Witnessing or Soul Winning?

We hear much today from the pulpit and from books in the Christian book stores that we are to be soul winners. This term of course is found in the Old Testament in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.). By doing this, replacing the New Testament principle of witnessing with a phrase from the Old Testament verse soul winning, this resulted in making the Christian responsible for the conversion of the sinner rather than proclaiming the truth (being a witness).

With the push to be soul winners came unscriptural tactics and methods for getting sinners to make decisions or perform certain deeds that were then accepted as the proof of conversion. The end result of these tactics are cities filled with people who claim to be saved who have never produced any evidence of regeneration and churches filled with people who must be entertained because they have no spiritual life or interest.

The most important and challenging undertaking God has given to men is to lead lost souls to Jesus Christ. To rescue a sinner costs God more and requires more from man than any other action in human or divine history. While church meeting, evangelist campaigns, radio broadcasts, and such, have their place, Jesus won most, if not all, of His followers by personal effort. We cannot site a single instance of what we would call a great revival taking place during Jesus’ public ministry. He dealt with men and women individually. They in turn, won others.

No Christian is exempted from the call or is too insignificant to be used in this work. Every place is a good spot to reach the lost. Jesus did it in the temple, in the streets, on the seaside, in a boat, on a mountain, in a house, in a graveyard. The apostles added to the list market places, jails, and court rooms,

The call to bear witness comes to us from above, from God the Father. It comes from below, as the rich man pleads for one to witness to his loved ones. It comes from within, as the Holy Spirit urges us on. It comes from without, as a lost and dying world races to its doom.

For a more in depth study:     
                                 
   A Biblical Course In WITNESSING   
            by James W. Knox               

    http://www.jameswknox.org/

For they are white already to harvest.

Matthew 9:37 The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
John 4:35 (b) Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

As I drive to and from church on the country roads in North Carolina, I look around and see the magnificence of God's creation. Everything from the sun with its life giving rays, to the little field mouse scurrying across the road.

All the different crops that are growing, such as corn, tomatoes, and even cotton. The corn grows to be six to eight feet tall with at lest four ears of corn on each stalk. Tomatoes plants that are robust and staked, they have many tomatoes on each plant. My favorite of all was the cotton fields, when the cotton was ready to be harvested as you look all across the acres all that you could see was the white cotton balls.

When I saw that, my mind immediately went to the Scriptures dealing with the harvest. When the crops are ripe they are ready to be harvested.

We that are born again have a very unique opportunity and privilege, that is to go out into the fields that are white unto harvest and present the Gospel message to the lost world.

May each one of us take advantage of the responsibility and  opportunity God has given us.

      

WOODSHED OF LOVE

Proverbs 3: 11, 12

“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”   

Years ago when I was a young boy, if I ever misbehaved I would be threatened with or taken to the woodshed to be disciplined. Today if you were to use the term woodshed not many people would know what you were talking about. Most people today don't know what a wood shed is. When the houses used pot bell stoves or to heat the house the wood would be stored inside so it wouldn't get wet. The area where the wood was stacked was called the woodshed.

Today the question would be asked “Why did your parents take you out to the woodshed when you did something wrong”?   The answer is “They took me out there to punish me when I disobeyed them”. 

There are times when we do things that displease Jesus and that makes Him unhappy with us and He has to take us out to His woodshed. But His woodshed is different because He never whips us or yells at us. (Prov 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: Prov 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.) He tells us in a firm but gentle voice what we are doing wrong and what He wants us to do to correct it. 

I think if we will listen with our hearts to what He is saying to everyone who claims to be a Christian “Why don’t you believe Me?  I have told you that I am coming back and to be ready, yet you focus more on material things than on me”.  We read in the Bible (Matthew 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.)

If we really believed He is coming back at any minute (Matthew 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 1Thes 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1 Cor 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.) we would never worry about schedules, time, jobs or anything else.  We would be in a constant state of joy and expectation.  May God forgive us for doubting what Jesus has told us! 

 Are you ready to go should He come back while you are reading this?  Have you asked Him to forgive you, come into your heart and be your personal Saviour?  If not, please do it now before it’s too late!

THE LORD'S PERFECT TIMING

Matthew 6: 33 

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Sometimes we become very frustrated and we begin to panic because we don’t think we will get something finished on time.  I have been trying to get the things done in a systematic order, devotionals, any teaching or preaching lessons but something always seems to happen to throw my schedule off and to get me behind. Every once in a while, I feel a calmness and peace in my heart that only the Lord Jesus Christ can give and it is that time that the sermon outlines, or the devotionals, or the studies for the class I have to teach just begin to flow through me. His timing is perfect and because it was in His perfect timing I am able to do what is necessary to complete my responsibilities. 

