There are a few times when I am participating in a meeting or some event when I wish that I could capture all that is transpiring in order to share it with others at a later time. This week I had one of those experiences. We are in the process of being able to have an assessment process here on our district to assist us with our new starts. Rather than just going through all the material and training that was necessary and required, for me it turned into a personal revival.
Many times today we have a tendency to complain about the way things are and how things are not as good as they used to be. The four couples that were assessed this week are incredible people. Their commitment to God and their spouses and families was real and deep. The call of God was powerfully communicated and made visible by their speech and actions. I never felt better about the future prospects for our congregations, than I did this week.
One of things that happened to me was as I listened and observed these potential New Start pastors, I reexamined myself and checked on my commitment to the cause of Christ. Would I be willing to do whatever the Lord asks me to do? Would I go anywhere and be willing to say yes to call of Christ? Many times as we see faith being lived out in the lives of others, we are challenged to examine our own commitment level.
With the United States being declared a mission field by my denomination, it is time we all begin to be, think and do ‘missional.’ The commitment and call that we admired in missionaries as they left everything and followed the call of Christ to go to far away places, must now be at work in our lives!
Quietly almost imperceptibly the church has become interested in other things, most of the things are good even positive. Yet it is not about, facilities, programs and busyness. We must keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing is the Gospel! It was perhaps one of the earliest verses we memorized, that our God so loved the world He created that he sent His one and only Son, that anyone who would put their trust in Him would have life, everlasting life! From this verse and many others we understand that our God is a missionary God, He loves and His love compels Him to go and seek and search and save the lost. Church we must be on mission! Missions is not a program of our church, our church is mission! It is the reason we exist.
We are so bombarded with information that we have gotten side tracked from mission. Our lives have become so complex that we have neglected the essence of the Gospel. People are lost and need Christ to transform their lives. We have been entrusted with this message. We must find every possible way to make this truth known. We must be completely sold-out and on fire for God. We must love people as a tangible expression of our love for God. We must not just love people we agree with or who like us, we must love all people. God has planted each of us right where we are and He intends to use us where we are. Quit thinking and talking about how God will be able to use us some day in the future when everything falls into place. Today is the day and this place is the place where God wants to use us! Would you join me in a prayer that God will open our eyes to the harvest all around, and that He will give us passion for people starting with our neighbors and acquaintances? The world needs light, and Jesus is the light. I want to spend the rest of my days carrying the Light! May God start a revival and may He be pleased to start it in me! Will you join me in this prayer?
