Over the years the 220 Conference has been a powerful experience for both leaders and believers.  Each summer thousands of young people and pastors pour into Bethany North for a life changing experience in God’s presence.  We always have such a great time, but each conference leaves us wishing we had spent more time with the leaders who attend.  The question is, “How do we focus on the leaders without taking anything away from the young people who get saved, filled with God’s spirit, and set on fire for souls while at the conference?”  Then God gave Pastor Joel the vision of two different 220 Conferences focusing specifically on the two groups of people who come to our Summer Conference each year.

There is such a great need for workers in God’s harvest of souls.  Matthew 9:37 says, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.” Many church leaders are praying for more harvest in their services and events, but God didn’t say that there was a lack of harvest, but a lack of laborers.  Why does the devil have the biggest youth group in many cities?  It is because he has the most workers.  A lack of harvest is the result of a lack of laborers: “So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields (Matt. 9:38).”  You do not need better sermons, worship, or creative ideas.  You need more workers in the fields.

This year’s Leadership Conference is themed, “Harvest Explosion.” This is because through the discipleship of believers you will see a harvest in your ministry like never before.  This entire event is focused on leaders from start to finish.  The schedule is even tailored to keep you from missing your Wednesday night and Sunday morning services.  No matter what stage of leadership you are at, whether you are on staff as the youth pastor, or just a young person desiring to be used as a leader, there will be something for you at the 220 Leadership Conference.

Learn more at www.220conference.com.

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I mentioned this is a previous blog, but would like to focus on it a little more here.

God has given every man a conscience, a creation, and a Cross to draw him to himself.  Any preacher who does not use all three to bring people to the Lord is fighting unarmed in age-old battle, and will lose.  You may draw a crowd, but in the end it was the crowed that crucified Jesus because they accepted his goodness without repentance.  These are the 3C’s God uses to invite us to heaven

Creation – is evidence in itself that there is a God.  Those who say there is no proof of a Creator are throwing out the obvious before beginning their empirical study.

Romans 1:2 – “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

Consider this humorous story about Sherlock Holmes:

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip. After a telling some stories and roasting some marshmellows they lay down for the night, and went to sleep.

Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend awake. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”

Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars.”

“What does that tell you?” Holmes questioned.

Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?”

Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. “Watson, you idiot. Someone has stolen our tent.”

Conscience – God has placed eternity in the heart of every man, and the evidence of that is your conscience.  It is not the mind that is convinced, and therefore someone is saved, but it is the soul that is converted.  When you stand before God on Judgment Day without receiving forgives, you will experience what your conscience has been alarming you off your entire life: There is a God, and when you sin you violate His law.

Romans 2:15 – “They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right”

Cross – God made it easy to serve Him, by first serving us.  Although He has done nothing wrong, He came to us first in the form of a man to establish relationship with us.  God gave us his very best, and we gave Him our very worst – the Cross.  Because this, the Cross will always stand as the most significant sign of God’s love and invitation to come home.

1 Corinthians 1:18 – “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

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Here is a video we showed last night at the Rez Week Service that was held on campus at LSU.

We had a great service with student testimonies, a great band, and at the end of the service souls being saved.  I shared from the parable of the Great feast, and asked the question, “What’s Your Excuse”?  Most people don’t take the time to think about, and discuss death, but the Bible encourages us to do so:

Psalm 90:12 – “teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.”  (NLT2)

Ecclesiastes 7:2 – “Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties.  After all, everyone dies—so the living should take this to heart.” (NLT2)

When asked, most people believe in heaven, and that they are going there.  The problem is that they miss the key, and think they can make into heaven by their own merit, and not by receiving the grace of God.  Here are the main excuses I hear people give:

1. Good Person – Jesus said that there are none that are good.

Ephesians 2:9 – “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

1. Believe in God – Some people believe that because they believe God exists, that they will be saved.

James 2:19 – “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”

1. Follow the Bible – Jesus said you must be more righteous then the Pharisees if you are to enter heaven!

Matthew 5:20 – “But I warn you-unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

1. I go to church – God is not looking for you to go to church, but to enter into relationship.

Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven.  Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.  On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak to a muslim advocate and share the gospel with him. We discussed a number of different things, but what was interesting is his understanding of forgiveness. Throughout the conversation we use the same words/terms, but often with different meanings. This started as a video for Rez week, but we kept taping until we had about ten minutes of our conversation. I continued to witness to him for another 20 minutes or so after we stopped the video.

