I remember hearing a pastor say one time--"you can not have revival until you have vive." I know what that means. We sometimes have a series of meetings simply because its in our constituion, but there is no revival because we are dead spiritually and not seeking a movement from God.
As I was reading some things today, I thought about that. The GCRTF (Great Commission Resurgence Task Force is meeting in San Antonio. There has been a lot of TALK by many (all of us). Compared to our discussions ABOUT the Great Commission, how much time are we now spending in obedience to it? Yeah - I am sure there will be a lot of discussion. We will probably have some heated debates about proposals related to it. But will we be obedient to it?
Can there be a resurgence if there has not yet been a "surgence?" There is little evidencce of the stats about the church to render a verdict of "guilty" of obedience to the command of Christ. 94% of we evangelical Baptists never share the Gospel. Much of our "growth" in the local church is merely moving the "sheep" into a new pasture as opposed to birthing new lambs.
I shared with the messengers last night a statement that God keeps convicting me of in recent days. There is NO EXCUSE for a Baptist Church to be in decline UNLESS we want to be in decline. There are so many resources available to us. Most of us have been trained and certified in some plan of action to reach the lost, but we fail to go out and reach the lost. I think Jesus taught that obedience to His Word marks whether or not we love Him/are His followers. He taught that IF we would FOLLOW HIM, then He would make us "fishers of men."
With the stats I am seeing, the truth glares us in the face. Simply put, for the kost part, we are NOT following Jesus no matter what we say.
Please join me in praying for revival in the church and a spiritual awakening in our communities. Pray with me for the Lost of our communities. And commit with me to reach out to the lost and share the Good Nedws of Jesus Christ.
"First Friday Times of Prayer" begins Friday, February 5th at TRBA large conferencce room. Come join me as pastors (and bring your friends) to pray for our communities and out churches.
2 comments:
You're right, Dougald. I'm finding that it takes time and persistence to see a congregation become healthy to the point of caring and then walking in the Spirit so that it translates into action. As a pastor, it is my responsibility to live this first and consistently. Thanks for the message, brother.
You're right, Dougald. I'm finding that it takes time and persistence to see a congregation become healthy to the point of caring and then walking in the Spirit so that it translates into action. As a pastor, it is my responsibility to live this first and consistently. Thanks for the message, brother.
Post a Comment