Monthly Archives: May 2008

Projection, Witnessing Part IV

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“Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom. And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.”1

I happen to be an Australian living in America. When I first came here, I had a very heavy Australian accent. I was even told that I spoke wonderful English for a foreigner. These days I like to kid and say that I now speak “HARF and HAFF.” However, even after many years my speech (accent) still betrays me. I simply cannot hide the fact that I am from Australia.

Now I don’t choose to be nor do I necessarily want to be, but wherever I go, because I am an Australian, I am automatically being a witness for my homeland. That’s just the way it is. If I happen to be what is called an okker Australian; that is a loud-mouthed, braggadocio, obnoxious Australian, people won’t like me. And, if I’m the only Australian they’ve ever met, in all probability they will project their negative feelings towards me onto all other Australians and not like them either. Thats the way it hapens.

On the other hand, if I’m the only Australian some Americans know and when they meet me and get to know me, they like me, chances are that they will also project their feelings of warmth onto all other Australians and like them too!

It’s the same with Christians. As a child of God and a citizen of Heaven I am automatically being a witness for Christ everywhere I go and in everything that I do. No matter how eloquent and articulate I may happen to be in sharing my faith, if people perceive me to be an okker Christian, I will do more to turn them away from Christ rather than draw them to him. On the other hand, I may be a very poor communicator, but if people sense the love of God flowing through me, they will automatically be drawn to the Savior. This is what I believe Jesus was saying when he said we would BE his witnesses.

Imagine if every Christian genuinely wanted God to use them every day to be an effective witness for him, and asked God to help him/her to be as Christ to every life they touched, what an impact we would make on our society and on our world!

I’m reminded of what St Francis of Assisi said: “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I am available. Please help me to BE as Jesus in some way to every life I touch today, and grant that people will see Jesus in me and, seeing Jesus in me, will be drawn to you. And help me to know what to say and what not to say and when to say it or not say it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 3:17–18 (NIV).

NOTE: To make it extremely easy to witness for Christ, we have printed very attractive and appealing Good News business witness cards. See samples online at http://actscom.com/witness_cards.php.

Try them. You’ll like them. I gave one to my barber, he looked at it, read it, and said, “My grown daughter really needs this,” and thanked me for it. I’ve given scores away and have never had anyone not accept it.

Today’s message is also adapted from the book, I Hate Witnessing (A Handbook for Effective Christian Communications) by yours truly. See http://tinyurl.com/33kfbk to obtain a copy.

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Being Vs. Doing, Witnessing, Part III

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“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”1

Some time ago when I was in counselor training, a very interesting thing happened. There were twelve students in the class and at one point our teacher paired us to practice by counseling each other. My trainee counselor was Sue. An amazing thing happened as I looked into Sue’s face. Suddenly her appearance seemed to change and in her face I saw the face of my sister, Margaret, who died at 19 months of age when I was only five. I still recall that day how, when people asked me how I felt, I just grinned and told them I was okay.

Sadly, I had been taught by the time I was five that big men don’t cry, so I learned at a very early age to stuff and deny my true feelings. I paid a high price for that later in life. But seeing Margaret in Sue’s face triggered all those deep emotions that I had long since buried and I began sobbing uncontrollably.

“Why am I crying?” I asked Sue. Mercifully she didn’t tell me not to feel that way or give me some meaningless super-spiritual platitudes. She gave me the permission to cry and made me feel safe in so doing. It seemed like a bottomless pit of grief had been unplugged. I sobbed intensely over the next three days.

On the third day Sue was counseling me once again. We were sitting on cushions on the floor. Sue had no words of advice. She just sat on the floor and wept with me. Again, something amazing happened. Sue’s face changed but this time instead of seeing the face of my sister, I saw the face of Jesus.

I don’t know what you call that kind of an experience and it has never happened again. All I can say was that there was something about Sue that reminded me of my sister and when she wept with me, it reminded me of Jesus. In her loving act and compassion I saw Jesus.

I’ve never forgotten that experience and it made me wonder do people ever see Jesus in me?

Immediately prior to Christ’s return to Heaven following his resurrection, he didn’t say to his disciples and followers: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will do witnessing….” He said, “You will BE my witnesses!”

