𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝑶𝒏 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑲𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔

𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝑶𝒏 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑲𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔

Last night I took a journey
To a land far "cross the seas;
I didn't go by boat or plane,
I trusted on my knees.

I saw so many people there
In deepest depths of sin,
And Jesus told me I should go
That there were souls to win.

But I said, "Jesus, I can't go
And work with such as these.'
He answered quickly, "Yes, you can
By traveling on your knees.'

He said, "You pray; I'll meet the need,
You call and I will hear;
Be concerned about lost souls,
Of those both far and near.'

And so I tried it, knelt in prayer,
Gave up some hours of ease;
I felt the Lord right by my side
While traveling on my knees.

As I prayed on and saw souls saved
And twisted bodies healed,
And saw God's workers’ strength renewed
While laboring on the field.

I said, "Yes, Lord, I have a job
My desire Thy will to please;
I can go and heed Thy call
By traveling on my knees.'

Source Unknown

God's Grace Surprises Me

God's Grace Surprises Me

When I first started out to plant our church in Seremban some 22 years ago, God had to teach us about the greatness of His grace. Mary (not her real name) was the first person whom we shared the gospel with and she accepted the Lord! We we really excited because that had happened in the first week that we had started our church.  Church planting was off to a great start.

We weren't ready for what happened next.  Mary's husband forbade her from attending our church (which was only 5 persons at that time) and she landed up following a relative to one of the largest churches in town. We were devastated.  Why God, did you send her to this large church?  Surely we needed her more. If this was the way it was going to go, church planting is going to be a long, long road.

Months later, a pastor friend of mine remarked that we had to give away our first fruit. Although his statement didn't seem to make the pain more bearable, it did teach me to surrender to God's ways which are beyond our understanding. 

Some years later, I was invited to speak at this same large church and after the service Mary came up and introduced herself. You know, I was real glad to see her and to discover that she had grown in the Lord and she asked me to pray for her husband. 

Still some more years passed by and one day, Mary visited me at our church with her husband who had by then accepted the Lord. What a pleasant surprise!  I need to also mention that in the intervening years this large church had twice donated new equipment to our church, again surprising me. More importantly, unknown to them, they had "returned a favor" when on more than one occasion, the pastor referred people to our church.

We kind of like to control things - including God's grace. We have no right to say Mary belongs to our church.  Her salvation is God's grace. God is free to send her anywhere.  That's what grace is. Bearing in mind that churches in some towns can be competitive, we have no right to receive gifts from another church in the same town. But this is what grace is.  Unearned and undeserved!

The prophet Elijah was discouraged because he felt that only he alone was faithful to God. God reminded him that He had 7000 believers who had not worshipped Baal. God was greater than what Elijah had thought (1 Kings 19:14-18).

The apostle John once saw a stranger casting out demons. This man was not one of their team and John had told this man to stop.  Jesus rebuked John and explained that His kingdom was much greater than John's perspective. (Mark 9:38-40).

My friend, God is much bigger than you think! Work hard, serve Him faithfully and diligently, but leave the results to Him.  He probably will surprise you!
Life is kind of exciting, no?


By A Church Planter,
Dhaka, May 11, 2012

#5 – Extending the Kingdom.

#5 – Extending the Kingdom.

Scripture: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

This kingdom is a spreading kingdom.  The final scene has a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb (Revelation 7:9).

The spread of the kingdom ends in front of the throne of God. 

This vision is the guiding light of the church’s mission.  Jesus says that we are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).  When we do this all other things will fall into its proper place. 

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus to achieve this task.  The King has commanded the citizens of His kingdom to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-19).

The King went through all the towns and villages to proclaim the good news of this kingdom when He was on earth (Matthew 9:35).  He did the same thing after His resurrection (Acts 1:3).  After His ascension, He continued to direct the mission from heaven.  No, not only from heaven since He says, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).  This is the King’s mission and passion.  When the final scene takes place, the King will be worshipped as the Lamb at the centre of the throne (Revelation 7:17). 

He will see the travail of His soul and be satisfied (Isaiah 53:11). Again He says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me” (Hebrews 2:13).

Lord I stand in the midst of a multitude 


Of those from every tribe and tongue 


We are Your people redeemed by Your blood 


Rescued from death by Your love .

 - Don Moen

Prayer:  

1.     Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:38).

2.     Pray for the salvation of family and friends who do not yet know the Lord.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.  John 15:16 NIV

Probably everything we do for God starts with God’s call to us.  Jesus says that we did not choose him but he has chosen and appointed us.  We can be certain that we are not acting on our own when we are sharing the gospel but that we are acting on delegated authority because Jesus says “all authority is given to me.  Therefore, go …”  During difficult times, we are encouraged that we have been chosen by Jesus himself and that we are not doing any ministry by our own authority or ego.  

We have been chosen to “go.”  Go denotes a movement, a change of location.  We have been commissioned to take the gospel to every people group.  Jesus has called his disciples to go into all the world and to preach the gospel.  Jesus did not call the world to go to church to hear to the gospel.  Therefore every disciple of Jesus needs to share his faith to his network of friendship, family, neighbours and associates.  What does this look like in your life?

This last week, I had been privileged to be part of the triennial Evangelism Explosion International Congress of Nations at Tirana, Albania.  There are about 250 EE leaders from some 87 nations gathered there to pray, deliberate and to strategize for the next 3 years.  The theme of “Till Everyone Hears” kept us all focussed on the job at hand.  And we were reminded that we were chosen by the Lord to do this work and that we were to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel of Christ.

Not only were we called to go but we are to bear lasting fruit.  Lasting fruit reminds us of the eternal value of souls saved.  The result of some work that we do are not lasting.  Many of those tasks are like building sandcastles by the beach.  When the tide come in, it will wash away whatever we have built, no matter how beautiful or majestic the structure is.  How sad it is when we put all our energy and effort into something that does not last.

Finally, when we obey and do what God has called us to do, God will provide for us.  Jesus says, “whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”  It was Hudson Taylor who said, “God’s work done God’s way will not lack God’s provision.”