If we will wait on the Lord and on His perfect timing, we not only will do things the way He wants them done, we will have peace in our hearts.  So many times we make plans that are not in accord to His will and the timing always seems so wrong. We need to consult Him the first thing every morning and ask Him what He wants us to do.  It may be that He wants us to do something completely different than what we have planned for the day. 

We not only should ask Him about our day; we should seek His guidance and direction about every thing that we do in our lives.  It is very important to seek His perfect (Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.) will about our jobs, our cars, our homes and everything else.  Only when we are in His perfect will for us will we have peace in our hearts.  We may be led to take a job that pays less than another job but it may be that Jesus will use us there to encourage someone who is hurting and lonely.

Are you in His will for your life?  Do you wait for His perfect timing or do you just schedule your day without asking Him what He wants you to do?  If you will wait on Him, you will have a productive day, a peaceful day, and a day that will please Him.    

NONE BESIDE ME

Isaiah 46: 21, 22 

“Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me.  Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none else.”

Sometimes people try to be to technically correct, some will say that Jesus does not live in us; that the Holy Spirit lives in us.  They are correct, but I am also correct because if you will read your Bible in (1 John 5:7) you will find that it says     “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” & in                 John 10:30 I and my Father are one. To say that Jesus does not live in us is to say that the Bible is not true and denies that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one.  In the verses at the beginning of this writing it says “and there is no God beside me; a just God and a Saviour”.  It does not say there is no God beside us; it says there is no God beside me.  So we see that God and our Saviour are one.  Deut 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

We need to be very cautious of criticizing and judging people.  We do not want to put a stumbling block in someone’s way.  When people challenge us with questions concerning the Bible, we need to be so anchored on the rock of truth, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we will not stumble or fall off our solid rock.  We will stand secure with the assurance that the Bible is indeed true.  If we read something about Jesus and find what we think is an error, the first thing we should do is pray and ask God to reveal the truth to us.  Then and only then we are to confront the person about the error, we need to do it in a humble and loving way without being critical or judgmental.   

The Bible also says in Genesis 1:26a “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”  In John 10: 25 – 30, we read “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.  But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.  I and my Father are one.”

Thank God for our solid rock and the knowledge that when the storms of life come against us that if we have hidden His word in our hearts we will stand secure, fastened and anchored on His Word.  Are you anchored on the solid rock?  Have you hidden His word in your heart (Ps 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.)  so you will not be swayed when someone says something critical to you about what you believe?  I urge you to not only read the written Word, (2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.) but also to hide the living Word in your heart. 

MY GRANDPA IS MY HERO

Today I received an email that I found to be very inspirational, motivating, and thought provoking. After I read the letter I wondered; just how would I be remembered and what would people be able to say about me. As I thought on these things, I wondered – am I doing all that I can to serve the Lord Jesus Christ to the best of my ability, especially after all that He has done for me (I Jn 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.).

As I share this letter with you, see if the Lord shows you anything in your life that can be changed so that you can be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,)

My Grandpa is my Hero by Stephany Tyson

Dear Friends,

There is a man I will always respect and admire. He isn’t a movie star.  He isn’t the President of the United States.  He didn’t win a Nobel Prize and he wasn’t awarded any purple hearts.  No, he is just a missionary, but he is also even more than that.  He is my grandpa.

Bob Tyson was born in a small town called Villa Rica, Georgia. He liked to race cars and blow up dynamite, so he was always a tough guy.  He got married with a seventeen-year-old girl named Joan Costlow.  They settled down in Villa Rica with their own house, land, and cars, all paid for, and both with good jobs.  They had everything they could ever want or need, but God had other plans.

In 1964, my grandpa was called to be a missionary.  He and my grandma sold everything they had and went to Tennessee Temple University. After three years and a half of studying the Bible, they were off for the mission field in Honduras and Nicaragua.  And that’s where they’ve been ever since.  Now Good Samaritan Baptist Missions is leadership of Bob Tyson.  He gave his whole life to the mission field.  Many times he risked his life for the Lord’s work.  He did what was right and nobody could back him down.  He didn’t care what people thought about him; he just cared what God thought.  He has been called a “fireball preacher” many times because when he preached, he never did beat around the bush.  He told the people straight in their faces what they were doing wrong.  In the tent meetings, cowboys on horses armed with guns would come up around the tent to listen, but Grandpa never hesitated.  My grandma, however, could just “feel” the bullets coming by.

