[SHORT SHOTS 6th file of 7] GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER There is a quote from the New Testament which is used very commonly in giving the invitation to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It has long been used with children as an invitation verse. In the book of Revelation, the Risen Christ said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20 NAS) Children who hear this and respond to "receive Jesus into their hearts," often visualize a door opening up in their chest, and a miniature Jesus coming to live in their blood-pump. If these children are not discipled and nurtured and challenged in their growing-up years, as they get into their teens or young adulthood, their childhood conversion experience bears little apparent relevancy to the exciting adult temptations they are now facing. Tragically, many who professed Christ as children fall away from the faith as teens or young adults. Many simply become "lukewarm" churchgoers and live much the same lives as their unchurched neighbors. These words in Revelation were actually addressed to a professing Christian group which had grown worldly and "lukewarm." Notice that the word "heart" is not used. This is an attempt to book a "dinner date." You invite someone over for dinner when you want to socialize, make friends, and have a good time. You have friends over for a PARTY. Instead of opening a door in your chest like Seethreepeeoh, why not invite Jesus "over for dinner." You will find that He is a fascinating adult companion. We suggest that you unplug the Tube, take the phone off the hook, and curl up with the Gospel of John. Before you start, ask the Lord Jesus to meet with you and reveal Himself to you and begin to show you that abundant life which is a close walk with Him. It is a GOOD thing to receive Christ as a YOUNG child, especially in a family that prays together and talks about the contents and applications of the Scriptures together. EVERY CHILD OF GOD needs continuous teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in right living. This can only come as Christians minister the Word to each other. Keep the love-walk FRESH, walking with your closest Friend day-by-day. Help the fires burn hotter by fanning each other's flames. A church dropout is a reproach to God, but maybe is understandable. (See Rev. 3:16.) A lukewarm Christian is NAUSEATING. We warmly invite you either to come to Jesus for the first time, or to come back to Him. Invite the King of Kings "over for dinner." He is the most fascinating Person in the Universe. Let's party. [SHOT32 Clyde Price] [Note to all future editors and typesetters: The word in the 2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence, 6th word is "dis_ci_pled." Please don't "correct" it. English verb "to disciple" as equivalent to Greek verb "MATHETEUO". ccp] PROJECT IDEAS One project you could do with some expense would be to publicize a free barbecue or fish-fry (something to EAT) for anybody in the neighborhood who wanted to come. Book a Christian singer or group, or an evangelistic (SHORT) movie, such as "The Gospel Blimp". Announce the time and date in the local paper AND with handbills door-to- door in your saturation area. You could omit the press release if you wanted to focus on the smaller immediate area. I suggest four elements for your handbill & ad: 1)Design the handbill/ad as a "Free Ticket" with space for a) a family street address, b) the names of people in the family c) church affiliation, if any, d) number of adults and children coming to the Shindig, e) infants needing childcare, and f) their reservation number. g) Note that this is valid for the DOOR PRIZE only if filled out completely. At the cost of a Big Bear or a camera, you'll have a lot more tickets filled in. 2) If you do not have unlimited food &/or money, you may want to ask for RSVP by phone to get a reservation number to write on the ticket, and at that point reassure them that there is no charge and no offering will be taken. You just want to meet them. If you feel that reservations and numbers are too mechanical, have a "commando squad" with cash ready to raid a nearby Burger Doodle. 3) INCLUDE VERY CLEAR DIRECTIONS TO YOUR BUILDING. If possible, meet on the same property where your church meets. That way everybody who gets there for the food will know how to find their way back for services. If you are on public transit, include bus route numbers. 4) Print on the back a clear, upbeat, non-threatening gospel message. You shouldn't saturate the area in person with handbills EVERY WEEK, but several times a year you can plan special events as an excuse to "blitz" the area: A watermelon picnic, carwash by the teens, VBS week or Backyard Bible Clubs, special meetings with a non-local preacher (ask me if I'm available). ...YOU think of some. When you give stuff away, try HARD to get their address, phone number, and names of family members so your evangelism team can courteously return the visit. I hope you will continue week by week with ongoing visitation evangelism, but with periodic (maybe up to monthly) special events, you can rate feature articles in the local papers and achieve much greater visibility in your neighborhood. PREACH THE WORD! CCP "JESUS IS LORD!" Do you know people who claim to have Christ as Savior but not as Lord? Do you see any inconsistency between accepting a free "fire insurance policy" fro Hell, and deliberately refusing to follow Christ in daily life? An often quoted passage about salvation was written by the apostle Paul to the church in Rome: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Romans 10:9-10 NAS) If you were to "confess" to the murder of Abraham Lincoln, you would not be "confessing", you would be LYING. If you "confess" Jesus as Lord, but he isn't really the Lord of your life, you are not "confessing", you are LYING. The same words from Greek, PISTIS and PISTEUO, are translated into English as faith, belief,trust; or to have faith, to believe, to trust or entrust. If you are depending on