Why YOU should go to the mission field

This post is taken from http://www.lastdaysministries.org/Articles/1000008651/Last_Days_Ministries/LDM/Discipleship_Teachings/Keith_Green/Why_YOU_Should.aspx
It is one of Keith Green's last messages before he and two of his kids died in a plane crash. I know this is a pretty long post, however, please read all the way through, and let me know what your thoughts on Keith's views. Is he too fanatical about missions? Are all, if any, of his points valid? Tell me what you think overall, did this convince you to maybe take a missions trip?


Part I: The Call Of The Lord
A Biblical Look At The Missions Call
I recently returned from visiting some overseas missionary bases, and I must say that since returning, my life has not been quite the same. The vision and goals of our ministry have suddenly changed. The Lord definitely did something to my heart on that trip. Besides showing me how small my vision had been, He began to give me a great burden to see the ranks of His army in the field swell!

One of the greatest things God opened my eyes to was how tremendously evangelized my own country was, while the rest of the world was barely being reached. As I traveled from country to country, I thought of the millions of people I was passing through who needed to have the Gospel of Jesus shown to them in a real way - and yet there was hardly anyone there to reach them.

As I visited each mission base, I spoke with different missionaries, and picked up various pieces of literature that told the story of what was being done in different parts of the world to expand the Kingdom of God. As I read the statistics, I was shocked - I really had never known how little the need was being met!

When I returned home, I got hold of some of the leaders of different missionary organizations and set up some meetings to find out more about what was being done to fill the need. After these meetings, I decided to do a study of God's Word (to see what He had to say about reaching the lost in other countries), and I also read through some more of the missions literature I had been given.

This article is the result of that study, and also a burning desire in my heart to see 100,000 young people released to the mission field over the next five years!

So...why should you go to the mission field?


1) Because Jesus has told you to go.
"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15)

With these words, Jesus made it clear exactly what His disciples were to do - they were to spread His teachings in His name, preaching salvation unto the ends of the earth. (Rom. 10:18) If you consider yourself a "believer", then you must consider yourself a "disciple" of Jesus - no less called and chosen than the very first 12 apostles. There are no such things as "1st class" Christians and "2nd class" Christians - every believer is called to spread the Good News about Jesus to those who have not yet heard. Jesus' command is definite and clear - it is His great mandate, His "Great Commission" to the soldiers in His holy army. We must go, because our great General has commanded us to go.


2) You should go because the need is so great.
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." (Matt. 9:37-38)
Ever since Jesus first spoke these compassionate words, the supply of workers in the fields of soul-harvest has always been horribly low. But today the need is the greatest it has ever been in the history of mankind. Remember, Hell is not just for the weekend! More people are alive today, and more souls are at stake, than the total number of people who have ever lived on the face of the earth in all of human history! This simply means that we can populate either Heaven or Hell by our obedience or our laziness. There are over 2,700,000,000 people who have never heard the Gospel at all, and there are only 5,000 to 7,000 missionaries worldwide, working directly with these totally unreached groups of people.1 That means there is approximately one missionary for every 450,000 of these people! There are over 16,000 different and distinct cultures and people-groups - even whole countries, where not one single church is in existence.2 There are 7,010 distinct living languages, and 5,199 of them still have no Bible or Scripture translations available in their own language!3 Do these figures move you at all? Does it matter to you that an estimated 80,000 unsaved people die every day (approximately 3,333 every hour...55 people every single minute!) to face the judgment seat of Christ?4


3) You should go because so few Christians are obeying the call, making the need even greater!
"Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ...how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:17,14)
Right now worldwide there are only 85,000 workers on the mission field - working mainly among those who have heard the gospel before.5 This figure includes missionaries from all over the world of every nationality. When you compare this number with the amount of Americans selling Avon or Amway products, it is staggering. Just in America alone there are 435,000 Avon sales-people6 (with 1,280,000 worldwide), and over 750,000 Amway products distributors,7 (with over a million worldwide)! Do you realize that these two companies combined have 14 times more representatives in the United States alone than the Church of Jesus Christ has in the whole world outside of America?

