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Winning Souls As Missions

The Wisest Use of Your One and Only Life

Giving yourself to God’s mission is simply the wisest use of your one and only life. Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and those who win souls are wise.” Soul-winning makes you wise because it exerts your greatest impact on eternity. It’s one of the few things that survives from earth to eternity, and when you share Christ, it changes people’s eternal trajectory.

Winning Souls As Missions

William Carey, known as the father of modern missions, said all we need for knowing God’s will is “an open Bible and an open map.” The will of God is missions — the exaltation of God’s glory in all the earth.

Missiologist Ralph Winter said, “The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible.” That means missions must be the core business of every church, including yours, and every Christian, including you! And giving yourself to God’s mission is simply the wisest use of your one and only life. Proverbs 11:30 says,

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and those who wins souls are wise.”

So, let me unpack that proverb by using two key phrases in it: “tree of life” and “wins souls.”

“Tree of life” is used only in Genesis and Revelation, the beginning and end of the Bible.

  • Genesis says God created the tree of life for sinless humanity but sin cursed it into perpetual dormancy.
  • Revelation says God restores the tree for redeemed man with perpetual access to its healing properties.

Between Eden and Eternity, Proverbs says the righteous are that “tree of life” through the life-giving power of their words. And nothing’s more life-giving than leading a soul to Christ through the witness of your words!

The second phrase, “win souls,” not used other than here, doesn’t refer to traditional evangelism. Here it means influencing another to righteousness — again, that’s missions!

So how do you do that? Three ways:

One, through persuasion — the compelling guidance of a reasoned opinion.

God gives insights for influence, so share your insights respectfully to attract others to Jesus.

Two, influence also happens through your example — an attractive lifestyle.

Titus 2:10 says that by your godly example you actually “make the Gospel of God more attractive.” Henry David Thoreau said, “People will believe what they see. Let them see.” So use your example to win souls to righteousness.

Three, influence happens through investment: the generous use of money.

Listen to Jesus in Luke 16:9,

“Use your wealth to gain friends so they’ll welcome you into your eternal home.” (Lk. 16:9)

Without apology, Jesus says to use your money for what’s eternal — winning souls. As you invest in missions, God easily turns your earthly money into helping people find eternal life.

Jesus turned water into wine; he has no problem turning worldly wealth into saved souls. Think of it this way: a missional investment plunders hell to populates heaven! Want an unbeatable ROI? Your missions’ investment yields a never-ending return. So give to missions—if not through Petros, then somewhere!

Final word on this verse: it not only assigns obvious benefits to a soul saved, but also to a soul-winner.

Soul-winning makes you wise because it exerts your greatest impact on eternity. It’s one of the few things that survives from earth to eternity, and when you share Christ, it changes people’s eternal trajectory.

But soul-winning also makes you wise because it bends the trajectory of your future. Daniel 12:3 says,

“Those who are wise will shine like heaven’s brightness and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”

The soul-winner is wise, and apparently pretty bright, too! I want my place among the stars of heaven; I want that for you, too!

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Too Much Stuff

Don't Measure Life By What You Have

SYNOPSIS: One day, sooner than you think, you will stand before God. None of the things you have collected during your earthly journey are going with you. The only thing that will go with you into the next life that will do you any good is what you have done for God. Jesus said of the rich man in the parable, “You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?” As the poet said, “Tis one life, will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Too Much Stuff

Moments With God // Luke 12:15

Then Jesus said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

We don’t use words like covetousness or greed a whole lot these days, but we should. We Americans are a pretty greedy lot—me included. Our whole economic system is predicated on the hopes that you and I will grow dissatisfied with what we’ve got and go buy something newer, better, and bigger.

For instance, since Jesus told the story in Luke 12:16-20 about a man who thought his property was too small, let’s just take a look at our insatiable thirst for bigger homes. Did you know that the average home size in the United States was 1,000 square feet in the 1950’s, and while the average number of household residents has shrunk since the 1960’s, home size has grown to 2,467 square feet by 2015.