Yes, Bob Tyson was a born leader and strong and tough and very help anybody in need.  He not only worried about their spiritual needs, but their physicals needs too.  People that knew him feared him, but they all loved and respected him.  He kept things under control and going right, and if things didn’t go his way, then someone was in trouble.

My grandpa’s health started going bad a few years back and now he’s not able to work anymore.  Our family doctor, a few years ago, said to Grandpa “Bob, you’ve worn your body out for the Lord”.  And that’s exactly what he did.  He gave his whole heart and soul to the missed by everyone in the mission, and sometimes it might seem like we can’t do it anymore without him.  But God’s not through with this mission.  He has kept it going over five years now without Grandpa, and I don’t have a shadow of a doubt that He will keep it going even longer.  There will never be another Bob Tyson, but there will always be God, and Grandpa would’ve wanted us to put our total trust in Him.

Like I said at the beginning, Grandpa didn’t win a Nobel Prize and get crowns and awards in Heaven.  And that can’t even compare to any awards he could get here.  Like to many others, Bob Tyson is my hero.  He always will be, and when the Lord calls him home, it will never be the same.  But his spirit will always be with us, because he loved his family and the ministry too much to leave us.  If anyone deserves a crown in Heaven, Bob Tyson does.  He is a man of faith, courage, bravery, and a born-leader. But most of all, he is a man of God, and there will never, ever be another man like him, the redneck missionary, the fireball preacher, the loving grandpa, the man of God, Bob Tyson.

By Stephany Tyson,
Granddaughter of Bob Tyson

MY CHILDREN

Psalm 68: 6 “God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”

As I watched a family oriented program on television the other evening.  The story was about a family who had taken in a young boy who was living on the streets.  With all the attention the Father was giving the young boy, the daughter felt that her dad loved the boy more than he did her because he was spending more time with him than he was with her.  The boy overheard the mother telling the dad how the daughter felt and as a result he ran away because he felt like he was a burden to the family and was causing problems. 

The little boy had raised a calf that was going to show it at the county fair; when it came time for the fair the young boy came back to see if the calf would win.  After the young boy ran away, the girl had taken care of the calf for the boy and she showed the calf at the county fair since the little boy wasn’t there to do it.  When the calf won the first prize award and the little girl made her speech, she said, “This award really belongs to my brother”.  The little girl had finally accepted the boy in her heart as her brother. 

When the boy heard her refer to him as her brother, he ran to the girl and they hugged.  In the last scene it showed the dad smiling with tears in his eyes as he clapped.  He was moved to tears because of the love that he saw between his children.  He looked around at the crowd and said, “That’s my kids”.

I think that our Heavenly Father looks down on us and says, “That’s my children”.  I wonder if He has tears in His eyes and are they tears of joy or tears of sorrow?  Does He see the love we have for one another or does He see us fighting and being critical of each other?  Are we making Him happy or are we making Him sad? 

HONORING THE KING

Revelation 19: 1, 16 “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God.  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

 Have you ever watched your children participate in any sporting event, the thrill and excitement you feel as you watch while they are about to score points or come in first place. Watching one of the Christian musicals the final song was about Jesus.  The song was “Worthy is The Lamb”. Many of the people in the audience stood up in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ and out of respect for Him, but there were some people who remained seated during the song and refused to show respect for the Lord Jesus Christ. This lack of respect certainly seemed to show that they didn't love Him. Of course, there could have been some people who were physically unable to stand I understand that.  However, it is nearly impossible to remain seated when your best friend or a loved one is being exalted and praised.

Why is it that we are so afraid to cheer for Jesus? But we have no trouble yelling at the top of our voices when someone makes a touchdown during a football game? How do you think the Lord Jesus feels when we exalt others above Him and how hurt He must feel?  When our children are in a play we are so proud of them and at the end of the play we stand to our feet and clap for them.  That is wonderful and we should do this, but is the play and a football game more important than Jesus? 

It has been said, “We may be the only Bible that some people see”.  What kind of testimony would it be it they saw Christians cheering and standing to their feet at a sports event but didn’t see them standing in honor of Jesus while they were singing a love song to Him?  May God forgive us if we give other people more respect and honor than we give to Jesus!

Jessie Marie - My Beautiful Daughter!

Nora - My Beautiful Wife of 50 years!