And therein lays one of the major keys for all effective witnessing for Christ and communicating the gospel. Instead of being taught to DO witnessing, we need first of all to learn how to BE his witnesses. As I read on a poster at college:

“The living truth is what I long to see,

I cannot live on what used to be.
So close your Bible and show me how
The Christ you talk about is living now.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I want to be an effective witness for you. Please help me to BE one. Help me to so live that people will see Jesus in me; that is, your love and light shining through me, and grant that their seeing you in me, will cause them to want the same for themselves. Help me in some way to BE ‘as Christ’ to every life I touch today and every day for the rest of my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 1:8 (NIV).

NOTE: To make it extremely easy to witness for Christ, we have printed very attractive and appealing Good News business witness cards. See samples online at http://actscom.com/witness_cards.php.

Try them. You’ll like them. I gave one to my barber, he looked at it, read it, and said, “My grown daughter really needs this,” and thanked me for it. I’ve given scores away and have never had anyone not accept it.

Also today’s message is adapted from the book, I Hate Witnessing (A Handbook for Effective Christian Communications) by yours truly. See http://tinyurl.com/33kfbk to obtain a copy.

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I Hate Witnessing, Part II

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“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”1

On one occasion I had the opportunity to speak to some 300 students in chapel at a theological seminary. Most, if not all of the students, were training for some form of Christian ministry. The first thing I said when I went to the podium was, “The title of my message today is, ‘I Hate Witnessing.’” The silence was deafening and if looks could kill…! After a brief pause I then said, “And I bet most of you do too!” Some snickers came from the students. Then I asked, “Well how many of you love to witness, find it easy, and do it regularly?” A whole three hands were raised! Then there was much laughter!

Whenever I have asked groups of people how many don’t like to witness and are afraid to do it, most hands are raised. Then there seems to be a great sigh of relief from the audience when they realize that they are not alone in their struggle with witnessing for Christ.

One reason I believe so many of us have problems with witnessing is because most of us are taught to witness by teachers who have the gift of personal evangelism, and they teach us to witness the way they do as if we had the same gifting. That can be like training a person who is tone deaf to sing. That can be impossible, frustrating, and guilt-producing! Plus, I don’t know about you, but I was made to feel guilty if I weren’t telling someone about Jesus much of the time.

Getting back to my prayer where I told God I hated witnessing and was quitting: I did add, “However, God, if you want to use me to spread the gospel, I’m available, but you’ll have to do it through me because I’m too scared.”

A few hours later I was sitting in a jumbo jet high over the Pacific reading Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth. I had a whole row of seats to myself and at one point in the journey a fellow passenger came and sat beside me, introduced himself, and asked what I was reading. After I told him it was a book about the return of Christ to earth, he asked me if I believed Christ would come again. I said I did, to which he replied, “Will you please tell me all about it?”

Now, I love witnessing like that!

I’m not saying this kind of thing happens all the time. It doesn’t. But I think this particular incident happened because I was being honest with myself and with God, and to verify to me that God had heard my prayer and was already answering it.

The starting point with God always is being honest for, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”2

(To be continued)

Suggested prayer, “Dear God, I want to be an effective witness for you. I’m also available, but ask you to do it through me because I, too, am afraid. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 145:18 (NIV).
2. Psalm 145:18 (NIV).

NOTE: Today’s message is adapted from the book, I Hate Witnessing (A Handbook for Effective Christian Communications) by yours truly. See http://tinyurl.com/33kfbk to obtain a copy.

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I Hate Witnessing, Part I

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“And then he [Jesus] told them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.’”1

It was a beautiful morning. The sky was a brilliant blue. Bathers were already soaking up the sunshine and challenging the surf. High above, I sat on my private balcony at the motel where I was staying overlooking the beach at Waikiki in Hawaii. I was having my devotions and felt an urge to tell God how I was feeling about my work which was being the director of an organization whose work was that of communicating the gospel.

“It’s about this witnessing thing, God,” I said. “I hate it and I’m quitting.”

