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“TRUTH IT SHALL MAKE YOU FREE”

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Truth
Open Door Baptist Church Easter Drama 2010

Note: The following report is from Pastor Jason Murphy. Pastor Murphy and the church membership proved once again that with prayer, hard work, and vision you can get visitors to church and many can be won to Christ. I challenge pastors to ignore those who preach that sinners cannot be saved, and that you are selfish in your attempts to reach them. Some of you should contact Pastor Murphy for some ideas and help on how to attract and reach the lost for Christ. Pastor Murphy said:

Truth
We had a great presentation of “Truth” written and directed by Brother Pat Halliday. Our cast and crew are all Open Door Baptist church members, who did an outstanding job memorizing lines and putting everything they have into such a great job, well done!

Our first service was Saturday night at 7pm and we had 281 in attendance, which is one of our largest Saturday night services. On Sunday we had 537 in attendance (over 100 came back from Saturday) so really we had just over 700 with the 2 services. We had over 140 visitors in the 2 services; most of which were invited by the people of Open Door! We had 10 people indicate that they accepted Christ as their Savior, and 15 that renewed their commitment to Christ!

One man came to me personally to hand me his response card and said: “This is the first time he heard the gospel so clear and Lord used that presentation to bring his guard down.” He said to me, “I prayed with you at the invitation and I know I am saved now.” It was an Amazing day, we serve A Risen Savior!

John 4:34-37 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

WILL WE EVER “GET IT” FROM THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD?

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LEARNING FROM THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD

childrenBy Ken Blue

Today, Joyce and I took a stroll a few blocks down the street to the Wall-Mart Super Store. I rode my motorized wheel chair and Joyce “strolled” behind. Boy was I tired when we got there!

However, my purpose is not to write about our walkabout, but to share with you my first impression upon entering the store. The “children of this world” were preparing for a special day.  Now, you may not agree with me on special days or promotions, and that is fine. But, as I looked around I was reminded of a Bible verse that I believe might be relevant here. “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” Luke 16:8.

Upon entering the store, everywhere you looked you were struck with the fact that a special day was approaching, and they were insuring that the customer did not miss it. Heart-shaped balloons were everywhere. Boxes of candy, cookies, and flowers graced the end of each aisle. Special Valentine cards were within easy access. They were trying to appeal to the customer’s interest, and they were confident that the customer would also browse the rest of the store. Of course Wall-Mart is trying to “sell” their commodities. The sad reality is that many churches can’t “give” theirs away.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]For the life of me, I can’t understand pastors who refuse to meet the needs of people in order to get them in the door.[/perfectpullquote]

For the life of me, I can’t understand pastors who refuse to accommodate, please, serve, appeal, help, assist, comfort, and meet the needs of people in order to get them in the door. If we can get them in the door, perhaps we can convince them to accept the “free gift” we have for them.

I’m aware that it is none of my businesses what you do. This is just my observation. If you are doing nothing and it works for you, keep doing nothing. But, for those who think they could learn something from the “children of this world,” we submit this Wall-Mart example.

FORWARD AND BACKWARD

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NO ONE LOOKED FORWARD TO THE CROSS

Looking ForwardBy Ken Blue

“Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” Luke 18:31-34.

Most Christians think that, prior to Jesus’ death, Old Testament believers looked forward to the cross and those of us on this side looked back. However, that is only a half truth. Any honest believer must admit that none of the twelve disciples were looking forward to Jesus’ death on the cross or to His resurrection; neither were the women who went to the tomb to embalm His dead body. Notice the above verses, and you will see that verse 34 is the key. “And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” You can read. Do you think the Twelve preached the death, burial and resurrection of Christ in any fashion for three and one-half years when they didn’t understand one thing about His coming death? In fact, no one looked forward to Christ’s death.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The only gospel preached, prior to Paul, was the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.[/perfectpullquote]

The only gospel preached, prior to Paul, was the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. The content of that gospel was: believe the message about the coming Messiah, repent of your sins, be baptized and remain faithful to the end. I am confident that many of the brethren will have a cardiac arrest over this, but the stubborn facts must replace centuries of tradition. It is true; we look back to the cross where Jesus died for our sins and accept His death, burial and resurrection for sin as our substitute. However, no one prior to the cross looked forward to that event for their personal salvation, even though His death is found in type and prophecy all through the Scriptures.