It was a whole different picture when I was growing up. My mom, dad, three other siblings, and a couple of family pets all lived comfortably in a home that was 1,200 square feet, if that. We shared bedrooms, bathrooms, clothes, didn’t have a garage to park our car in, and only one TV—with no remote control! We actually had to get up and walk across the room to change the channel, if you can imagine that.

And we didn’t think anything of it. We didn’t feel poor or cheated or even realize what we didn’t have. We were content! We spent a lot more time together as a family. We ate together. We all drove together in the same car, even when we were teenagers—a family of six crammed into an AMC Gremlin! Or was it a Hornet? Whatever—it was a really ugly car that should have never been made. My point is, we were happy as a lark—we didn’t know what we didn’t know.

We were content—and emotionally healthy. We had discovered what G.K Chesterton said, “True contentment is a real, even active virtue—not only affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it.”

As a society, we Americans would do well to read Luke 12. It is a tough one, but what Jesus had to say about the deceitfulness of wealth, the debilitating worry over stuff, and our ultimate accountability before God for the stewardship of what we possess is much-needed medicine for the greed that ails our society these days.

One day, sooner than you think, you will stand before God. None of the things you have collected during your earthly journey are going with you. The only thing that will go with you into the next life that will do you any good is what you have done with and for God through faith. Jesus said of the rich man in the parable, “You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?”

As the poet said, “Tis one life, will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Take A Moment: Here is a novel idea: Give away some of your stuff this week to someone who really needs it—and don’t replace it!

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Be Kind To Animals

You Father in Heaven Kindly Cares for Them, Too

SYNOPSIS: Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” His main point is that if God cares and provides for even the birds of the air, how much more will he care and provide for me, the highest of his creation. But don’t miss the lesser point as well: God cares and provides for the birds of the air. They are his creation, too, as are all animals. To treat them kindly is simply Christianly.

Be Kind to Animals

Moments With God // Proverbs 12:10

Good people are good to their animals; the “good-hearted” bad people kick and abuse them.

What I love about the Bible is that it leaves no stone unturned as it digs into my life. Now, to be honest, I also don’t like that it times — but I’m grateful that it does. God cares about my life — all of it. Yours, too! Jesus said in Matthew 6:26,

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store
away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?

The main point is that if God cares and provides for even the birds of the air, how much more will he care and provide for me, the highest of his creation. But don’t miss the lesser point as well: God cares and provides for the birds of the air. They are his creation, too, as are all animals.

Now here’s where the digging gets a little personal. When I mistreat, neglect or abuse an animal, I am not only disrespecting their Creator, I am offending him. Why? Aren’t they just dumb animals? Are they not created without an eternal soul, and thus not truly valuable in his eyes?

Yes, they are just dumb animals — yet he still cares for them. They have his life within them, and above all else, life is sacred to the Life-Giver. Does that mean we should treat animals on the same level as human beings, become vegetarians, and never wear leather, as some with extreme views have concluded? Not at all. God himself has provided that certain animals were “good for food” and clothing, or to be used as “laborers” to help man accomplish his task.

But he also declared some to be off limits. And some he has created for human companionship, for comfort and joy. Yet toward all animals, no matter what their created purpose, God has put his stamp of life upon them, and thus he forever established the sanctity of life. God cares about even about the animals — and so should we.

Though we in the protestant, evangelical tradition do not venerate the saints, we do honor their lives and respect their tremendous influence upon the civilization of the world. Francis of Assisi was one of those whose contribution we admire. Francis is known as the patron saint of animals and the environment. Many legends have sprung up around his life, one of them from his death. It was said that on his deathbed Francis thanked his donkey for carrying and helping him throughout his life, and his donkey wept.

Though Francis treatment of animals might have been greatly exaggerated, his attitude toward the created world was simply the conventional Christianity of that era. It’s too bad that has diminished in our day! To Francis, God created and provided for all life, and therefore all creation was to praise their Maker. And as the highest of God’s creation, man was to assist the Creator as a steward of the earth by providing and protecting that which could not provide and protect itself.

