What Makes Christians Different?

The Six Characteristics of the Christian Life

Giving Up the Cookies

The Power of the Resurrection

Haunts of Sin and Shame?

I thought of this old hymn tonight as I was contemplating the effectiveness of our ministry in the world. It has become so easy to share the Gospel story in places of comfort, hasn't it. From pulpit to pew , such sharing has become routine and its almost second nature to each of us in ministry.

The four walls of the church have provided for us a safe haven within which we can be as bold and bombastic or as quiet and demure as we wish.

But what about the streets and the public places? Are we anywhere to be found in those less secure, even risky places? In part the answer is yes! We are there giving a cup of cold water, a meal, shelter and a smile! My question, however, is...are we there with Scripture, Song and Sermon in hand?

Perhaps we are making a difference by meeting many of the social requirements of the marginalized, but what of the requirements of the soul?

I think that, ultimately, we will be judged by how many of the those bound by evil, those who feel they no hope of spiritual liberty, we take to heaven with us.

When approaching eternity I doubt that we will be required to submit our statistical spreadsheet for admission; unless it be the seekers register! GDL

1.
We are witnesses for Jesus
In the haunts of sin and shame,
In the underworld of sorrow
Where men seldom hear his name;
For to bind the brokenhearted
And their liberty proclaim,
We are witnesses for Jesus
In the haunts of sin and shame.

Chorus
Tell the world, O tell the world!
Make salvation’s story heard
In the highways, in the byways,
And in lands beyond the sea,
Do some witnessing for Jesus
Wheresoever you may be.

2.
We are witnesses for Jesus
In the lands beyond the sea,
Where the millions bound by evil
Have no hope of liberty;
As we tell the gospel tidings,
Lo! the captives are set free;
We are witnesses for Jesus
In the lands beyond the sea.

3.
We are witnesses for Jesus
In the home and in the mart,
Where the cares of life and fashion
Crowd the Saviour from the heart;
When we urge his claims with wisdom
Many choose the better part;
We are witnesses for Jesus
In the home and in the mart.

Four Steps to Victory in the Face of Temptation

TEMPTATION

“A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is... A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.” 
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity: Compromising the Case for Christianity, Christian Behaviour, and Beyond Personality