Out of the Saltshaker

Wow, God has been shaking up and renewing my view of the privilege and call we have to share His love and message with the world. I couldn't sum up the book I am reading (Out of the Saltshaker and into the World, Rebecca Manly Pippert) here. Those of you who know me know that I am longwinded :) Instead I will quote some of the lines from the book that have challenged me.

If Jesus left all of Heaven and Glory to become one of us, shouldn' we be willing to leave our circle of church friends or Bible discussion group to reach out to a friend? Ch. 2

When we develop a way of living that places a special emphasis on people, that demonstrates holiness and a dedicated obedience to God, we can't help but be effective witnesses. Evangelism will flow from our lives not memorized techniques. p.51

What does it mean to be holy? Many times I have seen Christians keep themselves at arm's length from their non-Christian friends because they thought they were being Spiritual. Ch 5

We can testify to others by displaying Christ's love through acts of service. We can evangelize by declaring God's truth, the message of salvation. We can evangelize by praying for others and asking the Holy Spirit to move in a demonstration of God's power. None of these tools are sufficient alone.

If we proclaim truth without love, we just make noise and risk turning someone away from God

Loving without ever giving acknowledgement to the source of our love is not enough.

God does the work of salvation. God convicts people of sin, but we are still called to act. We are called to bring the message to the world.

To hide the good news of God's salvation and simply witness through loving presence is not enough for we would be depriving seekers of the knowledge of where they can find hope. Psalms 40:10 says, "I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your faithfulnessa and steadfast love from the great congregation.

Pray for me has I am seeking the Lord on how I can apply what I am learning to my environment back in Oregon. Pray too that I can apply these things as I love and speak truth to students here in Serbia.