What is That in Your Hand?

When God created man, He put within him a seed to reproduce after his own kind, just as He did with the animals and the vegetation.

"Then God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them'; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good." (Gen 1:11-12).

In this manner, apple trees produce apples and reproduce apple trees, orange trees produce oranges and reproduce orange trees, cats reproduce cats and birds reproduce birds. Apple trees will never produce oranges and dogs will never produce humans, nor will humans produce cows. The seed God has placed within enables us to produce after our kind.

When God blessed Adam and Eve and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it (Gen 1:28), He put within them the seed to fulfill that command. Likewise, when God created each one of us, He created us for a purpose. He put within each one of us certain talents and abilities. When we come to know Christ and He baptizes us with His Spirit, we also receive gifts of the Spirit. So we all have these talents, abilities, and gifts from God -- some more and others less. We must commit these to God, consecrating them for His service, so that He would be glorified by our lives. Then He will take those and use them for His glory in ways that go beyond anything we ever imagined.

Let's look at some examples from Scripture of how the Lord does this.

Moses Delivering Israel from Egypt
In our first example, we have Moses, whose parents noticed when he was a baby that he was no ordinary child. God had given talents and abilities from birth. Then he was raised in Pharaoh's household. He was "educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds" (Ac 7:22). But look at how he saw himself when God called him at age eighty to deliver His people from Egypt.

Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."  (Exo 4:10). That's typical for someone to view themselves as not having what it takes when in fact God has given them all they need.

When God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, Moses replied, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.'" (Exo 4:1). Listen closely to what God said to him. "The LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' And he said, 'A staff.'"  (Exo 4:2).

Moses did not have to go and find something he didn't have. God used what he already had in his hand, which was a common staff. God told him to throw it down on the ground, and when he did God turned it into a serpent.

Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. But the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail"--so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand-- "that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."  (Exo 4:3-5)

And thus with this staff Moses confronted Pharaoh, performed signs and wonders, parted the Red Sea, and delivered the people of Israel out of slavery. God used what He had put within Moses at birth, and He used the very staff that was already in Moses' hand.

Likewise, God will use the talents and abilities He has put within you, so that you can fulfill the purpose  for which He created you. He will use what you already have in your hand.

Saving Faith
It's the same with saving faith. Listen to the apostle Paul.

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?' (that is, to bring Christ down), or 'WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Rom 10:6-10)

See how it works? God has given each person a measure of faith inside their heart. When they hear the gospel, they already have a measure of faith. They simply need to get it to come from their heart, to their mouth, and out. With your heart you believe, but it is with your mouth you confess and are saved.

Confessing publicly before men that Jesus is Lord is essential to our salvation. I know a brother who spoke to his daughter the night before she got married. She had received Christ into her heart earlier in life, but he asked her if she had ever publicly confessed to anyone that Jesus was her Lord and Savior. She had not, so he encouraged her to do so. And when she did, her walk with the Lord changed in a wonderful way. She met up with other believers and began to grow. That marked the turning point where God changed her life.

We don't have to go looking elsewhere for a priest to confess our sins to, or a holy river to bathe in as the Hindus do, or a holy city to travel to on pilgrimage as the Muslims do to Mecca or the Catholics do to Rome. The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.

In fact, that's the way God created the universe. "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." (Heb 11:3). God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Whatever He wanted to create, He spoke it into existence, because He is God. Since He is God, He had within Him the Word necessary to create everything. And when He created you, He put within you what is necessary to accomplish the purpose He gave you in life.

David Defeating the Giant

Another great example is when David defeated Goliath the giant. Here were all these great warriors of Israel, older, stronger, more experienced in battle than David. But they were afraid of the giant and allowed him to curse the living God.

However, David did not put up with that. With the king's permission, he fought the giant. It was not with the king's armor that he did so. He could not wear the armor of someone else. Just as he had killed the lion and the bear who attacked his sheep without any armor, so he fought the giant without armor.

But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God." And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you." (1Sa 17:34-37)

It was his faith in God that made the difference. God was his strength and his shield. By faith, he took his stick in his hand, his sling, and chose five smooth stones.

"He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine." (1Sa 17:40)

You see how he did it? David slew the giant with a sling and five smooth stones. The giant mocked him for coming at him with sticks and stones, but by faith, David defeated him. God used what was in his hand.

Jesus Multiplying the Fish and Loaves
The final example I would like to give is our Lord Jesus multiplying the fish and the loaves.

"Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, 'Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?' This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, 'Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.'" (Joh 6:5-7)

Do you see the question the Lord asked to test them? "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" This was to test them, because the Lord already knew what He was going to do to feed them. When you survey the situation you find yourself in, you may be wondering, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" Your task may not be feeding a multitude of five thousand people as on that day, but it may be feeding your own family. Or it may be feeding those who come to your gospel rescue mission that you operate. Or it may be some other task that is unrelated to feeding people, but you may be wondering where you can go to find the resources you need to accomplish the task.

In Mark's gospel, he records Jesus asking the question of His disciples, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" (Mar 6:38a). This is the same way the Lord taught Moses when He said, "What's that in your hand?" He was teaching His disciples that they could do all things through Him with what they already had on hand.

Here is how they replied to His question: "One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 'There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?'" (Joh 6:8-9). Mark's gospel says, "And when they found out, they said, 'Five, and two fish.'" (Mar 6:38b).

All Jesus needed was what they had on hand. As soon as they told Him, he commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.

"And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish." (Mar 6:41-43)

The apostle John recorded it like this in his gospel: "Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted." (Joh 6:11)
 
Once they had sat down, He gave thanks, blessed the food, and broke the loaves. Then He kept giving it to the disciples to set before them, and He did the same with the two fish. So once again we have the same lesson as with Moses and David. God's supernatural power enabled the disciples to feed thousands with the food that one single boy had on hand.

Ex-Convict Finds Her Purpose
A friend of mine, named Jerry, works in a faith-based organization that helps people who have been in prison to get back into society and lead productive lives, rather than ending up back in prison. Normally the rate of recidivism in the USA is now about 77% (i.e., three out of four ex-offenders go back to jail in less than three years). But his group's rate of success is between 77%, and sometimes as high as 85%, meaning these participants get a job and stay out of prison. 