The Humane Society has established an annual “Be Kind To Animals” week. As Christians, we are obligated to that every moment of every week for all of our lives. Animal kindness is simply Christianly.

Take A Moment: Take five minutes to read the following article on St. Francis of Assisi: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2007/sept13.html.

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Bridging the Gap Between a Loving God and the Repulsiveness of Sin

Full Of Grace And Truth

Synopsis: How do we bridge the gap between the love of a holy God and the repulsiveness of the sinner’s sin? Grace and truth, that is how. That’s what Jesus perfectly and continually modeled. What we find is that Jesus, as Walter Trobisch said, “accepts us as we are but when he accepts us, we cannot remain as we are.” There it is: grace and truth. Jesus brings our sin to the surface, and when we acknowledge it by full confession and humble repentance, he graciously and forever forgives it. Only grace and truth can do that for sinners. Perhaps that’s why prostitutes, publicans, and other sinners like you and me responded to Jesus so readily. At some level, they recognized their sin. That was why truth wrapped in grace was so appealing in Jesus’ day…and still is today!

Jesus - Full of Grace and Truth

Moments With God // John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Not too long after my wife and I had moved into a home we had just purchased, our next-door neighbor’s live-in girlfriend asked me, “what do you do?” I told her that I was a pastor. So she said, “Oh, I’m looking for a church…one that doesn’t get all weird and condemning about sin. What about yours?”

I said, “My church—hey, we accept everybody just the way they are—unless you’re shacking up with someone!”

No—I didn’t say that! But it was an awkward moment for me as I scrambled for a way to minimize the offense of the gospel to a person who was far from God and build a bridge that might lead us at some point into a spiritual conversation. I didn’t need to offer condemnation by my words, in the tone of my voice, or with my body language. I didn’t need to convince her of her sins, she was already dealing with that herself. Besides, it is not my job—it is the work of the Holy Spirit to do that. (John 16:8).

Jesus wouldn’t have done that either. Remember, in this very same book, right after the most famous verse in the entire Bible, John 3:16, Jesus goes on to say, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”(John 3:17)

But let’s keep in mind that neither did Jesus come, as C.S. Lewis pointed out, to tell the world that everything was quite alright! Obviously, the world needed a savior—that’s why Jesus came. People need a savior because sin holds people captive. To keep the bad news about sin and the good news about a Savior from them would be the most hateful thing we could ever do.

So how do we bridge that gap between a loving God and the repulsiveness of the sinner’s sin? Grace and truth, that is how. That is what Jesus perfectly modeled. Take, for instance, his interaction with the adulterous woman in John 8. Picture the scene: This sinful woman is standing in the center of a circle, surrounded by self-righteous religious leaders who want her stoned. Imagine her humiliation, caught in the very act of adultery—a private act now a very public sin. Nothing can hide her shame—and make no mistake, sexual sin is shameful, degrading to the people involved, destructive to the innocent family members it affects, and it is odious to a holy God.

This woman is standing before Jesus, exposed, humiliated, tears dripping to the sand. She has been used by men all of her life, and now she will pay for it with her life. She sees the stones; she knows her guilt. Now, all eyes are on Jesus—what will he do?

After some time, Jesus speaks and says to those who want her executed, “Ok, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” And with that bombshell, one by one, from oldest to youngest, they walked away, leaving only Jesus and this sinful woman face-to-face. What now? Would Jesus give her a good moral tongue lashing? No, he just gently asks, “Where are your accusers? Has no one judged you guilty?”

She replied, “No one, Sir.”

At that, Jesus offered these grace-truth words that would utterly right this sinner’s upside-down life: “Then I don’t either. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Behind this amazing display of grace and truth, as Walter Trobisch said, what we find is that Jesus “accepts us as we are but when he accepts us, we cannot remain as we are.” Jesus brings our sin to the surface, and when we acknowledge it by confession and repentance, he totally, graciously, and forever forgives it. The adulteress went away forgiven, with a new clean heart and a brand new chance at life. Only grace and truth can do that for sinners.

Perhaps that is why prostitutes, publicans, and other sinners responded to Jesus so readily. At some level, they recognized their sin. That was why forgiveness was so appealing to them…and still is!

