Coach’s Gameplan

Interview with God

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:50:17 -0700

It has been awhile since I have posted an article for you. I promise to be back at it real soon. In the meantime I would like you to take a look at this video link. It coincides well with the “Ten Commandments” series that Luke is preaching currently.

http://www.wayofthemaster.com/interviewwithgod.shtml

Coach

Thoughts on Abortion

Tue, 19 May 2009 14:56:21 -0700

In this article I want to address the subject of abortion. I should start by stating my personal opinion. I am Anti-Abortion (pro-life) all of the time. I believe that my opinion is the correct opinion for all Christians because it is God’s opinion.
God is the author of life, and He has created every single individual with value. Therefore we should value every human life whether it is inside or outside of the womb.

Before I get into what I believe is the real issue, let’s look at some statistics.

United States statistics through year 2000:
    Since 1973 (when abortion was legalized in the U.S.) there have been more than 43 million abortions. (1,194,444 every year)
    For every 1000 live births, there are 306 abortions.
    There are more than 140,000 second and third trimester abortions each year.
One baby is aborted every 24 seconds  147 babies are aborted every hour  3,542 babies are aborted every day  24,865 babies are aborted every week  107,750 babies are aborted every month
18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born- again/Evangelical".

Worldwide statistics through year 2000:
Number of abortions per year: Approximately 46 Million  Number of abortions per day: Approximately 126,000

Reasons Women Choose Abortion (U.S.)  Wants to postpone childbearing: 25.5%
Wants no (more) children: 7.9%
Cannot afford a baby: 21.3%
Having a child will disrupt education or job: 10.8%
Has relationship problem or partner does not want pregnancy: 14.1%
Too young; parent(s) or other(s) object to pregnancy: 12.2%
Risk to maternal health: 2.8%
Risk to fetal health: 3.3%
Other: 2.1%
As you can see from the percentages above, all except about 6% of abortions are performed as a means of birth-control or because of the inconvenience of the baby.

All of the statistics aside, the main issue of the matter is this:
Is abortion wrong or is it right?
In order to answer this question we first have to answer the questions of; when does human life begin and does all human life posses the same rights.

Here is an outline of early human life:
Day 1 – Fertilization! All human chromosomes are present and a unique human life begins.
Day 22 – The baby’s heart begins to beat with the child’s own blood – often a different blood type than the mother.
Week 6 – At this stage, brain waves can be detected. The child’s mouth and lips are present and fingers are forming.
Week 8 – At this stage, every organ is in place. Bones and unique fingerprints begin to form.
Week 17 – The baby can now have dream (REM) sleep.

If what is growing inside a women is simply a zygote-embryo-fetus that is not a human being, than who cares what happens to it and why does anyone care how many abortions occur or for what reason. On the other hand, if what is growing inside a woman is a human being I believe it possesses the same right to life that every other human has, regardless of it’s location.

The Bible is clear as to when life begins.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”
Psalm 139: 13-16 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Galatians 1:15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
Isaiah 44:2 Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you
Job 31:15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

Because man is made in God’s own image (Genesis 1:27), and "Children are a gift from God" (Psalm 127:3), each life is of value to God.

The Bible is clear as to who has control over human life.

Job 12:10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment

Taking the life of the unborn is clearly murder

Jeremiah 20:17 because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave,

God commands us not to take the life of an innocent person: (Jeremiah 7:6, Deuteronomy 27:25, Exodus 20:13).

I don’t care if the government declares abortion legal or not, for any bible-believing, God-fearing Christian it should never be an issue of legality. It is an issue of murder. And God forbids murder.

I think the fact that pro-abortion people always talk about the need to reduce the number of abortions proves that they know in their heart that it is wrong. They use phrases such as: “abortions should be safe, legal, and rare”. I would ask, “why should they be rare if it’s not a baby anyway”?

I also believe our society knows that killing an unborn child is murder and our judicial system proves it. For instance, I’m charged with double murder if I kill a pregnant woman and her unborn baby also dies, but it’s legal to kill the unborn baby in an abortion?
The baby is killed in both instances. The unborn baby is innocent no matter what circumstances surround it’s murder. Just because an abortion is performed with the mother’s consent and is done in a Dr’s office doesn’t change the fact that the baby is innocent. I understand that circumstances surrounding the pregnancy can get a bit tricky and downright ugly sometimes. If the pregnancy occurs because of rape or incest or any other evil act, we must have compassion and sympathy, but the fact remains that the baby is made in the image of God and that the baby is innocent.
I submit to you that if indeed it is a baby that is growing inside the mother, it is wrong to kill it regardless of the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy or the mother. Period!

What does a Christian look like?