No, the lightning didn’t strike and the balcony didn’t collapse. Now I’m not one to hear God’s voice audibly or to see visions etc., etc. But this morning I kind of sensed God saying, “Amen, Dick, I hate the way you witness too!”

The kind of witnessing I hated was sharing the gospel message out of a sense of duty, compulsion, and guilt (false guilt that is)… or by buttonholing an individual and, like a high-pressure salesman, “shoving” my pre-programmed message down their throat. I am embarrassed today just thinking about how I botched up some of my so-called witnessing experiences. Like the minister who said, “I feel guilty when I don’t witness to my neighbors. And I feel guilty when I do because I make such a botch of it. My approach is so unnatural.”

In her book, Out of the Salt Shaker and Into the World, I love what Rebecca Pippert had to say about witnessing out of a sense of guilt. “Whenever the guilt became too great to bear, I overpowered the nearest non-Christian with a nonstop running monolog and then dashed away thinking, Whew! Well, I did it. It’s spring of ’74 and hopefully the guilt won’t overcome me again ’till winter of ’75. (And my non-Christian friends hoped the same!) I witnessed like a Pavlovian dog. The bell would ring, I would get ready, activated, juices running and then BAM! I’d spit it out.”

So, it’s one thing to talk about the gospel to somebody else, but it can be a far cry from effectively communicating Christ’s love and the gospel message. For those who have the gift of personal evangelism, confrontive evangelism can be very effective, but for the 99% of us who don’t have the gift, witnessing for Christ can be a daunting task if we act and witness as if we had the gift!

Stay with me … we’ll pick up on this message tomorrow. Just let me say there is hope for the 99% of us who “hate” to witness. And lest you think I am bordering on being a heretic, let me say that while I may hate “witnessing,” I love to communicate the gospel.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be always honest with myself and with you, confess the areas in my life where I feel like I am failing and botching things up, and seek your help to do your work in your way for your glory. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 16:15 (NLT).

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NOTE: Today’s message is adapted from the book, I Hate Witnessing (A Handbook for Effective Christian Communications) by Dick Innes. See http://tinyurl.com/33kfbk to obtain a copy.

Happy Mother’s Day

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Wishing all mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day

“Be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”1

Lee Strobel tells about a mother from Costa Mesa, California who told about the day her three-year old son was on her heels wherever she went. She was having trouble doing her routine chores.

“Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around I would trip over him,” she said. “Several times I suggested fun activities to keep him occupied, but he would just smile and say, ‘That’s alright Mommy I’d rather be in here with you.’ He continued to follow me and after the fifth trip, my patience wore thin and I asked him why he was following me constantly.”

He said, “My Sunday school teacher told me to walk in Jesus’ footsteps but I can’t see him so I’m walking in yours.”

The greatest way we can teach our children about and show our loved ones the love of Jesus is through the example of how we live, and how we model his love in our everyday life.

Suggested prayer, “Dear God, please help me to so live that people, especially my children (and loved ones), will see Jesus in me and will want to follow in my footsteps and have Jesus in their life too. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV).

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Hope and Endurance

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“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”1

You may have read the story about the “piano teacher who was affectionately known as Herman. One night at a university concert, a distinguished piano player suddenly became ill while performing an extremely difficult piece. No sooner had the artist retired from the stage when Herman rose from his seat in the audience, walked on stage, sat down at the piano and with great mastery completed the performance.

“Later that evening, at a party, one of the students asked Herman how he was able to perform such a demanding piece so beautifully without notice and with no rehearsal. He replied, ‘In 1939, when I was a budding young concert pianist, I was arrested and placed in a Nazi concentration camp. Putting it mildly, the future looked bleak. But I knew that in order to keep the flicker of hope alive that I might someday play again, I needed to practice every day. I began by fingering a piece from my repertoire on my bare board bed late one night.

The next night I added a second piece and soon I was running through my entire repertoire. I did this every night for five years. It so happens that the piece I played tonight at the concert hall was part of that repertoire. That constant practice is what kept my hope alive. Everyday I renewed my hope that I would one day be able to play my music again on a real piano, and in freedom.’”