He told me the story of one woman, who had been incarcerated for a while and told him that she had never held any job at all and didn't "know how to do anything but sell drugs." Her mother had been a prostitute and she did not know her father. As Jerry was counseling her on what she could do in life now that she was out of prison, he asked her what was the last thing she remembered doing that was really enjoyable to her.

She said, "Well, drug dealing wasn't fun. That was scary." As she thought further, she said something like, "I remember one time helping my father take care of some animals, and I really enjoyed it." She helped brush their fur. So Jerry asked her what kind of animals, and she said, "All kinds -- cats, dogs, bunnies..." He asked if she minded picking up their feces or anything like that, and she said it didn't bother her at all. So he said, "That's it! That's what your supposed to do." Now she has a job working with animals, caring for them.

Putting it All Together
As we have seen from Scripture in these examples, the Lord will use whatever you have on hand. Once you have committed it to Him with thanks and prayer, He will by His supernatural power enable you to do whatever is necessary, in order to bring glory to His name.

It's easy for any of us to think we don't have anything to contribute, and to see others as more talented than we are. You might look at a concert pianist and wish you could play like they do. But they started with a raw talent and then honed it. The same goes for an artist who paints beautiful pictures, like Danny Hahlbohm. He told me it took him years to hone that talent. People don't come out of the womb painting with such skill. It has to be developed. But when we commit it to God, the Holy Spirit can do anything He wants to with it.

Let me ask you today, "What is that in your hand?" What are your talents and abilities? What are the skills you possess? What resources do you already have in your possession -- monetary and non-monetary? Once you take inventory of them and you know what you have on hand, then commit it to God with thanksgiving and ask Him to use it for His glory. Take what you have and put it to use. Then watch and see the great and marvelous things that God will do with your life.

You can watch my music video of my original song based on this article, called What is in Your Hand? here on Youtube. You can also view it on Rumble here.

Now I'd like to ask you an even more important question below....Do You Want to Know Him?

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. 
 
Author's note: If you would like to be equipped to use what's in your hand for God's glory, please consider enrolling in our international Doulos Training School. You are invited to read The Kingdom of God is Like This, Multiplication, The Link Between Two Realms, Be a Star for Jesus, God's Supernatural Hand in Crisis, Being a Witness for Christ, The Sin of Silence, Baptized with the Spirit, Gems from Heaven, Give Me Children or I'll Die!, and Covenant Prayer. You may find more articles about being fruitful and multiplying on the Home Page of this blog. You may also find my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Rescue Souls!

"Who Cares?" by Mauricio Palaucio

These are the last days. Time is up! Jesus is coming back right away -- sooner than you expect. The end has come. Tens of thousands of people are dying in sin, and going to hell every day.  In fact an estimated 163,964 people die in the world each day. That's 6,831 deaths per hour, which is 114 people leaving the earth per minute, or about 2 souls per second. By the time you finish reading this article, approximately 570 more people will have gone into eternity forever.

If we could see in the spirit realm, and watch these people falling down to hell, what would it look like?  How would we feel? What would we do? We would see the multitudes being led away to death, staggering toward slaughter. We would see them pouring into hell like the sands of the sea.  One moment they would be walking along unsuspecting of what was about to happen to them, and the next moment they would be going over the cliff into the abyss to eternal damnation, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

If you could stand within a yard (about a meter) from that cliff, watching those human beings, made in God’s image, heading for destruction, would you be passive? Would you say something to warn them? If so, how would you speak? Would you speak softly and gently to them, so as not to upset them or make them hate you? What kind of tone of voice would you use?

In my opinion, if I were standing near the edge of that cliff high above the abyss, watching those souls perishing, I would be screaming to them to warn them. “Hey! Stop! Don’t go any further! There’s a cliff right there! Turn back!” If we were all honest about it, we would probably all do something similar.  Perhaps you personally might begin by trying to speak gently to them, but once you saw that nobody paid any attention to you, then you would eventually start screaming.  You would probably be waving your arms, too. You would be doing anything you could to get their attention, so that they would stop going in the direction of the cliff, just a few steps away.

Since the Lord sees everything, we know that every day He witnesses these souls perishing, and He weeps for them. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Once they die and go down to hell, they are lost forever, but they remain eternally conscious of their torment. Hell was not created for man, but for the devil and his fallen angels (demons).  It’s a horrible place of darkness, totally separated from God, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Everybody in hell is ready to repent, but there is no repentance in hell. Everybody remains in the state they were in when they died. So if they did not repent on earth, they cannot repent in hell. Mercy is only available on earth, yet all those souls in hell are crying out for mercy.

That’s why we must rescue souls. We must rescue those being led away to death, and hold back those staggering toward slaughter. May the Lord give us compassion for the lost that are perishing every day. The devil has taken them captive to do his will. They are on a course for destruction, unless someone rescues them. I am reminded of the song of angels that was caught on tape in a Chinese prayer meeting in 1995.  In a place called Shandong, some believers were gathered together praying in the Spirit with a tape recorder recording them. When they played the tape back later, they heard angels singing in the Mandarin language.  The angels sang about the signs of the times that are happening, and the chorus for each stanza was this:

The end is near. The revelation of love has been manifested.
Rise up, rise up, rescue souls.
The end is near.
Rise up, rise up, rescue souls.

May that be our heart in these last days: Rise up, rise up, rescue souls!

Scriptures
“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?” (Pro 24:11-12, NIV)

“Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psa 82:3-4)

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.” (Pro 11:30)

"Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (Dan 12:3)

And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  (Mat 4:19)

“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.” (1Co 9:19)

"For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” (Mat 18:11)

"Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” (Joh 4:35)

"In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; Incline Your ear to me and save me." (Psa 71:2)

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” (Col 1:13)

“He has rescued us from a terrible death, and He will rescue us in the future. We are confident that He will continue to rescue us.” (2Co 1:10, GW)

“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.’” (Mar 16:15-16)

"And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed." (Mar 16:20)

If you would like to read the whole story of the Shandong Miracle and listen to the recording of the angels, singing that song in Mandarin, please see the article, “Angels Singing in a Chinese Church.”

