Author Archive for Sean Keith

The Importance of Praying for Lost People Daily

The first question we often ask is, why should I pray for lost people? Maybe a better question is, why don’t I? God created, loves and cares for every human being. His desire is to reconcile unto Himself every person who will accept His gift of forgiveness and eternal life. God puts people into our lives that are lost without Christ so that we can have the chance to be a part of bringing people from death in sin to life in Christ. We have been given a precious opportunity to be a part of Almighty God’s life changing work through salvation.

The Holy Spirit is constantly working in our heart and life to place lost people in our path. At the same time, He is working in the hearts and lives of those who are lost preparing them for an encounter with God—through us. He chooses to use us to be a part of His life transforming act of salvation.

At the center of that is our prayer life. As we pray, God brings to our heart and mind those who are lost. God then prepares us for these encounters. At the same time, He prepares the hearts and minds of those He has placed in our path. Prayer is how we talk with God and ask for His guidance and strength so that we would be ready and willing when the divine appointment happens.

We MUST pray daily that God would prepare us and those He has placed in our hearts and minds so that we would not miss the privilege of being a part of God’s life changing work of salvation. Just remember, somewhere back there, someone was praying for you. God placed your name on someone’s heart. They prayed, The Spirit of God moved and you were saved.

The reason we pray for our lost family members, neighbors, co-workers, friends and strangers, is because God desires to use us in the miracle working process of seeing people receive forgiveness of their sins and eternal life with God. What greater gift could you ever give someone that eternal life. And to think, God chose to use you to be a part of that. That’s reason enough for me.

Who are you praying for today?

Sean Keith is the Sunday School/Discipleship Strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention

Intentionality 3: It is our opportunity

Who’s Your One?

Intentionality –Look for opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your one.

It is Your Opportunity!

Think about it, the greatest miracle of all is when someone gives their life to Christ and they are forever, radically changed. And you get to be a part of that.

In Acts 1:8, God calls us a witness. The same life-changing gospel that has made us a child of God, we can share with others. It’s like having a horrible disease and we are given a cure. Wouldn’t you want to give others the life-altering cure that you have received?

Matthew 28:19 describes the Great Commission; to make disciples. The original language describes this as an imperative. We are commanded to go and make disciples. Not only do others benefit from our “going”, but we benefit as well. We see the work of God.

In John 4:1-42 we have the story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. Jews normally did not travel through Samaria. So, then why in verse 4 does the scripture say that Jesus, “Had to travel through Samaria”? Jesus was “sent” to Samaria, to a certain well, to encounter a certain woman who travelled to the well in the middle of the day. That encounter not only changed the Samaritan woman’s life, but the lives of many in her village that day.

Jesus exemplifies for us the opportunity that God has provided to you and me. We were sinners, destined to spend eternity separated from God in a real place called Hell. But by the Grace of God, Jesus sent someone into our lives to share with us the wonderful gift of salvation. Because of that, our lives and our world was changed. We were blessed to receive this precious gift. But those who shared with us also received a blessing from God.

Pray and ask that God will provide a divine encounter for you and your one. Don’t waste an opportunity to experience a life altering, life changing encounter with God.

Pray, and then just do it!

Intentionality 2: It is our responsibility

Who’s Your One?

Intentionality – Look for opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your one.

It is YOUR Responsibility!

Someone else can do it better than I can! I just don’t have that gift! What if I mess it up? These excuses are symptomatic of a deeper spiritual issue – Fear and doubt. You are a child of God. You have been saved. You are someone that God can use. You have a testimony. You also have the Holy Spirit who will speak through you to draw someone to Christ with the power of the Gospel.

Someone else can do it better than I can! – The truth is some people ARE better at sharing the gospel than you. BUT, you are the one that God has placed in a position to share the gospel with your ONE. God has placed this individual on your heart. God has provided the opportunity and the relationship for them to hear the good news from you.

I just don’t have that gift! – Whether or not you have the spiritual gift of evangelism is irrelevant. What you do have is a testimony. God has saved you. He has changed you. Once you were a sinner that deserved death and Hell. But you accepted God’s merciful grace and you are born again. Your unique testimony may just be exactly what someone needs to hear.

What if I mess it up? – The process of communication teaches us the complexity of a conversation. One person has a thought, then calculates the words to say, then tells them to a friend. The other person hears the words, processes those words then hopefully understands what their friend just told them. Add the noises and distractions in your environment plus the fact that our body language may communicate something totally different from what our words might have meant.

