Telling The TRUTH
102712 Telling The Truth 28 Minute Program
You're listening to Telling the Truth from Triple T Christian Youth Ministries, Telling the Truth to and through teenagers. Here is Triple T founder and President George Dooms. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy as he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. Romans 1422, New King James. So the question is, do you have faith? How much faith do you have? Do you really understand that God has given you the opportunity to not only love him, but to respond to him to put your faith implicitly in the risen Lord Jesus? And having done that, to be able to grow in Christ, reading the Word of God, heeding the Word of God, praying diligently for others, with others, and then taking the gospel to people who need the Lord. That's what faith entails. Faith in God to do things that only he can do. Praying for others, reaching out to others, and then watching others have faith come into their lives for eternity. It's a wonderful privilege and opportunity that God has given us to share our faith with our family, with our friends, with everyone we can. Is every member of your family a believer in Christ? Do all of your friends know the Lord? Is there someone out there for whom you are really, really concerned? Will you tell them how to go to heaven? Romans has been called the Book of Faith. Listen to Romans 1423, New King James Version. Any who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith. For whatever is not from faith is sin. That's a real, strong statement. Do you believe it? So many times we take matters into our own hands, we determine what's going to happen, and we fail to put our faith in the Lord. So whatever we do, whenever we doubt we condemn ourselves because we don't have faith. For whatever is not from faith is sin, the Bible says. That's God's word. Do you believe that? I do. And I know that God wants us to trust him completely, not to trust in ourselves, but to trust only in him, who helps us help ourselves to do the things that God would have us to do for his glory. In all that we do, we need to give God the glory, even when we share our faith and someone responds to the gospel and says, "I admit I have sinned. I believe on Christ. I will confess him now. Give the glory to God, because God will make you usable and use you if you are willing. Are you?" God presents a very personal challenge to you and to me as believers. In 1 Corinthians 16, verses 13 and 14, New King James, God's word says, "Watch. Stand fast in the faith. Be brave. Be strong. Let all that you do be done with love." That is a really, really comprehensive series of words that we need to understand and put into effect to watch. Look around you. Find out what's going on in your world. Stand fast in the faith, don't waver, don't even wiggle, but hang in there and be brave. While there are a lot of things that are causing people to not be as brave as they ought to be, how about you? Be strong. Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, and then let all that you do be done with love. Love conquers all fears, conquers everything if that love is placed in God. Love is love and his love needs to be shared through us to others. Do you love God enough to do what he says to do? Do you love other people enough to tell them how much God loves them and that Jesus died for them? If they will trust him, the resurrected Christ will give them life that lasts forever. Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand. King Corinthians 124, New King James Version. The Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, is letting the people there know that he is not trying to lord it over them, but their faith is the important part of their lives and he and the others with him are fellow workers for their joy, for your joy, for my joy. For by faith you stand, the Bible says, "Is that true with you? Are you standing steadfast in your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe the Bible is really the truth? Do you understand that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth?" It wasn't some far-fetched part of a person's imagination that they call evolution, but it was creation with God being the Creator. And now with our faith in him we can tell other people who God is and how he sent his son, the Lord Jesus, to live perfectly, to die, to be buried, to rise again, and to be willing to save the people who need forgiveness. It's available, but somebody has to tell them how to get God's gift. Will you? Do you know that we can have the same spirit of faith as the Apostle Paul did? And is all those early believers in the church at Corinth had? Listen to 2 Corinthians 4-13, New King James Version. But since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak. Can you say that? I can and I hope you can too, because it is our faith, our trust, our belief that gives the privilege of speaking for the Lord, of telling others about the Lord Jesus Christ, of telling others how much God loves them. Do you know how much God loves you? Are you responding to his love? Are you really doing something about his love? Are you growing in Christ? Are you reading the Word of God? Are you praying diligently, consistently, fervently, and faithfully? And are you fellowshipping with other believers to help you and them grow together in Christ? And then are you compassionate about people who don't know the Lord? And who will go into eternity without Jesus Christ unless somebody tells them, "Would you be that somebody?" For we walk by faith, not by sight. That significant verse recorded in 2 Corinthians 5-7, New King James, is potent. Or we walk by faith, not by sight. It's so easy to say, "If I could just see the future, if I could just take a glimpse at what is going to happen, if I could just, and you fill in the blanks about trying to look into things that you don't comprehend, nor can you without faith." Walking by faith is a wonderful way to live, but it's a difficult way to live because we never know for sure what is going to happen out there. We know that God knows everything, and we don't know everything. Our God is omniscient. Our God is omnipresent, and our God is omnipotent. And so because He is all of this, we can put our faith in Him, walking for Him, praying, His Word, and then taking