Ooo, Holy Spirit conviction fall! It hurts so good!!! :)
Let us be the generation that brings the Gospel to every nation, tribe, and tongue! Wycliffe Bible translators believe translations of the Word of God will be available in every language or in process of translation by the year TWENTY TWENTY-FIVE! That is right around the corner, folks!
However, a little study on the verses in Matthew that we call "The Great Commission" reveal that the key emphasis is not so much on the word "Go" as it is on the process of making disciples! It is more accurately, "As you go...make disciples..." What kind of disciples? "...teaching them to obey all the things I have commanded you..." So you mean that all the commands you gave your disciples are fair game for us today, Jesus? It's not just for the early church? "..and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age."
In Mark he is a little more pointed, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation..."
I had such a rich experience on the extended 10 day outreach with Arco-Iris (Iris Ministries) and I felt like I was in the book of Acts because, let me tell you, a new church planting movement in an unreached people group IS the early church! They experience all the things that the early Apostles faced when they first began preaching the good news of the Kingdom. The good news is confirmed by signs and wonders, hundreds receive the gospel and give their lives to Jesus, and the Lord is adding to their numbers DAILY. The GREATEST need in this hour is for discipleship!
As I was reading the parable of the sower recently, God showed me that this is the current sitation in Mozambique. The seed is being sown on the highways and byways, and a lot of soil is proving to be initially receptive! But the soil that receives the seed and sprouts a plant which goes on to produce mature fruit--this is only the people who hear the Word and UNDERSTAND it. How we as the body of Christ foster the move of the Spirit in Mozambique and other major revival hotspots worldwide will go a long way to determining the longevity of the impact of the revival.
So, how do you disciple THOUSANDS of baby churches with a small number of mature believers? Well, it's not going to happen overnight, that's for sure. And it's not going to happen without LOTS of aid and resources coming from the more mature Western churches. But it's also not going to happen without the manpower! Mozambique NEEDS mature believers who are willing to give it all up, lay it all down, and give themselves to the painstaking daily grind of discipleship. There may be Mozambican pastors who have raised 3 or 6 babies, children or adults from the dead, yes, but the average Christian child in the West who has completed 6th grade Sunday school has a greater knowledge of the Scriptures.
There is need for a great exchange. We desperately need the Mozambicans' zeal for the Lord and exuberance in worship; we need their child-like faith without which the Kingdom of God cannot be entered into in the here and now and which is ushering in the supernatural so often that blind eyes opening and deaf ears hearing and the lame walking and the demonized being set free has become expected and almost commonplace. We need to take the Lord and His Word at face-value and to dream so big our dreams are only possible by His supernatural intervention.
And yet we have so much to offer, and I'm not only talking about our material wealth! The average Western Christian has had hours of Bible instruction, studying the Word, small groups, Sunday school. We are so far ahead in the knowledge department, yet I feel as far as myself, perhaps years behind in applying that knowledge toward making disciples! Toward ushering in the Kingdom of God! We've gotten full and fat at the feast, and so comfortable we've forgotten that we eat so we have the energy and the bread to go out and feed others!!!!
Years of Bible study, and yet we so often feel like we are never really ready to share the Gospel, never really ready to teach--oh, just one more class, one more year, one more seminary. While the world out there is getting saved without us. It's a lie from the devil that we're "not ready" to paralyze us and keep us inwardly focused, while God is revealing Himself to Muslims in dreams and visions at an incredible rate! My friend Anna was in Iraq last year and when she would be invited into homes with groups of Muslim women she would begin sharing by asking if any of them had had a dream of a man wearing a white robe (Jesus) and many of them would say yes! And then she would explain the Gospel to them! God doesn't NEED us! He WANTS us to partner with Him, for us to be a part of it all! We are blessed to be able to see the prisoners set free from bondage, to see the people He has prepared for such a time as this, to see His Bride come in! Our job is so easy! But we just need to be willing. Willing to go. Willing to make disciples, whether here or there or wherever we are.
However, a little study on the verses in Matthew that we call "The Great Commission" reveal that the key emphasis is not so much on the word "Go" as it is on the process of making disciples! It is more accurately, "As you go...make disciples..." What kind of disciples? "...teaching them to obey all the things I have commanded you..." So you mean that all the commands you gave your disciples are fair game for us today, Jesus? It's not just for the early church? "..and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age."
In Mark he is a little more pointed, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation..."
I had such a rich experience on the extended 10 day outreach with Arco-Iris (Iris Ministries) and I felt like I was in the book of Acts because, let me tell you, a new church planting movement in an unreached people group IS the early church! They experience all the things that the early Apostles faced when they first began preaching the good news of the Kingdom. The good news is confirmed by signs and wonders, hundreds receive the gospel and give their lives to Jesus, and the Lord is adding to their numbers DAILY. The GREATEST need in this hour is for discipleship!
As I was reading the parable of the sower recently, God showed me that this is the current sitation in Mozambique. The seed is being sown on the highways and byways, and a lot of soil is proving to be initially receptive! But the soil that receives the seed and sprouts a plant which goes on to produce mature fruit--this is only the people who hear the Word and UNDERSTAND it. How we as the body of Christ foster the move of the Spirit in Mozambique and other major revival hotspots worldwide will go a long way to determining the longevity of the impact of the revival.
So, how do you disciple THOUSANDS of baby churches with a small number of mature believers? Well, it's not going to happen overnight, that's for sure. And it's not going to happen without LOTS of aid and resources coming from the more mature Western churches. But it's also not going to happen without the manpower! Mozambique NEEDS mature believers who are willing to give it all up, lay it all down, and give themselves to the painstaking daily grind of discipleship. There may be Mozambican pastors who have raised 3 or 6 babies, children or adults from the dead, yes, but the average Christian child in the West who has completed 6th grade Sunday school has a greater knowledge of the Scriptures.
There is need for a great exchange. We desperately need the Mozambicans' zeal for the Lord and exuberance in worship; we need their child-like faith without which the Kingdom of God cannot be entered into in the here and now and which is ushering in the supernatural so often that blind eyes opening and deaf ears hearing and the lame walking and the demonized being set free has become expected and almost commonplace. We need to take the Lord and His Word at face-value and to dream so big our dreams are only possible by His supernatural intervention.
And yet we have so much to offer, and I'm not only talking about our material wealth! The average Western Christian has had hours of Bible instruction, studying the Word, small groups, Sunday school. We are so far ahead in the knowledge department, yet I feel as far as myself, perhaps years behind in applying that knowledge toward making disciples! Toward ushering in the Kingdom of God! We've gotten full and fat at the feast, and so comfortable we've forgotten that we eat so we have the energy and the bread to go out and feed others!!!!
Years of Bible study, and yet we so often feel like we are never really ready to share the Gospel, never really ready to teach--oh, just one more class, one more year, one more seminary. While the world out there is getting saved without us. It's a lie from the devil that we're "not ready" to paralyze us and keep us inwardly focused, while God is revealing Himself to Muslims in dreams and visions at an incredible rate! My friend Anna was in Iraq last year and when she would be invited into homes with groups of Muslim women she would begin sharing by asking if any of them had had a dream of a man wearing a white robe (Jesus) and many of them would say yes! And then she would explain the Gospel to them! God doesn't NEED us! He WANTS us to partner with Him, for us to be a part of it all! We are blessed to be able to see the prisoners set free from bondage, to see the people He has prepared for such a time as this, to see His Bride come in! Our job is so easy! But we just need to be willing. Willing to go. Willing to make disciples, whether here or there or wherever we are.
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