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Many Misunderstand How to Use the Law

Many preachers misunderstand how to use the law of God in preaching.  There are some that overuse it until it becomes like too much salt on popcorn that cannot be eaten, and then there are others who neglect it all together making their messages ineffective and spiritually irrelevant.  Paul understood how to use the law, and in the book of Galatians references the law of God over 30 times. Anyone curious on the roll of the law in modern preaching and the life of a believer should take the time to read  Galatians carefully.  With a proper perspective of how God’s law works, Galatians becomes a treasure to the preacher whose desire is to win souls with his lectures.

The first chapter of Galatians shows immediately why most preacher do not, cannot, and will not use the law when preaching.  This is because their goal is the opposite of Paul’s – “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God.  IF PLEASING PEOPLE WERE MY GOAL, I WOULD NOT BE CHRIST’S SERVANT” (Galatians 1:10).  If you want to please God you will not be ashamed or afraid of using the law.  On the other hand, those who only want to please people are afraid of the law, because they feel like it only reminds people of what they have done wrong and separates them from God.  Here is a clue: the law does not separate people from God; SIN does!  Don’t be afraid of truth chasing people away, if spoken in love and faith it will have the desired result.

The second chapter of Galatians represents the negative experiences that many people have with the law.  They have been under preachers who have abused the law,and used it to control and condemn, which eventually leads to hypocrisy.  This is what was happening with Paul.  There were some who wanted his companions to  be circumcised, even though he had already accepted Christ, and then there was Peter only obeying the law when others were watching (hypocrisy).  These are two abuses of the law, and describes the experience of most believers.  As a result of these negative experiences, the law has been abandoned in most preaching and teaching leading to a fork in the road from New Testament preaching and modern preaching.

The third chapter of  Galatians then begins to clear things up.  It sheds light on the purpose of the law, and how it is to be used in preaching.   The first application of the law is found in verse 13, “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law.  When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing.”  This shows us that the law is especially to be used in Evangelism.  The law is what makes the Good News, GOOD, without the law, the Good News because just news.  This may sound shocking, but look carefully at this verse, “The CURSE PRONOUNCED BY THE LAW.” Week minded preachers do not have the faith to search difficult passages that do not overflow with promises of blessing, but the wise preacher does.  The law shows that there are consequences for sin, and explains why there has to be a Cross in the first place.  Jesus did not go to the Cross because He loves us.  There is a trillion other things he could have done for us to show us his love other than allowing himself to be beaten and hung naked on a hill for the world to see.  He went to the Cross out of Obedience to His Father, because there is a consequence for sin, and out of love to take those consequences upon himself so that we would not have to suffer them ourselves.  ”Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree…the CURSE pronounced by the law” (Galatians 3:13).

Then Galatians 3:19 says, “the law was given alongside the promise to show people their sins.” Another reason why people do not use the law, is because they assume that sinners feel so awful about their sin that they just can’t wait to repent once we tell them how good God is. This is wrong, niave, and laughable.  Breaking News, “Sinners love sin!”  Many love it more than their family, friends, careers, or anything else.  They don’t want to give it up because someone they don’t know, never met, and who the world has mocked loves them. In verse 21 we see that there is no conflict between the promise and the law, because  the law sets up the promise.

You may be thinking, “But since Christ has came the law is no longer valid,” and to that I would say correct.  When Christ comes the law is no longer needed, but until Christ comes the law is needed.  Galatians 3:23 – “Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed”  When you use the law correctly it protects the sinner, like a baby sitter waiting on dad to come home, from things that would cause them to reject “the way of faith” when it is finally revealed.

