WHO IS CHARGED WITH THE GREAT COMMISSION?

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“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

The mission of God has always been in the hands of ‘ordinary’ people, rather than in the hands of the professionals.

When Peter and John were brought before the religious rulers, there were several things that were noted about them.

Firstly, they took note of their courage. This is worthy of our extra attention. After all, it was only several weeks since Peter, out of fear, had denied even knowing Jesus (Luke 23:54–60), and since all the disciples hid in the upper room behind locked doors “because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders” (John 20:19).

Secondly, they noted that they were unschooled and ordinary men. These were not professional priests, nor were they formally educated. These men had been fishermen.

Thirdly, they could tell that they had been with Jesus. Their fear and unschooled ordinariness had been transformed by their being with Jesus.

It appears to me that the average Australian Christian has an internal narrative that is defeatist when it comes to being able to help another person put their faith in Jesus. For many, they associate trying to share their faith with failure and even trauma. Hence, they aspire to simply being willing to invite a friend to an environment where someone else can do it.

It was not so with the first disciples. Their courage came from time in Jesus’ presence, which resulted in them “teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 4:2). May it also be so for us today.

The issue is not whether we are trained or somehow ‘special’. The mission of God is in the hands of ordinary people just like us.

JESUS TAUGHT: NOT PEACE, BUT A SWORD

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The following is a tough Scripture we would all like to overlook but that is impossible. God requires total commitment.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39

“And Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag, knapsack, or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one with a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. For, I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” Luke 22:35-37

Our greatest weapon is always the Gospel. But there may be a time to heed all of Jesus’ instructions, even to buy a sword.

“All authority… on earth has been given unto Me, therefore go and make disciple of all nations… and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus did not say disciple churches or disciple disciples but rather disciple “nations” – civil rule, civil governance. For this reason and mission, Jesus said – “I am with you!” Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to guide our every step.

For what excuse will we give King Jesus for not completing the great commission?

The Bible does not teach us to pray and hope things get better. “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). We must be “doers” – like the leaders of Issachar who understood the times and what God’s people should do (1 Chronicles 12:32).

Note God does not use those who think they are wise by worldly standards.

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

We must keep God’s commandments and get God’s vision for His King and Kingdom! “Where there is no vision, the people perish. But happy are those who keep God’s Law!” Proverbs 29:18

Also, if not you, who? If not now, when? We must unite and go forth – “For the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness! Psalms 45:4

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WHAT IS YOUR HOPE WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE JESUS?

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This is an important message from Nelson Walters and the Last Days Overcomers team.

“Most readers miss this simple fact about hope. In these seemingly “hopeless” times, they ask, “What is our hope?” And many times, people at our conferences ask Marquis, Jake, and me the same question, what is our hope? 

After completing four amazing (4) conferences so far this summer and interacting with a number of you one-on-one, we can answer inarguably. It is the same answer that the Apostle Paul gave to the Thessalonian church. And it’s not the answer you expect:

“For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it, not you? For you are our glory and joy.” 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

Yes, you are our glory and hope. The people to whom we minister. Didn’t see that coming, did you? 

As Westerners (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, SA, etc.) we tend to view hope in terms of politics or comfort. Do we have hope in our nation’s survival, do we have hope in the economy, do we have hope in our church? But on the day that we stand before Jesus when he comes, you will be our hope and glory.  And likewise, your ministry will be your hope. Our hope isn’t in our individual survival or comfort, but it’s in those we have been called to disciple and minister to. Because on the day of Jesus’ return, all other things will be swept away.

In our private conversations, Marquis, Jake, and I spoke of these summer conferences as “building up the remnant;” as an opportunity to prepare those who will face the things we read about in prophecy. And here is the second shocker: you share that ministry with us. 

Notice in 1 Thessalonians, Paul didn’t say “You are MY glory and joy,” he said, “You are OUR glory and joy.” It was a shared ministry then, and we are thrilled to share our ministry with you now.

In this upcoming month, you will receive a notice about a new series of free, online conferences we will be undertaking in the Fall and Winter with a number of well-known guest speakers. And you will be given an opportunity to participate in FOCUS GROUPS to help us form and shape what those conferences will be like. We look forward to you sharing in this ministry in this way.” 

Check out the website http://www.lastdaysovercomer.org. Get the monthly Newsletter.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE GREAT COMMISSION?

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The Great Commission, that is, the making of disciples of all nations by going, baptizing, and teaching them to obey all that Christ commands us, has been pushed aside as the church scrambles after various social and political causes to make itself relevant.

