5 Reasons Socialism Is Not Christian

By Julie Roys, Christian Post Op-Ed Contributor

SOURCE: https://www.christianpost.com/news/5-reasons-socialism-is-not-christian-opinion.html

Jesus confronted the money-changers and challenged believers to give to the needy. But, would he support socialism?

Increasingly, Americans think he would. In fact, a recent Barna poll found that more Americans think Jesus would prefer socialism (24%) than those who believe he would prefer capitalism (14%). The other 62% responded neither or not sure, but the poll still reveals a disturbing trend.

Last Saturday, Micah Conkling, a Christian writer and podcaster, argued on my radio program that socialism is the political and economic system that best fulfills the Golden Rule. Not surprisingly, Conkling is a Millennial, the most pro-socialist generation America has ever known. According to a recent Reason-Rupe survey, 53% of Americans under 30 view socialism favorably, compared to less than a third of Americans over 30. Similarly, Gallup found that 69% of those under 30 said they would be willing to vote for a socialist presidential candidate.

I understand why Millennials are wary of the current system. They've witnessed a consistently declining economy; one of the most partisan eras in American history; the fall of the twin towers; and a war predicated on weapons of mass destruction that were never found. I agree with them that our political system desperately needs reform. But, socialism is not the answer. Though it may sound compassionate and Christian, it's actually antithetical to everything Christianity teaches.

Here's why:

1. Socialism is Based on a Materialistic Worldview

According to socialists like Bernie Sanders, the greatest problem in the world is the unequal distribution of wealth.

His website declares: "The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time, it is the great economic issue of our time, and it is the great political issue of our time."

This betrays a fundamentally materialistic worldview, which is the basis of socialism.

To socialists, all that really exists is the material world. In fact, Karl Marx, the father of socialism/communism, invented the notion of dialectical materialism — the belief that matter contains a creative power within itself. This enabled Marx to eliminate the need for a creator, essentially erasing the existence of anything non-material.

To socialists, suffering is caused by the unequal distribution of stuff — and salvation is achieved by the re-distribution of stuff. There's no acknowledgment of spiritual issues. There's just an assumption that if everyone is given equal stuff, all the problems in society will somehow dissolve.

This worldview contradicts Christianity, which affirms the existence of both a material and a non-material world — and teaches that mankind's greatest problems are spiritual. The Bible says the cause of suffering is sin and salvation is found in the cross of Christ, which liberates us from sin. Because of sin, though, there will always be inequalities in wealth. As the parable of the talents shows, those with good character tend to accumulate more; those with bad character may lose everything they have. Yet, even if we are unable to accumulate wealth, Christianity teaches that we can still have an abundant life. That's because our quality of life is not determined by how much stuff we have, but by our relationship to Christ.

2. Socialism Punishes Virtue

Socialists want to distribute wealth to individuals according to their need, regardless of virtue.

As Karl Marx, famously said, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

However, whenever any institution provides aid, it runs the risk of removing God-designed rewards and consequences. It can punish those who are industrious by making them pay for those who are not. And, it can reward those who aren't industrious by giving them the fruits of another man's labor. This is precisely what socialism does.

Interestingly, Marx mooched off others his whole life, and failed to provide for his wife and children.

As Aristotle once noted, "Men start revolutionary changes for reasons connected with their private lives."

The Bible teaches that aid should be tied to responsibility. First, anyone who refuses to work should be refused aid.

As 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat."

Next, no one should be given aid whose family can provide for him. In fact, the Apostle Paul said that a man who fails to provide for his family is "worse than an unbeliever." (1 Tim. 5:8) The church also required widows receiving aid to have "a reputation of good works." (1 Tim. 5:10) So, even in dispensing aid, the church rewarded virtue and discouraged vice. Unfortunately, socialism does just the opposite.

3. Socialism Endorses Stealing

Barack Obama once defended his socialist policies to a little girl by saying, "We've got to make sure that people who have more money help the people who have less money. If you had a whole pizza, and your friend had no pizza, would you give him a slice?”