HOWEVER, as complex as that is, we have something more. We have the Holy Spirit. God uses us to form words that the Spirit will use to communicate the truth of the Gospel. Jesus saves, not us. God is using us to share the gospel, but it is His Holy Spirit that leads someone to salvation. If we are obedient, how can you mess that up?

I am grateful that God has used me to share my story and God’s story with others. I have been privileged to see so many people pray to receive Christ. I have seen lives changed. I have seen the wonderful miracle of God’s grace and mercy transform a life for His glory.

Tell your story. No one else has a story like you do. It is a story only you can tell.

Pray, and then just do it!

Intentionality 1: It is our time

Who’s Your One?

Intentionality – Look for opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your one.

The TIME is NOW!

So often, we put off what we don’t want to do today. Procrastination is one of the most critical failures of the Christian in sharing our faith. We are not promised a “tomorrow”. Today is the day of salvation.

The Bible describes our lives as a “mist” or a “vapor”. Here today, gone tomorrow. There needs to be an urgency to sharing the gospel. No one knows what could happen tomorrow. We are not promised another day. When death comes, it most often happens when we least expect it. We can be so focused on living our lives that we can miss opportunities that God puts into our path.

1 There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (CSBBible) The whole chapter of Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us to redeem the times. 11 Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. Ecclesiastes 9:11 (CSBBible) Why take a chance. Why not redeem the time and start the conversation today. Trust God to lead you and give you the words.

Notice that the word Intercede precedes the word intentionality. Prayer must precede sharing the gospel with someone who is not a believer. These are spiritual issues and need to be entrusted to God to guide and lead. We can’t save anyone. God does that. Thus we need to pray and wait on God. Unfortunately, sometimes God initiates and draws us out to share the truth and we want to wait. The time is NOW! Sometimes we get ahead of God but more often than not, we tend to put it off.

32 “Now concerning that day or hour no one knows – neither the angels in heaven nor the Son – but only the Father. 33 “Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming. Mark 13:32-33 (CSBBible)

Don’t wait. Don’t put it off. The TIME is NOW!

Pray, and then just do it!

Removing the Wall Between Disciplemaking and Evangelism

Making Disciples is our calling; our purpose. Sharing the gospel, leading people to Christ, baptizing people, discipling them in their faith–is what we do to make disciples.
Too often we tend to gravitate towards either evangelism or discipleship. It takes courage to share the gospel. It takes time to disciple someone. God has called us to do both. The command to make disciples includes evangelism and discipleship. It’s not an either/or proposition. It is a both/and.
For me, discipleship was always easier. I love people. I love getting to know people and spending time with them. I enjoy teaching and serving. Sharing the gospel with someone was always difficult. And to be honest, it still is. I have to work hard at putting myself in situations where I can share the gospel with lost people.
The story of Paul and Barnabas tell an interesting story. When Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, it was Barnabas that welcomed him and discipled him in his new faith. Barnabas “the encourager” spent a lot of time with Saul who became known as Paul. They even went on their first missionary journey together. They invited John Mark to join them. At some point, John Mark left the group. When Paul and Barnabas planned their next trip, Barnabas wanted John Mark to come as well. But Paul refused. They argued and the decision was to travel separately. Barnabas would take John Mark and Paul would take Silas.
Paul and Barnabas, two godly men, that God chose to use to make disciples on their journeys. They differed in their approach. Paul put his focus first on the mission of traveling to new places and sharing the gospel. Barnabas focused on people first as they traveled to new places and shared the gospel. They had two very different perspectives and methodologies but they shared a common objective—making disciples.
Both teams shared the gospel and saw people come to Christ in almost every city. But then, they stayed and taught them in their new born faith. Paul and Barnabas knew that evangelism and discipleship are inseparable. To do one without the other would weaken the church and the movement around the globe in sharing the good news.
Using a sports analogy, teams compete to win the game. Each team has their own unique plan to accomplish their objective. Both teams need an offense and a defense. To neglect either of these is to damage their prospects for victory.
Jesus’ plan to make disciples of all the nations demands that we do both evangelism and discipleship. They are not two separate programs. They are the same program and the same objective.
The questions is not “if” we will share the gospel or “if” we will disciple someone. The real question is who will you disciple and how will you accomplish your mission.
Sean Keith is the Sunday School/Discipleship Strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Sean has free resources available at www.louisianabaptists.org/churchgrowth and www.revseankeith.com. Follow me on twitter @revseankeith.