And what about the Christian representatives we do have in the world? Only 9% of the world's population speaks English, and yet 94% of all ordained preachers in the whole world minister to the 9% who speak English. And 96% of all Christian finances are spent in the United States on 6% of the world's population. Only 4% of all Christian money is spent on missionary efforts to reach the other 94% of the world's population! There are over 1,000,000 full-time Christian workers in the United States; while one half of the world's population (3 major groups - Moslem, Hindu, and Chinese), 2,200,000,000 people, have only 2,417 full-time Christian workers.8 As you can see by these figures, something is definitely wrong. While we in America have approximately one worker for every 230 people - those who have never heard the Gospel even once have one worker for every 450,000 souls! Please forgive us, Jesus, for being too timid to obey You and reach out into all the world like You have commanded us to!


4) You should go because God gives special anointing and grace to those who leave their own land, people, and culture to do God's will and spread the Gospel.
"And the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country and from your relatives, and from your father's house...and I will bless you and make your name great; and so you shall also be a blessing; and I will bless those that bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'" (Genesis 12:1-3)
Abram ( later to be renamed Abraham by God ) is only one of the many people in the Bible who God used mightily only after he left his own people, his own land, and his own culture. Look at the travels and ministries of people like Jacob and Moses - both of whom had to go into other lands to learn from God and be used by Him.

No matter where you look in the Bible, God always gave a great anointing a and blessing to those who served Him in a foreign land. Look at Joseph and Daniel. They were the only two men in the Bible who God raised up as successful, secular officials in foreign and heathen cultures - and they remained faithful witnesses and servants of God to the very end, and often at the risk of their very lives!

What about Jonah? He was a good example of someone who didn't want to go to the mission field and preach to heathens! Stubborn, rebellious, and selfish - and yet God "made him an offer he couldn't refuse." ( I pray that God would freely move like that in all our lives, "helping" us to make the right decisions about going.)

And then there's the apostle Paul - who had such a burden for his own people and country, Israel. Oh , how he would have loved a ministry among the Jews! But what did God say? "Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles." (Acts 22:21) That's what God commanded, and "go" he did. Never was there a missionary like Paul. Take a look at II Corinthians 11 if you'd like to see a list of his qualifications: beatings, imprisonment's, stonings, mobs, shipwrecks, the list goes on and on - and so did Paul, obeying his Master who bought him.

From Noah to Abraham, from Moses to Jonah, from Daniel to Paul, God has always given special blessing to those who, leaving the comforts of home and relatives, cross the boundaries of their little worlds to bring God's message and blessing to the nations.

Remember Jesus' words about this subject, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, "(Matt. 13:57)


5) You should go because America (and some other western nations) is literally drenched with the Gospel, while most other countries and cultures of the world do not have any continual, relevant witness a all.
"And thus I aspired to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation; but as it is written, 'They that had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand.'" (Rom. 15:20-21)
It is so true that we here in America are continually bombarded with Christian witness and ministry. Almost at every turn there's a billboard or a bumper sticker proclaiming something about Jesus. Turn the dial on your radio at any time of the day or night, and you've got non-stop preaching. There are several Christian satellite and cable networks. And there are over 250 different Christian magazines and publications. In most cities there's a church on almost every corner. I am not trying to say that this is all bad - a lot of it is good, winning many souls to Jesus - but as I've traveled overseas, it is hard for me to believe that it is God's will for there to be so much Gospel preaching and literature available here, while there is comparatively little or even none in many places outside of this country.

The world is going to Hell on every continent! Is it God's fault that so few are hearing the gospel - or is it the Church's? Aren't we who love Jesus accountable to reach our generation with the gospel? A friend of mine has written, "this generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of sinners." If this is true, then each of us must take a good, long look at our lives and priorities - finding out where God would have us begin to get ready to go!


6) You should go because, as Oswald J. Smith said, "No one has the right to hear the Gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heart it once."
"But if our Gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (II Cor. 4:3-4)
Has it occurred to you that Jesus wants every creature to hear the Gospel? If you had 20 children to feed and plenty of food to feed them all with, do you think it would be right to give 3 of the children 10 meals, 7 children only 1 meal, and the remaining nothing - causing them to die of starvation? That's exactly what we're doing with the Gospel in the world today!

Because we believers are so deaf to God's call to go into all nations, we keep most of God's resources to ourselves! We keep feeding and reaching the same people over and over again. I am not saying there should be no Gospel preached in America, I am saying that there needs to be a spreading out of the soldiers of God, to fight the enemy where his greatest strongholds are - "where Christ is not already named"!


7) You should go because the time is short. More and more countries are closing their doors to missionaries and the Gospel, and we must go now.
"We must work the works of Him who sent me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work." (John 9:4)
I constantly hear of country after country where missionaries used to be welcome, but now the doors are closed to them entering. Though it is true that many Christians can still go to be subtle witnesses as doctors, teachers, engineers, etc., the Gospel can no longer be openly preached in many lands.