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.  Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, where noted. The "Who Cares?" painting by Mauricio Palaucio is an illustration of General William Booth's vision depicting the Church's apparent lack of concern over the fate of lost souls. (William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army). This oil painting was commissioned in 1993 by Last Days Ministries (founded by Keith Green). Read William Booth's "Who Cares?" article. Order a 25" X 17" poster of this painting through LDM's website.
 
Author's note: If you would like to be equipped to rescue souls, please consider enrolling in our international Doulos Training School. You are invited to read The Sin of Silence, Baptized with the Spirit, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Rapture Revelation to Angelica Zambrano, Give Me Children or I'll Die!, Confrontational Evangelism, Michael Shigaba's End Time Message for Mankind, Rapture Revelation to James Agboola, Rapture Revelation to Ayodelle Sawyerr, The End Has Come, Covenant Prayer, How to Reach a Muslim for Christ, and Being a Witness for Christ. You may find more articles about being fruitful and multiplying on the Home Page of this blog. You may also find my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Sin of Silence

The sin of silence is when you fail to share the gospel with your neighbor. It has been said that the primary reason people fail to evangelize is fear.  Peter denied the Lord three times. Are we denying Him by our silence?

Jesus said, "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven." (Mat 10:32-33). 

The Man Who Is Content To Save Only Himself Is Not Even Saving Himself
The man who is content to save only himself is not even saving himself. Such a man may think, "Evangelism is for others, but not for me." Or "I'll leave that to the evangelists. That's not my gift." Others simply invite their friends to church, and assume they have done their duty. They figure that if the person comes to church, the pastor will preach the gospel to them. But the Lord commanded us, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit..." (Mat 28:19). He did not say, "Go therefore and invite people to church."

I'm not saying that someone cannot get saved by attending church.  But if we think the responsibility to evangelize the lost belongs solely to the professional ministers, we have missed the will of God. Every disciple must be making disciples. I believe it has been said that most people get saved by hearing the gospel from another individual they know, such as a friend or family member.  The majority of people don't get saved by hearing a sermon from a preacher at a meeting. So if we rely primarily on the preachers at meetings to preach the gospel, then most of the people who would have otherwise gotten saved will perish in their sin.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." (Mat 16:24).  It requires self denial and cross-bearing to share the gospel. If you follow Jesus, you will be imitating Him by sharing the gospel and being a witness to your neighbor.

Jesus also taught about the second greatest commandment of God. He said, "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mar 12:31). If we love our neighbor, how can we stand by while he goes to hell?

The apostle Paul wrote to Philemon, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." (Philemon 6, NIV 1984).  It is also my prayer that every one of you who read this article would be active in sharing your faith, too.

It Is the Duty of Every Christian To Evangelize To The Lost
Every Christian has a duty to evangelize the lost. We must warn them and let them decide where they want to go. You should not think to yourself that they would never repent, even if you shared the gospel with them. It's not your responsibility to make that call.

Do not be afraid of warning anyone because you are afraid that they will reject you. Even if they  hate you, even if your family members hate you, you must warn them. Do not be a man-pleaser or fear losing someone's love.

Hell is a terrible place, and if you really love someone you would rather that they be hurt now by your warning and escape from hell. Tell them the truth. As we warn them, those who believe will come to the Lord and those who don’t believe, your witness to them will be for their own judgment, a moment they will regret in hell forever.

Putting it All Together
God can use your testimony for Jesus and your witness for Him, but He cannot use your silence. The sin of silence will keep you from heaven. It is the duty of every Christian to evangelize the lost, so don't fail to evangelize!

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.  Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, where noted.
 
Author's note: You are invited to read Rescue Souls!, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Give Me Children or I'll Die!, Confrontational Evangelism, and Being a Witness for Christ. You may find more articles about being fruitful and multiplying on the Home Page of this blog. You may also find my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Life Transformation Groups

As I have already explained in my article, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, becoming a disciple of Christ is not simply a matter of claiming to be a believer. Nor is it simply saying you're a Christian or going to Church each week. Neither is it primarily an academic process.  Academics is more intellectual. It's all about getting head knowledge. Head knowledge can be dangerous.  Paul said, "Knowledge puffs up while love builds up." (1 Cor 8:1, NIV).  Becoming a disciple is a matter of the heart that requires loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself -- the two greatest commandments. It doesn't happen in a vacuum while remaining entirely secluded all by yourself all the time, although solitude is also very beneficial. Jesus spent time in solitude and so did His apostles, so we need to make private time alone with God a regular part of our lives. However, in addition to that, we need contact with others.

The Lord said that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there in our midst. "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Mt 18:20, NIV).  That's why I advise disciples to meet in groups of two or three on a regular basis. The men meet with men and the women with women. There are no mixed-gender groups. They meet face-to-face, in-person once per week together for about an hour for the purpose of discipleship.  This approach has been called a Life Transformation Group (LTG).

This follows the same approach that Jesus used in making disciples. He met with the multitudes and preached to them. He fed the masses, healed them, and delivered those who were bound by satan. But He did not necessarily make disciples of the masses. His work of making disciples was done primarily with the Twelve, and it happened over a period of three and a half years. It did not happen in a classroom, using textbooks and charts. It happened as they walked with the Lord daily, talked with Him, prayed with Him, watched Him operate, and listened to Him teach. At the end of three and a half years, He only had eleven of the original Twelve disciples remaining, but they turned the world upside down with the gospel after His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven, once He poured out His Spirit upon them.

There were other disciples besides the Twelve. He had wider circles through which He made disciples, such as the seventy-two.  They may have been part of the one hundred and twenty who gathered in the upper room to obediently wait for the Baptism with the Holy Spirit after His ascension. But He spent most of His time with the Twelve during His earthly ministry, especially with Peter, James, and John, and that is an example for us how to make disciples. It's not going to happen by listening to a pastor preach messages once per week on Sundays, although that may help. It's going to happen on a constant basis, as you daily walk with the Lord.

