Romans 10:11-15

11: "As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame."

12: "For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,"

13: "for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

14: "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

15: "And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!""

I sit here in my comfortable room on my nice computer having just eaten a nice meal cooked by my loving mother and I am just completely broken by these words. This really puts things into perspective. Statistics say that 95% of all professing Christians will never share the Good News of Jesus Christ with a non-believer. Many of the non-believers in educated and developing countries will not accept the Gospel for the simple fact that there is so much hypocrisy in the Church today. I am not trying to judge you, the reader, I am just telling you the current general consensus of Christians. "People do crazy things when they are in love", this should be especially true with your relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us to tell everyone that we encounter about Jesus, plain and simple. Jesus wants us to have a deep, intimate, personal relationship with Jesus, which should lead to you WANTING to tell every single person that you run into about Jesus! How awesome is that?

An analogy that Adrian Despres used was a comparison to cancer. The way that you should be able to tell that someone believes in Hell is if they tell people about Christ. How many of you, if you had the cure to cancer, would just conceal it and go about your life like it did not matter to you? No one with a conscious would keep the cure for cancer to themselves! Well guess what, Christians have the cure to hell, which is 1000 times worse than cancer, which is a great exaggeration. So, why is it that we, as Christians, with the cure to hell, actively choose to conceal it and go about your life like it does not matter? Think about it for a minute. Seriously.

So, go back and read the verses you skimmed over at the top. Really read them. These words are alive, I can promise you! We as Christians, are forgiven of our sins, which allows to to go to heaven. Jesus has interceded for us so that we do not have to suffer God's wrath!!!! Unfortunately, this does not apply to those who have never heard of or believed in Jesus. So, let me say this again...

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?" 

I think I need to pause here and clarify this last question. This is not, by any means or in any way, saying that only people who are "called" to be evangelists can preach to those who have never heard, so that they can believe and call on Jesus. Now, I am also not saying that everyone is supposed to go overseas to preach. I am saying that if you are in love with Jesus, that you should be telling every single person that you encounter on your life's journey about the lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Lowe put as being a signpost. A signpost's only purpose is to point onto something greater than itself. If the signpost does not point anywhere, what good is it doing?  And if a signpost points to itself, it is not a signpost at all, it is a monument, which does nothing but sit there and boast about itself, but no matter how much "glory" it gains, it will never be able to go anywhere.

For a much more in depth and well worded look into this subject matter, I strongly recommend that you read Radical Chapter 7.

His,

Bryan Britt

Proverbs 3:5-6

Favorite Verses from October 22-November 14

Luke 18:14b - "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
John 8:31-32 - "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
Luke 19:26-27 - "[Jesus] replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, bu as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"
Matthew 25:37-40,45 - "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' ... 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"
John 12:25-26 - "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."
John 13:16 - "I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him."
John 14:6 - "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"
John 14:12-21 - "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will se me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
John 14:26-27 - "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
John 15:1-17 - "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, s have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you that so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that h lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."
John 15:18-19 - "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."
John 16:26-27 - "In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God."
Jesus was crucified on April 3, AD 30. He died around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. (according to my chronological Bible's footnotes)
John 20:21-23 - "Again Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.'"
Matthew 28:19-20 - "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Acts 2:38 - "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"
Acts 3:19-20 - "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus."
Random dates and a whole lot of good Scripture, of course, as always, this is just what I picked out as important and probably worth memorizing. To get all the story, read the gospels! I know I have! ;)

Personal: New Years Resolutions

Two sets of five objectives. The first set is the Radical challenge outlined at the end of Radical by David Platt. The second set is personal goals of sin to get rid of and spiritual growth to do.
Set One: The Radical Challenge
1. Pray for the entire world
Get a list (from Monica Skinner) of all the countries of the world and pray for every single one of them, and not impersonal prayers, look up current events for the country and pray for specific things that they are dealing with.
2. Read through the ENTIRE Word
Read the bible, cover to cover, in one year (at least once). I plan on accomplishing this by reading my Chronological Bible in a Year. By the end of this year I will have (ideally) read through the entire New Testament already.
3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose
Parents and friends will not understand or endorse this one, but it is what we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are called to do. It is why God blessed me with lots of nice things and a place to live and freedom of religion and tons of money, it is to give it to those in need to make His glory known in all the world. (Read Radical Ch. 6)
4. Spend your time in another context
Same as last with understanding. I plan on spending my entire summer in either Miami or Asia on Summer Project with Campus Crusade for Christ.
5. Commit your life to a multiplying community
Commit your life to the Church. Yes, I did say THE CHURCH, not a church. If you do not understand, go to www.100Xchurch.com and watch the first four sermons on un-learning church. Anyway, I take this in the context of the phrase Summit Crossing is so fond of "doing life together". Get in a group of believers and serve the community, grow spiritually, and be accountable to each other.

Set two: Personal Self-Growth
1. Beat Lust in my life, completely and forthright.
This is a personal matter, it includes what most of you can guess, but to me it is more than just the obvious. This includes sexual-referencing jokes (especially "thats what she said"), making sure that my eyes are on girls eyes and not elsewhere, and yes, no masturbation (yes, I did just say that).
2. Stop using profanity, totally
This is a staged process that will begin with the big and obvious profanities and work its way down to words like "suck" (in the context of "such and such sucks") and idiot and stupid.
3. Stop judging others
This is one that I would dare say that every single human being struggles with (if you are perfect at this, props, seriously). Whether this is out loud or in your mind, judging others is a sin. It stems from Jesus' second most important commandment "love your neighbor".
4. Stop gossiping
A whole lot of people struggle with this one too, and yes, it does really fall under the last one, but it is different in my mind, so needs a separate one. This is not only an internal thing, it is an external thing. Not only do I not want to talk about anyone behind their back in either positive or negative light, I also do not want to be caught listening to someone else talk about someone else behind their back. So, I will be calling a lot of people out if you try, you have been warned.
5. Memorize AT LEAST 20 passages of the Bible
Whether this is one or two verses, like my favorite Proverbs 3:5-6 or 19 verses, like John 15:1-19, I want to have 20 solid, foundational Bible verses memorized for reference at will. This will help with all of the other goals, because "hiding His Word in our heart" is something that we are supposed to do, certainly not for God's sake, He wrote the Bible, but for our sake, to help us stay on that straight and narrow path.

Yes, I realize that these goals are very lofty, and I also acknowledge that I may not be able to accomplish all of them in a month or even in a year, but they are good life goals to strive toward, period. This is my Radical challenge to myself and I pray that you will be encouraged by this. I pray that you will support me in this endeavor and not halter me. I pray that you will forgive me and intercede for me when I fail at this. I pray that you will bear with me and forgive me when I call you out on profane jokes, profanity, gossiping, and judging others. I pray that you will call me out on these things so that I can know when it happens and immediately go to the Lord in prayer about it. But pray, just always pray.