Although there are still vast areas of the world wide open for foreign evangelism, such as western Europe, parts of Asia, and most of the Pacific (Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc.) there are many other countries where it is illegal to hold a street meeting or pass out Gospel literature. We need to sense the urgency of this hour, and obey God by reaching out to those lost in the darkness "while it is still day."


8) You should go because the Holy Spirit is speaking to Christian leadership all over the world that it is God's desire for there to be a great final missionary thrust with the Gospel before the end of the age. It is His desire that every people should have the Gospel preached to them, and that the Gospel should be published in every nation and in every language. And unless YOU get involved personally, there is no hope of that ever happening in our generation!
"...And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8) "And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. " ( Matt. 24:14) "The Lord is...patient toward you, not wishing for you to perish but for all to come to repentance." ( II Peter 3:9)
Is there any doubt in your mind that God wants everyone to be saved? If you believe this, and you really love Jesus, then WHY are you so timid about getting involved in this great thrust to bring the Gospel to all the nations? Do you think that while you're reading this, God isn't grieved that His Church is being so lazy and disobedient about fulfilling his commission? He knows that you agree with the Scriptures, and He's listening to every excuse you're turning over in your mind like, "Yes, I know that more people need to go...but He just couldn't mean ME! I'm...just not the 'missionary-type'..."

Part II: The Most Commonly Heard Excuses
The following objections are just a few of the many that Christian groups and missionary societies constantly hear from prospective recruits for the mission field. Although many may merely be excuses, we have heard them spoken so many times as serious statements from well-meaning Christians in response to the question, "Why don't you get trained to go into full time Christian service in a foreign country?


1) "But I'm not called."
You don't know how many people I've met who have said to me "Keith, I agree that more people need to go to the mission field, but I've never heard God tell me to go."

Well, the truth is that God has already told you to go in His Word. In fact, He commands you to go... "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." ( Mark 16:15) That's right... YOU ARE CALLED!

In fact, if you don't go, you need a specific calling from God to stay home. Has God definitely told you not to "go" somewhere outside your country to preach the Gospel? If He hasn't, then you'd better start praying WHERE to go, instead of IF you should go - for again, you're already called!


2) "But God needs people to stay here to be a witness to those lost in America. There's enough need right here!"
It is true that God has called some people to stay right where they are to be witnesses for Jesus in their daily lives and professions. But again, God is merciful and just. Since America has only about 5% of the world's population, then only about 5% of the believers would really be called to stay in this country as a witness ( that's only about 1 out of 20) while the rest of us should go into the parts of the world where there are almost 0% believers. (In Albania, for instance, there are only "a handful" of known believers in the whole country of 2.7 million people - less than 1/2 of 1/1000th percent!!)9


3) "But God needs people to stay home and financially support those ministries and missionaries who are already all over the world. In fact, my church is already supporting some missionaries with my tithes and offerings."
You should never have to worry about there not being enough Christians staying home to support missionaries! There will always be enough people around who will not answer the call to go - who will stay home and gladly just send a check (instead of themselves) to reach to lost. After all, nothing is easier to give than money (except nothing!).

This does not mean that everyone who stays home is selfish and disobedient. As I've already said, there are some who know they are definitely called to stay, and they are doing exactly what God would have them do here, while they greatly support other ministries. I'm just saying that there will always be plenty of people around to financially support the pitifully few who answer the call and obey God.


4) "But my family and friends would frown upon me going."
"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me..." (Matt. 10:37)
God is very clear about whose approval we should seek. It's shocking to me how even Christian parents react when their children say that they'd like to go for training as a full-time Christian worker. "A missionary! Are you crazy?!" It's as if they've announced they'd like to be a thief or a prostitute.

It is true that God wants us to honor our parents and love our friends, but He has also made it clear in His Word that this honor and love must not exceed our love and obedience to Him and His calling on our lives. We should always try our best to explain God's call to our families, lovingly and patiently, but the bottom line must be that we will obey Christ no matter what the cost. We should always try to get our family's understanding and blessing when God makes our ministry clear to us, but we must also always be ready to leave "houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms" for His sake "and for the Gospel's sake." (Mark 10:29)


5) "But I need to stay here and lead my relatives to the Lord first. If I go somewhere else, how can they get saved?"
There was once a man who wanted to follow and obey Jesus, but he said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." Jesus' answer to him was, "Follow me; and allow the dead to bury their own dead." (Matt. 8:21-22)

This may sound cruel of Jesus not to allow the man to have a funeral for his dead father - but most likely, the man's father had not died yet. The phrase "wait until I bury my father" was sometimes used to say "wait until my father has died." What he was really saying was, "I'd like to follow You now, but You see, my parents wouldn't understand. Please wait until after they've died, and then I'll be more than glad to follow You!"