People in churches are seeing and hearing virtually everything else except their need for repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and what life really submitted to Jesus Christ really looks like. They are being taught to look to external measures to solve issues in our world, rather than asking the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity) who is our counsellor, teacher, and comforter. Jesus made it clear that what He accomplished for us on The Cross was life-changing. He made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to enable us to live the Christian life. Proverbs 20:27 tells us that our Spirit was always meant to be the lamp of the Lord which requires oil, the Holy Spirit to function as God intended.

The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. Proverbs 20:27

Instead of people hearing that the problem of mankind is endemic—that each individual is culpable for their own sin before a holy and just Lord, they hear that the largest issue of our day is systemic racism (Critical Race Theory and Black Lives Matter). Instead of recognizing issues bound within homes due to selfishness and fatherlessness many wish to relegate issues to a lack of money, education, or healthcare. Instead of shunning every instance of sexual immorality, impurity, and sensuality, our culture and entertainment promote them as exciting and desirable.

The natural result is half the populace is confused about what the gospel is, with roughly another half confused about how the gospel applies to all of life. The second group wants a seat at the table in the cultural marketplace. Nearly ten years ago Carl Trueman challenged the Reformed world with these words: “…the beautiful young things of the reformed renaissance have a hard choice to make in the next decade. You really do kid only yourselves if you think you can be an orthodox Christian and be at the same time cool enough and hip enough to cut it in the wider world. Frankly, in a couple of years, it will not matter how much urban ink you sport, how much fair trade coffee you drink, how many craft brews you can name, how much urban gibberish you spout, how many art house movies you can find that redeemer figure in, and how much money you divert from gospel preaching to social justice: maintaining biblical sexual ethics will be the equivalent in our culture of being a white supremacist.”

Peruse any Reformed group on Facebook and you’ll see that these words are equally as applicable as they were when Trueman first gave them, which means they’ve been largely unheeded. Even many who hold strictly to their confessional documents are wildly inconsistent with a rigorous Christian worldview. Simply ask a piece of basic advice and see how many different prospective teachers offer up counsel that is not only unbiblical but often anti-biblical.

Obviously, this is not all Reformed Christians, nor all Evangelicals for that matter, but I have to wonder at what point people will stop scratching their heads when they see surveys that reveal most people don’t “get” the gospel. At what point, will people drop the convenient talking points and blame-shifting, and take a long, hard look at what has happened? Proper discipleship still demands a comprehensive biblical worldview born out of the gospel. Therefore, we now need to target those in our churches who reject parts of the Biblical worldview for whatever reason. We need to focus our efforts and funds on the proclamation of the gospel.

How many young people in the Reformed island of conservative Christianity are wedded to degenerate worldviews opposed to that of the Bible and enjoying it? How many of them no longer believe that the proclamation of the gospel is the primary mission of the church? How many of them are lying to themselves about why the majority of people in the broader church cannot articulate a saving gospel?

Jesus told us that in the last days there will be a great falling away (apostasy) in the church. This is evident now even in Reformed and Evangelical circles.

REINTRODUCING AMERICANS TO JESUS

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A group of private investors has launched a massive multi-million dollar ad campaign to reintroduce Americans to Jesus.

“He Gets Us” will reach people via TV, radio, digital ads, billboards, and experiential platforms. With a $100 million budget, it’s expected to start conversations among a wide array of people.

“Our focus is getting Jesus into the places where people are consuming a lot of media right now,” said Jason Vanderground, president of the marketing firm Haven, and one of the creators of the campaign.

“He Gets Us” follows nationwide research last year showing many adults in the U.S. aren’t sure what they believe and that many have negative views of Christianity.

Haven founder Bill McKendry says the campaign is targeting that audience. “‘He Gets Us’ is disrupting misconceptions by pointing out how Jesus identified with the marginalized, how He didn’t favor the powerful, how He often offended the religious by associating with social outcasts,” he said.

Dr. Ed Stetzer, the executive director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, says the research also shows that many people have a positive view of Jesus himself. “The hope of the ‘He Gets Us’ campaign is they might actually dig a little deeper,” he said.

The campaign’s ads focus on current issues like anxiety and crisis pregnancies.

“We looked at Jesus’ life and we looked at what the American public is going through right now and just said, ‘What are the things that are most relevant to people?‘” Vanderground explained.

In addition to the ads, the campaign also provides opportunities for people to chat, text and read passages of Scripture in an organized reading plan.

“The main goal is just to increase the respect and the personal relevancy of Jesus,” said Vanderground.

Stetzer says the campaign’s wide reach could lead to large numbers of people both seeing its ads and responding.

“We want to encourage people in this moment, a time of confusion and division,” said Stetzer. “Maybe this is an opportunity–not to vent everything we have an opinion about on social media–but to talk to our friends and neighbors about Jesus, who’ve seen these ads.”