That sounds pretty Christian, right? What Christian wouldn't endorse sharing your abundance with someone who has nothing? However, Obama wasn't endorsing people voluntarily sharing their wealth with others; he was endorsing the government forcibly taking a piece of the pie from one person and giving it to someone else. Put another way, that's saying that if you have three cars and your neighbor has none, the government has a right to take your car and give it to your neighbor. That's not Christian; that's stealing!

But, socialists don't believe in private property. And, some Christian socialists actually assert that the Bible doesn't either. That's preposterous.

Both the Old Testament and New Testament unequivocally affirm private property. We can't even obey the eighth commandment to not steal, unless we accept the notion of private ownership. Nor, can we steward our money as the Bible commands if the state owns our money, not us. So, for an economic and political system to be Christian, it must protect private ownership and allow individuals freedom to allocate their resources according to their conscience.

4. Socialism Encourages Envy and Class Warfare

Socialists demonize the rich, blaming all of society's problems on them.

Bernie Sanders once posted to his Facebook Page: "Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America.”

Here, Sanders is mimicking Karl Marx, who viewed history as a series of class struggles between the rich and the poor — and advocated overthrowing the ruling class.

Scripture strongly warns the rich and powerful not to oppress the poor.

In fact, Proverbs 14:31 says, "Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for his maker . . .”

But, Sanders — and other Leftists, including Hillary Clinton — go far beyond decrying specific acts of injustice. They basically condemn an entire class of people simply for possessing wealth. And, they encourage those who are poor to overthrow them. In fact, Clinton once said the U.S. economy required a "toppling" of the wealthiest 1%.

The rich are not causing all the problems in American society. People like Bill Gates are not acquiring wealth by stealing from the masses. They're creating great products, which produce wealth, and actually provide jobs for many people. But, even if they were exploiting the poor, nowhere does Scripture support the have-nots demanding money from the haves. Instead, it teaches that we should not covet (Exodus 20:17) and should be content in all circumstances (Phil. 4:11-13). 

5. Socialism Seeks to Destroy Marriage & Family

A little known fact about socialism is that, from its beginning, it has sought to destroy marriage and family. Grove City Professor Paul Kengor explains this in detail in his book, Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Marriage and Family. Essentially, what socialism seeks is for the state to replace the family. That way, it can indoctrinate children in its Leftist way of thinking, and remove from them any notions of God and religion.

Friedrich Engels, co-author with Marx of the "The Communist Manifesto," once wrote that the society he envisioned would be one where "the single family ceases to be the economic unit of society. Private housekeeping is transformed into a social industry. The care and education of the children becomes a public affair.”

Similarly today, Bernie Sanders calls for a "revolution" in childcare and for the government to provide early childhood education beginning with children as young as six-weeks-old. And, he's a proud supporter of gay marriage — what Kengor calls "communism's Trojan Horse" to secure the final takedown of traditional marriage.

To socialists, what Bernie describes is a utopia. But, to Christians, it's a dystopia. That's because there's nothing Christian about socialism — and there's absolutely no way Jesus would ever support it.

HERE I STAND!

by Chris Hohnholz on the blog Defending. Contending.

I want to make something clear. I am a born again follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. This means I believe I was born a sinner and that my actions put me at war with God. Because of that, God will judge me for my sins and condemn me to Hell. Yet, in His mercy, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live the perfect life I could not live and to die the death I deserve. Jesus rose from the grave three days later, giving me a promise of eternal life. By turning from my sin and trusting in Jesus, He takes on my sins and I receive His perfect righteousness. I have been granted eternal life and will one day be with Him forever in Heaven.

 

As a Christian, I believe that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant word of God. That means it is the direct revelation of God to man. This means I believe everything it says. Everything. When it says something is a sin, it’s a sin. What culture says about it today is irrelevant. No matter how we try re-work or re-word what God has already said, His truth remains. I will not bend, I will not yield, I will stand. I will proclaim God’s word, all of it. I may be called arrogant. I may be called ignorant. I may even be called a hateful bigot. But no matter what the world thinks of me, I care more of how I am viewed by my Savior than by anyone else. Jesus paid my fine with His life’s blood. I owe Him nothing less than my total love and obedience.

