The Command, Not the Call

My family. Friends. Basketball on Sunday afternoons. Oreos. Watching the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys. Driving fast. Competion. Money. Education. Career. Marriage. Future. Dreams. Goals. Life.


I love/want/enjoy/like/think about/prepare for all of these. I could write a 5,000 word blog about all of these things—with 4,500 words being dedicated to how much I love my friends and family.

But that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about a number: 6,685.

This is the number of unreached people groups in the world who have never heard the gospel according to the IMB.

6,685.

There are 11,571 people groups in the world and over half of that number (6,685 people groups) have less than 2% of the population reached for Christ.

I was floored when I read this statistic. It is 2011. We live in a world with the IPhone, IPad 2, Skype, and other amazing technological advancements. We live in a world where over 90% of the world knows what Coca-Cola is, but over half the people groups have never heard of Jesus.

What in the world are we who are called Christians doing? A “Christian” is someone who is following Christ. If we were truly following Christ we would be urgently carrying out his last words:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

These are the last words that Jesus said to his church, and they were important. Yet somehow we have missed it too often. Sometimes I miss it. Followers of Christ are supposed to follow him in all that we do as he has commanded us.

David Platt says, “Thousands of people groups have not yet been reached with the gospel, and Jesus has commanded (not merely called but commanded) us to get the gospel to them. So for you and me not to be intentionally engaged in taking the gospel to unreached people groups is disobedience to the command of Christ.”

Do we ever think about it that way? That it is disobedient to not be carrying out the great commission? I think that we explain it away by saying that it is the pastor’s job, or we don’t have time, or that God has not called me to do that, or some other weak argument that is nothing but disobedient to what Christ commands us to do: make disciples of all nations. This is not a call; it is the command of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We need to be intentional about sharing the gospel with people of every nation. Sometimes I know that I can fall into this trap. It is the trap of planning. I am not saying planning is a bad thing, but sometimes I can be so focused on planning that I never get to work. I could spend too many hours trying to figure out what an unreached people group is, which groups are “reached” and “unreached,” or what is God’s plan for my life? This can get in the way of actually doing the work that Christ saved me to do.

George Ladd, a Baptist minister in the 20th century says it this way, "God alone knows the definition of terms. I cannot precisely define who 'all the nations' are. Only God knows exactly the meaning of 'evangelize.' He alone...will know when that objective has been accomplished. But I do not need to know. I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned; therefore the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms of our task; our responsibility is to complete it. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission."

Now what does all this have to do with the people I love dearly, Oreos, and the World Series?

I got to thinking—in light of all of the billions of people who have never heard the gospel, am I willing to give up everything to tell them about Christ? Will I leave it all behind to take the gospel to the furthest corners of the earth? Do I, like Paul, “make it my ambition to preach the gospel,” to people who have never heard? Do I count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord?

Do you?

Life in this World

Life is not easy. Every day brings new trials and tribulations. You have an exam tomorrow that determines if you graduate. Your grandfather has cancer. Your parents blindside you with news that they are getting a divorce. You feel that no one loves you.

Each day new troubles are piling up, and you know what, it is hard! It is not fair. You spend all your time and energy pursing a dream, loving someone, preparing for the future, and in almost an instant—your world falls apart. Your joy is taken from you. The troubles of your day are just too much.

Does anyone care? Does anyone see? Is there any hope? Is this all?

Despair, sadness, hopelessness, dissatisfaction, frustration, burdens, fear, anger—any or all of these emotions overwhelm you.

But there is a voice calling softly. Can you hear it?

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

I have come that you may have life.

I am the way.

Follow me.


I will not leave you or forsake you.
I love you.

There is hope. There is freedom. We can have joy. There is another life after this. There is a Risen Savior. He has conquered death. He is alive today! He loves you!

Jesus has been there before. Remember?

He saw the faith of the four men and the paralytic as the man was lowered through the roof.

He gave the Samaritan woman living water at the well.