Criteria for LTG Membership
It's easy to start an LTG. All you have to do is find another person of your gender who 1) has a hunger for more of God in his or her life, and 2) who is willing to submit to the LTG process. Those are the only two requirements to be in an LTG. And to start an LTG, you don't need to have any Bible training or even be a leader. That's because you are not going to lead the group, and you are not going to teach the Bible. So what are you going to do then?

There are two basic things you do in an LTG -- breathing and reproducing -- which are essential to sustaining life of all living, breathing creatures on earth. I am using those natural functions figuratively to illustrate the spiritual process.

Breathing
The two-fold process of breathing involves inhaling and exhaling. Let me explain how these apply to the LTG.

Inhaling
When we inhale, we take in fresh, oxygen-rich air, which we need to live. We could say the same thing happens in the spirit. A disciple must inhale spiritually. We want to inhale the fresh, breath that God has exhaled. And the Scripture says that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16-17, NIV).

So in an LTG, we inhale or read lots of Scripture. The members of the LTG agree on a Bible passage to read each week that totals between twenty-five and thirty chapters. So for example, you could read the gospel of Matthew one week, which is twenty-eight chapters. Another week, you could read several of Paul's epistles, totaling twenty-five to thirty chapters. Or you could read one of Paul's epistles like Galatians, five times for a total of thirty chapters. But everyone in the LTG must read the same passage each week. Each LTG partner does the reading on their own throughout the week and must be finished before the weekly meeting. No Bible reading or Bible study is done in the LTG meeting itself.

Exhaling
When we exhale, we breath out air that our bodies have used, which contains waste material in the form of carbon dioxide gas. It's been expended, and we can no longer make use of it. Our bodies must exhale or else we would die. It's not enough to simply inhale and hold our breath. So in the spirit, exhaling is equally essential. We need to rid ourselves of those things that would be harmful if we hold onto them. That means we confess our sins to one another. James wrote: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (Jam 5:16, NIV).

So in an LTG, you confess your sins to each other. That's one reason why it is gender specific, because we don't want the men confessing their sins to women, and vice versa, since that is not appropriate.  And the members of the LTG must agree to keep strictly confidential what they say to each other. It is not to be repeated outside the group.

Reproducing
Everything God made on earth with seed within itself reproduces after its own kind. Seed-bearing plants do this, and so do animals, as well as humans. If humans stopped reproducing, they would become extinct. There are some nationalities that are going in that direction, because their death rate exceeds the birth rate. So this is essential.

When we reproduce spiritually, as disciples, we are making other disciples of people. This is in obedience to the Lord's command. He said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt 28:19-20, NIV).

Our reproduction as disciples begins by praying for the lost people we know in our circles of influence (family, work, neighbors, etc). So each member of the LTG shares the names of two or three people he or she knows that are not saved. And all the members of the LTG agree to pray throughout the week for those people by name.

The members of the LTG should also actively be a testimony for the glory of Jesus Christ each week by their words and actions. This will include share your faith in Christ with others each week. The best way to do this is to do so as you go through each day.  But it would be even better if you could also set aside a certain amount of time each week especially for personal evangelism.

Once there are three members in an LTG, if a fourth person wishes to join, that would indicate it is time for the group to multiply by becoming two separate groups of two members each. An LTG may not have more than two or three members.

Accountability Questions
When the group meets each week, they open in prayer, and then they each take turns asking five questions of each other. So one person can be the first to answer all the questions, and then the next person can do so, and then the third, if there is a third person.

1. How have you been a testimony this week for the glory of God with your words and actions?

You answer this by telling what you did to testify for Jesus to others in your circle of influence throughout the past week.

2. How have you responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit?

You answer this by telling how you have followed the leading of the Holy Spirit in things both great and small throughout the past week.

3. How have you experienced God in your life this week?

You answer this by specifically sharing any instance by which you experienced God in your life personally, such as in prayer, worship, an answer to prayer, God speaking to you through the Bible, etc.

4. Do you have any sin that you need to confess?

You may either answer yes or no. If you answer yes, then you should confidentially confess your sin to the other member(s) of the LTG.  It is assumed you have already repented to God, confessed to Him, and received His forgiveness. This is not time to condemn or criticize each other, but to commit to pray for one another in the area confessed, so that healing may occur.

5. How did you do with your Bible reading this week?

You answer by telling whether you finished the agreed upon passage of Scripture. If any member of the LTG has not finished the reading prior to the weekly meeting during their own time, then everyone in the LTG must once again read the same passage the following week, including those who personally finished the reading during the past week. This is not to make anyone feel condemned, but to get the LTG members reading lots of Scripture each week.

Irreducible Core of the Church
As I have already alluded to, the two greatest commandments are loving God with all your being and loving your neighbor as yourself. These Greatest Commandments, along with the Great Commission to go and make disciples, form the irreducible core of the Church. In other words, these are the three core aspects that must be present in every true, living church. You can strip away many other superficial things from the church, such as public buildings and paid staff, and still have these essential core elements. But without the irreducible core, the church is no longer viable, even if it is fully recognized by the public as a valid church. The irreducible core is a way of life that follows in the footsteps of Jesus. Wherever two or three disciples are gathered in Jesus' name, fulfilling the irreducible core, an embryonic form of the Church is present.

The Life Transformation Group is not intended to replace involvement in a local expression of the Body of Christ, where one exists. However, it does embody the irreducible core, so it is a biblical, Christ-honoring way of life. It can supplement the services of a local church (e.g. Sunday school, home group meetings, etc.), or it can be used as a key component of any church planting approach.

Effectiveness
I first began using this approach to making disciples in 2006, and over the past decade I have found it to be very effective. It is a repeatable process that can be implemented anywhere in the world in fulfillment of the Greatest Commandments and the Great Commission. The Lord has commanded us to make disciples, and this approach facilitates multiplication of disciples the way Jesus did. May the Lord help you as you adopt this way of life for His glory, so that you may achieve maximum fruitfulness wherever you may be in His vineyard.

