IS IT GOOD OR IS IT GOD?

Are you investing your time and efforts into good things or God things?  In other words are you seeking God for what He wants you to do or are you just doing good stuff because others are doing it and having success?  Too many times churches ride on the coattails of other churches and expect the same results.  What God is doing in one place does not necessarily mean that He will duplicate it where you are. 

There is a big difference between the “Discovered Will of God” and the “Developed plan of man.”  One is God breathed the other is man conceived.  One is sought out through prayer the other is developed though man’s ingenuity.  One produces fruit that honors God while the other produces results that puffs up man.

Someone has said that God could remove the Holy Spirit from the church today and most churches would continue with business as usual. 

If programs would reach the world with the gospel, Southern Baptists would be way ahead of the game.  We need God anointed, prayer produced movements from God.  We serve a Sovereign God who works all things well. He has said that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Listen to what God says through his preacher (Jeremiah 29:11-12):

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

© Harris R. Malcom

MISSIONARY MENTALITY

I remember the day I was saved.  In the midst of the post conversion conversation my pastor said that the next step was to make my decision public and be baptized.  Shortly after I attended a new member class and since then I have been a “church member.”

I love His church.  I cherish the privilege of being a member of the body of Christ.  I believe that we should take our church membership commitment seriously. 

Jesus planted His church and has promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  As we look into the early days of the church we find a people who were “continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).  We find them “being” the church, “continuing with one mind” and “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47).

As important as church membership is, there is little evidence in scripture that we are called to be “church members.” But there is overwhelming evidence that we are called to be “church missionaries.”

“I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. … to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:7-8).

 

“Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.  While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."  Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts 13:1-3).

 

The Great Commission says “Go” but we have turned it into “come.”  The Book of Acts paints the picture of the church gathering for prayer, fellowship and edification, but very quickly they went out as church missionaries. 

As a Great Commission Resource Center, a church is commissioned to the glorious task of Global Redemption.  That means that everything we do as His church should focus on getting people to church and ultimately to Christ.

As clear as this is in scripture we have created a culture of maintenance rather than a culture of missions.  We may believe in missions, support missions even go on mission, but in order for us to function as a GCRC we must go through a paradigm shift in our mental model.

©Harris R. Malcom