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:06:51 -0700

Have you ever noticed (or is it just me?) that many people who claim to be Christians really don’t seem to show any evidence of Biblical Christianity?
As the rhetorical question goes; if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
I understand that sanctification (Rom. 6:22) is an ongoing process and that Christians aren’t sinless (1 John 1:8), but I also know that REAL Christians don’t make a practice of sinning (1 John 3:8).

2 Cor. 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

According to 2 Cor. 5:17, when a person becomes a Christian something changes (the old passes away and the new comes).
This indicates that something has to die or pass away in order for something new to come.

In this post I want to look at exactly what “passes away” and also what a person is to look and act like when “the new comes”.

In Romans 8 Paul speaks of those who “set their mind on (or live according to) the things of the flesh and the things of the Spirit”. (Read Romans 8)
Rom. 8:13 says: For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Gal. 5:24 says: And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Looks to me like what needs to pass away is “the deeds of the body” and the “passions and desires” of the flesh. We’re also told in 1 Peter 2:24 that we need to “die to sin”.
So the question becomes; what are the deeds of the body or the passions and desires of the flesh that need to be put to death?

The answer is found in Gal. 5:19-21.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Well, that’s clear. That entire list (including things like these), needs to be crucified and put to death by the Spirit.
These are the sins that Jesus “bore in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). It is beyond me how a person who claims to have had their sins atoned for when Jesus took the punishment they deserve (God’s wrath) on the cross can continue to live in their sin.
If you call yourself a Christian and you live in these sins, (that is you “make a practice of sinning”), you need to realize that you are “of the devil” (1John 3:8).

As I said above, I realize that sanctification is ongoing. Knowing that, if sanctification is happening, there will be a war going on between your flesh and the Spirit that dwells in you. You need to continue to “die to sin” and “crucify the flesh”. You need to “put on the whole armor of God” in order to win this war. (Eph. 6: 10-18)

So what does the “new creation” that Paul describes in 2 Cor. 5:17 look and act like?

Again the answer is found in Galatians 5: 16-18, 22-24.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Well, that too is clear. That list of the fruit of the Spirit are the character traits of a “born again”, “led by the Spirit” Christian. I think it’s important to point out that this list is the fruit of the Spirit not the fruits of the Spirit. Because all of the characteristics in the list are part of the singular fruit, we can’t leave out the ones that we don’t like or that are too hard (such as self-control).

Another example of what the “new creation” looks and acts like is found in
1 Peter 1:15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

As Christians, we should always be: growing in holiness, desiring to know God more, reading His Word more, worshiping Him more, praising Him more, understanding Him better, praying more, and exhibiting all of the fruit of the Spirit.

We should all periodically engage in the exercise that Paul suggests in 2 Cor. 13:5
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

The way to do this is by honestly comparing yourself to the new creation that the Bible describes. Are you “living according to the flesh” or are you truly “led by the Spirit”? Have you “crucified the flesh” or are the “works of the flesh evident” in your life? Are you exhibiting all of “the fruit of the Spirit” or do you still “make a practice of sinning”?
If you take that test and fail, you have some work and praying to do.

I pray that you never hear the words of Jesus recorded in Matt. 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

You see, it doesn’t matter how sincerely we think that we know Him. The key is that He knows us. Evidently, many people sincerely think that they are Christians (Lord, Lord) when in fact they are not. A good way to evaluate whether or not you are on the path of righteousness is to consider your relationship to your sin. Have you crucified it and do you hate it or do you make excuses for it and like it? If you haven’t killed it hate it, may I suggest that maybe you fail the test of 2 Cor. 13:5?

Below are two lists of things that should be present in a Christian’s life. On the first list are things that show evidence of your faith but don’t necessarily prove your faith. On the second list are those things that prove you are a Christian. Look at them closely and see which ones describe you.

Evidences of Faith

Visible morality Matt. 19:16-21, 23:27
Intellectual knowledge Rom. 1:21
Religious involvement Matt. 25:1-10
Active ministry Matt. 7:21-24
Conviction of sin Acts 24:25
Made a decision Luke 8:13-14

Proofs of Authentic Christian Faith

Love for God Ps. 42:1-2
Repentance from Sin 2 Cor. 7:10
Genuine Humility Ps 51:17
Devotion to God’s Glory 1 Cor. 10:31
Continual Prayer Luke 18:1
Selfless Love 1 John 3:14
Separation from the world James 4:4
Spiritual Growth Eph. 4:12-16
Obedient Living John 15:14
Hunger for God’s Word 1 Peter 2:1-3
Transformed Life 2 Cor. 5:17
Holiness in Conduct 1 Peter 1:15

If the first list is true of you, but not the second one, you have cause for concern.

If the second list is true, the first one will be also and you have assurance of passing the test.