He instantly healed the woman who had been stricken with disease for 12 years and spent all that she had in search for the cure.

He saw the grief stricken widow as she was going to bury her son. He had compassion on her and raised her son back to life.

He wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Not because his death was final, but because his heart was broken by the grief of those he loved.

He had mercy on the blind, whose voices could be heard above the roar of the crowd.

What did he do for those people? He looked at them. Had compassion on them. Loved them. He healed them. He said, This is not all. Life is not hopless. Let me let you in on a little secret. You can have joy. I am the messiah.

You may be skeptical while you are reading this. Oh, this sounds so wonderful! It is almost too good to be true. Okay, so yes, Jesus was able to help all of those people, but that was 2000 years ago.

Guess what? He wants to help you today. He wants you to have assurance of eternal life, follow him, trust him, believe in him, love him, and he wants you to know that you are not alone.

How do you think that these people felt when they were going to Jesus? They were laying it all out there for the world to see. What shame they would have felt if Jesus would have rejected them. How embarrassed they would be if Jesus could not help them. Yet, they still went to Jesus. They were asking the impossible—but with God all things are possible.

Read Luke 8:40-56.

Meet Jairus. A prominent man. He is highly thought of and well respected by his peers. A leader of the community. A ruler of the synagogue. This is a man who is top dog. Everyone knows who he is—he is the guy that has it all figured out. He is happily married, has wonderful kids, a 401(k), two brand new cars and a $250,000 home—you know this guy. You probably see him every day or he is you.

Suddenly, disaster strikes. His perfect little world is rocked to the core. His baby girl is sick. His one and only twelve year old girl is going to die if she doesn’t receive help soon. What does he do? He has it all, but now what he loves most in this world is about to be taken away from him. He has tried everything, but no one can help him.
He hears about a man named Jesus who can heal sick. Some say he is crazy while others think he is the messiah. Jairus is faced with a choice: ignore possibly the only hope his daughter has to live or swallow his pride and go to this lowly carpenter and ask him to save his daughter.

What will you do?
Jesus is calling. He is asking you to repent of your sins and make him the Lord of your life. He promises that he will come in and be with you forever. Will you give it all up for him? He is the only one who can save you.
Or maybe you have already made the decision to follow Christ, but life is not easy. It is not as perfect as you want it to be or as you thought it would be. You have been beaten down by the battle of each day. The storms in your life are distracting you for Jesus.
Turn your eyes back to him. Like Peter, you may have looked at all of your problems and are sinking in the sea of desperation and hopelessness. Focus on Him. He will pull you out.
Christ is the hope that is in us. He is alive! In him we have life and joy! Rejoice in the risen Savior! Do not allow the troubles of this life to steal your joy in Christ. Run your race. Seek him first. He will be with you through it all. You can have life in this world in the Redeemer.

Who is the Lord?

Who is God?

Simple question right? But I am serious. Who is God? The great I AM? The Father? Who do you think he is? What you know about God: is it just something you have heard all your life, or do you really know based on what you have read in the Word, learned in church, and experienced in your life?

I want to know God. Really know Him. To walk with Him daily. Before the fall Adam and Eve got to walk with the Lord. What a wonderful picture. We were created for Him and by Him. He longs to walk with us each day.

This morning I wanted to learn what God had to say about a particular topic. I found the answer, but He also showed me something else—so much more than I had hoped to hear and learn.

He led me to Psalm 103.

You know, God is awesome!

It is so cool when you are in the moment and He is teaching you something and you know that you are hearing what He wants you to hear at that time.

If we want to know who God is we have to look at the entire Bible. If we just look at one section, say in the Minor Prophets, we would get a completely different picture than if we read the book of 1 John. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and He wants us to know Him.

