Surrender

I was listening to an old podcast of Way of the Master Radio from April 10, 2006. Host Todd Friel was talking about what it really means to become a Christian. Many modern gospel presentations tell us to "accept Jesus" or "ask Him into your heart". Todd says the problem with that kind of thinking is that it doesn't go far enough; God wants total surrender of our lives.

Todd read an e-mail from a listener that I think makes the point well:

"At the end of World War II the Germans were in no position to make any demands. In fact, the Allied forces allowed them to surrender when they did not have to, and the Allied forces were very gracious to the Germans with the terms of surrender, although the Germans didn't deserve that. In the same way, we need to see that we will be totally destroyed if we continue to resist and fight against God and that we need to accept His terms of surrender. We are clearly wrong and not in a position to make demands of the Conquerer and the just Judge of the world. We can choose to keep fighting, but if we do we will be completely destroyed. Our only reasonable choice is to surrender to God's terms, which are repentance and faith."

How about you? Have you surrendered your life to God? Are you willing to make Him Lord of your daily decisions? If not, might I humbly suggest that you need to examine yourself to see if you are truly saved. Don't just "hope" that you will go to heaven when you die. "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith" (2 Corinthians 13:5) and "Make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10).

Evangelism Training This Weekend

Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Anoka, MN will be hosting an evangelism training seminar this weekend in association with Texas-based CrossPollination Ministries. The seminar is titled "Conversations with God--Conversations About God". It starts with a worship and evangelism training seminar on Friday, October 20 at 7pm. Then, on Saturday and Sunday you can sign up for two-hour blocks of live on-the-street evangelism training, where you will go out witnessing one-on-one with a trainer who will give you personal feedback and tips to improve. Sounds like a great idea! Or, If you don't want to sign up, you are welcome to tag along and observe the one-on-one training. Click here and here for more info.

I haven't had a chance to review the CrossPollination Ministries training, but it seems like a good thing. The founder is a member of the Great News Network which is a highly respected evangelism organization. According to the Crosspolination Ministries website, you can listen to an audio of their teaching here. I couldn't get the link to work on my computer, but maybe it was just a temporary glitch.

For more info or to sign up for the seminar, contact Kristin Bradley at (763) 421-7156 ext.106 or e-mail her at Kristin@mtolive-anoka.org