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Why
CrossMix?
In
chapter five, verse 27, Luke reports that “…He (Jesus) went out and
saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office. And He said to
him, “Follow Me”. So he left all, rose up and followed Him. Then
Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great
number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And the
scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why
do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” (New KJV) (Interestingly,
when Matthew tells the story in Matthew 9: 9-11, he refers to himself
not as Levi, but as Matthew… that’s another story.)
In
those days, tax collectors were akin to extortionists (even more so than
today!). Their wages were based on a percentage of what they could “gather”
for the government. As a result, an efficient tax collector would, on
the one hand, be greatly hated by the public. On the other hand, they
could become very rich. Such was the case with Matthew. He had wealth,
influence and friends in high places. Yet, while he no doubt enjoyed the
perks of his position, he had no hesitation in walking away from it all
and following Jesus.
What
did Jesus see in Matthew? Why a tax collector? In Luke 5:32 Jesus says:
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Matthew was His key contact to specific group of people that needed to
hear the message of repentance.
So
it is with us. As Christians working in the DJ entertainment profession,
we each have our own circle of clients and business associates that need
to hear the good news. But it’s not often easy. Just as the scribes
and the Pharisees grumbled and nit-picked about Jesus’ behavior to the
disciples, we should not be surprised or discouraged when others, even
fellow Christians, take pot-shots at us when try to do a good work for
the Lord.
The
purpose of CrossMix is to help you find the strength you need to carry
on your own personal ministry. It’s your link to other Christians in
the DJ/Karaoke entertainment profession who desire, like Matthew, to not
only walk with Jesus, but to bring along others as well.
R.
Lindquist, CrossMix Co-Founder
Special
thanks to Pastor Kevin Cotter, Cheshire Community Church, Cheshire, NY
for his help and inspiration.
Cross Thoughts
is an open forum for CrossMix members to share inspirational thoughts,
encouraging words and their own personal witness. If you have a personal
message you would like to post, please submit it to Cross Thoughts and
CrossMix .com - crossthoughts@crossmix.com
FAQ's
About Faith
If
God is so good and loving, why does He allow evil?
This is a flawed premise since it implies that we are in a position to
say what is good and what is not good about God. We ourselves do not
know what good is naturally, for we are not basically good. How then can
we judge God?
Still, the question of evil persists, and we often hear the question
"why?" in the aftermath of some tragedy. Remember, when God
created the world, He created it perfectly. That includes His creation
of man. Yet, this "perfect" man was also given the freedom of
choice, or an ability to choose. When Adam chose to disobey God, sin,
death and suffering became an inevitable part of life. Romans
5:12 states, "When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire
human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for
everyone sinned" (NLB). The evil in this world is a result of that
original sin.
You may say, "Wait a minute, I didn't choose to sin. Adam
did." Yet, the Bible teaches that we all have sinned (Romans
3:23). We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we
are sinners. We have a natural bent in us to do what is wrong. James
4:1 says that there is a "whole army of evil desires at
war within you." At the same time, God gave us absolutes to live
our lives by--standards that are found in the Bible. When we make
choices that are contrary to those absolutes and standards, evil is the
result.
C. S. Lewis put this question in proper perspective. He observed that it
is idle for us to speculate about the origin of evil. The problem we all
face is the fact of evil. The only solution to the fact of evil is God's
solution, Jesus Christ [Paul Little, How to Give Away Your Faith
(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1966), p. 72]. Once you surrender
your life to Jesus Christ, you enter into the master plan that God has
for you. For that reason, you can be assured of the promise in His Word,
that "everything works together for the good of those who love God
and are called according to His purpose for them" (Romans
8:28 NLB). Sometimes what appears horribly evil and tragic
can result in something good. Consider Joseph's assessment of his
brother's wicked act of selling him into slavery. Understanding that God
had allowed this to happen so that he could be a man of power in Egypt,
Joseph said, "God turned to good what you [my brothers] meant for
evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save
the lives of many people" (Genesis
50:20 NLB).
