This week in Portland we have been at an Upward basketball camp with another mission team from Georgia. On the second to last day we shared the Gospel using a tract custom to basketball. One of them stood out more than any of them to me, because it is the key to winning not only Portland, but all of man to Christ, and away from Satan.
DEFENSE!
When on the court defense is when you are on the opponent's side looking to get the ball so they don't score. That is what we are doing here in Portland. This is what we use to keep Satan from adding people to His scoreboard. It sure does feel like we are in the enemies territory. In 2 Corinthians false teachers were challenging Paul's ministry and authority. Paul asserted His authority, not because he was Paul, but because he knew who his God was, and is, that Jesus is in Him. Through him pronouncing his authority it preserved correct Christian doctrine. Through his sincerity, love for Christ, and concern for people were his defense. 2 Corinthians 10 is the foundation for this trip very much. God has given us authority in Portland through Him, just like He gave Paul authority. He has given us weapons to defeat the enemy so the Good News can go forth. There are several words in this passage of scripture from 2 Corinthians 10 that outlines the attitudes we should possess when we are fighting against Satan, and winning souls for Christ. Paul reminds us to be: gentle, kind, and bold. Our motives must be right, otherwise we will not be passionate about what we are fighting for. We will not be sincere, nor will we truly have a love for Jesus and what He did on the cross for the people who surround us. We are to fight not on a human level, that is why we are to be kind, gentle, and loving. We are fighting a Spiritual battle:
"We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds. With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ."This requires that we put on the armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6. Our defense is truth, God's righteousness, the Good News, Faith, and Salvation. Before we can even put on the armor, it is necessary that I be stripped before Christ of every self love and every covering, every mask.
This was such a great camp to be apart of. The kids could earn stickers as they played and trained of what they showed the most that day. They were able to earn: Effort, Sportsmanship, Defense, Offense, and Christlikeness. So this exposed them to the concept of this language, and idea. Then we presented the gospel using these same phrases.
Effort- We can put effort into doing things right but fail, Romans 3:23
Sportsmanship- God wants us on His team but our sin separates us. Then Jesus came so we could be on His team, John 3:16
Offense- Jesus is the way to win, we must ask Him to forgive us, Romans 10:9-10
Defense- We should turn and run to God! We must Repent, and turn away, Acts 3:19
Christlikeness- We should run with God. Start living for Jesus, obeying Him, Galatians 2:20
I don't know about any of the other kids, but I didn't have any accept Jesus on my team. I sat with each one personally and asked if they knew Jesus. Some said flat out NO! And didn't want to know, others were very guarded about it, and others really did know Jesus. Keep praying for these kids. Some of them we will see again the last week of July before we come home at a day camp.
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