I have just returned from a wonderful week in India with two of my closest friends. It is almost impossible for me to put into words the experience. We were blessed to see much of the city of Calcutta and the surrounding areas. We worshipped and fellowshipped with other Christians and saw first hand the work of the Holy Spirit and the message of hope that the Gospel brings to those that will follow Christ. I was blessed by those that we met with. I was reminded of the simplicity of the Gospel, "that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:15 & 16
I was also reminded that in Acts 1:8 Jesus Christ promised His followers that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit, and that they were then to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth. I went to India with the mindset that we were going to the uttermost parts of the earth to share Christ and encourage fellow believers. A truth that I discovered while in India is that many of the believers in India look at America as the uttermost parts of the earth. I also returned home with an assignment to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with more purpose in my Jerusalem - Atlanta, my Samaria - America, and the uttermost parts of the earth - the entire world.
Much has been written over the centuries about the call of each Christian to share the Gospel through local and foreign missions. Strategies have been shared and evangelistic tools have been created to help us in this task. However, I can't help but think that we have really missed what God has called us to do. It is not about adding people to our church rosters, but rather about multiplying His disciples in our neighborhoods, our places of employment, and our sphere of influence. For each of us that call Christ, Savior and Lord, we must accept this incredible honor of sharing the "Good News" of Jesus Christ, in our city, in our country, and in the world.
Herb Hodges' writes in his book Tallyho, the Fox
I was also reminded that in Acts 1:8 Jesus Christ promised His followers that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit, and that they were then to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth. I went to India with the mindset that we were going to the uttermost parts of the earth to share Christ and encourage fellow believers. A truth that I discovered while in India is that many of the believers in India look at America as the uttermost parts of the earth. I also returned home with an assignment to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with more purpose in my Jerusalem - Atlanta, my Samaria - America, and the uttermost parts of the earth - the entire world.
Much has been written over the centuries about the call of each Christian to share the Gospel through local and foreign missions. Strategies have been shared and evangelistic tools have been created to help us in this task. However, I can't help but think that we have really missed what God has called us to do. It is not about adding people to our church rosters, but rather about multiplying His disciples in our neighborhoods, our places of employment, and our sphere of influence. For each of us that call Christ, Savior and Lord, we must accept this incredible honor of sharing the "Good News" of Jesus Christ, in our city, in our country, and in the world.
Herb Hodges' writes in his book Tallyho, the Fox
My prayer is that each of us that claim to be followers of Jesus Christ would take seriously the call to make disciples at home and to the uttermost parts of the earth. I would encourage those of you that follow this blog to begin to examine the word "disciple" and see what it really implies. I will begin to share some of my thoughts and research concerning discipleship in upcoming blog posts.Jesus intends His church to be a truth-telling, educational, feeding fellowship. And this is the assignment of every believer. "By all means" (I Corinthians 9:22) - spontaneous word, prepared testimony, formal teaching and preaching, the dissemination of tracts, books, magazines, letters (God is high on letters), cassette and video tapes, radio and television, face-to-face and at a distance - the Christian's goal should be to influence, to bend, to sway, "to win some."
