Are you one of the 300?
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Are you one of the 300?
I’m not a die-hard denominational man. I grew up in a Free Will Baptist Church, and to this day I serve in in a Free Will Baptist church. But I’ve never called myself a Free Will Baptist. I only want to be a disciple of Christ. One of the distinctives of this blog is that none are here to push a denominational agenda or message. I'm not about to start now.
That being said...
A pastor-friend from Texas recently sent me a message that is being circulated throughout the Free Will Baptist denomination, calling on all Free Will Baptists to join together in a 40-day fast to pray for the nations, and for the missionaries. It’s ironic that I received this email just a day after I moderated an association-wide meeting of our denomination, in which churches were urged by the Executive board, eager to commission new young ministers into the work of the kingdom, to make a concerted effort to “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Luke 10:2)
First of all, this is an interesting thing for Jesus to say. "You want me to ask God… to SEND people to harvest… for HIM?" The farmer is telling me to ASK HIM to send more workers to work on his farm? Why? Why does he want me to ASK Him? It’s His harvest, His field, why doesn’t He just SEND them? It feels like a mother refusing to clean the kitchen until her 3-year-old begs her to, as if though she is trying to teach him how to say "please". This is His priority, why does He want me to ASK Him to send workers into HIS field?
If for no other reason, I believe it is in part because God wants us to have a DESIRE for the salvation of the nations, just like He does! If we are “ministers of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), sent to present the news to others that God has made reconciliation available to those who would repent and believe, then God doesn’t want us to be disconnected from the urgency of our message. Earlier in that passage in 2 Corinthians, Paul exclaims that he is “compelled” by “the love of Christ” to be a minister of the gospel. God wants us to WANT to see people being reconciled to Him, because of our love for Him and the desire to see His kingdom come! He wants us to get involved, heart and soul! He longs for reconciliation, and God wants us to long for it, too! We are going to be with Him for a VERY long time, and it is best if we start now to learn to forego those worldly pursuits we are tempted to chase, and to begin desiring the eternal things of God – to love what He loves, hate what He hates, mourn what He mourns, rejoice over what He rejoices! (Remember the three parables “The Lost Sheep, the Lost coin, The Lost Son” in Luke 15? In each of those parables, Jesus was challenging the jealous, hypocritical Pharisees to rejoice, and not grumble, that God was saving people from all walks of life!) A faithful believer will ask God to use him. An even more faithful believer will ask God to not only use him, but to send OTHERS as well!
Back to the call to a 40-day fast… I was reading the blog of Clint Morgan, general director of Free Will Baptist International missions today – the guy who put out the call to all FWB’s to join together in this fast – and he was discouraged that most likely, many Free Will Baptists would NOT choose to join him in such a sacrificial fast. He’s absolutely right. But a close friend reminded him: “God whittled Gideon's army down to 300 men and they did quite a bit of damage to their enemies." (To read more about this amazing true story, go read Judges 7).
There’s a powerful, sobering challenge that rises out of that. All of us want to see ourselves as committed Christians, willing to do whatever it takes to do God’s will and see His kingdom come. But when it comes right down to it, how many of us are truly committed to the call, no matter what sacrifice it may ask of us?
So I ask you… not as a Free Will Baptist, but as a disciple of Christ: when it comes time to step up your commitment to lay everything on the line, to make the heavy sacrifices to let God know you are serious about seeing His kingdom come, His will be done, the challenge goes out to you:
Are you one of the 300?
I’m not a die-hard denominational man. I grew up in a Free Will Baptist Church, and to this day I serve in in a Free Will Baptist church. But I’ve never called myself a Free Will Baptist. I only want to be a disciple of Christ. One of the distinctives of this blog is that none are here to push a denominational agenda or message. I'm not about to start now.
That being said...
A pastor-friend from Texas recently sent me a message that is being circulated throughout the Free Will Baptist denomination, calling on all Free Will Baptists to join together in a 40-day fast to pray for the nations, and for the missionaries. It’s ironic that I received this email just a day after I moderated an association-wide meeting of our denomination, in which churches were urged by the Executive board, eager to commission new young ministers into the work of the kingdom, to make a concerted effort to “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Luke 10:2)
First of all, this is an interesting thing for Jesus to say. "You want me to ask God… to SEND people to harvest… for HIM?" The farmer is telling me to ASK HIM to send more workers to work on his farm? Why? Why does he want me to ASK Him? It’s His harvest, His field, why doesn’t He just SEND them? It feels like a mother refusing to clean the kitchen until her 3-year-old begs her to, as if though she is trying to teach him how to say "please". This is His priority, why does He want me to ASK Him to send workers into HIS field?
If for no other reason, I believe it is in part because God wants us to have a DESIRE for the salvation of the nations, just like He does! If we are “ministers of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), sent to present the news to others that God has made reconciliation available to those who would repent and believe, then God doesn’t want us to be disconnected from the urgency of our message. Earlier in that passage in 2 Corinthians, Paul exclaims that he is “compelled” by “the love of Christ” to be a minister of the gospel. God wants us to WANT to see people being reconciled to Him, because of our love for Him and the desire to see His kingdom come! He wants us to get involved, heart and soul! He longs for reconciliation, and God wants us to long for it, too! We are going to be with Him for a VERY long time, and it is best if we start now to learn to forego those worldly pursuits we are tempted to chase, and to begin desiring the eternal things of God – to love what He loves, hate what He hates, mourn what He mourns, rejoice over what He rejoices! (Remember the three parables “The Lost Sheep, the Lost coin, The Lost Son” in Luke 15? In each of those parables, Jesus was challenging the jealous, hypocritical Pharisees to rejoice, and not grumble, that God was saving people from all walks of life!) A faithful believer will ask God to use him. An even more faithful believer will ask God to not only use him, but to send OTHERS as well!
Back to the call to a 40-day fast… I was reading the blog of Clint Morgan, general director of Free Will Baptist International missions today – the guy who put out the call to all FWB’s to join together in this fast – and he was discouraged that most likely, many Free Will Baptists would NOT choose to join him in such a sacrificial fast. He’s absolutely right. But a close friend reminded him: “God whittled Gideon's army down to 300 men and they did quite a bit of damage to their enemies." (To read more about this amazing true story, go read Judges 7).
There’s a powerful, sobering challenge that rises out of that. All of us want to see ourselves as committed Christians, willing to do whatever it takes to do God’s will and see His kingdom come. But when it comes right down to it, how many of us are truly committed to the call, no matter what sacrifice it may ask of us?
So I ask you… not as a Free Will Baptist, but as a disciple of Christ: when it comes time to step up your commitment to lay everything on the line, to make the heavy sacrifices to let God know you are serious about seeing His kingdom come, His will be done, the challenge goes out to you:
Are you one of the 300?
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