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Guilty Bystander — 21 Comments

    • Unfortunately, sometimes I call that person Rodney...lol. I know I have to do better, but I do oftentimes, participate in the discussion.

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  1. Dear Lillianne,
    Amen, to your powerful message. It reminds me of 1 John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us". If He loved so much that He died for us, and in return we love Him, why would we not love someone else enough to share His great Good News of the Gospel? God's rich blessing on you and your postings ministry, a "wallflower" you are not. May the Holy Spirit use each of us to "touch" some one with Jesus Love! Happy Sapati Eve to you and your loved ones this Sapati.

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  2. Lillianne, I think you have a lot of very important things to say and being a bystander is one of them. What scares me most about my own life is the fact that we are witnesses whether we want to be or not (see Acts 1:8). If people know, from whatever source, that I am a Seventh-day Adventist and my life is anything but Christian then my witness is very negative to say the least - even if I say nothing - and I have given my church a black eye. On the other hand if I live an extemporary life yet say nothing the only conclusion people can reach is that I am merely a good person without any connection to Christ so they lose out on why I am that way.

    When I do nothing I not only hurt Christ but I also hurt the objects of His love (Rom 1:14). More than that, I also hurt myself. I am personally convinced that, "if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out" (Lk 19:40 NKJV). In other words God is not dependent on us - we are dependent on Him. But what I end up doing is to sever a partnership with my Lord that might end up on the wrong side where He says, "I never knew you."

    I also believe that our witness is a matter of gracious involvement in the same way that a mother or father allows their child to do something that they could do better and faster themselves. We therefore become part of His family and actively engaged in it. Besides, it says something about how strongly we believe in Christ and His government and also how much we wish to be in Heaven with Him.

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    • Well said Tyler, I particularly like what you said about how it is with parents letting their children do something that they could do better and faster. What an honour our awesome Father has given us.

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  3. The text that Ellen White quotes (Mat 10:19-20 or the same thing in one of the other gospels) that is the quoted from the Review and Herald, April 26, 1892, p. 9, in my opinion is not saying that we don't need to study the Bible but rather tells us not to fret over trying to memorize and figure everything out beforehand.

    The simple fact is that the Holy Spirit generally is not going to bring to your mind what you have failed to read prior to that event. As Jesus said, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (Jn 14:26 NKJV). So, we hear Jesus through His word in the Bible which the Holy Spirit interprets for us and in that way teaches us all things.

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  4. This week's lesson has surely lit a fire under me to share Jesus with a ministry in my church. Off to work I go!!

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  5. In this world you will find that the more you give yourself in service to others, the more you will enjoy your Christian life. May God empower us with His spirit to perfom His work!

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  6. I just want to thank a Brother from our church, for sendig us your site. I haven't been to church in over 8 months. I don't want to go into to why, but my husband and I still keep the Sabbath each week. We live stream to Pastor Dwight Nelson, each week for our worship hour. Then we do Bible studies the rest of the day.

    Your message got me to thinking, I may not be able to get out and talk to people, (I'm handicapped) but I can do another thing. I am going to put an ad in the paper, for Bile Studies... A person can do things to witness for Christ. They just have to take the time. We only have a short time left here on earth.

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  7. I just want to thank a Brother from ours church, for sending us your site info. We haven't been to church in over 8 months. I won't go into why, but we still have our worship service each week. We do live streaming with, Pastor Dwight Nelson. After the worship hour, we do Bible studies the rest of the afternoon. You have inspiried me to try and do more for Christ. Our time is so short here on earth, and Christ is coming very soon. Reverlation prophecy is being fulfilled as I write. We must be ready or be left behind.

    Thank you for your words, they have been a blessing to me. Also an up-lifting. I'll let you know how our project goes.
    God bless all....

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  8. Why me?
    It has touched me very much! I don't do as per bible instructions! I call myself a Christian - yes - but I think I am not! I just pretend to be a Christian! Being a Christian means that you are a follower of Christ, a disciple of Jesus. That is, as a Christian I must obey what my Lord tells me to do! And do it with all your heart!
    Our Rabbi, our Lord, Our Saviour, Our Creator, our Redemeer, our Father, our Protector; asks us to have the communion with Him and co-workers with Him, and therefore has commanded us to "GO Ye.." and HE promised "I will BE with THEE.." Matt 28:19-20.

    A Christian must read the Bible (WORD of GOD). Therein we hear HIM talking to us, and we pray to HIM, then Go and share HIM!

