Asking for Revival (the Great Commission)

In the Old Testament book of Ezra the Temple was under construction after the People of God experienced a long exile under Babylonian captivivity. When the foundation of the Temple was laid (chapter 3) the older men wept and the younger shouted. The young men were viewing something they had only heard about. The elders were carried away by the memories of the Temple destroyed by the Babylonians. Weeping was certainly called for in remberance of the fellowship with God that was broken by sin and rejection of God's warning and call to repentance.
We as believers can look to a time that should cause us to weep. The time I will call your attention to is a time none of us have physically witnessed. We only have a record of the time when all believers were assembled together waiting. They waited for a person. The person they waited for was Jesus Christ in the person of the Holy Ghost. Coupled with the promise of the Holy Spirit they waited with a Great Commission in mind. After the person, Holy Spirit, was sent from on high and recieved by the Church a passion for fulfilling the Great Commisson propelled believers into life long ministry.
As we weep over a time past may we make it the time when the Church was given the Great Commission and made that commission the purpose of life. Sharing the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth was imperative to the early church and should still be for us today. The uttermost carries deeper meaning than most understand. Yes we should share the Gospel to the ends of the physical earth, but there is much more. Uttermost means not only the end of the physical but also the end of the time. We are in the time of the Church. Until we rest in Heaven in the presence of our Savior we are under the call of the Great Commission. May God Revive=change, awaken us to the original work of the Church.
One Commission, the Great Commission.

Praying for the work in 2010

Please be in prayer for all churches participating in the GPS initiativehttp://www.greatcommissiongps.com/templates/System/default.asp?id=48151 .



I desire your prayers in all areas of ministry.



1, Preparing for Discipleship Study (Soul Shaping) @ Cherokee Baptist Association Feb. 9 2010 @ 6:30 pm.

We serve a Jealous God

A lukewarm ministry is a withering blight. It is an iceberg in the Church. It
freezes and deadens. But can lips be cold which speak of heaven—of hell—of
never-dying souls—of God's everlasting love in Christ!
Henry Law, Beacons of the Bible, 1869.

Henry Law wrote the words above in 1869. They still hold true in 2009. God will spew out of His mouth the lukewarm church. That is from His word which is forever settled. It never changes. Why is it so important for believers to be serving with a sense of urgency accompanied by unmatched diligence? Because the God we serve is a jealous God?

God tells us through His giving of the Ten Commandments He is a jealous God. We should have no other god before Him. We are warned in the New Testament we cannot serve two masters. We will love one and hate the other. Everything we do must be for and toward one master. The right master is the Heavenly Father who is a jealous God.

We are not without instruction as to how to live a life of diligent service to our Lord. Countless examples are also given to us showing what happened to those who did not serve God (a jealous God) with their whole heart. Israel as God's chosen people often sought pleasure and went after false gods. Nineveh, a Gentile people, repented after Jonah preached only to later return to former sins. Both groups were not given a free pass. We read in Nahum chapter one what happened to the Gentile people. God told them He is a jealous God. Why jealous over a Gentile people? Because they were called to God. Through repentance they belong to God.

All who come to God by faith in Jesus Christ are made His. He is jealous when it comes to His own. Just how deep is His jealousy? So deep He has fixed a gulf between the prepared place of His people so no one can cross. Only Christ can take Gods people across. So deep He uses His word to rebuke and chastise His own children when we step outside His will. So deep He will one day destroy all who do not trust Jesus Christ as savior.

Our God will not share His Glory with another, He will not accept partial worship, He casts out all who do not accept His Son and He will one day right every wrong done toward Himself and His people. Why? Because He is jealous.