DTS Students only: Download LTG Card here.

Continue reading How to Start an LTG.

Attribution: Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted. I want to thank Tom Johnston and Mike Chong Perkinson of the Praxis Center for Church Development, for teaching me about Life Transformation Groups by Neil Cole © 2000. For more information about Life Transformations Groups and other strategic resources visit Church Multiplication Associates (CMA). By the way, CMA has LTG cards containing the explanation of an LTG and the five questions, which you can order from them online. I recommend getting the blue cards with the five questions, rather than the red ones. Photo of butterfly courtesy of Fir0002/Flagstaffotos.

Author's Note: If you would like to become a disciple who makes disciples, please prayerfully consider enrolling in Doulos Training School, our international, distance education ministry. If you are already a DTS student, please download the LTG Card here. I also recommend reading How to Start an LTG, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, The Cost of Discipleship, and Multiplication. You are invited to visit the Home page of this blog, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. Partner with us online by giving to DMI.

Confrontational Evangelism

Christ Cleansing the Temple

The Lord’s mandate of the Great Commission is urgent and we mustn’t delay.  The Bible should be the standard for our evangelistic approach, and not some other means. Our goal is not to get men to like us but to preach the good news of the kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, call them to repentance, and ask them to turn to God. 

There are more examples in the Bible of Jesus and the apostles confronting people with Truth than of the friendly, indirect, long-range approach. In fact, we are hard-pressed to find any example where they did not confront people boldly and lovingly with the Truth, when they had the opportunity. Keeping silent about the gospel and delaying or neglecting direct evangelism is not taught in Scripture.  In fact, when the apostles were commanded not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, they refused to remain silent, saying that they could not stop speaking about what they had seen and heard (Ac 4:20; 5:40-42).

It was only at Jesus’ trial before Herod that He refused to say anything at all. But He had already previously delivered a message to Herod that was very bold, regarding the Lord carrying out His mission fully without interference from Herod, who wanted to kill Him. (Lk 13:32).

There are those instances recorded in the gospels, in which people came to the Lord without much said to them beforehand on His part (e.g., the thief on the cross, Zachias, etc). But when He did address people with words, He confronted anything in their lives that was not of the Kingdom of God.

God is love and requires us to love our neighbor. Yet Jesus taught us that if a town or village does not welcome or receive us we are to shake the dust off our feet as we leave there, as a testimony against them (Mat. 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5). That is a loving response, since Jesus would never command us to do anything unloving.

We are first disciples of Christ and then business men, not the other way around. That means our obedience to Him, our love for Him, and our commitment to Him take priority over any business transaction or opportunity to make money. Even our businesses must have as a primary goal of reaching the lost with the Gospel. If you have a price at which you can be bought, the enemy will surely pay it.

We should treat a customer or prospective client with love and respect, but we cannot treat them differently than anyone else or show favoritism because they are clients, or because we hope they will become one.

I ask you: Is friendship evangelism an enemy of soul winning, and is it actually friendship with the world?  In many cases, it can be. The Scriptures say, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (Jas 4:4).  Let us be careful that what we call evangelism is not hostility toward God.

For the Lord commanded the prophet Ezekiel to warn people boldly, so that they might turn from sin and be saved. He told Ezekiel that if he failed to warn them, then their blood would be on his hands (Ez 33:1-6).  This is very serious, so we must be careful not to conduct ourselves in such a way as to have men’s blood on our hands (Ac 20:36).

Every Plant the Father Has Not Planted Will Be Uprooted
The Lord Jesus always warned people boldly.  One such instance was when he said that the Pharisees worshiped God in vain, that they worshiped with their lips but their hearts were far from God, and they taught as doctrines the precepts of men.  He said that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles the man but it is what comes out of the mouth that does so.

"Then the disciples came and said to Him, 'Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?'" (Mat 15:12)

Matthew Henry, the seventeenth-century, English holiness preacher and Bible commentator, commented regarding this passage:

“The disciples thought it strange that their Master should say that which He knew would give so much offense; He did not use to do so: surely, they think, if He had considered how provoking it would be, He would not have said it. But He knew what He said, and to whom He said it, and what would be the effect of it; and would teach us, that though in indifferent things we must be tender of giving offence, yet we must not, for fear of that, evade any truth or duty. Truth must be owned, and duty done; and if any be offended, it is his own fault; it is scandal, not given, but taken…if we please men with the concealment of truth, and the indulgence of their errors and corruptions, we are not the servants of Christ… The doom passed upon the Pharisees and their corrupt traditions; which comes in as a reason why Christ cared not though he offended them, and therefore why the disciples should not care; because they were a generation of men that hated to be reformed, and were marked out for destruction.”

But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." (Mat 15:13-14). The Greek for for "let them alone" is "aphiēmi," meaning "forsake, lay aside, leave, let alone, let be, let go, put away." The Lord instructed his disciples to leave the Pharisees alone, since they were blind guides.

Matthew Henry made the following comments about this response of Christ to His disciples:

“Christ bids his disciples let them alone. ‘Have no converse with them or concern for them; neither court their favour, nor dread their displeasure; care not though they be offended, they will take their course, and let them take the issue of it. They are wedded to their own fancies, and will have every thing their own way; let them alone. Seek not to please a generation of men that please not God (1Th_2:15), and will be pleased with nothing less than absolute dominion over your consciences. They are joined to idols, as Ephraim (Hos_4:17), the idols of their own fancy; let them alone, let them be filthy still,’ Rev_22:11. The case of those sinners is sad indeed, whom Christ orders his ministers to let alone…Christ rejects the wilfully ignorant who care not to be taught…If the Pharisees, who made void the law, be offended, let them be offended…”

I think these are keys for us to remember as we proclaim the truth to people. We must not evade any truth or duty for fear of giving offense to others. We must own the Truth and do our duty and if anyone is offended by it, that that is his own fault; if we please men by hiding the Truth and indulging their errors and corruptions, we are not the servants of Christ. Christ did not care that He offended the Pharisees, because of the doom passed upon them and their corrupt traditions; and therefore we as disciples should not care if we offend others by proclaiming the Truth. For we live in a generation of men that hate to be reformed, and are marked out for destruction.

