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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

After walking around 10-12 miles on Monday, Tuesday was a much more relaxed day. We are attending the Amplify conference on evangelism in Naperville. I think the big takeaways from the conference yesterday were the following:

1.)    We have been saved for the glory of God, to participate in the mission of God.
2.)    Jesus did not come to be like us, he came so that we would be like him.  
3.)    God is patiently drawing people to himself, and he uses us to proclaim the gospel of Christ.
4.)    We are ambassadors for God and our lives should demonstrate holiness.
5.)    No one person is more or less deserving of hearing the gospel.

Reflecting back on the events of Monday I realized that one truth was absent as I went out with my group. We operate from the position of power and authority. The creator God has called and saved me, and he is capable of doing the same thing to anyone who he desires to save. Through the anxiety of sharing the gospel, or the fear of interrupting someone’s coffee, I often times forgot that the message that I proclaim is the very power of God unto salvation.

I will be fasting on Wednesday because we will have another slow and relaxed day filled mostly with Q&A sessions and various conference messages on evangelism. I will be praying for the people that I will come in contact with on Thursday through Saturday as well as for myself. I need to remember that God saves, and that he simply asks me to share the truth of the gospel.

As our day closed yesterday our group had the privilege of hearing from a pastor who had been serving faithfully for almost 30 years. He talked about the mission that we have been called to if we are called to the office of Elder/Overseer and how if God truly calls us, that call does not go away. We were challenged to commit to the church and to the mission even though we know that there will be difficulty in ministry. When times are hard we cannot simply quit because the message of Christ is greater than any difficulty that we could ever face.

We were then told of a brother from the middle east who was saved from Islam and became a passionate preacher of God’s word. He was told that his preaching was putting himself in danger, but his response was simple, “I love Jesus more than anything.” Those who warned him were right. He was eventually captured and killed for the message of the cross.

This wrecked me. I’ve never been, and probably never will be in the position where my life is at stake for the message of the gospel. BUT, many people that I walk by every day have their eternity on the line. The gospel is a message that is worth sharing no matter the cost or difficulty that we may face in this temporary world.

Take the message to the lost. Faithfully preach Christ crucified as the forgiveness of sins. Do this to the glory of God and in the face of persecution.


Blessings, 

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