I’m sure that some of our readers at this time are facing great hardships and may even be in peril for their life. The Apostle Paul knew what it was like to experience great hardships, shipwreck, whippings, and being thrown into prison for his faith. He was the one who wrote today’s Scripture verse encouraging the Christians in Rome (who, if they weren’t going through persecution at the time, would soon be) to find encouragement and hope in the Word of God. May you and I do the same.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, in times of hardship, despair and suffering, please help me to keep practicing my faith every day, putting my trust entirely in you. And please bring me through triumphantly to the last day when I will see you face to face and know you as you are. Grant that this hope and the encouragement from your Word will keep me enduring to the end. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Romans 15:4 (NIV).

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Resolving the Effects of Abuse

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“And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.”1

A Daily Encounter reader writes, “Could you please lend some encouragement for those of us who were sexually abused as young girls by a family member. I know it is a ‘taboo’ subject, but in my case, because of the abuse, I am still unmarried and I don’t understand why God has not answered my lifelong prayer for a mate, especially since he knows the crippling emotional pain that I faced and how desperately I need male love.”

I have often wondered if the words of Jesus in today’s Scripture verse didn’t apply to adults who abuse small children. Child abuse, whether it is physical, emotional or sexual is a grave offense against helpless children and is psychologically very damaging—often extremely damaging.

In my work, I have worked with many a victim and have seen first-hand some of the devastating results. One woman had been used in child pornography by one of her parents in order to make money! The struggles this victim has gone through in both her personal life and marriage have been horrific. Fortunately she is both committed to God and to the healing process, and after years of hard work is now a qualified counselor, herself helping others.

Those of us in the work of ministering to others could give numerous other examples. Sad to say, abuse is in the church as well as outside of it. The reality is that hurt people hurt people. And so often parents who themselves were abused as children, unless they resolve their hurt, tend to abuse others including their own offspring.

So how does an abused victim overcome her or his problem?

First, prayer. Some say that God uses prayer and prayer alone to bring abuse victims healing. I wish this were always true. However, I haven’t personally witnessed this. Yes, I believe solidly in prayer and I believe strongly in making prayer the foundation for any and all healing. But we need to pray the right prayer; that is, if I am an abuse victim, I need to ask God to confront me with the truth of what I may still be contributing in any way to my situation, to reveal to me all that I need to know about my problem, and lead me to the help I need to face and resolve all of my self-destructive feelings and beliefs and overcome them.

Second, I need to quit the blame and self-pity game. Yes, we need to acknowledge the fact that we were abused, and deal with and resolve our hurt and anger so that we get to the point of forgiveness. If I stay in the self-pity blame game, I will B – LAME. Third, most abuse victims need qualified and skillful counseling to help them work through their struggle, get to their buried feelings and express them creatively, and then to reprogram their feelings, negative thinking, and beliefs about themselves so they learn to trust again. This is not easy. It needs God’s help, determination, and a solid commitment to healing, growth and recovery, and most often the help of a skilled and qualified counselor.

Suggested prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, there is such a need for the healing of wounded, broken souls all around us. Please use me to be a ‘wounded’ healer and grant that the church will become a healing center for us all. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Mark 9:42 (KJV).

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Love God … Love People

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“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’…and…’Love your neighbor as yourself’.”1

Ron Clark of Tasmania, Australia, tells how he “read of a halfway house for men released from prison where they could stay until they got a job and somewhere to live. One young man had been in a penal institution for most of his adult life. One day as he sat in the lounge, the three-year-old daughter of the couple who ran the shelter crawled up onto his lap, put her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. With tears running down his cheeks he said, ‘This is the first time I can remember anyone touching me in love.’

“A few weeks later he gave his life to Jesus Christ. God used that unique communication of physical contact and love to break the scars of all those years.”

I recall reading in one of Leo Buscaglia’s books about a fairly small child who went to a neighbor’s house where a husband lived whose wife had died. When she returned home, her mother asked what she did. She said, “I just sat on his lap and helped him cry.”

