The Greatest Power For Change

 I live in a tough area of the country. Drugs and alcohol abuse run strong and there are as many bars as churches, if not more. It’s the most unchurched county in the state. Teen alcoholism, STDs, and pregnancies run high. There are children as young as four roaming the streets in the town. A few years ago a girl like that was kidnapped and hasn’t been found. It’s a hard place here.

 Yet God has been changing my heart towards it… while I used to have a bitterness and an attitude of scoffing towards the depraved culture, now God has been showing me that this is a place in desperate need of the gospel. No amount of abstinence speakers, police enforcement, parental guidance, or anything else can change this group of small towns that makes up the area I live in. Only the power that can bring about change is the gospel. It’s Jesus’ blood and redemption through His grace.

 We are Christ’s ambassadors. We have the light of the world inside of us and it’s our job to let that light shine. In James is says that whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, he is sinning. We keep the good news of the gospel locked up inside of our hearts, letting it out a little at church or on a missions trip. But if that’s so, do we really value the gospel? The gospel is the power of God, our salvation, hope, water for the thirsty, strength. Do we truly value the gospel if we don’t share it?

 One of my favorite stories about a man who truly valued the gospel was pastor John Harper. He was so in love with the gospel that he jumped into that ice cold water from the ship Titanic so that he would share the gospel to the dying souls drowning in the water. He cherished and prized the gospel enough to tell everyone he could instead of only worrying about his own life and wellbeing. That is how we should be.

 We should be madly in love, infatuated, captivated, enraptured, obsessed, and head over heals for the gospel that we should have a passion to see others find that love too. I know full well how hard it is to break down our pride, to be willing to make things socially awkward, risk friendships, or our reputations to share the good news of forgiveness and life in Christ. I’m still learning how to do it and do not do a good job of sharing the gospel yet. But I pray that God will work in my heart to make His truth so treasured in my heart that I can’t not share it.

 It’s so easy to just hate the sinful culture instead of changing it. Though we are to hate sin, we are to love sinners with a pure heart, one that desires to see sinners lead to repentance and regeneration and ultimately to God. We can’t do the saving on our own, we aren’t even the one that does any of the saving. We are simply the preachers of the good news, the rest is God’s job, not ours.

“Wake Up” Leeland

The nation lost and dying
Searching for You
Creation waits
Children with the word of God
Written on their hearts
Show love to the world

We need to wake up, wake up
Live like God
Pour out love
We need to wake up, wake up
Live like God
Pour out love

I know it’s sad
That the gift we have
We keep it for ourselves
Most of the time
The world is looking
For a love that’s locked up
Inside these four walls
Break the door down and shine

Our face is set
Our goal is heaven
Jesus, You are the well of love
We’ll pour You out
We’ll pour You out

(Note: My dad has some excellent posts on evangelism and the gospel on his new blog Gospel2Live. Go check it out!)

Are Your Feet Beautiful?

  Some of you might just be reading this because of the interesting title. If so, great! But this was the thought that crossed my mind while reading Romans 10 yesterday. This is the part that really stuck out to me:

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:14-15 (ESV)

 It just jumped out at me asking, “Olivia, are your feet beautiful? Do your feet run to share the gospel, or do they run to do your own pleasure? Do your feet go to do evil, or to rescue the oppressed?” Those are important questions. We are called to share the gospel. (Matt. 28:19-20) It was the last thing Jesus told his followers before he ascended to heaven. It is important to God.

 If we have the holy spirit inside of us we should be running to tell others about the gospel. We should go to whatever lengths to serve God and to have him glorified. We should be “crawling over broken glass” to tell others. Yet today in America we see that less and less. It is sad. Not only sad, but wrong. It tears my heart apart that people that claim to have the holy spirit dwelling in them don’t notice the call to share the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and nation. They ignore it saying, “that is better left to the more experienced people.” or “That is just for the missionaries and pastors.” NO. Every Christian is called to share the gospel. It doesn’t matter who you are, or how young you are. (Except I do have a very funny story about how two of my friends cornered this guy they knew in 5th grade and interrogated him about what he believed.)

 Many Christians in America are more concerned about what they put on their feet instead of where their feet take them. We need to be running to do what God has for us. We need to be running to bring justice. We need to be running to bring healing and help, and with that, the gospel. We need to share the gospel, and we also need to provide basic needs. (James 2:14-18)

 So ask everyday if your feet are beautiful. Seek out times to share Jesus with the unbelievers in your life. Be quick to pray for people. Be quick to help others, and have good attitudes, for that can be sharing the gospel in it’s self. And be ready to give an answer to any man that may ask. I am praying that you will all have beautiful feet.

Your sister in Christ,

Olivia <><

A Message To My New Brothers and Sisters (Gospel)

 Greetings! Welcome. I had a friend that was wondering about a post for you new believers out there to pass on to her friend so here I am. (Despite how often I tease you… you are still one of my close friends, even if you are short!!!)

 Well first I want to address what it means to be a Christian.

Being a Christian has nothing to do with you, or me. It has everything to do with the cross and Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. We are all horrid (I love that word and I don’t know why) sinners that have done something wrong. We have all committed high treason against a holy and perfect God so therefore we all deserve to die. That may seem harsh, but it’s the truth. I deserve to die and rot in hell, as do you.

 That leaves us pretty depressed right? I know it leaves me feeling empty and scarred and yicky. But there is good news, it’s called the gospel. The gospel is just what I said: good news. This good news is that someone paid your debt for you. Someone died your death for you, and his name is Jesus. 2,000 years ago Jesus died a horrible death and bared all your sins, just so that YOU could live. And or course, he didn’t just stay dead, he came back to life, then went into heaven.

 Now I want to be clear. You are not saved by ANYTHING you did. Not even praying a prayer saved you. ONLY the death of Jesus on the cross is what saved you and him choosing you to receive eternal life. ONLY! I can not stress this enough! I know plenty of people that have taken out “fire insurance” (get it, hell, fire, lol) yet they have not been impacted by the holy spirit. It is the holy spirit’s work in us (for those of you who don’t know, the holy spirit is the helper that Christ has sent to Christians. Part of the trinity, it is truly the spirit of God in us.) that allows us to accept Christ. If someone has been truly saved, if they truly understand that they needed to be forgiven and they were forgiven, a life can not stay the same.

 A Christian is no longer “Part of this world” (2 Corinthians 5:17). They now have Christ living inside them. I want to clarify something. The second you become a Christian, the second Christ lives in you, you are 100% saved and forgiven. (I talk about this on my post “Out of Goats”) There is nothing more you can do to make him love you more. NOTHING. That is truly amazing. We are loved totally by Christ. I know my love doesn’t work that way. I love my sister more when she actually closes the door after barging into my room without asking. Or when she leaves me alone. So thankfully I am not God. His love is FAR beyond human capabilities.

 I assume that most of you know what has been said. If not, please contact me! I would love to talk to you more about this! I am ALWAYS available!!! If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and would like to know more about Jesus’ death and about being a Christian, please talk to me. The next post will have some advice to new Christians. I’ll start that soon. And just to let you all know, I don’t know how much time I will have to post. I am working on writing a script and have some other story ideas waiting to get out. Also my grandma is coming for my baptism this weekend (I am going to be the first person my dad EVER baptises!!!). Also I am going to camp and so I will be posting, I just don’t know how frequently. Soli Deo Gloria

In Christ Alone,

Nobody <><