Winning Souls is Wise

Winning Souls is Wise

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:30 – KJV)

We all have to pursue the wisdom found in Christ alone:

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God… (1 Corinthians 1:30 – NASB)

There is, however a wisdom all true followers of Christ ought to pursue almost more than any other – the wisdom involved in winning souls for Christ.

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:30 – KJV)

I knew such a man who possessed such wisdom. I have since lost contact with him, but, in the days of our youth he had a heart for evangelism such as I have seldom seen. His name is Colin Wylie, a pastor of a church in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Colin was in the habit of taking his youth group downtown to the Johannesburg City Hall. We were all gathered there one evening handing out tracts, and seeking to engage people in conversation. Most people simply shrugged and moved on.

Without warning Colin, taking up on something D.L. Moody had once done, laid his Bible down flat on the sidewalk and covered it with his jacket.  That done he began walking circles around it, pointing dramatically at all the while shouting, “It’s alive! It’s alive!

Within moments a crowd began to gather around us, almost threatening to disrupt the traffic.

At that point Colin snatched his jacket away and held the Bible up for all to see, crying, “The Bible is alive! The message of the Bible can save you!”

He then, to a virtually captive audience, proceeded to give a brief but powerful Gospel message.

Call it foolish; call it reckless, but many people stood transfixed that day listening to the Gospel, who may never otherwise have heard it. Using every means at his disposal, Colin has since seen many people ushered into the Kingdom of God:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… (Romans 1: 16 – NASB

The Wise Man

(© 13th July 1992 – by Christopher Shennan)

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:30 – KJV

He that winneth souls is wiser

Than all the wisdom known

And in the previous ages,

The winds of time have flown.

The wisdom of the ancients,

Well gathered over time,

Can’t approach the brilliance

Of a poor soul-winner’s mind.

For the simple soul that hungers

To do the Father’s will,

And seeks to bring lost sinners

To the foot of Calvary’s hill:

The Spirit of God grants insight

Into the ways of men

That far transcends the genius

Of the famed with brush or pen.

Now the wisdom of the ancients

May well accomplish much;

If applied with zeal and rigor,

Could achieve the expert’s touch.

But the man who’s set on serving

His Lord and also others,

Is a man who’s always making

His foes into his brothers.

Bring your prize if you’ve a mind to:

Won in the halls of fame,

Or in a great place of learning

Of prestigious name.

And I will bring a soul winner,

Whom the world will not applaud,

But who’s won the sweet approval

Of Jesus Christ his Lord.

 

Photo by Jesus Army. Copyright. Used under the CC BY-SA 2.5 license. No changes were made to this photo

Always in Debt

Always in Debt

“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” (Romans 1:14)

In the natural world being in debt, to be under a crushing load of debt, is a bad thing. Entire companies are formed to help people get out of debt.

Debt is deemed acceptable so long as one’s income can sustain the repayment of such debt, such as mortgages and vehicle loans. Beyond that, credit card debt can get out of hand and lay a burden on people from which they struggle to be free.

For the redeemed child of God, however, there is a debt we will never in this life be free of, nor do we wish to be free of it. (That is, if our hearts are compelled by the love of Christ).

Once we understand what Christ has done for us; once all our sins have been forgiven  and washed away in the precious blood of Christ; once the Gospel has wrought its power on us and brought us into eternal salvation – we immediately owe the world a debt we will never in this life be able to repay.

In spite of the impossibility of repayment, however, the love of Christ works in us a compulsion to try. We should be possessed with a desperation to share the Good news of Salvation with the world at large; with our neighbours and friends; with our enemies, too. We have an obligation -–we are in debt to a lost world.

The Debtor*

(1990)

“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” (Romans 1:14)

I owe the world a debt I cannot pay

With minted coin in earthly regions made;

Nor with the gold and silver mined each day

For a thousand years and laid at poor men’s feet;

Nor can I pay this debt

With the jewels of a million worlds

Gathered in a single heap,

With myriad pearls a kilometre deep.

I owe the world a debt that can be paid,

But not in terms of earthly treasure,

Or on the scales of human wisdom weighed,

Or by a temporal rule be measured.

The debt I owe cannot be seen with human eye

Or with the senses touched and felt;

And yet if paid the life can sanctify

And hardened human hearts, will melt.

I owe the world a debt that has been paid

By God’s own Son with awful price

Of blood and limb, that grand display

Of Heaven’s Holy Sacrifice;

The Cross, that glorious theme of Love –

Instantaneous pardon bought

For sinners bold enough to prove,

By faith, the Grace our Loving Saviour wrought.

The debt I owe the world must still be paid.

For though the Saviour bled and died

To purchase each last drop of mercy laid

Before poor sinners, sanctified

And made to drink from Heaven’s fount;

Still the darkness covers many eyes

That have not seen His Love, nor count

His Mercy anything, but lies.

I owe the world a debt that will be paid,

In terms of service given;

For in my heart a covenant’s been made

That rests upon Christ’s Work, and driven

By the Holy Spirit’s power

And wrought by Grace each gladsome day,

Each second, each minute, each passing hour –

What more can this poor sinner say?

 Please visit My website: http://www.christophershennan.ca
My blog: https://christophershennan.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNShennan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

Yet Child’s Hands Holding White Rose for Peace by Pink Sherbet Photography. The original owner of this photo is D Sharon Pruitt. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 2.0 license; please note the Disclaimer at this link. We made no changes to this photo.