Superstitious & Unbiblical

Why “accepting Jesus into your heart” is superstitious and unbiblical…

 

Making disciples is the supernatural overflow of being a disciple. Proclaiming the love of Christ is the overflow of sharing in the life of Christ. And I’m convinced many people in our churches are simply missing the life of Christ. And a lot of it has to do with what we’ve sold them as the gospel, i.e. ‘pray this prayer’, ‘accept Jesus into your heart’,’invite Christ into your life’. Should it not concern us that there is no such supertitious prayer in the New Testament? Should it not concern us that the Bible never uses the phrase ‘accept Jesus into your heart’?

The Great Commission

Almost 2 billion people (27.9% of the world) are still essentially cut off from access to the Gospel. Many of these peoples live in major urban centers. Some are more remote and rural. All continue to be largely “ignored” by the Great Commission Christian world. Let me reiterate; over 2 billion people in the world today are classified as unreached—which means more than “unsaved” but that the gospel is simply not accessible to them. Please watch the short video below and allow it to challenge you and cause you to pray about what God has in store for your life.

 

Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. [Matthew 28:19]

O Ransomed Son

Ascend The Hill is an indie-rock/worship outfit, based out of Tampa who have spent the last 3 & 1/2 years on the road pioneering the “musicianary” movement in partnership with Come&Live! In an industry steeped in greed and clamoring for what the rest of the world considers success, they believe that the gifts, talents, energy, resources and songs entrusted to them, serve a purpose that bears far more eternal significance than the temporary, fleeting joys of record sales and sold out shows. ‘O Ransomed Son’ – the highly anticipated follow up to ‘Hymns: Take The World, But Give Me Jesus’ – features 12 original songs written for the church that tell the very real story struggle & redemption and spur the listener on to a life of worship, in response to the hope that we have been given through Jesus Christ.

More than a band, more than songs craftily arranged by musicians, more than a group of dudes running after their dreams. Ascend The Hill exists for a purpose far greater than our own selfish endeavors…we exist to make much of the name of Jesus. Without Him in our midst we’re just another social gathering, and we’re wasting our time.

A.W. Tozer said, “thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them.” Our desire is that every person who comes in contact with our music will have the opportunity to be “wakened by the touch of God,” and will never be the same for it.

The ministry and anointing that has been entrusted to Ascend The Hill is that of:

Restoration – preparing a spotless bride for Christ

Reconciliation – bringing the gospel of Jesus to the lost

It is our conviction that through the power of His presence, and the gospel of Jesus Christ preached in every gathering – this world will experience an awakening.

Ascend The Hill is: Joel Davis, Jonathan Thomas, Hayden Davidson & Seth Davis

A Desperate Plea

Today will be short and sweet.

Recently it has come to my attention that there is a strong need for male leadership in the missions culture. According to one of the leaders of Visiting Orphans there are 125 people going on missions trips this year with Visiting Orphans and only 23 of them are men. The orphans (especially in Africa) desperately need a positive male influence in their lives. They either don’t have any male figure or the ones they have are not positive ones.

I would strongly encourage you to pray about this situation and see if God is leading you to be a godly man in a young child’s life.

Take Up Your Cross Pt. 2

Secondly, people often protest, “Yes, but isn’t missionary work, indeed all attempts at trying to win another to your faith, terribly intolerant?” Well, no-not if one operates with older definitions of tolerance. Tolerance used to be understood to be the stance which, while disagreeing with another’s views, guarded the right of those views to be heard. The new tolerance insists that disagreeing with another’s views, saying they are wrong, is intrinsically intolerant. But frankly, that notion of intolerance is incoherent. The Labour Party doesn’t agree with the Conservatives; Marxists don’t agree with Capitalists; Muslims don’t agree with Christians. Each pair may acknowledge some commonalities, but on many fronts, they differ. Yet each tolerates the other if each insists that the other has equal right to speak and convince others of their position. Intolerance is introduced, not when one says another party is wrong, but only when the views of others are quelled by force or corruption. If missionaries try to impose their views on others by force of any kind, they have lost the richest Christian heritage; where they seek to teach and put their case, all the while loving others sacrificially, they are upholding the highest standards of both intellectual integrity and tolerance.

But the best warrant for Christian mission is Jesus himself. He claims all authority is his, but he speaks not as a cosmic bully but as the crucified Lord. He insists that men and women have rebelled against his heavenly Father, but he joins himself to the human rebels so as to identify with them. He declares they deserve punishment, then bears the punishment himself. He claims to be the Judge they will meet on the last day, and meanwhile entreats them to turn to him, to trust him, and live. If one is going to follow a leader, what better leader than the one who demonstrates his love for his followers by dying on a cross to win them to himself? What political leader does that? What religious leader does that? Only God does that!

And then, in a small piece of mimicry, his followers are challenged to take up their cross and follow him. If one of the results is a worldwide missionary movement, I for one will pray for it to thrive.

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