Hey welcome to Ignite with Barry Meguiar
If you’re a Christian, you probably share my concern over where our world is headed – but – even more concerned over what the Church has become . . . having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof.
Get this: In 1960, 70% of our population were weekly church attenders. But that number dropped to less than 20% in 2019, Pre-COVID, and 30% of those haven’t watched one sermon since COVID, with anger, fear, and anxiety being as prevalent inside the church as it is outside the church today. Somethings drastically wrong . . . and we need to fix it!
I’m just one guy, but I would suggest that we’ve completely lost focus on God’s Purpose for the Church . . . which is the proclamation of God’s Gift of Eternal Life to the Lost. The Great Commission doesn’t tell us to go into the world and read your Bible, or go into the world and pray, or even go into the world and feed the poor.
Of course, we’re called to do all of that! But above all that, God’s called us, called you, to go into the world and share His Gift of Eternal Life. And with the world growing darker by the day, His Command for us to do that has never been more urgent!
When Jesus was asked which commandment is the greatest, He responded by saying Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength. But the second is like unto it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Here’s the deal! If you love your neighbor as yourself (everyone you influence), you will be as concerned for their Salvation as you are your own. That‘s a Game Changer! That’s everybody around you!
AND THEN He added, if you love God and love your neighbor as yourself, you’ll complete the law in your life (all 10 Commandments). And why? Because if your focus is on getting everyone under your influence into Heaven, you’ll make sure that everything, I mean everything you say and do, from that point forward, is moving everyone, every day closer to Jesus – and bringing glory to God . . . including what you say, how you dress, how you indulge, what you laugh at, what you talk about, how you treat people, how you care for people. No amount of prayer and Bible study by itself will do that for you. It’s only when you’re focused on moving everyone closer to Jesus – full-time.
A staggering 80% of our population are unchurched, unbelievers, blinded by Satan, lost in darkness, and, believe it or not, searching for God and already have at least one Christian in their life that they trust. That’s opportunity knocking! The Fields are White for Harvest! It’s never been easier to share your faith! And the darker it gets, the easier it gets.
Knowing this is our reality today, consider afresh the questions given us in Romans 10:14: How will they know God Loves Them unless someone tells them, (they’re not going to church) and who will tell them unless someone sends them? This – is where the church is failing us!
When’s the last time you heard a “Sending Message” from your Pastor. Ephesians 4:11 explains the role of a Pastor is to equip the Saints for Ministry – but that almost never happens. When’s the last time your pastor told you that you’re in ministry?
Actually, if you’re a Christian, you’re in Full-Time Ministry – a city set on a hill. If you’re a Christian, everything you say and do is moving everyone watching you closer or further away from God – to the smallest detail – especially in the smallest of details.
You’re being watched by people you don’t even know and moving them closer or further away from God – without knowing it.
This is where the rubber meets the road for every Christian, and you’re probably not hearing it from your Pastor. The typical church today offers entertainment rather than worship and edifying messages on how to be a better person with three points and a joke – without even mentioning the most important task God has given you – to seek and save the lost.
Pew Research studied 50,000 Sermons from 6,000 Churches last year and found that less than 10% of all sermons even mentioned Salvation. God Help Us! The Church is broken, the lost are growing in numbers – and almost no one is doing anything about it. That’s why we’re in this mess! And that’s why we’re doing these Podcasts!
We’re in a battle for the soul of America whose root cause is neither political or racial. It’s spiritual. People led by Demons are trying, and doing a pretty good job, of destroying America – because we’re trying to fight this spiritual battle with politics and the minds of man. That’s not working! It can’t work! We need the whole armor of God!
Whether you’re a person or a country, when you’re in sync with God you have peace and love and joy. But when you move away from God, you move away from peace and love and joy. Very simply! That’s where America is today!
America and Americans have moved away from God and are suffering the consequences. This is spiritual warfare and we’re not even showing up for the battle! We just sit on the sidelines and complain!
No one’s telling the lost that they’re lost or how God is the solution for all of their problems – for all of America’s Problems. Instead, we don’t know what to say – so we say nothing. Our salt has lost its saltiness and being trodden under the foot of man!
It’s never been more true! We’ve met the enemy and it’s us! The world is lost in darkness, we have the light, but we’re keeping it under our bushel baskets! Do you understand: This has to change or there’s no hope for America! How are the lost going to get unlost, unless someone brings them some light? Unless all of us bring them some light!
Even our Pastors who mention God’s call to share our faith, almost always have it at the end of their ‘To Do’ List – like it’s an add-on! This is our problem Pastors! It’s not an add-on! It’s not the last thing! It’s the first thing! It’s the thing that drives everything else! It’s our Great Commission! Everything else we’re called to do in the Christian life follows in the wake of the Great Commission!
Here’s why? Most Christians don’t pray or read their Bibles. But every Christian who shares their faith is in the Word and on their knees every day.
And, sadly, most of those who do pray and fast and read God’s Word every day, never share their faith! They’re proud of being religious in their disciplines – and even boast about the money they’re giving to ministry – without one thought of taking personal responsibility for the Eternal Destination for those around them . . . and are often even careless in their language and indulgences. I see it all the time! It doesn’t make sense!