Confrontational Language of the Gospel
There are many instances in Scripture where Jesus and His followers used confrontational language to address people’s sin. Here are a few such examples:

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Mat 4:17b; 3:2)

"Repent and believe in the gospel." (Mar 1:15b)

"...unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luk 13:3b)

"You hypocrites.” (Mat. 15:7; 22:18; 23:13,14,15,23,25,27,29; 24:51; Mark 7:6; Luke 12:56; 13:15)

"You serpents, you brood of vipers…” (Mat. 12:34; 23:33; Luke 3:7;)

"You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Mat 23:24; cf. Mat. 23:16)

"You blind fools!" (Mt 23:17a)

"You blind men..." (Mt 23:19)

"You are like whitewashed tombs…” (Mat 23:27)

"You are like concealed tombs…” (Luk 11:44)

“Woe to you…” (Mat. 11:21; 23:13,14,15,16,23,25,27,29; Luke 6:24,25,26; 10:13; 11:42,43,44,46,47,52).

“But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.” (Joh 5:42)

"You are of your father the devil…”  (Joh 8:44a)

"...The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit." (Mt 21:43, NIV)

"How will you escape being condemned to hell?" (Mt 23:33b)

“You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?” (Act 13:10)

"You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it." (Act 7:51-53)

Here are some more examples of confrontational evangelism in Scripture:

Mt 4:17; 7:21-27; 8:19-22; 9:4-6; 10:7-8,14-20,22-27; 11:21-24; 15:3-13; 16:1-4; 17:15-17; 19:21-22; 21:12-16,23-45; 22:17-46; 23:13-39; Mk 7:6-13; 10:17-23; 11:15-18,28-33; 12:1-40; Lk 4:16-30; 5:21-26; 6:1-11; 7:39-47; 9:2,6,38-43,57-62; 10:10-16,25-37; 11:15-26,29-54; 12:1-12,49-59; 13:1-5,14-17,23-33; 14:1-35; 16:14-31; 18:18-25; 19:39-48; 20:1-19,21-47; Jn 2:18-21; Jn 3:1-21; 4:7-26; 5:16-47; 6:25-59; 7:4-8,15-38; 8:13-59; 9:35-41; 10:1-42; 12:34-36,42-50; 18:4-9,19-23,33-37; 19:10-11; Ac 2:14-41; 3:12-26; 4:1-20; 5:25-33; 7:2-60; 8:4-6; 13:6-12,15-50; 14:1-3; 22:1-22; 23:1-10; 24:10-21,24-26; 26:1-29; 28:23-29.

I encourage you to read through all the Scripture passages cited here, and see for yourself how the Lord and His disciples confronted people with the gospel lovingly. It often resulted in persecution.  It often resulted in people rejecting the gospel. It often resulted in people being insulted, offended (Mt 13:57; 15:12), enraged, cut to the heart, and humiliated (Lk 13:17; Act 7:54). It often resulted in people blaspheming, gnashing their teeth, covering their ears, arguing, and saying things that contradict God’s Word (Ac 6:9; 7:54,57; 13:45).  It also resulted in people becoming hardened and disobedient, even speaking evil of the Way publicly (Mt 26:65; Ac 19:19). But it also resulted in thousands of people, who were appointed to eternal life, putting their faith in Jesus Christ (Ac 2:41; 4:4; 13:48). And it resulted in the Word of the Lord reaching many people groups (Ac 2:9) and spreading throughout entire regions of the world (Ac 13:49; Rom 15:19,23).  That is what the Lord wants, so let us be obedient to Him.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from the NASB. Christ Cleansing the Temple, by Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1875

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend reading Rescue Souls!, Persecuted or Popular?, Give Me Children or I'll Die!, Here I Am, Send Me, Life is Short. Eternity is Not, Compassion for the Lost (poem), Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, The Rise of Antichrists, and Ask for the Ancient Paths. You are invited to visit the Home page of this blog, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Now is the Day of Salvation

On Sunday, October 26th, 2014, my wife and I had shared Jesus with a man down the street at a run-down, old house we passed by frequently.  That day as we were heading out in the van to evangelize to our community, we initially drove by his house as we were heading to another place, where we had usually evangelized.  But the Holy Spirit had me pull over, pray for guidance, and then turn around and go back to the old, run-down house. We had stood out there on the porch, knocking several times and heard his wife inside on the telephone, who even walked by the front door without answering our knocks. Through the open window on the porch, we could see the owner of the house sitting on the couch, smoking a cigarette, watching television. Finally the man, whose name we found out was Eddie, came to the front door and we introduced ourselves to him as new neighbors from down the street. He apologized that his wife had not answered, since she was on the phone. He said he was not feeling well, which is why he had not answered sooner.

We stood there for a while, getting acquainted with each other.  Somewhat further into the conversation, I asked if he had any spiritual beliefs, and he indicated he was a Christian.  So I asked him who Jesus is to him, and he said that He was his Lord. When I asked him where he would go if he died that very day, he said he hoped he would go to heaven. Although he claimed Jesus as his Lord, he was smoking and watching secular TV on Sunday. When I asked him why he thought God would let him into heaven, he replied it was because he helps people and does good.  I asked whether he would want to know the truth, if he found out that what he believed were not true, and he said he would want to know. So I offered to open the Bible and share some Scriptures with him, but since he was not feeling well that day, he said it would not be a good time for that.

Seeing that I would not have a chance to open the Scriptures with Him, I then simply preached the gospel to him, telling him we need to repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. I reminded him that we cannot trust in our own good works to save us, and that it is only by repenting from our sin and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved.  I told him it is only by trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross, accepting his free gift of salvation, and having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved. I reminded him that it is a narrow road to heaven, so we must strive to enter through the narrow gate, and that if we claim Him as our Lord, we cannot go on in sin, for example, smoking cigarettes, watching secular TV, and failing to keep Sundays holy, and think we are going to heaven.  If He is our Lord, we must obey Him. I probably told him, as I often tell people, not to put off repenting for later, but to do it today. With his permission, we then prayed for him to be healed of the flu like symptoms he had been having for the past few days prior to that, and prayed for his knees, which were bothering him from many years of working as an auto mechanic. We said goodbye and planned to go back at a later time to share the Scriptures with him.