There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. In just one chapter, Psalm 103, he revealed 19 traits that I counted. If you find more let me know.  Here is what I found about God:

·         Forgives my iniquities

·         Heals disease

·         Redeems my life from the pit

·         Abounding in steadfast love

·         Mercy—He is merciful

·         Satisfies with good

·         Renews us

·         Righteous

·         Just

·         Makes His will known

·         Acts in our lives

·         Gracious

·         Slow to anger

·         Gives us many chances

·         Forgives us—as far as the east is from the west

·         Compassion

·         Creator

·         Everlasting

·         Keeper of promises

In just one chapter there are 19 truths about God. I made the list and looked each one over. Every single one of them is true. We can see that throughout the Bible time and time again.

Last time, I wrote about spiritual makers and how it is important for us to do to remember what God has done for us. After I made the list I went over each one and thought about how God had manifested Himself to me in that way. It was extremely exciting to count back all the blessings and things that God had done before my eyes. He reminded me of some of the ways He had worked that I had forgotten about.

I was renewed just studying this. This is my God! I have the privilege to serve Him and He loves me and wants to walk with me daily! How sweet is that? And to think, these are just a few of the characteristics of the Father. I’d love to do a deeper study and discover all of who He is and wants to reveal to us.

Verses 20-22 are the perfect ending to the chapter. This was David’s response after he told of God and His work in his life.

Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
   you mighty ones who do his word,
   obeying the voice of his word!
Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
   his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the LORD, all his works,
   in all places of his dominion.

 Bless the LORD, O my soul!

That is how we should react. We should bless the Lord! Amen! Hallelujah! God is making himself known to us through his word and in our lives.

Bless the Lord, O my soul indeed.

Setting Up Markers

When I read the Word I see over and over again how God provided, cared for, prepared the way, and watched over his children time and time again. I read it and think, "Wow! See how the Lord provides for the Israelites here, or protected David when he fought Goliath." I see that the Lord is good and will take care of his people.

Then I close my Bible and live my life in fear, anxiety, or worry about the future. Of course, God took care of the people in biblical times, but will he really do the same for me?

He will. He does. He has. Over and over again in my life God has proven faithful, opened doors, and done mighty works before my eyes. Based on his Word and work in my life, I have no reason to doubt that he will come through again.

Sadly, I confess I do. When I am in the moment I become like Peter when he was walking on the water to Jesus--I get distracted by the winds and the waves; taking my eyes off of Jesus. Instead if looking and trusting in the author and perfecter of my faith I am afraid. I live as if I do not believe the God of the Bible--the God who provided for Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, and Paul--can do the same for me.

No more. I learned the importance of a spiritual maker a long time ago. We can see evidence of this all the way back to the Old Testament when the Lord made covenants with his people. Often they would set up a stone monument to remember what the Lord did for them in that place. An example of this can be found in Joshua 4. The Israelites are finally crossing the Jordan River. Here is what is recorded in verses 5-7: 
"And Joshua said to them, 'Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.'"

They set up the twelve stones as a reminder, but it was not enough to just build a memorial. It was important for them to always remember what the Lord had done. There is a lesson that we need to learn: the people of Israel forgot the mighty works of the Lord and chased after false gods.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking, "How could they be so foolish? Did they not remember when the Lord delivered them from the land of Egypt? How he also led them by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Why did they so easily forget the time when he parted the Red Sea so they could cross over on dry ground? What about the manna, Jordan River, and the countless other times that the Lord had delivered them? How could they so quickly forget?"

I believe it is because they focused on the size of the problem that they faced and failed to remember what God had done for them. They did not trust that the Lord would come through for them as he always did. 

Does this sound familiar? I see this happen all to often in my life. I want to always trust in the Lord and that he will direct my steps. We can do this by constantly spending time in the Word to remind ourselves of the truth and by setting up our own spiritual markers like the Israelites did in Joshua 4.

The ending of the chapter is a great example of what we are to do with the markers. Verse 21 picks up with Joshua addressing the Israelites.

'And he said to the people of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in times to come, 'What do these stones mean?' then you shall let your children know, 'Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.' For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever."'

His hand is mighty. He will never leave us. He is the Lord forever. Remember what he has done in your life. Press on for the prize with faith that he will take you by the hand and guide you through just as he has in the past and wants to do today.