The campaign is set to run through the end of 2022. It has to be good that Christian businessmen who do not want to be known are prepared to invest so much money in making Jesus known to people in a way that is relevant to them and who would not get to know Him any other way.

BIBLICAL ILLITERACY ‘UTMOST PROBLEM’ FACING GLOBAL EVANGELISM

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The biggest crisis facing the evangelical, global church today is the growing lack of biblical literacy worldwide, according to Thomas Schirrmacher, the newly elected secretary-general of the World Evangelical Alliance. I agree with him.

“Our biggest problem is that Bible knowledge is fading away,” Schirrmacher told The Christian Post. “This is the utmost problem we have beyond all theological differences, financial problems, and political questions.”

According to the State of the Bible 2020 report released by the Barna Group and the American Bible Society, U.S. adults who say they read the Bible daily dropped from 14% to 9% between early 2019 and 2020.

The study found that the proportion of Americans who read the Bible daily also fell to fewer than one in 10 (9%), the lowest number on record during the 10 years of the State of the Bible research study.

We are talking about God’s Word, our Creator’s Word, that He wants to convey to His creation. To those, He made in His image. What could be more important? It contains the message of who we are, why we are separated from our Creator, why the world is like it is, and more importantly what God has done and is doing to put it right. The Bible gives us an accurate history of this world so different from the godless evolutionary view inspired by the god of this world, Satan.

I use NKJ, ESV and New Living translations and can recommend Logos Software

Schirrmacher, who studied theology in Switzerland and the United States, and serves as the WEA’s Associate Secretary General for Theological Concerns, said that in the Western world “more and more kids that come from evangelical families are not really rooted in the Bible,” and many of them leave the faith.

In an increasingly polarized society, Schirrmacher also emphasized the importance of unity, stressing that the “biggest obstacle” to the spread of the Gospel are divisions within Christianity.

“We need to discuss much more and long for what is the DNA, I would say not only of evangelicalism but of Christianity,” he said. “What we have together is the Bible, Jesus, and the Gospel.” We cannot allow these central teachings of Christianity to fade away together with minor topics. Then, there will be nothing left.”

Fortunately, the good news is, God is active in His world. He will accomplish His purposes and it will unfold exactly as He tells us in His Word. As I have mentioned countless times before on this website, there are more prophecies about Jesus soon coming return then there were about His first coming to earth and there were more than 300 of those. It should be reason enough for everybody on this planet to want to spend time in His Word and for those who know Him to want to share the good news with others.

THE SACRIFICIAL WITNESS OF GOD’S PEOPLE

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The following article is an abbreviation of a great article that needs wide circulation at this time. The book of Revelation: A Love Story! October 20th, 2020 by Rob Dalrymple on the Patheos website http://www.patheos .com.

Rob Dalrymple says, I believe that the book of Revelation is a story in which the people of God are called by God to faithfully, lovingly, and sacrificially follow the Lamb for the sake of the nations. As a result, it is my contention that the book of Revelation is a love story.

When we learn to imitate Jesus, when we learn to love like Jesus, when we learn to lay down our lives for the sake of others like Jesus, then the nations might also follow the Lamb. When Jesus interacted with people, He loved them; He cared for them; He wept with them. 

 Dalrymple says I believe in the Lake of Fire. I believe in it so much that I do not want to see anyone go there. And I believe that the message of the book of Revelation, and the whole Bible for that matter, is telling us that the means by which people will be spared from the Lake of Fire is through the faithful, loving, and sacrificial witness of God’s people.

We need to be sure we are presenting to our world the loving God who made Himself known throughout the N.T. The loving God who is delaying His return so that all may be saved (2 Peter 3:9) as well as the just and righteous God who will pour out His wrath on a world that is totally corrupt doing evil continuously.

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.“ 2 Peter 3:9-10

GREAT COMMISSION UNDER THREAT

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In 2015, Michelle Higgins, a Black pastor and organizer, stood up before tens of thousands of people at a popular evangelical conference in St Louis, Missouri, and told them that, as she put it, “mission work was really an exercise in exporting racism, and that evangelicalism was a moral protection for white supremacy.”

Higgins criticized the pro-life movement as “a big spectacle” on Monday in St. Louis where 16,000 evangelical Christian students gathered together.

Today, her criticisms are gaining ground. “For the last five hundred years, Christianity has been influenced by Martin Luther’s effort to decentralize the church,” Lisa Sharon Harper, the founder of a progressive evangelical religious group freedomroad.us, told me. “For the next five hundred years, the principle effort will be decolonization.”

