our thoughts. We told him that it was good that he was wanting to reach out, but the real question was, what is God's attitude to the use of heavy rock music to draw young people to Christ? Does the end justify the means? Could we justify the use of alcoholic beverages as a means of reaching out to the ungodly—how do we reach out to the world?
I recalled how, a few days earlier, Sue and I had witnessed to a number of teenagers. They said they hated God. Their language was filthy. One hated his father and longed to kill him, while another had a genuine desire to murder someone "slowly." The pastor in whose home we were staying added to my disquiet by telling us that his counter-culture neighbors had named their child "Lucifer."
I was grieved at such a thought. How lost, how rebellious could a generation get! I began crying out to God, asking how this generation could be reached, when a still small voice said, "Go next door and befriend them." I said, "No Lord ... You're not capturing the spirit of my prayer!" The voice became stronger. After a little coaxing from the Lord, I went next door, but took a copy of my first book, My Friends are Dying (a book about the drug culture), to give to them.
As I walked up the driveway, suddenly I heard, "Ray!" There stood a long-haired man I had never seen before, holding a bottle of beer and pointing his finger at me. He said, "Ray ... I just finished reading your book, My Friends are Dying three days ago!"
I was duly invited into the home and introduced to a number of residents. I told them that I had been praying next door, and felt that God had wanted me to come and talk to them. As I sat in that filthy, smoke-infested, stinking room, surrounded by drugs, alcohol and blaring music, it dawned on me that if we cared, we would push aside our fears and boldly befriend this lost generation.
Holiness is not separation from sinners, but from sin. I made five friends that afternoon, and I didn't have to attract them, they attracted me. Like Jesus, we should be the friend of sinners, yet remain untainted by the things of this world.
Without Reserve
If there is one thing the Salvation Army had under the leadership of General Booth, it was a burning zeal for holiness and for evangelism. They would stop at nothing to take the Gospel to the lost. Some of their ways may even have seemed rather radical and unorthodox, yet God anointed their endeavors because their passion for souls was seasoned with holiness.
Holiness is a word the enemy fears because it goes hand in hand with the word "power." Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness ..." Holiness signifies "(a) separation to God, (b) the resultant state, the conduct befitting those so separated" (Vine's Expository Dictionary).
This was the message preached by those early soldiers. They preached the great truth "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord."
They proclaimed the uncompromising Gospel which declares, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ, depart from iniquity."
Look at what happened to the tribe of Ephraim when they lacked holiness—"The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His Law, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them." To walk in His Law means to walk in the steps of Jesus, and walk in that same Spirit of holiness.
The Apostle Paul had a zeal that drove him to witness of his faith in Christ, even while in bonds. Can you imagine the boldness needed to witness to Roman guards, men who were hardened to cruelty? Yet Paul asked, "Pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." Instead of the attitude, "Oh no, here I am chained to two guards," his was, "Thank you Lord, I have two
I recalled how, a few days earlier, Sue and I had witnessed to a number of teenagers. They said they hated God. Their language was filthy. One hated his father and longed to kill him, while another had a genuine desire to murder someone "slowly." The pastor in whose home we were staying added to my disquiet by telling us that his counter-culture neighbors had named their child "Lucifer."
I was grieved at such a thought. How lost, how rebellious could a generation get! I began crying out to God, asking how this generation could be reached, when a still small voice said, "Go next door and befriend them." I said, "No Lord ... You're not capturing the spirit of my prayer!" The voice became stronger. After a little coaxing from the Lord, I went next door, but took a copy of my first book, My Friends are Dying (a book about the drug culture), to give to them.
As I walked up the driveway, suddenly I heard, "Ray!" There stood a long-haired man I had never seen before, holding a bottle of beer and pointing his finger at me. He said, "Ray ... I just finished reading your book, My Friends are Dying three days ago!"
I was duly invited into the home and introduced to a number of residents. I told them that I had been praying next door, and felt that God had wanted me to come and talk to them. As I sat in that filthy, smoke-infested, stinking room, surrounded by drugs, alcohol and blaring music, it dawned on me that if we cared, we would push aside our fears and boldly befriend this lost generation.
Holiness is not separation from sinners, but from sin. I made five friends that afternoon, and I didn't have to attract them, they attracted me. Like Jesus, we should be the friend of sinners, yet remain untainted by the things of this world.
Without Reserve
If there is one thing the Salvation Army had under the leadership of General Booth, it was a burning zeal for holiness and for evangelism. They would stop at nothing to take the Gospel to the lost. Some of their ways may even have seemed rather radical and unorthodox, yet God anointed their endeavors because their passion for souls was seasoned with holiness.
Holiness is a word the enemy fears because it goes hand in hand with the word "power." Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness ..." Holiness signifies "(a) separation to God, (b) the resultant state, the conduct befitting those so separated" (Vine's Expository Dictionary).
This was the message preached by those early soldiers. They preached the great truth "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord."
They proclaimed the uncompromising Gospel which declares, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ, depart from iniquity."
Look at what happened to the tribe of Ephraim when they lacked holiness—"The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His Law, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them." To walk in His Law means to walk in the steps of Jesus, and walk in that same Spirit of holiness.
The Apostle Paul had a zeal that drove him to witness of his faith in Christ, even while in bonds. Can you imagine the boldness needed to witness to Roman guards, men who were hardened to cruelty? Yet Paul asked, "Pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." Instead of the attitude, "Oh no, here I am chained to two guards," his was, "Thank you Lord, I have two
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