But when you share your faith, no one has to tell you to be in the Word and on your knees every day. Because you’re being asked questions you can’t answer and you’re praying for all the people God is bringing into your life and about to bring into your life.
Your Bible Study and Prayer Life come alive with purpose – as does everything else in your life, including the bad stuff. Yes! Your entire life is ignited! It’s exciting! And you’ll never again be lax in your actions and your language and your understanding that everything that’s happening in your life is working for good – God’s Good!
In the Letter to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation Chapter 2, God calls Christians to repentance for leaving their first love, loving something more than God, and no longer doing the first work. The first work every Christian does when they’re saved is to announce it to their friends. They tell everyone! And God calls Christians to repentance when they stop telling everyone about Jesus.
Over the past 50 years, our churches have trained us to be better people and do good things. Most Christians, today, actually believe that being a good person is sharing their faith. But being good and doing good things may make you feel good, but it doesn’t get you or anyone else into Heaven.
The world is full of good people doing good things that have nothing whatsoever to do with redemption. Unfortunately, the world around us is going to Hell, and being good to them – simply makes them more comfortable on their journey. They’re lost and someone needs to explain to them- that they’ve lost!
We are, literally, the Lukewarm Church that God is ready to spew out of His Mouth – being good and doing good things and having zero concern for the Salvation of those around us – literally allowing the world to go to Hell!
When we’re on fire for God, we’re moving everyone, every day closer to Jesus. And those who are cold to God are expected to do bad things. But the millions of Christians who are openly, if not proudly, Christian and yet, have no concern for the Eternal destination of those around them – ARE the Luke Warm Church – on the wrong side of Revelation 3:15. If you’re there, you need to get out of there!
God’s calling – for us to be watchmen on the wall is even more chilling. God tells us in Ezekiel 3:17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me.
When I say to the wicked ‘You Shall surely die’ and YOU give them no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. This is deadly serious! You ARE your brother’s keeper and God IS holding you responsible for those under your influence. And time is running out!
Are you ready for some good news! Here it is! There’s a ton of scriptures that tell us what God does for us when we DO share our faith – when we are as concerned for the Salvation of those around us as we are our own Salvation – when we’re focused on moving everyone, every day closer to Jesus. It’s actually fun! And you can stop worrying about all the things I said up to this point.
Here’s the best promise of all: In John 3:16, God Promises His Gift of Eternal Life in Heaven. But in Romans 8:28, God Promises to make everything IN YOUR LIFE – FROM NOW UNTIL YOU GET TO HEAVEN – work for good WHEN, and this is the point most Christians don’t understand, when and only when, you love God and live your life for His Purpose – to seek and save the lost . . . to move everyone, every day closer to Jesus. There it is! That’s the key that opens the door to a worry-free life! WOW!
It’s incredible! When you know, that you know, that God is making everything in your life work for good, it’s the end of worry and the beginning of whole-hearted, unwavering faith that God loves and expects from us. Who doesn’t want that?
NO MORE WORRIES!
When things go south, you don’t have to ask God for anything. You already know that God knows – that you live for His Purpose and, because of that, He’ll Honor His Word to make everything in your life work for good. Yahoo! It doesn’t get any better than that!
Yes! It’s bone-chillingly clear how God feels about you if you’re not sharing your faith! But it’s equally clear how God will pour out His Blessings on you, the moment you commit to start moving everyone, every day closer to Jesus.
This is God’s Purpose and you’re called to live your life for God’s Purpose! Until your last breath, this is God’s highest priority for your life. And you can start immediately!
How many unsaved friends and loved ones do you have in your life? In addition to all of the unsaved people God will bring into your schedule today and every day, they are your mission field.
You can’t save them. That’s above your pay grade. But God’s holding you responsible for moving everyone one of them, every day, closer to Him.
Here’s a reality check! I love my business, but when I get to Heaven it’s not going to matter how many bottles of Car Wax I sold. For all of us who are Christians, the only thing that will matter 100 years from now – is how many people will be in Heaven because of our influence – because of your influence. And the clock is ticking!
That brings us to the ‘how to’ . . . and that’s the most exciting part of this message. Because the Biblical call to share your faith has nothing to do with training or memorization or recitation or the pressure of getting someone saved in one setting.
Faith Sharing is a Team Sport! It usually takes 10 to 20 encounters with Christians – before an unbeliever is ready to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And you never know if you’re the first or the 20th person on that progression. So just focus on moving everyone, every day closer to Jesus.
Most faith-sharing experiences are unexpected, spontaneous encounters that could not possibly be scripted. But Jesus said they will know that you’re His Disciple by your love. You don’t have to be trained to love on people. And you don’t have to prepare your thoughts! There’s nothing in the human experience that rivals having the Holy Spirit speak through you to change another person’s life. And that experience can be yours on a daily basis.
Here’s the best part. IgniteAmerica.com will explain to you how easy it is and how much fun it is to love people into Heaven. It’s packed full of articles, videos, testimonials from people in all walks of life who love to share their faith – as well as cutting-edge information and statistics that will make you the most informed person in every God-Focused Conversation.
And it’s all free with no sign-ups or passwords. Just a ton of really helpful information that you’re going to love!
Our goal is to Ignite America with Revival – one person at a time.
And we need your help to do that!
See you next time!