If you fail the test (2 Cor. 13:5), now is the time to figure it out, not on judgment day. Think about your sins (the lying, the stealing, the lusting, the coveting, all the works of the flesh). Then think about Jesus on the cross taking the punishment for them that you deserve. It should break your heart and drive you to your knees in repentance.

Get in the game,
Coach

“Christ will be master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. If your life is unholy, then your heart is unchanged, and you are an unsaved person. The Savior will sanctify His people, renew them, give them a hatred of sin, and a love of holiness. The grace that does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people, not IN their sins, but FROM their sins. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.”
—Charles Spurgeon

Evangelism & The Gospel

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:46:04 -0700

In my last article I mentioned that evangelism that has any hope of leading a sinner to conversion must include a proclamation of the Gospel. You probably all know that the word “gospel” comes from the Greek word euangélion, which literally means “good news”. So, what is the “good news” and how are we to proclaim it?

In its’ simplest form, the good news is this: Sinners can be forgiven of their sin and thus reconciled to God and spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
I know that is overly simple.

My point in this article is that it isn’t enough to simply quote John 3:16 or the “Romans Road” to an unregenerate sinner and expect it to make sense to him. A person needs to understand that he is sick before he is willing to take medicine. It’s only after understanding one’s eternal condition that a person can truly appreciate the love of God in His offer of salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Most non-Christian people think the way to get to Heaven is by being good or at least by being better than really bad people. Just by calling them a sinner and quoting a couple of verses won’t change their mind. They will simply categorize their sin as “mistakes” or justify it by comparing themselves to other people. They need to understand that the standard for “good” is the Perfect, Righteous and Holy God.

It makes the most sense to begin a conversation with a non-Christian with the bad news. Only after they understand that God is Holy, Righteous, and Just and therefore must punish sin wherever it is found will the good news of the cross make any sense to them. (By the way, this also helps to avoid the “God has a wonderful plan for your life” false gospel)

I believe we should start by helping a person understand sin and personalize it. Sin needs to be explained by first defining it. 1 John 3:4 says : “sin is lawlessness” or “sin is transgression of the law”. The law of course is the Ten Commandments. When we simply ask questions such as; “have you ever told a lie”, “have you ever stolen anything”, “have you ever taken God’s name in vain”, “have you ever lusted (committed adultry in your heart) for another person”, we help them to personalize their sin. Now the person has admitted to being a sinner rather than made to feel like we have judged them by calling them a sinner. Then we can explain that God will punish all sin. (Ex. 20:7b, Rev. 21:8, 1 Cor. 6:9-10) After the person understands that they are NOT good by God’s standard, they are more likely to admit that when they stand before God in judgment the verdict will be guilty and the just penalty is hell. This information will concern most rational people. Knowing the condition and destiny of the unregenerate soul is what makes grace so AMAZING.

Now is the time (if the person is concerned) to explain what God did so that they don’t have to go to hell. (John 3:16, Eph. 2:8-9) We need to be able to articulate what happened at the cross. Our sin was imputed to Jesus so that His righteousness could be imputed to us. ( 2 Cor. 5:21) The wrath of God (that we deserve) was poured out on Jesus (who was perfectly sinless) as a substitute for us because God must punish sin due to His perfect character. We need to make it clear that Jesus is the only way by which anyone can be reconciled to God. (John 14:6)

We must be sure not to stop there. If the person thinks that all they need is to have a “knowledge” of Jesus in order to have their sins forgiven, we have probably just helped someone become a “false convert” who goes on living like a rebel thinking they are forgiven because they know the “story”. We need to be clear as to how this free gift of salvation through Christ’s sacrifice can be appropriated. (Mark 1:15, Acts 11:18, Acts 20:21) We need to explain repentance and what it means to be “born again”. (John 3:3)

If we are fortunate enough that the person responds with the desire to become a Christian, I believe that the best thing to do is not to lead them in a “sinner’s prayer”. I would simply instruct the person to pray to God themselves. Tell them to apologize for their sin, to ask for forgiveness, to repent of their sin, to trust in Jesus completely and God has promised to change them from the inside out. I am confident enough in God that He is able to understand fully the cry for salvation from any person with a broken and contrite heart. He certainly doesn’t need them to “repeat after me”.

The goal is to help the person understand their present condition before a Holy God (wretched sinner deserving of hell), their desperate need of salvation provided by a Forgiving and Merciful God, how to receive that salvation through a Loving and Obedient Saviour, and ultimately to help the person come to Christ out of pure gratitude for what God has done for them.
If this is accomplished, the person becomes a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) who can’t wait to serve this God who has been so kind to save them. Further, this new creation can’t help but tell others of this unbelievable offer.

Let’s not try to lure people into the kingdom by promising a wonderful life or material riches. Also, we should never try to scare a person into becoming a Christian (although a healthy fear of God is good). We can’t convince someone to become a Christian simply by modeling Jesus or by doing good things.
Remember, they don’t think that they need the medicine until they know that they are dying.