More important than how Harper and others conceive of the last 500 years is what they predict for the ensuing 500: decolonization. And this is necessitated because of what has happened over the past half-millennia (or, at least, since 1619), the global project of white supremacy: “mission work was really an exercise in exporting racism, and that evangelicalism was a moral protection for white supremacy.” There you have it.

These are arid and divisive ideas, ones that are infecting certain quadrants of American Christianity. Left unchecked, they will cause problems for Christian fulfillment of the Great Commission.

WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THE USA

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God is at work using individuals who are humble and committed to doing His work, His way. In the world’s eyes they are usually “nobodies” but in His eyes they are “somebodies”.

Take a look at this video and be inspired to step out as God intends for you to complete His mission where He has placed you.

noplaceleft.net is a movement of movements aimed at getting to no place left where Christ is not made known in our generation. Check them out for materials you can use for discipling people for Christ in your area of influence.

NIGERIAN CHURCH IS AS THE CHURCH IN LAODICEA

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Oscar Amaechina is the president of Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network, Abuja, Nigeria. He explains how the Nigerian church has failed to pursue the Great Commission and why.

The mandate of the Great Commission has been abandoned by Nigerian churches; we are no longer interested in advancing the kingdom of Christ to areas where Christ has not been preached. Western missionaries sacrificed their lives to give us the Gospel but we now merchandise it and all our churches are concentrated in cities and towns where offerings and tithes are large. This empire building and money making agenda in our churches have hindered the spread of the Gospel in Nigeria.

Oscar Amaechina is the president of Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network, Abuja, Nigeria. His calling is to take the gospel to where no one has neither preached nor heard about Jesus. He is the author of the book Mystery Of The Cross Revealed.

Our inability to reach the North with the Gospel and love of Christ is responsible for insurgency and terrorism in our country. While we were busy with selfish and prosperity messages in our churches and fellowships, the enemy went ahead of us with AK-47 and bombs and equipped our prospective target group with the instruction to wipe away Christianity from Nigeria.  The Church today is now a sitting Church instead of a going Church.  The true greatness of any church should not be measured by how many it seats but by how many it sends.

We have abandoned the going agenda and now engrossed so much with increasing the seating capacity of our churches. According to Roland Allen, missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual belief nor out of theological argument but out of love. Lack of love is responsible for this criminal negligence. We have monopolized Jesus for so long; let us start sharing His love, mercy and saving power with others. He did not die to save us alone; he died to save all, including terrorists. In Mathew 24:14 Jesus said that He will not come to take the saints until the Gospel is preached to all nations of the world. I strongly believe that no one has the right to hear the Gospel twice while there remains someone who has not heard it once no matter the race, tribe or tongue.

The knowledge of Jesus has saturated the southern part of Nigeria while the northerners are Gospel-starved. The place of electronic media in evangelism cannot be denied but many churches and men of God have been deceived by the devil to replace the going agenda with the broadcasting agenda when the Word of God is preached on television and radio.  Who do we really want to reach out to? Who are our target groups? Majority of the unreached in Africa continent do not have access to electronic media and the few that do, do not have any business with Christian programs and networks. The only veritable tool to be utilized in reaching the unreached is GO YE. Until we start going or sending missionaries to reach the unreached, the Great Commission remains an abandoned project.

It might interest you to note that about 64 million Nigerians have not heard about Jesus and we are comfortably building human kingdoms and empires. Churches have gone commercial.  Gospels are now for sale.  Multibillion properties are developed for sale. Banks, hotels, schools and universities are built to make money for the church and nothing is invested to reach the unreached. How many mission schools and hospitals do we still have in Nigeria? The bitter truth is that many of Nigerian pastors went through mission schools constructed and managed by Western missionaries with minimal payment or no school fees at all. Why can’t we extend this kind gesture to others and attract them to the saving power of Christ? Mission is not a ministry of choices for a few hyperactive Christians in the Church.  Mission is the purpose of the Church and the reason for the existence of every Christian.

We have two options to the Kingdom tension in Nigeria:  To aggressively pursue the mandate of the Great Commission and push the Gospel further North, or to remain in our comfort zones and show indifference attitude to the salvation of over 64 million Nigerians who are waiting for someone to tell them about Jesus. Whichever choice we make, there is a reward.  We are supposed to go back to the drawing board and bring out missiological strategies aimed at reaching to the dying souls in the world for lack of the saving knowledge of Christ. Churches should go back to the old time religion and act like the apostles in the book of Acts.

I believe that many churches and pastors are not into mission because the brand of their religion is not worth propagating. How do we preach prosperity to impoverished naked people? It is obvious that seed sowing will never work in such environments because they do not have any offering, seed or tithe to give.

The Gospel is only good news if it gets to the people in time.  We are supposed to do God’s business in a hurry because delay is dangerous.  For how long will this project remain abandoned?