the gospel to someone who needs Jesus by faith. For we walk by faith, not by sight. That's the way God wants you to live. Will you? But as you abound in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us, see that you abound in this grace also. 2 Corinthians 8-7, New King James. It is a wonderful thing to check out our faith, to speak with the knowledge of God, to have that knowledge, to use diligence to proclaim that knowledge, and to love others, not ourselves only, but love others as ourselves. Put the joy formula into effect. Jesus 1st, other 2nd, yourself last, joy, because you can see that you abound in this grace also. Grace has been defined simply as unmerited favor. It is a wonderful definition because we don't deserve anything, and God did it all for us through His virgin-born, sinless son, Jesus Christ, who died, was buried, and rose again. And because of that love, that grace is available to us, to you and to me. Yes, it is amazing grace, but people need to know about it. Will you tell someone today? Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m., you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 U.S. 41 North at Booneville and Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for ages 6 to 9 is available in a separate room. For more information, call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. That's Jeremiah 29.11. What is your greatest fear? My greatest fear, someone has said, is coming to the end of life without making a significant difference. We all desperately want to have a positive imprint on the world. We want to leave things and people better than we found them, to be remembered well. And so, we dread the idea that, in the end, our lives might not count for much. Are you made to count? Yes you are. Go straight to the heart of that fear of failure. It will help you discover your God-designed purpose, to find your life's true meaning, and to give your life's greatest passion. You can change your world through Jesus Christ. You can know that God has a plan for you, and he wants you to discover it and to put it into effect. What are you doing with the one life that God has entrusted to you, as I've shared with you before? On my desk is a little poem, and it's been there ever since I graduated from college. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. You are made to count. You are designed for a destiny. Have you discovered yours? God's calling is for everyone, not just for ministry professionals. Finding God's unique plan outside the box can happen if you really look for it. God does have a plan. He does have a purpose. He does have a divine design, just for you. Finding God's unique plan is yours as an assignment from him, the creator of the universe. The power lies within you is not really the truth. That's a self-help lie. It's all about my strengths. No, it's not. It's about God's strengths. You can have a life-changing mission that is far bigger than you are, but you can be a vital part of it if you will align yourself to what God would have you to do. You can be on mission wherever you are, in a small town, in a rural community, or in a metropolis. Your home, where you live, is the nerve center for ministry. Do you understand how God's wired you? How He's put you together? What He has done for you? I hope that you will understand that God does open doors and closed doors. You can find God at a crossroads of your life, and if you will pray, "God, show me your will, make me usable and use me." If you stay in step with God, if you are in tune with Him, you can follow God's plan and experience His pleasure. That is not willing, as we've said so many times, quoting the scriptures that any should perish, but that all should come through repentance. Follow God's plan and allow Jesus Christ through you to make your world a different place. God will never force this on you. He will never make this happen. That is simply your opportunity and your responsibility to do what God wants you to do, when and where and how He wants you to do it. God has prepared a unique plan and calling for your life. He did it even before you were born. God calls you to a life-changing relationship with Him through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God calls you to partner with Him in a mission that's far bigger than you are. God calls you to be on mission with Him right where you are, starting now. God reveals His mission through His Word, the Holy Spirit, wise counsel, and His work in circumstances around you. God will repeatedly bring you to a crossroads of choice as He forges you for His mission. God guides and provides for your mission one step at a time. You don't have to know all about all the things you're going to someday try to accomplish for Him, but you start where you are, you use what you have, you do all you can, you shoot for the stars and you keep everlastingly at it. You don't quit, you don't give up. You just keep on keeping on. When you do answer God's call, you will experience His pleasure and you will change all kinds of circumstances around you, beginning inside you. I hope that you will understand that God will let you have career changes. He will let you move from one post to another place, and He will allow you to make your life count. It's not so much about what you do is how you do it, and the why and most important for whom you will do it. Are you doing all that you're doing for you, for your family, or for God? It's looking at people who need the Lord and who go out sharing faith in Christ with others. That gets the job done. Somebody is waiting for you to be the catalyst, to be the communicator, to be the connector with them, to let them know that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again after living perfectly, being tempted, but never ever yielding, and now is seated at the right hand of God the Father. So what you need to do is to let other people know who Jesus is, and what He did, and why He did it. God wants people to communicate Christianity. My greatest hope in life is to keep evangelizing youth, and the only way I can effectively do this is to multiply my ministry through others. The Bible says in Hebrews 614, New King James, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." That's what happens when we share our faith, and when we do what Triple