Because I trust in Christ for my salvation, and because I believe God’s word is true, I will proclaim to the world that it is in sin against God. I will proclaim that through Christ and Christ alone is their salvation. I will do this because I love people far too much to leave them in the delusion that they are “OK” with God. I love them enough to warn them of the judgment that is coming. I love them enough to risk being hated by them, and even have them turn against me. If I am willing to risk my life to save a drowning man, or a child trapped in a fire, how much more must I be willing to risk my standing in people’s minds to try and rescue them from the fires of Hell. It matters not if a blind man does not believe in the cliff he is walking toward. Thus, I cannot and will not stop my warnings because people do not believe as I do. I love them too much to stop.

I make this declaration today because I believe the world is beginning to openly war against Jesus Christ and those who follow Him. I make this stand today to make it known I will stand for Him no matter how tough the opposition may be, and no matter what it may cost me personally. I declare this to let you all know that I believe the greatest love I can possibly show is to point to the way of salvation, not to allow people to remain comfortable in their sins.

In the words of the Reformation preacher Martin Luther, “Here I stand. I can do no more.”

OUR AUGUST 2011 FIELD REPORT!

PLEASE DON'T SEND ME TO AFRICA! - Part 1

Man, this is long overdue... I kept intending on posting the e-mails I sent out during my 3+ week trip to Uganda the last two weeks of January and the first 10 days of February. I'm only getting to it now, believe it or not! So, here goes:


Hello from Uganda!

I thought I'd summarize my first week here in Uganda below.  Oh, what a privilege to be here serving the Lord, even if it is only for 23 days! Read on...

Tuesday, Jan. 18 - Friday, Jan. 21

After participating the Dr. Henry Krabbendam's (PEF board member and co-founder of ACTI - The African Christian Training Institute) School of Evangelism (SOE) last week, along with 240 Ugandans from the Teso District, in Palissa (pronounced "pa-lee-SA") in eastern Uganda, and around 6O from Kampala, we went out to put the training into practice in the surrounding neighborhoods as well as in a local health clinic, a hospital and a prison. My two groups - one on Wednesday and one on Thursday - preached the gospel to 34 people, including 23 Muslims! Since Muslims don't believe Jesus died on the cross, nor do they believe in the resurrection, they basically "gut" Christianity of its gospel [i.e., "Good News"], according to 1 Cor. 15:1-6. So when a Christian evangelizes a Muslim, he needs to boldly affirm that gospel and, if he senses skepticism, he should address it.  

Therefore, I ask Muslims that if Jesus truly didn't die on the cross and resurrect from the dead, then how do they explain the fact that all the apostles but John died as martyrs preaching that he did? Who would be foolish enough to die for a lie? I tell them that I would rather trust the eyewitness accounts of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection than some religious writings denying those facts written several centuries after the events in question. Up until now no Muslim has had an answer for me.  

(Note: Although Uganda officially speaks English, very few people outside the capital - Kampala - speak it.  There are around 47 tribal dialects spoken in Uganda, depending on what region you live in.  In other words, I'm communicating the gospel through translators up until this point.)

But not all Muslims are totally close-minded. One Muslim lady we shared with couldn't answer many questions we posed to her, so she promised to attend a worship service at the church hosting the PEF School of Evangelism that week. Another Muslim woman invited us as we were walking by to pray for her children, who apparently had malaria. I found it intriguing that a Muslim woman would invite two Christian pastors and a youth leader in to pray for her, so now I know that not all Muslims are so sure about what they supposedly believe. On Thursday, our last day of "practical" training, at least two townspeople were so convicted of their sins that they approached two different groups of evangelists asking, "What must I do (to be saved)?" - right out of the book of Acts (e.g., 2:37)!

This SOE was developed by PEF board member Dr. Henry Krabbendam, a retired Biblical Studies professor from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, TN. Over the past 27 years "Dr. K," as he has been warmly nicknamed, has been coming to Uganda 2-4 times a year, bringing teams of Covenant College students and/or pastors and laymen to experience what he calls an "abundance culture." Americans can do things here that would be unheard of in the U.S. For example, where in the U.S. can you go up to a house and get a family to stop everything in order to to hear the gospel?And be so well received that they'll give you their only chair, stool or bench to sit on while they sit in the dirt to listen? And to top it off, the family is Muslim??!! Uganda was part of what is commonly known here as The East African Revival, which started back in the late 1920's. One denomination - the Anglicans (Church of Uganda) - has had an average of 100,000 converts a year over the course of its 150 year existence in Uganda. Even today there is a church that has seen over 500 Muslims convert to Christianity and become members of the church! Abundance culture!

