“How could we have such a low view of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have to manipulate men psychologically to get them to come down and pray a prayer? …How many times have I heard evangelists say, “It’ll only take five minutes.“? No my dear friend, it will take your life–all of it! “We’re just trying to attract people and then we’ll gradually bring them in further and further.” That is what the cults do, that’s not what Jesus did. Notice that in the gospels every time a great crowd is following Jesus, he turns around and says something so radical to them that most of them walk away. Of course Jesus probably would not get invited to teach evangelism [in most churches today].”

-Paul Washer

Tuesday, September 23. Doors open at 6:30. Admission is free! Someone will win a $300 Best Buy gift card! You don’t want to miss this hip-hop/ rap group as they bring music about what life is all about. Please use the big double-doors by the road! Fleming Baptist is located on Peach Orchard road accross the street from Ryan’s Steakhouse in Augusta, Georgia. See you there! Check them out at www.myspace.com/bravehearts4christ

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because I see everything by it. - C.S. Lewis

For those of you who went to Bigstuff 2007 with us, you may remember Jessi, a girl there who had a very rare and unusual type of cancer. I bawled just a few minutes ago as I watched this on Lanny Donoho’s blog. But then the question I was confronted with afterwards was, “How am I being a megaphone for Jesus?” As you watch, ask yourself the same question, and ask God to shine in and through you to the entire world around you!

John 4:1-26

Jesus and the Samaritan woman were talking. Jesus was a Jew, and Jews and Samaritans, to say the least, didn’t like each other! The dialogue beginning in verse 21 stirred me as I looked deeper. Look with me…

The Samaritan brought up the subject of worship and asked Jesus, “where is the right place to worship?” She noted that the Samaritans worshiped on the mountain and Jews say to worship in Jerusalem… and Jesus replied with the verses below.

V. 21-24: “Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

There is an amazing distinction that Jesus makes at this point…

“You Samaritans worship what you do not know.” - In Samarian worship there was a lot of enthusiasm in worship, but it was lacking truth!

“We worship what we do know.” - In Jewish worship, lots and lots of truth, but lacking lots of enthusiasm!

Jesus’ reply was that it is not about truth minus enthusiasm or enthusiasm minus truth, but it is about the kind of worship that the Father seeks, which are worshipers who worship Him in spirit AND truth! The real test of whether we worship God the right way is that it is biblical (grounded in the truth of scripture), it engages our minds as worshipers, we willfully worship (we want to and need to), and it is emotional as it engages our heart and soul and we are lost in it. As we gather as believers week in and week out to “worship,” are you really worshiping, based on what Jesus points out here? I want all of us to be able to say something like 2 Corinthians 14:25, when the person comes in and sees the reality of God’s presence in His people and says, “God is really among you.”

Ok so I was thinking today and I came up with a novel thought! Knowing the youth we have, and knowing their love for talking, there should be no way that we can’t have 100 youth on Wednesdays! I know each of you have at least 10 friends, at least! Haha and I know each of you looooove to talk, so talk to your friends and tell them about coming to church with you! 

I also want to challenge each of you with this: Take 5 minutes each day to invest it in someone else. It will have a lasting effect on him/her and could be the difference between life or death.