“The man who says, “‘I know him,”’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
~ 1 John 2:4
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you liars? An aging apostle of Jesus – Apostle John, scribed a short letter that he sent to guys and gals who he calls his beloved kids. Apostle John mentions in 1 John 2 his concern about lying. Verse 4 says “The man who says, “‘I know him,”’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Apostle John scribed earlier in this letter that he sent to the guys and gals who he calls his beloved kids that if they say that they never lie, that they are liars because every guy and gal – and kid, tells lies.
What does it mean to you to love? Apostle John wrote a lot about love. Apostle John felt that Jesus loved him the most among the twelve guys who Jesus chose to be His apostles and/or disciples and/or key followers who He would mentor and/or coach and/or train to jumpstart a new religious belief paradigm called Christianity. Christianity became the belief paradigm for the guys, gals and kids who were given early on – beginning in the Christ-follower fellowship in Antioch, the moniker Christian. A Christian is a Christ-follower. Christ was Jesus – an incarnated guy who was also God, Who came to planet Earth as God the Son to die on a crude cross so that the blood that He would shed on the crude cross would cover the sins that had already been and would be committed by His specially elected guys, gals and kids and to defeat the fear of dying by giving up His life to death after inhumanely suffering on the crude cross which resulted in an unmerited promise of eternal life for every guy, gal and kid who makes a decision of faith by believing and accepting Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. This life step of making a decision of faith – which is to believe in Jesus Christ as being your Lord and Savior and accepting Him into your life, is a life step that your grandmaa and grandpaa are praying that you will soon take – if you have not already taken this step.
The main reason why Apostle John scribed the letters that he scribed was his very real concern for the guys, gals and kids who he called his beloved kids or his dear kids who were still walking in the dark because they had not made a decision of faith to believe in and accept what Jesus Christ had done for them. Do you know of a kid who is living in the dark? A kid who lives in the dark likes to do bad things, likes to look at bad things, likes to boast about all the bad things that he or she has done and likes to denigrate other kids. Do you know of a kid who is living in the light? A kid who lives in the light does not do bad things, does not look at bad things, does not boast about doing bad things because he or she does not do bad things and helps other kids. A kid who lives in the dark cannot see to do what is right to do. A kid who lives in the light has gone through the faith/grace door when he or she made a decision of faith to believe in what Jesus did on a crude cross for every guy, gal or kid who believes and accepts Him as his or her Lord and Savior. One of the key dynamics of the rural resident leadership training center that your grandmaa and grandpaa began and administrated in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez – in Bolivia, was that each of the six – thirteen week trimesters – that took place over two years, had an emphasis. The trimester emphasis for the first thirteen weeks of one year was to purposefully help each rural resident leadership training center student learn about and how to apply discipleship principles. The trimester emphasis for the next thirteen weeks was about helping each rural resident leadership training center student learn about and how to apply teaching skills. The trimester emphasis for the next thirteen weeks was about helping each rural resident leadership training center student learn about and how to apply in the preparation and in the preaching of sermons. The second year of three – thirteen week trimesters began with an emphasis of helping each rural resident leadership training center student learn about and how to apply evangelistic strategies. An evangelistic strategy that your grandpaa taught and encouraged the rural resident leadership training center students to use was confrontation evangelism. Your grandpaa gave tracts that are called Cinco Pasos Hacia La Vida (Five Steps That Makes Life) to each one of the rural resident leadership training center students to use as they talked to guys face to face about the Good News message. During the trimester emphasis on evangelism, your grandpaa would go each weekend to show a film in the different area villages where he had assigned two rural resident leadership training center students to meet weekly with whoever was willing to meet with them. When your grandpaa showed a film in a village, your grandpaa would drape a white sheet over the side of his C-10 Chevrolet pickup, point the film projector at the side of the pickup and . . . the guys, gals and kids who were living in the village would come out of their mud walled, thatched roof houses to watch the film that he was showing. Your grandpaa at the end of a film would have the rural resident leadership training center students who went with him find a guy or kid from the village to read through the Cinco Pasos Hacia La Vida tract with that guy or kid. Your grandpaa when he lived in Bolivia had a good number of guys, gals and kids say that they wanted to make a decision of faith after your grandpaa had read through the Cinco Pasos Hacia La Vida tract with them. Your grandpaa will never forget the time when after he had read the Cinco Pasos Hacia La Vida tract to a young guy who said no to making a decision of faith, another young guy – who was sitting on the end of the log that your grandpaa was sitting on when he read through the Cinco Pasos Hacia La Vida tract to the first young guy, told your grandpaa that he wanted to make a decision of faith. Your grandpaa thinks that there is no greater spiritual adrenaline kick than what he feels like after he has finished reading through a Cinco Pasos Hacia La Vida tract to a guy, gal or kid.
1 John 2 (389)