Taking advantage of this openness, we went room to room to talk with patients - mostly with malaria - and their families at a local health clinic last Thursday. Again, we were so well received. In addition to preaching the gospel, we prayed over the sick and are trusting in God's healing, especially for those who need a sign of His love and power to help motivate them to repent and believe the gospel. One patient was a pastor... who doesn't own a Bible! Incredible! Did you know that about U.S. $6.50 will buy a Bible in the local dialect? Yet this is very expensive to the majority of Ugandans. I couldn't get my hands on a Bible in the local dialect of that pastor before having to leave the next morning, but I left him in the hands of host church's youth leader, who lives two blocks from the clinic. I am increasingly burdened over the needs that leaders of God's people have here. On the one hand English materials are in such abundance in the West, but few find their way to English-speaking pastors in Africa (not to mention non-English-speaking ones)! Something must be done!

Oh, and that health clinic? The most appropriate word for it: SCARY! It was dirty, had windows missing glass, no screens, one sink to wash hands... that didn't work! Patients lying on vinyl mattresses. If you want a sheet, you have to take your own! No ambulances. If you're in an car accident, the police will put you in the back of their pick-up and take you as fast as possible to the nearest hospital. Assuming you survive the truck ride, you'll be facing the same conditions I just described. In other words, good luck! The wife of one of the pastors on our team - from Birmingham, AL - is a nurse and was horrified!

Okay, I guess that's about it. We headed back to Kampala - a 6 hour drive - to join up with six more pastors from the U.S. We are a team of thirteen Americans and several Ugandans from Kampala on this project, not to mention the hundreds from the towns and surrounding areas that are participating in the School of Evangelism. May our/their tribe increase!

God bless!

Bill

ENDING 2010 STRONG!

Wow! I can't believe I haven't posted anything here for nearly two months! I guess it had something to do with the school year ending, Christmas, New Year's, etc. I'm sure you can relate.


8-32 BOARD GIVES GOOD ADVICE
Anyway, it's been a good year... especially the second semester. I met last July - while we were in the U.S. for our new mission agency's annual conference - with my The 8-32 Movement advisory board, comprised of two pastors, two mission committee chairmen, a church elder and a very-interested layman. One important piece of advice that I was given was to move 8-32 closer to home by returning to the public university - Fluminense Federal University (UFF) - where our ministry in the Greater Rio de Janeiro area began in 1994! We had wanted to stay away one more semester to allow most of the students we knew while serving with Campus Crusade at UFF had graduated, but I saw the wisdom in my board's advice. I'm sure glad we returned.


ROOTS!
Upon our return our initial strategy was to "filter" out those students at UFF as well as from several private universities in our city - Niterói - by offering a biblical* evangelism course.  We had 26 students participate in our class (in person and/or virtually) but, due to four long weekends this past semester, our class lost some momentum. However, we ended with a strong nucleus of eight students and one professor; these will be our key people with whom we plan to kick off the new school year this coming March.


CAMPUS EVANGELISM
On the evangelism front, I developed a banner diagramming Josh McDowell's Lord, Liar or Lunatic? argument to generate interest in seriously considering Christ's claims to be God and the implications of those claims: "You can either accept Him or reject Him as your God, Lord and Savior." Of course, introducing Jesus' role as Savior opened the door for me to share the biblical gospel with my listeners.  Aïda  and I ended the year having reached - primarily via this method - 1,038 students. Of course we used our campus ministry background in personal evangelism and discipleship to take our Biblical Evangelism module students sharing on campus, which is reflected in our total.


GETTING PERSONAL: Brenda (from our last newsletter) 

As Brenda and I (Aïda) approached Livia on Brenda's campus (UniPli) we immediately felt welcomed.  ”I love to talk about God," Livia exclaimed.  "I've got a whole hour before my bus comes!”  