the FACTS of the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and you confess Him truly as the Lord of your life, then according to this passage of Scripture you are SAVED. "Jesus is Lord" is not a slogan to parrot mindlessly. It is an eternal truth. Jesus Christ IS the Lord of the Universe, whether you believe it, or LIKE it, or not. And someday every knee in heaven and on earth and in hell will bow, and every tongue will admit seriously that "Jesus is Lord." Voluntarily or under compulsion, this means even YOU. (See Phil. 2:5-11; and read the entire little letter to the Philippians.) We call on you to be certain that you have deliberately submitted to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your own life. "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who DOES NOT OBEY the Son SHALL NOT SEE LIFE, but the WRATH OF GOD abides on him." (John 3:36 NAS) Don't wait until you're forced to bow the knee. Voluntarily surrender to Jesus. [SHOT33 Clyde Price] KNOW FOR CERTAIN "Oh, I don't think it's possible to know before you die whether you're going to heaven or hell. Don't you have to wait 'til it's all over to be judged?" If you wait until then, friend, it will be too late! The Bible teaches clearly that people can KNOW for certain whether or not they are "going to heaven" BEFORE they die. The apostle John wrote, "And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life." (I John 5:11-13 NAS) Eternal life is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Through faith in Him, we can receive forgiveness from all our sins, power over sin in our earthly lives, an abundant and purposeful life here on earth, and knowledge that we have God's eternal life as a PRESENT POSSESSION. The apostle John openly announced that his Gospel was a deliberate work of TRUE "propaganda". He wrote it for the purpose of PERSUADING people to believe certain facts, and to entrust themselves to Jesus Christ (the same purpose as this article). He wrote, "Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book [the Gospel of John]; but these have been WRITTEN THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:30-31 NAS) If you haven't yet trusted Christ, we challenge you to read our "propaganda", the Gospel of John, and ask God to show you inwardly whether or not this is true. You can really KNOW. Entrust yourself to Jesus. [SHOT34 Clyde Price] Do you want OUT? What country were you born in? Have you ever crossed a border between countries? Do you have the same citizenship you had at birth? If you suddenly discovered that you were standing in the country called "Eternal Death" and realized that you were its lifelong citizen, would you be interested in emigrating to the commonwealth of "Eternal Life" and obtaining citizenship there? The Lord Jesus Christ said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24 NAS) In the letter to the Romans, especially the fifth chapter, the apostle Paul explains how every human being since Adam and Eve has been born into a state of spiritual separation from God, and as a result of the nature we were born with and the actions we each have committed, we all qualify to be citizens in good standing of the State of Eternal Death. If you are apart from Christ, you can only await your physical death and final judgment to assume residence in your permanent quarters: the lake of fire. However, the Lord Jesus paid the penalty for sinners on the cross, and He offers free migration and new citizenship in His Kingdom for all who will put their faith in Him as Savior and King. All such spiritual refugees "pass out" of Death into the new state of Life. The Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ is more than an invitation to flee wrath and become a mere Displaced Person or a ragged refugee. Through the New Birth wrought by the resurrection of Christ, the Lord Jesus provides a place in the family of God for you, and status as a co-inheritor with Himself, IF ONLY you will put your trust in Him alone for salvation. We invite you to read the Gospel of John and the letter to the Romans for yourself. We'd like to meet you and try to answer your questions. But don't wait. Do it now. Put your trust in Jesus. [SHOT35 Clyde Price] ETERNITY BEGINS NOW Many people involved in traditional forms of religion think that no one can know before death whether they will go to heaven or not; you must wait, they think, 'til you're judged to find out. This is a dangerous fallacy, because if you wait until then, it will be TOO LATE. The apostle John addresses genuine Christians, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life." (I John 5:13 NAS) He did NOT say, "in order that you may hope to receive it someday." He said to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, "in order that you may KNOW that you HAVE eternal life" and, in fact, have it as a present and permanent possession. Eternal life does not begin with physical death. Physical death only confirms for eternity the spiritual state a person is already in. The eternal life spoken about in the Bible begins with the New Birth, when a sinner, you for instance, transfers trust from whatever you HAD been trusting, to faith in Jesus Christ alone to be your sin-bearing Savior and resurrected King. You can find in the 4th book in the New Testament, the Gospel of John, and in the three letters of John near the end of the New Testament, clear confirmation that we are not simply making this up. Read them for yourself. This is the plain, though widely neglected, teaching of the Bible. If you already HAVE eternal life through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we'd like to meet you. We always enjoy meeting members of God's Forever Family. If you have not yet trusted Christ for His gift of Life, we'd like to have one of our workers talk with you or write to you and attempt to answer your questions. But we urge you not to wait. Do it NOW. Put your trust in Jesus. [SHOT36 Clyde Price] [next file is more general and more personal "baker's dozen" stuff. end of 6th file of 7]