Galatians 3:24 – “Let me put it another way.  The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.”  What a powerful passage!  Until a person expresses faith in Christ, the law actually protects their heart from the pride that would come in and say they are good enough without Christ and do not need him.  WOW! The law is a protector, a guardian, working alongside the promise to keep the heart to fertile for the see of the gospel  When the law is preached in a way that controls and condemns or directs Christians into earning their salvation it is legalism and an abuse of an important truth.  A proper use of the law though, will lead to salvation and joy as people see the promise in a clear and glorious light. This light shows that despite our sin, God has chosen to love us, and made away for us to come home the moment we left.

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I hope you are filled to overflowing with a burning love for Jesus that is obvious to all around you.  One of the most miraculous things about the love of Jesus is how it changes a person from the inside out.  It changes your habits, how you spend your time, your desires, your friends and even your personality.  I am amazed how the holy fire of my love for Jesus has melted away so many things in my life including how I see myself, how others see me, and how I present the message of the gospel to others.

Oh, how I desire as I know so many others do, to be authentic, genuine, real, relatable, and uncompromising in the message God has given me.  What is this message?  It is the good news; the gospel.  I pray that my personality does not influence my presentation, that my intuition does not decide my interpretation. My personality has always told me that people will not come to Jesus unless we share the positive, and it has always been obvious to me the judging people would do more to deter them from a loving God then to draw them to Him.

It was with this predisposed perception that I first began to preach the gospel.  As a 16 year old, my evangelistic fervor could hardly be contained.  I was not one to stand up in a crowd, but I also would not be stopped because you were a stranger.  I was such a positive preacher.  Boldly declaring God’s grace, goodness, mercy, purpose, and plan, I went to basketball courts to university’s, to bars to church lobbies preaching and sharing my faith.  I even remember getting pulled over by the cops for being out past my curfew while handing out tracks and preaching outside of a bar as a 17 year old.  My brother was with me and he was only 15 at the time.

There was something very frustrating happening at this time, that would continue in me life for many years.  Though younger people whose hurts were still tender would repent quickly when the good news was presented to them, I noticed some high school students, most college students, and almost all adults totally ignored the good news.  How this burdened me, broke me, and drove me to prayer.  How could they turn down the good new for something so far less satisfying?  This is the GOOD NEWS! WHY DO THEY THINK IT IS BAD NEWS?

I have the answer now, and when I see preachers young and old preaching as I once did, my heart breaks for them and those who hear their message.  They preach a personality message that desires to be nice to people, and focus on the positive, but in the end is a disservice to both the preacher and the hearer.  Someone once said, “If the world could see Jesus in His purest form they would not reject him.” This is completely false! It sounds so good and whimsical, because as a believer we know how good Jesus is, but it is simply not true! Jesus came to earth in His purest form and the beat him, treated him worse than a slave, and hung Him naked on a hill for his love, miracles, and compassion.  It was the crowds, not the Pharisees who shouted for his crucifixion.

The world (every unregenerate heart) hates Jesus in his purest form, because Jesus in His purest form demands repentance and change.  In order for them to accept Jesus in his purest form, they have to see their sin in its truest form.  To preach hell fire and brimstone is not to put sin in its true light because it glorifies sin, just as ignoring sin altogether does not, because it down plays it.  God has given every man a conscience, a creation, and a Cross to draw him to himself, and any preacher who does not use all three to bring people to the Lord is fighting unarmed in age old battle, and will lose.  You may draw a crowd, but in the end it was the crowed that crucified Jesus because they accepted his goodness without repentance.

It is irresponsible to preach grace without repentance.  Jesus spent his time with tax collectors, prostitutes, drunkards, rejected people, and hypocrites BUT all of them repented after receiving His love.  He did not judge them unworthy of his love, but they proved themselves worthy after receiving it.  Let’s believe God to bring in the most despicable, rejected, hurt, offended, and obstinate sinner, but let us not trust ourselves more than God when we preach.  Preach the entire truth.

Why do people not see the good news? It is because preachers have been afraid to tell them the bad news out of fear of losing crowds, or misunderstood compassion. Judging is not saying, “go and sin no more,” and appealing to their conscience is not condemning.  Judging is not telling them at all, and condemning is rejecting someone God as already accepted.  It is the goodness of God that draws men to repentance. When they see that He still loves them no matter what they have done, then they will finally know that there is nothing they can do to earn that kind of love, and it is a love they will pursue the rest of their lives.