What does the world need more than anything right now? What does your sinful next door neighbor so desperately need? The same thing you need: A whole lot of truth and a big dose of grace!

Take A Moment: Spend time today to memorize and meditate on this very important verse from John 1 that likewise reveals the great grace of God: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12)

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Your Final Breath!

Make Sure Righteousness Is With You At That Moment

SYNOPSIS: The only thing that will serve you well at the moment you breathe your last is righteousness. Your money won’t do any good, the car you drive will go to somebody else, your clothes will be taken to Good Will, your family will move on, and your friends will go back to your house after the funeral and have a potluck in your honor. And before the last piece of chicken is eaten, your memory will start to fade. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but “them’s the berries.”

your final breath

Moments With God // Proverbs 11:4

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

I’ve done a lot of funerals in my time as a pastor, and I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. The fact is, and always will be, you can’t take it with you. That’s what says Proverbs 11:4 is saying.

The only thing that will serve you well at the moment you breathe your last is righteousness. Your money won’t do any good, the car you drive will go to somebody else, your clothes will be taken to Good Will, your family will move on, and your friends will go back to your house after the funeral and have a potluck in your honor. And before the last piece of chicken is eaten, your memory will start to fade. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but “them’s the berries.”

Years ago, I came across a great little parable that reminds us of this sobering reality. There was a very rich man who, knowing he would die soon, had all his assets converted into gold bars. He then put them in a big bag on his bed, draped his body over the bag of gold, and breathed his last. When he woke up, he was at the gate of heaven.

Saint Peter met him at the gate and with a concerned look on his face said, “Well, I see you actually managed to get here with something from the earth! But unfortunately, you can’t bring that in.”

“Oh please, sir,” said the man. “I must have it. It means everything to me.”

“Sorry, my friend,” said Saint Peter. “If you want to keep that bag, then I’m afraid you’ll have to go to, you know, the other place. You don’t want to go there, believe me.”

“Well, I won’t part with this bag.”

“Have it your way,” returned Peter. “But before you go, would you mind if I looked in the bag to see what it is that you’re willing to trade eternal life for?”

“Sure,” said the man. “You’ll see. I could never part with this.”

Saint Peter looked in the bag and with a puzzled look on his face said to the man, “You’re willing to go to hell for…pavement?”

It’s all just stuff, friends, worthless in heaven. Only the righteousness you have by grace through Christ will help you on the day of your death. (Luke 12:13-23) Try focusing on what righteousness calls you to do and live as if the judgment takes place today! That approach to living will serve you well!

Take A Moment: Write out the eulogy you would want someone to deliver at your funeral. Between now and then, go live it!

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Redemptive Lift

The Fruit of Gospel-Centered Living

God wants you to be an agent of Redemptive Lift in your village: your home, school, workplace, neighborhood, social network, or wherever you do life. He desires wherever you live to be exalted by your righteousness. This is not just God’s plan for Africa; it is his plan for you!

The gospel demands of people a better way of living.

Proverbs 11:11 tells us,

“By the blessings of the upright the city is exalted”

Not only are souls saved, but Redemptive Lift follows wherever the gospel is proclaimed. By Redemptive Lift, I mean that wherever people respond to the gospel not only are souls saved for eternity, but life for all the villagers gets better immediately.

In other words, when the Good News takes root in a place, the city is exalted.

This is exactly what has happened throughout history. Over the centuries, most of humanity’s great advancements and social reforms were inspired by believers carrying God’s message to their corner of the world.

At Petros Network, our goals aren’t just to plant a certain number of churches or get a certain number of converts but to train our church planters to be the voice of reform, education, and vision casting for all that comes from the domain of God’s goodness within their communities.

The gospel demands of people a better way of living — and it shows them how: better hygiene, clean water, environmental stewardship, human rights, women’s empowerment, protection of vulnerable children, food security, and government that serves the best interest of the people, better family relationships, ethnic harmony, and even taken proper care of animals.

“By the blessings of the upright, the city will be exalted.”