When we started dialoging with Livia she told us she believed she would go to heaven if she were to die that night.  But soon, after a few penetrating questions, she agreed that if she were to die that night she would be guilty before God and, according to the Bible, deserve eternal punishment.  We asked her if she would like to hear what God had done so that she didn't have to end up in hell.  She quickly shot back, "Yes, of course!"  After telling Livia the Good News of Jesus' substitutionary atonement and resurrection so that she could be made acceptable before a holy God, she said she wanted to benefit from the gospel by repenting and trusting in Christ.  Livia  then thanked us and told us that she had only become interested in spiritual issues a month earlier; at that time she decided to check out a class for seekers at a local Catholic church.  She  confided in us that she didn't get much out of that class because it ended up only being a “self-study” course!

GETTING PERSONAL: André (from our last newsletter) 

André, a Telecommunications Engineering student on our main campus - UFF - leads evangelism in his church; however, he had never shared his faith on campus.  When he heard of our class he was eager to learn to do evangelism in the university context.  

Bill began taking Andre with him to share the gospel one-on-one with students, in addition to involving him in his "mini-talk" evangelism outside the main student cafeteria.  As you may remember, Bill effectively uses his "The Trilema of Christ: Lord, Liar or Lunatic?" banner there almost daily to expose students to the gospel.  He said that Andre's presence enables him to speak to many more people because Andre deals with students more one-on-one, which frees Bill up to explain his banner – including why  each needs Jesus as his or her God, Lord and Savior and how to benefit from His sacrifice for sin – to many more students who stop to watch and listen.  

Although he has only done five classes so far, Andre has already grasped the essence of how to share his faith biblically, leading a good number of those he's "practiced on" to  repentance and faith in Christ.  He even preached to a group of seven neighborhood bar-goers one Saturday during a heavy rainstorm.  All were stranded at their sidewalk table.  "I was shocked to see all their heads bowed as I led them in a prayer of repentance and faith!" an amazed Andre later exclaimed.  And to top it all off we're in the middle of giving our abbreviated Biblical Evangelism Module to Andre's church - plus 3 others - including taking the 60 participants – along with 3 pastors - out into the neighborhood to put their training into practice! 

 

MORE 8-32 COMPONENTS
8-32's Professional component saw me primarily using open air preaching to reach those who work in downtown Rio. The missionary who had some experience working with professionals sensed God's leading to do something different this year, so we didn't develop this component. In fact, until God raises up some interested professionals (ideally graduates from our campus ministry) or a missionary experienced with "marketplace ministry," we're going to put this aspect of our ministry on hold. As far as our Church component, thanks to one of of the UFF students involved in our class, 8-32 developed its Biblical Evangelism module (a 6-8 hour seminar - including an outing in the neighborhood to put the training into practice).  Sixty-two people started our course, but only 26 finished.  We think it had something to do with the fact that we spread it out over two Sunday afternoons. Live and learn! Next time we'll do it all in one day!  Mainly due to my open air preaching 2-3 afternoons a week in downtown Rio, not to mention some select crowd-gathering events like Carnival, Rio's annual Gay Pride parade, several Catholic and Spiritist festivals and New Year's Eve festivities, 8-32 preached the gospel to over 48,000 people in 2010!  


WRAP-UP
So, I'd say 8-32 had a good first year of existence. I know one thing: Aïda and I feel free now to do what God has gifted - not to mention called - us to do, and that included preaching the biblical gospel to thousands, teaching and training 160 students and laymen in biblical evangelism, preaching six sermons, teaching 25 weeks of Sunday School, etc.


PEF  
On top of that, He has called us to do what we do as part of an excellent little mission agency - in existence since the year Aïda was born (i.e., 1958) - Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship - PEF! After participating in PEF's annual Family Conference last July in Elizabethton, TN, we came away totally impressed with the caliber of men and women who, like us, serve the Lord through this organization around the world! 