T does all the time as effectively and as quickly as we can. And that is to train youth in pyravangelism and leadership. We teach them God's plan of salvation. They memorize the Scriptures. They learn that God's Word says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." You can learn that too. Look at Romans 3.23 and commit it to memory. Look at Romans 6.23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Just admit you've sinned, and then believe on Christ. The most famous verse in the entire New Testament. First off quoted, and sometimes most misunderstood, is John 3 16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that her believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Someone has phrased this as the gospel in a nutshell, it's concise, it's dynamic, it's direct, and it's life-changing. And then we're to confess Christ publicly. Tell people, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10, 9, and 10 are King James. This summer we had pre-teens and teens trained in pyravangelism and some young adults too. We took the gospel to eleven county fairs and street festivals. We shared one-on-one with over 1,700 people, and 170 said yes to Jesus, but we just got something on Facebook that was a thrill. The couple that were the leaders of the Teen Missions international team that was with us this summer had a little boy that was eight years old. He was too young to be one of the team members, but he memorized those verses I just shared with you and he said, "Can I go out and can I share those with somebody?" And we said, "Certainly you can." Well, if you'll stay tuned, I'm going to tell you the story of Christopher and what God has done with him and what he wants God to do in him and through him and for him in the days ahead. No matter what age you are, you too can learn the plan of salvation and you can take it to someone who needs the Lord. Listen to Christopher's story. Christopher's parents took him and their little girl, his little baby sister, and moved to Arizona after fair share this summer. On the first day of school, Christopher took his Bible with him and God's ABCs. He shared the gospel with a classmate and came home very excited because the first day of school, he led a classmate to Jesus Christ just like he had done many, many people this summer as he went from county fair to county fair with his parents, with our team, sharing the Lord Jesus Christ and his plan of salvation. We got another communication from Christopher's parents saying, " Christopher has set a goal." It's not a game, it's a goal. He wants to share Jesus with 25 people this school year. Can you send us some Bibles and some ABCs? So we are sending Christopher a box of 20 Bibles to begin, we're sending him a bunch of God's ABCs, and we're looking forward to hearing what happens as Christopher shares his faith. Now that's a wonderful story and he's a great kid and we're praying for him and we're in communication with him and with his parents. But the next day we got another communication from another teenager, preteen actually, that was with us this summer that lives down in Lake City, Florida. And again, in the first day of school, this young man went to school, he took his Bible, he gave it to a friend and shared Jesus with him. And he also is requesting more Bibles and more of God's ABCs. We've received requests from people as far apart as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Lake City, Florida, asking for God's ABCs to share with their friends. And we're glad to do this, we're delighted that it's happening. Another gentleman from someplace in Wisconsin called and asked for 100 copies of God's ABCs. And so my wife Mary boxed them up and sent them to him. We're sending out Bibles, we're sending out God's ABCs, we're giving the gospel and we want you to have your own copy of God's Word. It's the new King James version and we've got one to send to you. If you'd like to have it, you just call us, it's area code 812-867-2418, or you can come to Triple T tonight and pick up your very own personal copy. That would be a pleasure, a privilege, a delight to give you your Bible and we'll send you or give you copies of God's ABCs that you can give to people who need the Lord. We're here to help you communicate Christianity. Again, my lot in life, my goal, my dream is to keep evangelizing youth by multiplying through people like you, training more and more in peer evangelism and leadership and then key adults, key means of course, keep evangelizing youth. We want to use every means in media at our disposal to get the gospel to people. We're going to be having some wonderful privileges here at Triple T right on this campus in the days ahead. We're bringing back the Old Testament tabernacle replica full size. It's going to be a magnificent thing between mid-May and mid-October of 2013. Meanwhile, we've got a whole lot of things we're endeavoring to do to get the gospel to more and more people through more and more people and we would like for you to be one of those. You can be a tiger teammate. How? By praying, by investing your time or your talent and/or your treasure. Giving $20 provides a scholarship for another youth to be trained in peer evangelism. Our goal is to train lots and lots of them, at least 300. And we believe it's going to happen, but we need your help to make it transpire. So pray with us and for us and write to us. Our call us. That phone number again is Area Code 812-867-2418-867-2418, Area Code 812. And check the website. You can learn a lot about what's happening and how you can participate. You can even give online. All you have to do is check www.ttchristianyouth.org. I hope you will. Meanwhile, if you are a believer, pray. If you're not, then trust Jesus now. Christ through you can change the world. Every Saturday at 7.27pm, you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 US-41 North at Booneville and Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for ages 6-9 is available in a separate room. For more information, call 812-867-2418 or visit www.trippletychristianyouth.org. For your free copy of The Telling the Truth newsletter, call 812-867-2418, 812-867-2418 or write Triple T, 13,000 US-41 North, Evansville, Indiana 477-25. Tune in to Telling the Truth next week at the same time on This Same Station. [MUSIC]