If there were one answer for the ills of the world, it could be summed up in the words of Jesus when he was asked by a lawyer, “Which was the greatest of all the commandments?” To which Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”2

If we truly love God, we will serve him. We will also love people and do all we can to help them because we serve God by serving people.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to love you with all of my heart, soul and mind, and love my neighbor as myself, and to serve you by giving and ministering to others. And help me to always do this with a pure motive—one that will glorify you in all that I am and do. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV).
2. Matthew 22:37–40 (NIV).

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Prosperity Gospel

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“I [Jesus] have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble [tribulation]. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”1

A Daily Encounter reader from a much poorer country than North America asks, “Can you please write a message on prosperity teachings. [Some American preachers]…say it is a sin to be poor and when you are prosperous (have money) you are blessed.”

Amazing isn’t it?

If God has gifted me to be a good businessman and to make money, and I can do that honestly, then I’d say it would be my responsibility to make money … not for personal indulgences but so I would be able to give generously in supporting the Lord’s work on earth.

I for one, however, don’t have that gift or that calling. Neither am I a gifted fundraiser, so financing God’s work for me has always been a challenge and probably will be until the day I retire or die … whichever comes first!

However, to some degree I have been gifted with an ability to communicate. Thus it is my responsibility to be trained in this area and communicate God’s truth and the gospel to the best of my ability. Not to do so would be a sin for me as the Bible says, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”2

To claim that everybody is gifted to make money or to communicate effectively is not true—and, if claiming this to be true, could lead many to doubt God’s blessing on their life. The same goes for those who are led to believe that it is God’s will for every Christian to be financially prosperous.

Think of Jesus, for example. Was he prosperous? Not at all. Were the twelve disciples prosperous? Matthew, the tax collector, may have been at one time but through questionable methods. Peter and the other fishermen and disciples probably made just enough to make ends meet. True, Moses came from a well-to-do background, having grown up in Pharaoh’s household, but he gave it all up to serve God and lead the people of Israel.

If, however, prosperity is God’s will for everyone, then let’s take this message to the poverty-stricken parts of the world where untold thousands of people are dying of malnutrition.

For the rest of us less prosperous ordinary folks, let’s do the best we can with the gifts God has given to us to help make our world a better place in which to live.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please grant that I will always be a messenger of truth and never be misled by false promises from false prophets who claim to be speaking in the name of the Lord. If ever I teach a false message, please reveal that to me so it can be corrected immediately. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. John 16:33 (NIV).
2. James 4:17 (NIV).

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Hammer Theology

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“Jesus stopped in the road and called, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’”1

An old man seated in the doctor’s waiting room, when called in to see the doctor, slowly got up, and, grasping his cane and hunching over, slowly made his way into the examining room.

After only a few minutes, the man emerged from the room, walking completely upright! A patient who had watched him hobble into the room all hunched over, stared in amazement.

“That must be a miracle doctor in there!” he exclaimed. “What treatment did he give you? What’s his secret?”

The old man looked at him and said, “Well, the doctor looked me up and down, analyzed the situation, and gave me a cane that was four inches longer than the one I had been using.”2

How often do we give everyone the same length cane; that is, the same answer for every problem? Then there are those people who see every problem as a nail for which they have only one cure—a hammer!

For example, some people blame every problem on a demon. Others’ answer to every problem is to take it to the cross or give it to Jesus. To my embarrassment in younger days I used to teach that if you had a problem, you overcame it by being filled with the Holy Spirit.

While, at times, there may be an element of truth in the above answers, in reality life isn’t that simple-neither are our problems. Causes of problems can be complex and multiple and there is no “one answer fits all.” And as for pat answers, they are rarely correct, if ever, and are a means of avoiding one’s own or another’s reality. Not only that, they can do more harm than good to a trusting person.

Jesus never had a pat answer for anybody-ever. And he never had the same answer for any two people. His basic question, either spoken or unspoken, always was, “What do you want me to do for you?” In other words, like the Master Physician he was, he always understood a person’s specific need, and prescribed the perfect answer to minister to and meet that need.

May God help us to do the same.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me an understanding heart and a sensitive spirit so that I will always understand people’s real needs and meet them at their point of need, and never hand out pat answers. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Matthew 20:32 (NLT).
2. Scott J. Shickler, Words of Wisdom, Kidsway Inc. Cited in Bits & Pieces.

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