We may not always understand the "why's" of a certain tragedy,
but we know the "Who" that will carry us through it. He
promises, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When
you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not
set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God . . ." (Isaiah
43:2-3a NIV).
How can you
Christians say that Jesus is the only way to heaven?
Are you saying that if a person does not believe in Jesus
Christ, they are going to hell? Jesus Christ Himself said, "I am
the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except
through me" (John 14:6 NKJV).
If humankind could have reached God any other way, Jesus would not have
had to die. His voluntary death on the cross makes this fact even more
compelling.
Christians are not superior to any other person. A person who believes
Jesus Christ is the only Son of God and proclaims that truth is just one
beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.
Don't all religions
teach the same thing?
"Don't all roads lead to God?" people often ask. "If a
person is sincere in his or her beliefs, won't he or she get to
heaven?" If you allow that all beliefs are true, then by what
standards do you live? All belief systems cannot be true, because they
cancel each other out. If you take time to look at what each religion
teaches, you'll find that only Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose
again. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on a
cross for our sins, that He paid that debt in our place, and that if we
will turn from our sin and follow Him, we can be forgiven and know that
we will go to heaven.
How can a God of
love send someone to hell?
God doesn't send anyone to hell. It was never His design to send people
to hell. It breaks the heart of God to see people, made in His image,
make the deliberate choice to go to hell. Hell was not made for people;
it was made for the angelic being, Satan, who rebelled against God. In Matthew
25:41, Jesus says the everlasting fire was prepared for the
devil and his angels. Scripture also teaches, "[God] is not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2
Peter 3:9). That is why God sent Jesus to die on the cross
in our place--to bridge the gap between sinful people and a Holy God.
The gates of hell are locked from the inside. If you end up in hell, you
will practically have to climb over Jesus to get there.
The reason I am not
a Christian is because there are so many hypocrites in the church.
This excuse is often offered by those who want to continue to live in
darkness. They do not want to be brought into the light of Jesus Christ.
Jesus does not say, "Follow the church," or "Follow the
people." Jesus says, "Follow me" (Matthew
9:9; Mark 8:34;
John 12:26).
We are given the freedom to choose. We have the ability to sin--to make
choices that are against the teachings of God. Church is not a meeting
place for saints, but a hospital for sinners. The worst sin you can
commit is to say no to God. It is a "Son" issue, not a
"sin" issue. You will find hypocrites in the church because we
are all sinners. You will also find people who are trying to live their
life according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.
I tried church
before, but it didn't work for me.
What did you try? Did you go to a church? Did you read the
Bible? Did you ask Christ into your life? Did you trust in what Jesus
claimed? Did you examine the claims of Christ? Most people know the Ten
Commandments and the things that "thou shalt not" do. But the
Bible also commands us to "Love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Mark
12:30 NKJV). If you are not doing that, you are falling
short in God's eyes. Christ is real. Many facts substantiate that truth
(Even Satan professed Jesus' deity). And we shall come face to face with
Him on the Judgment Day (Revelation
20:11-12).
If you have more
questions, you can write to Harvest Christian Fellowship at P.O. Box
4000, Riverside, CA 92514. If you would like to learn more about the
Bible, here are some materials you might want to order (call
1-800-821-3300):
Suggested Teaching Tapes: Tape
#T916 "Do You want to Change Your Life?"
Teaching from the book of John, Pastor Greg says that the best antidote
to the gospel is hearing it over and over and not responding to it.
Believing that following the rules and regulations found in religion can
save you may actually keep you from hearing the gospel as found in
Scripture.
Tape #T913 "Why Don't People
Come to Jesus Christ?"
In this message, Pastor Greg teaches that excuses are nothing more than
"fancy lies." Greg shares several common excuses people offer
as reasons they do not want to give their life to Jesus Christ. 1
Peter 3:15 tells us to "always be prepared to give an
answer . . . ." This message will help you do that.
Suggested Reading:
The New Believer's Bible , published by
Tyndale.
