The Great Commission Resurgence

Dr. Danny Akin, President of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest, North Carolina), recently delivered a powerful and visionary message to Southeastern students during chapel. It is worth your time to listen to this message and consider fervently supporting Dr. Akins vision for a Great Commission Resurgence in the SBC. In his message he presents eleven axioms Southern Baptists need to commit to for such a resurgence.

I believe Dr. Akin’s vision is the right one for our convention for such a time as this. You can read and hear his message and the 11 axioms at http://www.greatcommissionresurgence.com/. You can also add your name to the already more than 900 who signed in support of his vision for the SBC. I have already signed.

I am looking forward to the Great Commission Resurgence report that will be shared at the Southern Baptist Convention in June. I am praying this will be the match that lights a much needed fire under Southern Baptists.

Americans Open to being Invited to Church

A recent study by the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Research found that 67 percent of Americans say a personal invitation from a family member would be effective in getting them to visit church. A personal invitation from a friend or neighbor would be effective for 63 percent. In other words, nearly two-thirds of Americans are willing to return an inivitation to church from a family member or friend with a favorable response.

This is great news for Believers because this goes hand in hand with what I believe is the most Biblical method of evangelism - simply inviting family and friends to hear the claims of Jesus and to be touched by Him.

While advertising campaigns and evangelistic events do have their place, these are not the most effective methods for reaching people. Yet far too many churches are relying too much on these non-personal forms of evangelism and neglecting the most of effective method of soul-winning - the personal invitation.

Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, famous evangelist, said that the New Testament records tell of forty people, each suffering from the same disease, who were healed by Jesus. Of this number, thirty-four were either brought to Jesus by friends, or He was taken to them. In only six cases out of forty did the sufferers find the way to Jesus without assistance. Of the vast number of people who find their way to Jesus today, most of them reach Him because the friends of Jesus are concerned about the welfare of their souls.

Since personal invitation is shown to be effective in the Bible and even today, why are we not about the business of inviting people to church? I believe it is because we have become apathetic to the plight of lost people. We have either forgotten or don't care that those who die without Christ are condemned to eternity in hell. What should be our response to the plight of the lost? Charles Spurgeon said it best:

“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that…. The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his blessed Master, wil be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away, that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others….. If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

Just a Thought!

Break Down This Wall

Comparing Sin

"If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all." - - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Happy Easter

Inside the tomb Christ lay one morn, Defeated seemed salvation’s horn, But God the Father spoke the word, And this He said, tho no man heard, “Come forth!” Inside the tomb of sin I lay, The price of sin I had to pay; But Christ the Raiser of the dead Spoke to my poor, bound soul and said, “Come forth!” And when the great and final sound Shall raise our loved ones from the ground, ‘Twill be the last time we shall hear That glorious sound upon our ear, “Come forth!” *Anon*

Maundy Thursday Lord's Supper

Tonight we observe the Lord's Supper. "The Lord's Supper" is the title given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:20: "When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat."

Paul also referred to it as "the Lord's table" in 1 Corinthians 10:21: "You cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons."

The Bible indicates that the Lord's Supper has its roots in the Old Testament remembrance and celebration of the Passover.

The Lord's Supper is not only historical in significance but theological for it symbolizes the sacrificial death of THE Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. The bread symbolizes the broken body of Jesus while the wine symbolizes His shed blood poured out for the remission of sins.

The Lord's Supper also has about it a significance for the church, the body of Christ today. As believers come together to observe and partake of the Lord's Supper we are spiritually nourished for we are reminded of Christ's love, grace, and mercy.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that The Lord's Supper also carries an eschatalogical significance. For Paul says, "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. " The Lord's Supper looks forward to the second coming of Christ in all His glory.

The Lord's Supper is a significant symbol of faith. It looks back to what Christ has done for us in reconciling us to God. It also looks forward to what Christ will do for us when He returns.

Let us come to the table with surrender of will and sincerity of heart. Let us come to remember.