words. They try to persuade themselves that keeping their noses morally clean is a witness to Christ. The problem with this notion is that millions of unbelievers keep their noses morally clean. Christians will—and should—continue to feel bad for not sharing their faith. Christ is the most glorious person in the world. His salvation is infinitely valuable. Everyone in the world needs it. Horrific consequences await those who do not believe on Jesus. By grace alone we have seen him, believed on him, and now love him. Therefore, not to speak of Christ to unbelievers, and not to care about our city or the unreached peoples of the world is so contradictory to Christ’s worth, people’s plight, and our joy that it sends the quiet message to our souls day after day, this Savior and this salvation do not mean to you what you say they do. To maintain great joy in Christ in the face of that persistent message is impossible."

 ~John Piper "When I Don't Desire God" pg 227-228

"My Spirit Will Speak Through You"

I saw this commercial and thought, "This is what happens when we go into the world and tell others about Jesus.  We have nothing to fear!  The Spirit speaks through us!"

Go and share your faith with a lost and dieing world while you still have time.

But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,  for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ~Matthew 10:19-20

Tales Of A Fearful Fisherman: When You Run Into Nicodemus



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Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. ~ 1 Timothy 1:15

Sometimes we go about our days, just going and living life inside of a Christian bubble.  But, over my nearly two years as a Christian, God had showed me that life is meant to be lived outside this bubble.

That's where the lost are.  That's where Jesus always was: among the lost.  They are His passion and were His purpose for coming to earth.  (Luke 19:10)

So, when God pops my Christian bubble, though it isn't always the most comfortable place to be, I rejoice.  Why?  Because once I leave my bubble I get to see the world the way God sees it.  Even more then that, outside of the bubble is a prime place to experience "God Moments" that will truly change you.

Here is a testimony to one I had over the last year.

Do We Really Believe What We're Saying?