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- Written by: Don Goulding
I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)
If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
“If you were to die tonight and God were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven,’ how would you answer him?” I asked a homemaker standing between the columns of her porch in Iowa. I entered her answer on the survey form and droned through my spiel. As I headed up the street, I checked the box indicating another convert had recited the sinner’s prayer. I thought I heard a deposit go into my heavenly account.
I’m repenting from that naively formulaic approach to evangelism. It degrades people into conquests and ignores the reality that salvation is as much a process as it is an event. I must shun easy open, microwaveable pitches. Instead, like Jesus, I need to love others as unique creations.
When he asked about salvation, Nicodemus was told to be born again. The rich young ruler was encouraged to sell everything, and the crowd at Pentecost was charged with repentance and baptism. Each response met the converts on their journey, then moved them closer to Jesus.
Hallelujah, I’ve crossed over to salvation. All the work for my pardon is completed by Jesus on the cross. However, I’m also being saved as I carry my own cross of self-denial. Thus salvation lives where the roads of evangelism and discipleship intersect.
Prayer: Jesus, use me to help others on this same journey I myself am on.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:13)
Just outside Chennai, India, a throng of curious villagers followed us hut to hut. White people were a novelty, and everybody wanted a greeting or handshake. In the press around us it was impossible to engage the full beauty of each soul.
A ten-year-old boy in rags cradled a leaf over an O shape made with his finger and thumb. He slapped the leaf and it burst apart with a loud pop. I motioned for him to teach me his art, and he adopted me as his disciple of popping. A bond was forged in that simple moment.
Later, I saw a man, presumably the boy’s Hindu father, pull the lad out of the crowd listening to my gospel presentation. I prayed the small, wordless interaction between us had been enough for the Holy Spirit to move the boy toward Christ.
The wonder of the fellowship of God’s love is that it is so individualized. It’s like I’m the singular child in the wide universe. Only an unimaginably big God whose name is Love can accomplish this feat for the sixty billion souls who have trod this earth.
I was only able to share a taste of fellowship with the Indian boy, and, in the same way, I’ve only had trickles of God’s love slip down my throat. Yet, his Spirit is so potent it spreads inside me until I’m changed into a new kind of person—one touched by his personal friendship.
Prayer: Beautiful triune God, may your fellowship be with me today.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, so that your joy may be complete. (John 16:24)
When we were children my siblings and I bought our father an Easter present—a fluffy, live chick. It was a thinly veiled ploy to get something we wanted. Dad named the bird No No. After the first screeching attempts at cock-a-doodle-do at five a.m. in the city, No No was sent away. So much for manipulating our father.
Later, as a young adult I tried to maneuver God into answering prayers my way. Like that Easter chick, I pretended my requests were made on behalf of his kingdom. In actuality, they centered on what I wanted.
Today, I still can’t claim to fully understand how prayer works. I’m fairly sure that to ask for anything in Jesus’s name is not a magic phrase tacked on the end that forces the genie to perform. I believe calling on his name is connected to praying in the Spirit, as the New Testament encourages in several places. It means I pray in harmony with his will, not mine.
The rare occasions I allow the Holy Spirit to pray his prayers through me in Jesus’s name, are the times I see doors open. A joyful assurance confirms my requests are heard, and I can rest in God’s perfect timing for the answer.
Prayer: Patient Father, teach me to pray in Jesus’s name.