Preach boldly my friends, and with the fire of God inside you.

-JR

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Here are some funny videos we made about funny things happening in Life Groups.  Everything is totally improv, and done in one take.  We shot all three of these before prayer one night at the south campus.  One is about a guy who comes to a Life Group, and once the group starts everyone starts to act a little “childish.”  The other two are about people who believe they are super heros sharing about the problems that they face.

Super Hero Struggles

Super Hero Life Group

Faith Like a Child

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From the perspective of a being a Saints Fan, here are my top 5 moments in the “Black and Gold Super Bowl.”

5) Hartley Field Goal to end the half – After being denied at the goal line, and the defense making a strong three and out stand, you knew there was still hope when Hartley hit the field goal that basically wiped away the fact that the saints did not make their earlier fourth down conversion.

4) Colt’s missed field goal – This was not a play by the Saints, but was one of the biggest ones in their favor. Although the momentum was already moving in the Saint’s direction, the missed field goal was what complete gave the Saint’s the momentum to take possession of the game.  This did not “seal the deal,” but the touchdown that came at the end of drive showed that the Saint’s were still in control.

3) Lance Moore two-point conversion – Giving Peyton Manning the ball and being down by seven is clearly not an option late in the game.  When Moore apparently dropped the ball, there was a moment that thoughts of the heartbreaking Saint’s of old began to flash through my mind.  To have the challenge flag thrown during the commercial break only added to the drama. Then when the reply was shown, it was not only clear that the conversion was good, but that Lance Moore’s athleticism and concentration was something to be admired.

2) Onside Kick – While many would put this as the greatest moment in the game, I have to put it at number two.   In these big games you often see coaches go a safer, more conservative route, and Coach Payton was obviously not going that way.  I am glad he didn’t.  To later find out that this was practice, planned, and weeks in the showed how committed this team was to leaving it all on the field.  This play was also a statement of this year’s season, a team of destiny.

1) Porter Interception – This has to be the greatest play of the game, because it was not until Porter ran it in the end zone that you knew game was “over.”  Although the Saint’s had made some great plays, and the momentum was on their side, this play put the nail in the coffin.   Up until that moment everyone was still biting their nails, still on the edge of their seat, and still nervously hoping.  The statement, “The Saint’s are going to win the Super Bowl,” was something that was not accepted as truth until that moment. It was the greatest play of the game.  It was after this interception at touchdown that I first looked more at the people in the room more than what was on the TV, and I liked what I saw in that moment more than anything I seen the entire night.

Congratulations Saints and Saints’ fans!

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>>> Mark 4:35-36

////////To His Disciples…

Though Jesus speaks in the midnight hour, not everyone can hear what he is saying.  It is not the desperation of your situation, but the hunger of your heart that get’s God’s attention.  There are a couple of reasons why His disciples heard him when no one else was able to.

///////Jesus in the Boat

This verse says, “they took Jesus in the boat” and then “started out.”  You can’t start out, without first making sure Jesus is in the boat. You can’t really begin your day with purpose until you begin your day with the one who created it.  The boat here represents your devotional life.  A boat is a boat whether it is in raging seas, calm water, or resting on the shore.  It does not change.  The outside conditions do not change the inside convictions.  Whether you feel like or not, or full of passion, or running on empty, you are not going to make it across the lakes and through the storms of life without the discipline of a devotional time with the Lord.  Don’t ask yourself if you should pray and read today, ask Jesus.  I’m sure he would like to be in the boat.

///////Leaving the Crowds Behind

The other reason why the disciples could here what Jesus is saying when no one else could, is because they decided to leave the crowds behind.  In the tough times, it is not your friends that you need the most.  For one, they are probably in the same situation that you are, and two they may be the ones that got you into your mess.  You cannot clearly hear the voice of God with the friendly voice of others clamoring in the background.  This only brings confusion and misdirection. If you want to know what God is saying, leave the crowds behind and get Jesus in the boat.

>>> Mark 4:36

////////Other Boats Followed…

What is the end of all this trouble?  It is that others will follow you to safer shores. The person with Jesus in his boat is the leader at sea when the waves or breaking and the wind is blowing.

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