That was nearly five weeks ago.  Now that I am back from my trip to Hungary, I was thinking about how we need to go back and share the Scriptures with Eddie.  However, during the past few days, I noticed there was a sign in front of Eddie’s home, advising motorists to please go slowly due to a recent death in the family.  As soon as I saw that sign, I became concerned that Eddie may have died.  I noticed an awning over a fresh grave at the cemetery near his home.  But when I checked the name on the grave, it was John and not Eddie.  I was thinking I needed to stop by Eddie’s home and give my condolences and find out who died.  But today (November 29th) when we drove by the cemetery, we saw another awning over a second new grave, and this awning had the name of the same Smith Funeral Home printed on it that was on the sign in front of Eddie’s house.  So I stopped and checked the grave, but it was so fresh that no name was on it yet.

Then I stopped by Eddie’s house with my youngest daughter and paid a visit.  An old lady answered, named Therry, who was either his mother or mother-in-law visiting from out of state.  I mentioned the signs out in front of the house indicating a recent death in the family. She said that Eddie had just died on Monday (November 24th), and they had just buried him today.  I was shocked.  She said that on Monday he collapsed dead on the couch, supposedly of a heart attack, and the emergency personnel were unable to resuscitate him. He was only sixty years old!

We don't know what happened to Eddie, whether he repented of his sin before he died.  Our Father knows, but we do not. We can only hope Eddie repented fully of all his sins, and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ before he died, because mercy is only available while we are on earth. Hell is full of people who wish they could come back to earth for just one minute, so that they could repent.  Most people who once gave their life to Jesus and then returned to living in sin or went back to the world, don't heed our warnings when we try to tell them to repent and return to Jesus.  We find they usually just continue living as they were before we spoke to them.  They don't realize that tomorrow isn't certain.  All they have is today, and tomorrow they could be dead.  In the case of Eddie, he died only four weeks and one day after we preached the gospel to him.

I believe we were successful in sharing Jesus with him, because we did our part.  Even if he did not repent, our sharing the gospel with him will be for his judgment.  Our success is not based on his response.  It's based on our obedience to God.  It is the duty of every Christian to evangelize.  Don't neglect to evangelize, because you never know if it will be the person's last opportunity to repent.  Your voice may be last one they ever hear.  As the Scripture says, "'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor 6:2).  If you are not living for Jesus and serving Him, then don't delay another day!  The time has come. Repent for the kingdom of God is near.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Most other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend reading Life is Short. Eternity is Not, Drifting Away, Is Obedience Optional?, Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations, Rachael Mushala Testimony of Hell, Zipporah Mushala’s Second Testimony of Hell, Zipporah Mushala’s Third Testimony of Hell, Keeping Sundays Holy - Part I, Keeping Sundays Holy - Part II, and Ask for the Ancient Paths. You are invited to visit the Home page of this blog, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Here I Am, Send Me

God in His wisdom has chosen to involve man in His loving plan to save mankind.  The price for sin has been paid, for our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased our salvation with His blood shed on the cross, but messengers must still proclaim the good news. While the eternal destiny of souls are at stake, the Lord has chosen to rely on His people to complete the rescue mission.

Have you offered yourself to the Lord to be one of His messengers?

The Need
Every minute there are thousands of people tripping into hell.  Whether or not they hear and obey the gospel will have eternal consequences. This is an issue of the highest level of seriousness. The King of kings wants us to come and consider this matter that He is working on, and to join Him in His work. He is willing to put responsibility on us. God has delegated this to us and He's counting on us. If we fail, then there are at least two possible consequences:

1.    Souls will needlessly perish (see Lk 13:3,5; Jn 3:18)
2.    We will be guilty of their blood (see Eze 3:17-19; 33:6-9; Act 20:26-27; and  Ultimate Accountability)

The apostle Paul laid out the need for messengers so well!  First he explained the message of the good news that must be proclaimed.  Here is the message:

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Rom 10:8-13)

Then Paul explained through a series of questions why messengers are needed. He said:

“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’” (Rom 10:14-15)

Let’s look at each of Paul’s questions. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? They cannot. How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? They cannot. And how will they hear without a preacher? They cannot. How will they preach unless they are sent? They cannot.  Everyone needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ at least one time, so that they can have an opportunity to believe in Him and call upon Him and be saved.  And in order for that to happen, they need a preacher, who must be sent to them to tell them the good news.

Jesus expressed the need for laborers this way:
“Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He *said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.’” (Mat 9:35-38)

The harvest has always been plentiful and the laborers have always been few.  The masses take the highway to hell, and very few seek to reach them with the gospel.  That's why nobody who has obeyed the call should ever have to return to secular work due to lack of funding, because the need for laborers is so great.  God wants us to have deep concern and compassion as He does.  He wants us to pray about it, and eventually as you pray for Him to send forth laborers into His harvest, He may send you.  Until then, as you continue to pray, you can give financially to support the ones who have already been sent out.

The Sending or Great Commission
And Jesus did send out messengers. 

“But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Mat 28:16-20).

First of all, He had instructed them to go to a certain mountain in Galilee.  They obeyed and met with Him there.  And up there on the mountain in His presence, they worshiped Him.  They would not stay on that mountain, since none of them lived on it. They would all need to go from that place once He ascended.  And He commanded, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…”

A Reiterative Process
Jesus commanded the eleven to go and make disciples and teach them to do everything He commanded them to do. The eleven apostles went and made disciples and taught them to observe everything Jesus commanded them (the apostles) to do.  The disciples of the apostles then went and made disciples in obedience to what Jesus commanded the eleven apostles to do and instructed them to observe everything Jesus commanded the eleven apostles to do. This process has repeated itself throughout the generations.

