Prayerful God Pursuits

When I was working as a College Evangelist in Baton Rouge, I traveled to Texas for a speaking engagement. On the flight back to Baton Rouge I met a brother and a sister who were both students a LSU. They were flying back from the funeral of their two cousins who both died in the same car wreck. I could tell that this brother and sister were both very sad, mourning and needed much comfort. These are the times that I really thank God for His Spirit leading my thoughts and words. I listened and listened and then listened some more. They needed to share openly about their loss and grief. I could tell they were not Christians. I shared with them about the presence, peace and comfort of God. I shared the narrative with them about Jesus who wept when his friend Lazarus died. Even though, Jesus was the Son of God and knew where Lazarus went after his death, Jesus still wept. God knows and understands and has felt our human pain. God who comforts us also sympathizes with us because He walked on earth and humbled himself to live as a human. God gave the brother and sister comfort before my very eyes. Then they let me pray with them. My students at LSU had a weekly prayer meeting. I believe prayer is very powerful and effective in pastoral care. We fervently prayed for this brother and sister even though we probably would not see them again. I did not have their phone numbers. I did know what fraternity house he lived in so I went to this house. On the way there, I heard a voice yelling, "Todd!" from the outside of my car. I turned my head and it was the brother going the opposite direction. I got his phone number from his fraternity house. The brother and I started playing phone tag on each other's answering machines. So one of my messages I left him a time and a place for him to come to a small group Bible study that I was leading. Meanwhile, my students and me were praying for him. He showed up one night to the Bible study and showed up weekly after that.

An Invitation Beyond

Go to the New Wineskins magazine to read my latest article on a very effective way to reach today's Postmodern Generation.

I will start writing more posts after my article runs in New Wineskins.

To book an Outreach Equipping Seminar or to bring me to speak my testimonial, "God's Power in Your Weaknesses", go to www.chirhoconnections.com.

Making the Gospel Relevant

This has been the focus over recent years when considering how to reach the Postmodern Generation. If you know me, this in one of my greatest passions: Exegeting today’s culture so we can use the most productive means to share the Gospel. In result, we have seen a lot of changes such as in worship, well, worship times that are like contemporary music, dim lighting, more testimonials, and maybe a coffeehouse environment and an espresso machine to boot. I have been a promoter of all of these. Just like Jesus has called us to be pure from the inside out, if we change only our environment and external means of the way we worship etc…, we will not be effective. There are some characteristics of the Postmodern Generation we have ignored. The Postmoderns are purists. I’m thankful that Christians in the Postmodern Generation because they are truly asking the church why we do what we do now in order to get to a pure journey with God and to do away with doing church just to do church. So God is moving us into an era, where His Kingdom will be more of a major focus than His Church, just like is in the Bible. In this focus, we have to acknowledge, Jesus as our King, our Ruler. We are called to live out His Kingdom now on earth as it is in Heaven and this can be seen by people of God truly letting Jesus rule their heart.

We do not have to make the Gospel relevant for this Generation. By nature, the Gospel is relevant to everyone. Everyone who is separated from Gods is lost. Everyone who is lost needs Jesus as their Savior and their Lord in order to start living out an eternal life now!

rel•e•vant:(r l -v nt) adj. Having a bearing on or connection with the matter at hand.

The bearing or connection is not that the Gospel needs to be in a form that can be grasped by the Postmoderns, but the connection is the Postmoderns know they are in need, this is why they are searching so desperately. Therefore, we, the church, do not need to have seeker-sensitive services. We need to have SEEKER-SENSITIVE LIVES. We need to simply and clearly explain the Gospel message that is always relevant. And the best way this can be explained to today’s generation is not simply through words but through authentic demonstration in a believer’s life. When the lost sees this incarnated sermon, this is when the lost will want to walk with Jesus.

How will people see this incarnated Jesus? One way is when the lost sees integrity in the people of God. The lost is use to see sin and corruption because that’s the life they live in everyday. The lost Postmoderns need to see people oF God set apart and so different then the world they are use to. The lost is use to seeing drunkenness, unethical business, lying lips, etc…. For people of God to partake in these ways of life is not showing the lost freedom in Christ or grace, it is showing the lost that living in the Kingdom is no different than living in the world. And a contemporary praise band will not show them differently.
For example, a sin that the lost continually sees Christians in is the sin of worry. This only shows the lost that God is not worth trusting, believing, and having faith in. Worrying is not only a sin because it shows God that we don’t trust Him but it is also a sin because it ruins our evangelism. As, Christians, we live in the Kingdom of God in which out King proclaims, “Seek the Kingdom of God and all these thing shall be added unto you.” The lost sees Christians worrying in the world instead of be satisfied and content in the Kingdom. Ephesians 2 tells us that the lost lives in Satan’s kingdom which is so appropriately called, “The Kingdom of the air”. What is air? Air is nothing. There is nothing available for those in the Kingdom of the air, no hope, no love no peace, no blessing, NOTHING!!! One of the most powerful evangelistic messages we have as people of God, is that “We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). There is nothing we NEED outside of the Kingdom of God. We currently have all we NEED and all we would ever WANT, right now in the Kingdom of God!!!! The lost needs to know we are satisfied. We will the lost coming to Jesus when they see this demonstration in our lives. “And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness. (Ps. 17:5).
Let’s take the relevant Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the lost through demonstration in our lives.

An Invitation to the Beyond

This entry that was previously published on this blog is temporarily removed until published in a evangelism publication. If you'd like a copy, please e-mail me.

Stanley, The Revolutionary Evangelist

10 Impacting life-changing values learned from the great evangelist, my mentor, Stanley Ship who is now at home with His Father:

1. Always be available
2. Every must have a Paul (mentor) and a Timothy (an apprentice).
3. Stay youthful in heart being effective for God.
4. Every daily contact with a people is an opportunity to share the love of Jesus.
5. Relate to people, Jesus did and does and will!!!
6. We are not above committing any sin.
7. Do not live for retirement but spend every waking breath sharing the love of Jesus.
8. We never get too old to relate to younger generations.
9. No vision is too big for God.
10. Let your heart be broken for the lost. Stanley wept for those who did not know Jesus.
11. The most effective ministry is modeled after Jesus his disciples. Stanley started this ministry in St. Louis and hundreds went through this internship and were changed and in result the world was changed. Max Lucado was one of the first to go through the internship and I was one of the last.

The day that was most memorable with Stanley is when he took me out once to mentor me in outreach. Starting out, his cell phone rings and he answers and gives me the phone and I asked Stanley, “Who is it?” He replied, “Max Lucado”. It was the first time I met Max. That weekend I went to the first Promise Keepers I have ever been to. Max spoke and at the end of his sermon, Max invited Stanley on stage. Max then proceeded to bend to his knees and washed Stanley’s, my mentor’s, feet in front of over 10,000 men – What an AMAZING experience!!!

I asked Stanley that day what he did with his time with God. We were driving by a park. Stanley pointed to a random man in a park and said, “Todd, see that man. I pray every day that God will help me see someone’s heart like him and be able to minister Jesus to his heart.”

Stanley’s heart of compassion made him be one of the greatest evangelists I have ever known.

Stanley died in his 70’s in a car wreck on his way to speak at an event. He use to always speak about how he is never going to retire and travel and say “look at that mountain, honey”, but how he is going to spend the rest of his life, every waking breath with the ambition to share Jesus. And He did,. Max Lucado was at the hospital when Stanley died and performed his funeral.

Stanley affected thousands and inspired them with the passion to share Jesus with the lost. I am one of the many fruits that was bore through Stanley.