I challenge you all (myself included) to take the time to tell someone of God’s amazing offer today.

1 Cor. 9:16
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

Get in the game,
Coach

Thoughts on Evangelism

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:19:11 -0700

Following are some common questions regarding evangelism. I will attempt to answer and/or discuss each question.

1) Who should evangelize?
Many people in the Church believe evangelism should be left to the “Professionals” (pastors). Our part is to simply invite people to church or a crusade where they are urged to walk an aisle and pray a prayer. Of course it’s OK to invite the unsaved to church but that doesn’t constitute evangelism.
Although evangelism is a special “gift” (Eph. 4:11) for some in the church, all Christians are commanded to evangelize (Mark 16:15) If you think that command was only for the disciples, look at: Acts 8:1-4, Acts 11:19-21

2) Who needs to be evangelized?
Only those people who aren’t perfect, sinless, and righteous need to be evangelized.
Because there is none righteous (Rom. 3:10), and all have sinned (Rom. 3:23), that leaves us with the need to evangelize every person.

3) What is evangelism?
I think I should start my answer by talking about some misconceptions about evangelism. Often “evangelism” and “witnessing” are confused. They aren’t the same. I am a witness for Jesus by living in a way that is pleasing to Him and Glorifies Him. I am witnessing when I give testimony of how God saved me and changed me. If my witness and testimony don’t include evangelism, they will usually lead to a “that’s good for you” response from the hearer.
Evangelism may contain my witness and testimony, but it doesn’t need to.

Also, evangelism isn’t imposing my religious views on another person. To equate evangelism with imposition implies that Christianity is only subjectively true - true for me, but not for others. Christianity is not man's subjective opinion. It is God's objective truth, regardless of man’s opinion.

Another common misconception is that evangelism is becoming friends with a person and building a relationship over time (usually a long period of time) until they ask questions about the difference that they notice in you. My experience is that those questions rarely happen. Instead, what happens is that they probably think that you’re a nice person and that “Christianity” works OK for you, but they don’t have to be a Christian in order to be a nice person.

Finally, evangelism is not proving that God exists, making a good case for Christianity, living a moral lifestyle, persuading someone to say a prayer, arguing against evolution, wearing a “Jesus loves you” button, or even inviting someone to church. While many of these things are right and good, they should not be confused with evangelism.

So, you ask, what IS evangelism?
Evangelism is to declare on the authority of God what He has done to save sinners, it is to warn men of their lost condition, it is to direct them to repent and to believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15). In short, evangelism is to proclaim the Gospel. In doing so, words such as sin, righteousness, judgment, repentance, and faith need to be discussed and explained. (More on these words and the Gospel in a later post) Remember, evangelism is not measured by the number of converts (Acts 13:44-47).

4) Why evangelize? The bigger question might be, why not? (be sure to watch the video below)
We have the key to everlasting life (John 3:16), why would we not share it with those who don’t know? If we really believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven (John 14:6) and anyone who steps out of this world without Him will go to hell, we should need to warn them.
If you had the cure for cancer and you met someone who had cancer, wouldn’t you feel compelled to give it to them? We should be horrified by the thought of anyone going to hell. The thought should compel us to evangelize.
We should evangelize out of compassion. (Matt. 9:36)
We should evangelize out of obedience to God. (1 Cor. 9:16)
Ultimately, we should evangelize out of love for God. (John 14:15)
(Luke 6:45b) for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. What’s in your heart?

5) Where do we evangelize?
We should evangelize wherever we find non-Christians. That includes every city, county, country, and continent. (Acts 1:8)
We should “make disciples of all nations”. (Matt. 28:19)
We should “go into all the world”. (Mark 16:15)

6) When do we evangelize?
Paul told Timothy to be ready to “preach the word” on only two occasions; “in season” and “out of season”. (2 Tim. 2:4)
We need to always be ready. (1 Peter 3:15)
Practically speaking, I think it’s a good idea to periodically go to a specific place (aka fishing hole) for the purpose of evangelizing (Matt. 4:19). Even so, we should always be prepared, both in season and out of season.

7) How do we evangelize?
I will go deeper into this question another time when I discuss “the Gospel”.
We should always evangelize “with gentleness and respect”. (1 Peter 3:15)
Evangelism can happen in different ways but evangelism that has any hope of leading to conversion must contain a proclamation of the Gospel.
Evangelism doesn’t always lead to conversion and in fact often does not. If it’s true that the Holy Spirit convicts (John 16:8) and God saves (Eph. 2:8), then we don’t need to worry about conversions so long as we’ve proclaimed the Gospel rightly.

Do you know the top eight reasons why Christians don’t share their faith? Watch below

Have a good game,
Coach