Pastor Greg served as general editor of this unique Bible designed to
help the new believer, or anyone who is trying to read, study, and
understand the Bible. Greg's study notes throughout the Bible present
the essentials of the Christian faith in a way that is easy to follow
and understand. In addition to the complete Bible in the New Living
translation, Greg has added other features: topical reading tracts, an
overview of the books of the Bible, a glossary of commonly used
Christian terms, and a descriptive guide that leads you to some of the
best-loved stories from God's Word.
Understanding
God's Word
I have recently been asking
God for a deeper understanding and knowledge of His Word. He is slowly
and gradually allowing me to understand more than the literal meaning of
a few verses.
Revelation 3:20 (KJV), commonly referred to as the
"salvation verse", states- "Behold, I stand at the door,
and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in
to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." It doesn't make
literal sense. Go ahead, knock on someone's door, or make a knocking
sound with your knuckles. Does it sound like a voice to you? A knock is
a knock is a knock. So where does the voice come from? I'll share with
you what the Holy Spirit revealed to me regarding this very important
verse. We commonly believe that this verse was written for the unsaved.
It was actually written for all, especially Christians, as a reminder
that not only is Christ continually standing at the door of the heart of
the unsaved person, but we Christians are there also.
Look at the verse
again. We know that it is Christ who stands at the door of the heart of
a sinner. So how does the sinner hear the Lord speak? Where does the
voice mentioned in the verse come from? That's where we come in. If
we commit our thoughts, our minds and our mouths to speak the
Truth, we will allow the Lord to speak through us to the heart of that
unsaved person. The voice in this verse is ours. Mine. Yours. Our voice
committed to God for Him to use for His purpose. Christ speaking His
truth and using your vocal chords as the vehicle to get it done. Look at
the verse again. "If any man hear my voice". People respond to
conversation; words.
But you say "I'm not a preacher." You
don't have to be. The beautiful thing about this is that the Lord is
preparing the heart of that unsaved person before we come along and
then, when we are in that person's presence, all we have to do is open
our mouth and speak.
Here is how simple it is. How many times a day do
you greet someone? Go to the store and what do you say to the sales
clerk? "Hi. How are you?" When they ask you back, what is your
response? "Oh, okay, I guess." Remember, we are Christ's
messengers to the rest of the world. Does the love of God shine through
you when you say, "Uh, I'm fine." Instead, let your face light
up and your eyes get really big as you exclaim "I'm FANTASTIC. In
fact if you had any idea how great my life is, WOW, I think I'm gonna
have to get a bigger happy bus!!!" (This is a slightly
exaggerated response, but I'm sure you get my point.)
Some may say to
themselves "wow, what a weirdo", but most of the time they are
going to want to know what makes you SOOOO happy. And even if the
conversation ends there and you don't get to tell that person about what
you have that makes you feel so good, the seed has been planted. As the
day progresses they are going to think about your response because it
was so different than what most people say. "Hey, that guy/girl is
different." "Look at him. How can anyone be so up all the
time?" "Man, I want to get me a little of whatever it is that
she has." We are the joy of the Lord. ACT LIKE IT!
Matthew 5:16
says "Let your light so shine before men,..." So go ahead. Let
it shine. So much so that others will want to know what you have. Then
commit your mouth to Christ and ask Him to bring the words
into your heart, ask Him to speak through you. You are simply the
vessel. Jesus knows all of the words necessary to reach into the
heart of the person you are talking to.
It takes you two seconds to
pray "Father, I commit my thoughts and my mouth to You.
Use me, Lord, and let me speak only Your truth." Then go ahead
and see what happens.
Please share this with
others, especially our young people. We can start a fire in our own
communities and even in our schools. We just need to focus
and pray for direction and not be afraid. I have more, but later.
Sincerely in Christ,
Harlley Snow
Edmonton, Alberta
www.kapersdj.com
praise@kapersdj.com
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Are You Ready?
Crossmix
received this powerful e-mail which prompts the question... Are You
Ready? Visit the following website at http://www.youtube.com/v/SmLhyPjHVes
and turn up the sound and check it out for
yourself. It hopefully will give you something to think about the next
time you read Matthew 24:27;42.
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