2011: THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS
So, that's about it for now. I hope this recap of The 8-32 Movement in 2010 has been an encouragement. Look out 2011! I'll be starting the year out by heading to Uganda on January 13 to participate in a School of Evangelismand missions project put on by two PEF leaders twice a year there. Since we hope to host them here in Rio next July, I look forward to "testing the waters" with them in Uganda. I also look forward to doing some biblical evangelism in a primarily English-speaking African nation for a change. My previous four trips to Africa have been to Portuguese-speaking countries - with the exception of a couple of days spent preaching at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa in February, 2009. God bless!
-----------------------------
* Biblical Evangelism is a term used by author and speaker Ray Comfort of Living Waters Ministries along with actor Kirk Cameron, both of Way of the Master TV & Radio. The principles of Biblical Evangelism can be found in Ray Comfort's book, Hell's Best Kept Secret, which talks about the biblical principles that Jesus laid out for us regarding evangelizing the lost (e.g., using the moral law - the Ten Commandments - to reveal to them their sin and show them their need for a Savior); see Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30 for biblical examples.  The basic concept is this: LAW for the proud-hearted; GRACE for the humble-hearted. In other words, we must first show people that they have a “contagious disease" called SIN (John 3:36, Rom 3:23) which will eventually eternally "kill" them (Rom 6:23). By helping people understand this Bad News first - that all will perish and go to hell if they die in their sins -  then the cure of the Good News of the gospel (Jesus Christ's' death & resurrection for our sins) will suddenly make total sense! They will be able to clearly understand what they are being saved from (i.e., God's justice, holiness and wrath); the Good News of Jesus Christ will truly be good news! One more important aspect to Biblical Evangelism: One truly converts to Christianity by repenting of his or her sins and by placing his or her faith/trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Both repentance and faith are understood to be gifts of God, so pressuring an unbeliever to "make a decision for Christ" via "the sinner's prayer" is frowned upon.

BIBLICALLY-GROUNDED AFRICAN PASTORS!

Late last month I had the privilege of attending my first FIEL Ministries pastors/leaders conference in Águas de Lindóia, São Paulo. I, along with over 1,300 pastors and leaders from all over Brazil, was greatly ministered to on the theme The Way of God. God's way is not a new, post-modern/emergent way. In fact, someone has wisely said that we don't need to reinvent - a lá Brian McLaren - Christianity; we need to rediscover it. And rediscover it we did!

With speakers of the caliber of Dr. Joel Beeke, Dr. Steve Lawson and Dr. Don Kistler we were taken back several centuries to sit at the feet of John Calvin, the Puritans and Jonathan Edwards. I stocked up on several Puritan books, which I am currently reading. The wisdom that emerged from the pens - and lives - of those godly men (16th through the 18th centuries) is still educating us today! What a legacy!

I would like to now draw your attention to a very special program highlighted at the conference called "Adopt-a-Pastor," which is coordinated by FIEL for pastors in the Portuguese-speaking world, including several African nations.  Having spent two summer vacations in Mozambique, I can honestly say I have developed a deep love for the Mozambican people, especially the Church there.  We've also been to Cape Verde and Angola on missions projects, where the need for theologically-solid books is just as acute.  For example, a study bible that costs US $50,00 here in Brazil costs US $200.00 in Luanda! Of course the average pastor's salary makes it virtually impossible to acquire such expensive, imported items. Spend a few minutes watching the following video on the Adopt-a-Pastor program in Mozambique. Then, if God leads you to get involved, please follow up on that leading! There are some pastors - and congregations - literally starving for want of the good teaching that comes from good books! 

Mozambique Project (English Subtitles) from Editora Fiel on Vimeo.

God bless you!

THE CAMPUS CHRONICLES - Part 2

This week Aïda - my wife - set up two appointments with two women involved in our Biblical Evangelism course that we're currently offering to university students in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. One of the women, Brenda Ticiane, studies on a local private campus, Plinio Leite University (UniPli). Aïda met her on her campus and they approached two different students over the course of the hour they had scheduled to do evangelism.