This is our goal, that in place after place, we will see impoverished villages transform into shining lights for all of Africa to see. A pretty lofty goal, I know, but we’ll prevail because the gospel will prevail. Jesus promised it would.

Which brings me to you: God wants you to be an agent of Redemptive Lift in your village: your home, school, workplace, neighborhood, social network, or wherever you do life. He desires wherever you live to be exalted by your righteousness. This is not just God’s plan for Africa; it is his plan for you!

So, is life in your “village” better simply because you’re there? It should be! After all, the gospel is meant to overflow from your life, making you an agent of Redemptive Lift.

Would you join me in asking God where and how he wants to use our righteousness to exalt the little corner of the world in which we live? Seriously, life in your “village” ought to get better simply by virtue of you being there — and with God’s help, it will! 

This is how we change the world! So let’s do it!

Consider partnering with us to create Redemptive Lift around the world as we share, show and spread the Good News of Jesus among the unreached. Learn more about Petros Network and how we are transforming unreached communities with the Redemptive Lift Cycle at petrosnetwork.org.

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Everything Goes Back To Normal

Don’t Get Stuck on a Spiritual High

SYNOPSIS: Never fixate on a spiritual high. Resist the urge to erect a shelter on a mountaintop experience. Don’t rate your current and future Christian experience against those “glory days” of yesteryear. Simply see those experiences for what they are: Fuel for the assignment ahead. Then get back to normal. Climb down off your mountaintop experience and get back in the game. Lost people are still lost down there in the real world and the proclamation of God’s kingdom from your lips and through your life is still the only way they will be found.

Don't get hung up on spiritual highs.

Moments With God // Mark 9:9

As they went back down the mountain…

In Mark 9:2-13 we come across one of the most fascinating and mysterious stories about Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain, and there before their very eyes, for a few moments at least, his humanity morphs into the dazzling brilliance of his divine being. And if that weren’t enough to knock their sandals off, Moses and Elijah, Israel’s two greatest historical and theological figures, suddenly show up and begin to encourage Jesus about his upcoming death.

As you would expect of Peter, the unpredictable disciple offers to set up shop for this impromptu triumvirate: “Teacher, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Mark 9:5)

At that, a cloud covers Jesus and his heavenly guests, the Voice speaks a word of Divine authentication from the heavens, Jesus is suddenly left standing with Peter, James, and John, and everything goes back to normal.

Everything goes back to normal!

That’s when Jesus leads them “back down the mountain” to the real world.

Here’s the deal: God never intends for us to fixate on “spiritual highs”; we are not to build tabernacles around them or make memorials out of them. They are simply means to an end, the fuel to empower us for another spiritual assignment. Jesus didn’t have this encounter with Moses and Elijah just so he could feel special. The same account of the transfiguration in Luke 9:31 (NLT) tells us that these two Old Testament prophets came to encourage Jesus about his upcoming departure—literally, in the original text, his “exodus.” He was about to face the greatest assignment of all—the cross. This mountaintop experience was meant as fuel—encouragement, strength, a reminder of his life’s purpose—for his impending death for the sins of the world.

Don’t get me wrong: I am not down on “spiritual highs.” They are wonderful—and necessary. Just don’t fixate on them. Resist the urge to erect a shelter and live in their warm afterglow. Don’t rate the rest of your Christian experience against them. Don’t build the entire meaning of your existence upon them. Simply see them for what they are: Fuel for the assignment ahead.

Then get back to normal. Climb down off your mountaintop experience and get back in the game. Lost people are still lost down there in the real world and the proclamation of God’s kingdom from your lips and the demonstration of it through your life is still the only way they will be found.

Take A Moment: Is there a “spiritual high” from your past (an ecstatic experience, a fruitful time of ministry, a wonderful season in an amazing church family, a dramatic period of spiritual growth under a gifted spiritual leader) against which you tend to measure current experience? Stop doing that! It’s idolatrous, actually. Repent of worshiping experience and instead ask God to show you how he intends for that “high” to fuel you for the kingdom assignment ahead.