I would like to emphasize that disciples are expected to do what the eleven apostles were told to do. Some people think what Jesus commanded was just for the eleven apostles to do, but it's for every disciples to observe.

Still Unfulfilled
If you know Jesus today, it is probably because others have obeyed the Great Commission down through the generations.  But just because you may have received the gospel does not mean the commission has been fulfilled yet, so we do not have the privilege or luxury of sitting back idly or sleeping during harvest. This is not the Great Suggestion in the sense that it is optional.  It is necessary that we all proclaim the good news. And no matter where we go, the Lord has promised to be with us always. 

Earlier Sendings
The Lord had previously sent out the twelve and seventy others. From these earlier commissions or "sendings", we can learn more about how to go and what to say and do.

The first time He sent out the twelve it was like this:

“Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness....These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: ‘Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.’” (Mat 10:1-20).

And when He sent out the seventy others, it was like this:

“Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ‘Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ‘Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. ‘Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house.' ‘If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. ‘Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. ‘Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' ‘But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' ‘I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.” (Luk 10:1-12)

“The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. ‘Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. ‘Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.’” (Luk 10:17-20)

Preach the Gospel to All Creation
So we know that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, and He has commissioned not only the twelve and the seventy other, but all of His disciples to go and proclaim the good news to all creation.  That was part of the reason He initially called His disciples:

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’" (Mar 1:17).  If you have decided to follow Jesus, then you have signed up to become a fisher of men.

At the end of Mark’s gospel, he records the Great Commission in this way:

“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’” (Mar 16:15-18)

It was clear from Mark’s gospel that the Lord sent out His disciples not just to preach but to cast out demons and heal the sick in His name.  That’s why it is so important to ask for the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and then wait to receive it, so that you are endued with power to be His witness.

Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Act 1:8)

Jesus Sends You!
Just as the Father sent Jesus, He sends us.

“So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’”  (Joh 20:19-21)

The Lord is still saying to His disciples today, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”  He is a sending God, because He has compassion for the lost and doesn’t want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Offering Your Life
Have you obeyed the Great Commission?  Have you offered your life to the Lord to go and proclaim the good news?  Let me share with you what happened to Isaiah the prophet.

“In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isa 6:1-8)

Isaiah was related to King Uzziah, his cousin, who had recently died.  And the Lord took Isaiah up to the throne room of God to see the King of kings. He was sitting on His throne, high and lifted up.  God is not like us. He is awesome and mighty. The train of His robe filled the temple.

When you stand in the holy presence of the Lord, you are humbled and realize His greatness and your true condition.  He is not just holy, but thrice holy in the most perfect way. Even the holy angels who declare this truth in His presence are created to be awesome.  The mightiest heavenly beings love and fear Him.  The very sound of their voices giving God praise caused the thresholds to shake and the heavenly temple to fill with smoke.

It’s easy to think of somebody else who would be a better messenger, rather than we ourselves.  It’s easy to think of all the reasons why we are not fit for such an awesome task.  Like Isaiah, we feel so unworthy.  He actually felt a holy terror, saying, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!”

The thing that Isaiah realized was that even though he was a prophet of God, seeking to live righteously before the Lord, he was still a man of unclean lips and he lived among a people of unclean lips.  We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all need salvation.

The angel took the live, hot coal from the altar that was burning with holy fire.  He touched Isaiah’s lips with that coal and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.’

How could an angel administer atonement to the prophet?  Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins.  I think that this altar in heaven that was burning with holy fire represented the sacrifice of Christ on the cross that was still yet to happen in time. Yet in eternity there is no time. 

And with Isaiah standing right there in God’s presence, the Lord asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” This is very interesting, because God can do anything He wants and He knows all things. He was asking this question, not because He lacked information, but in order to express the need and wait for Isaiah to respond.  That’s the way God works.  He wants us to offer ourselves willingly in His service. 

Isaiah’s response was to say, “Here am I. Send me!”  I pray that will be your response today in the presence of the Lord.  As He considers the thousands that are perishing every minute, as they die and go to hell, He still asks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” May you respond as Isaiah did, “Here am I. Send me!” 

This is not just for certain people to offer their lives as a sacrifice to God, but for all disciples.  Paul said,

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Rom 12:1)

Do you have the same attitude that Paul had when he said, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” (1Co 9:16).

Are you under compulsion to proclaim the good news to the lost?  Paul knew that if he neglected the call to do so, he would be in big trouble. He said, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”

His whole life was devoted to completing that task.  He said, "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” (Act 20:24)

We need cross-loving men and women today who will say, “Lord, I offer my life to you as a living sacrifice.  I am under compulsion to preach the gospel. The love of Christ compels me! Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.  I consider my life as worth nothing to me so that I may testify of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Going Forth on the Great Adventure
When you do this, you will embark on a great adventure with God.  He will take you at your word and you will become like Abraham of old, the father of the faith.

“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;’” (Gen 12:1-2).

The Lord has called many people to go forth from their country and from their relatives and from their father’s house to a land the Lord has shown them.  For many this has been to foreign nations. Many have been sent away from their hometowns to other lands for the sake of the gospel.  And they have gone forth with God’s blessing to make the name of Jesus great. But the important part is that you go to the land that God will show you.  As long as He is in control, then you will be in the place where He needs you to be.  You will be going forth on the great adventure in a walk of faith.

Putting it All Together
Will you look at the fields that are ripe for harvest?  Will you see that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few?  Will you pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest? Will you have compassion for the lost, those who have never had the chance to hear the gospel even once?  Will you look and see that they are they are distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Will you recognize the need?

How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent?

Will you accept your call as a disciple of Christ to become a fisher of men? Will you hear God saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Instead of saying, “Send someone else,” will you willingly offer your body as a living sacrifice to God, and in His presence say, “Here am I. Send me”? I encourage you to do that right now.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend reading Give Me Children or I'll Die!, Rescue Souls!, Compassion for the Lost (poem), Ultimate Accountability, Fishers of Men - the 419 series, Be a Star for Jesus, International Impact of Pentecost, Multiplication, and How to Reach a Muslim for Christ. You are invited to visit the Home page of this blog, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.