Both girls were open to conversing, especially after Aïda demonstrated for Brenda how to use the Ten Commandments to appeal to the person's conscience.  With questions like "Have you ever told a lie?" in light of the ninth commandment ("Thou shalt not bear false witness.") and "Have you ever taken something that didn't belong to you, including downloading or photocopying things without paying? in reference to the eighth commandment ("Thou shalt not steal."), Aïda was able to show the women she and Brenda had approached that they were sinners ("...sin is the transgression of the Law" - 1 John 3:4 KJV) and subject to an eternal and painful penalty for their crimes (Rom. 6:23; Rev. 21:8; 1 Cor. 6:9-10). One student had claimed to already be a Christian, but knew nothing about the Bible and demonstrated an very unbiblical worldview. She was left with the challenge to "repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15), thus ensuring her conversion and salvation. The other student didn't decide to abandon her sin and place her faith in Jesus as the only one who "... died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." (1 Cor. 15:3-4), but at least both left understanding their need for Jesus Christ and what they needed to do to benefit from his sacrifice: repentance and faith.


After her appointment at UniPli Aïda went to meet with Michele Estarneks, a Business Administration student on The 8-32 Movement's main campus, Fluminense Federal University (UFF). Michele had asked a Christian friend of hers to tag along and learn how to do biblical evangelism from Aïda, so the three of them first approached two women. They asked questions related to God's Law, but one declared, "I don't believe that God would send a homosexual to hell who only does good to his fellow man while allowing a horrible person who supposedly converts on his death bed into heaven!" Recognizing her comment as an attempt to flee the implications of breaking God's Law, Aïda wisely directed the student back to her situation before a holy God. Both had to head off to class, but not before hearing of the solution God offers in Christ.


Aïda, Michele and Michele's friend then approached a group of five women in the Biological Sciences area. All claimed to be Christians, but Aïda decided to verify their conversions using our biblical evangelism questionnaire.  All but one of the women confirmed they had repented of their sins and were trusting in Christ as their Savior and Lord, so it was good that Aïda decided to take them all through the questionnaire. The one student who wasn't truly converted now understands her true situation before God and what she needs to do to remedy it. Both Michele's friend, who was exposed to our approach for the first time, and two of the women in the group of eight that was evangelized in the Bio-Sci area of campus decided that they want to join our class every Monday afternoon! Aside from the obvious benefits to the unsaved - of Christians doing evangelism - our outreach efforts can be used by God to motivate Christians to "hit the streets" after getting properly equipped!


Meanwhile, after being out all of last week at an excellent conference for pastors and leaders (an annual conference put on by one of the better evangelical publishing companies here in Brazil - Editora Fiel [English site] - that publishes books by John MacArthur, John Piper, Al Mohler, Joel Beeke, Steve Lawson, Puritan authors, etc.), I was back at UFF this week preaching the gospel via my apologetics banner on "The Trilemma of Christ" (see Oct. 7th post) and training new disciples like André Orsi (Telecommunications Engineering-UFF) and freshman Filipe Gonçalves (Physics) in biblical evangelism.


One guy André and I approached was a former church member who had fallen away. After taking him through the Law, I asked him if he would be found innocent or guilty on Judgment Day for having broken God's Law. He said, "Guilty." I then asked him if he'd go to heaven or hell? He said, "Hell." I asked him if that made him worry, to which he answered, "Yes.  A lot!" I asked him if he knew what God had done so that he wouldn't have to go to hell when he died. He said he didn't know, so I explained the Good News of Jesus dying for our sins, being buried and resurrecting on the third day. I told him that, in order to benefit from Jesus payment for our sins on the cross, he needed to repent of his sins and place his faith/trust in Jesus as his Savior and Lord. I then showed him Psalm 51, had him read it and asked him if that expressed what he was wanting to say to God. He said it did, but because I sensed a bit of reluctance on his part to talk to God in front of us, I encouraged him to follow repentant David's lead and get right with God ASAP.


Meanwhile, André invited him to his church because he lives relatively close to it. Let's pray for Márcio... that he would truly repent and believe and get plugged into a good church like the one André is a member of.


All in all Aïda and I preached the gospel to 54 students this week - primarily at UFF. At least two of those were "ripe for the pickin'," and the others clearly heard who they were in God's sight (i.e., law-breakers and sinners under condemnation), what God did so that they wouldn't have to spend an eternity in hell (i.e., 1 Cor. 15:3-4) and how they could benefit from what God did (i.e., Mark 1:15). In addition, each was given evangelistic materials to mull over after. And hey, we recruited at least three new students for our biblical evangelism course in the process... while giving hands-on training to some of those already enrolled!


Not a bad week, I'd say. Not a bad week at all!