    A question here is why I am not obeying to My Rabbi? Why am I so reluctant to go? Why is it to me? Does this means I have no faith, or I do not believe in Him.

    Let us wake up and GO; it won't help us if we are good in studying lessons, good in discussions, while we are escaping our responsibility and obligation.

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  9. Thanks for the encouragement. God bless you all. lets have our hearts burning within us to tell the story of Jesus.

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  10. Our only effective witness is that which comes from a heart that is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. A person that has Godly love and joy and peace in their hearts will be witness of that spirit to every soul they meet, and if they are willing to give God the credit, the Holy Spirit will bring needy and seeking souls into their lives. A close walk with Christ will produce the necessary willingness to witness, but keep in mind that one who has been forgiven much, loves much.

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  11. What a great discussion! I find that I'm not a "God talker" often. I enjoy listening, studying, and writing about things. What I've learned though is that sometimes God puts me in a place where I must talk and then He sends His Holy Spirit to remind me of what I have studied and fills the hearers' ears with what He wants them to hear. In that way I have learned to not be afraid to speak when He asks.

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    • Lillianne, writing is also a form of witnessing only with it one needs to communicate far better because the listener can't see facial expressions or hear speech inflection. I also believe that whenever we communicate we are given a form of the gift of tongues, at least to some extent, so that whatever we say we present it better than it would normally be. I am glad we have an intercessor!

      By the way, I had a friend that once told me that after a conversation he had with someone he realized the error he had made and thought of the worse scenario resulting from it only to discover later that the person didn't hear a thing concerning the blunder he had made.

      Now, I don't want everyone to think that something like that is automatically going to happen everytime we witness but sometimes God works in wonderful ways depending on the situation.

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  12. We all know the world loves extroverts. Being an introvert is not a negative thing. I am an introvert, my husband is an extrovert. Being an introvert does not mean I don't like to talk, I just wait until I have something to say. I am not into small talk, I'm not shy, just need a reason to interact. Some social flatteries seem superfluous to me. I love people and I am a loyal friend. I'm also comfortable being alone to process thoughts, whereas my husband goes stir crazy by himself too long. I also don't follow the crowd, and I like to relax in nature. I think the main difference between my husband and I is he is energized by being around people, I get energized by being alone. Extroverts think as they speak, introverts think before they speak.

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  13. I was just reading the post Guilty By-Stander on the Sabbath School net home page. I totally agree that it's not the job for everyone to be a speaker at an evangelistic meeting,or to just let the pastor &/or elders do it all. It the duty of every Christian to share Christ in their sphere of influence.

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  14. Extrovert, introvert, wallflowers, lurkers....it takes all sorts to make a world. Its a creative God (bless His Holy name) who has made us all different, with all our intriguing and unusual personalities. It would be an awfully boring world if we were all the same. Equally boring and unrepresentative of the God we serve, would be the idea of doing the same kind of sharing wittness. Some people should NOT speak for Christ for all sorts of reasons, and could do more harm than good if they have not been prepared appropriately, especially in our present cynical, skeptical and highly secular so called western world, where people are increasingly NOT interested in listening to anything you have to say about your faith. We each need to ask God to show us how best to share Him as this need not be complex, just the way one lives one's life, a general personal demeanor of peace in this world of chaos, which draws people, random small acts of kindness and genuine concern for others, which draws people to you, which I do find church people sometimes seem to so struggle with! So busy witnessing that they miss the plot. It reminds me of a well known gospel song.. which I have paraphrased here.'so busy working for the kingdom, I aint got time to pray', I firmly believe that the reasons our churches do not grow is that people come in, genuinely wanting to relate and serve God, and do not find much in the way that we interact with each other that inspires them to stay.

    I witness to my friends by showing genuine interest in them as people, Then share my faith when they ask, as they inevitably do, then when it comes to bringing them to church, it is only a matter of time before they decide they do not want to share the hypocrisy they say they find. It is frustrating, If you happen to be a 'lurker', 'wallflower' or 'introvert' or whatever, there could be an awful lot of criticism because you are not doing things the usual way. I say find your unique way of sharing, and the God who made you different will honor it just as much, (in fact even more, because he knows it comes straight from the heart and not for public show or accollade).

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  15. It's our duty to go and share Jesus because that is what He commanded us in Mat 28:19-20. Also it doesn't matter what you are, God knew us before we were born so if we cannot give we can go to preach and all is about witnessing. May God Bless.

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