Jesus' answer was appropriate... "allow the dead to bury their own dead." In other words, "allow the unbelievers to take care of themselves, and follow Me!" Jesus doesn't want us to throw our usefulness away because our relatives are not yet saved. The greatest witness they can see is you fully obeying the call of God on your life. Jesus didn't want this man's father to be buried - He wanted the young man to follow Him, and then maybe even the man's father would come to know Him too. Obedience is truly greater than sacrifice (I Samuel 15:22) - when we obey God, He takes care of all our other obligations. (Matt. 6:33)


6) "But I need to get an education first."
I don't believe that God wants every Christian to go to college just because, "Well, everyone goes to college now, unless they're too dumb!" You shouldn't go to college unless God has definitely called you to go. Just like everything else in our Christian lives, He's the Master, we're the servants. He's the General, we're the soldiers. If you're really a Christian, you're at the beck and command of the King. If you're not at His command, then you're really not a Christian.

Yes, God does call some people to go to college. Sometimes it's to get training for a ministry calling He's made clear to them. For instance, if you know what country you're called to, perhaps God would lead you to learn the language and culture somewhat before you go (although the very best place to learn is within the country itself - it's a definite "crash course"!)

Of course, another reason God might lead you to college is to minister to people right there on the campus - as well as to mature emotionally and spiritually. But be careful! Make sure you're there in direct obedience to God, or else you're wasting your time - and His.


7) "But I need to get married first, and then maybe my mate will want to serve God full-time on the field, rather than me going alone."
Nothing could be a more foolish reason for putting off obeying God now. God does not want you to look for a husband or wife, He wants you to be married to Him, and trust Him for any mate He may bring into your life. I know of many single Christians serving Jesus overseas who are trusting Him for everything. And some of the most beautiful stories of God's grace I've ever heard are told by couples who went to the mission field single, and then God led them to marry another whose heart was also fully devoted to serving Him there. Remember, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (Matt. 6:8) Trust Him!


8) "But I have a family to support. God doesn't want me to neglect them, does He?"
The Word of God says, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." (Matt.6:33) If you can trust God for your needs, you can certainly trust Him for your family's needs. You would never be foolishly "neglecting" your family's needs by obeying God's call to go. God will show you the way. I know of so many families - some with many children - who are on the field right now, trusting God for their needs while they minister in His name. I have never heard of ONE occurrence where God didn't meet the needs of one of His servants and their families. As King David said...


"I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends; and his descendants are a blessing." (Psalm 37:25-26)
9) "But the mission field is dangerous. God would not have me put myself or my family in danger of disease or native hostilities, would he?"
"Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" (Numbers 14:3)
It is all a matter of our priorities - do we look at the temporary or the eternal in making our choices? It's true that you will probably be in more physical danger on the mission field than you would be in the suburbs of America, but that is part of the cost that we need to count when it comes to serving God. The question should not be, "Will I be kept safe wherever I go?" but rather, "What is on the Lord's heart for me to do?"

If Jesus decided to go the way of least pain, He would have never gone to the cross. There is no place of greater blessing for you than in the center of God's will. You must stop to count the cost, but remember one thing - the privilege of serving God always outweighs the price! "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel's shall save it." (Mark 8:34-35)


10) "Although in the past most countries freely allowed foreign missionaries to come, most people in other lands now resent them. Why should I go where I'm not welcomed?"
Did you welcome the Gospel before you were saved? The Word says that we should save some, "snatching them out of the fire," (Jude 23) Some people just don't want to be saved! That's exactly why we need to go to them. The more unwelcome, the better. If they resent Americans, then you have an opportunity to show them that Christian Americans can be humble with the love of Jesus in their hearts. For the Word says, "He who is wise wins souls." (Proverbs 11;30)


11) "But I could not afford to get the training, and raise the necessary finances to place myself (or my family) on the field."
Don't worry, God'll help raise the money you need. Wherever God guides, He supplies - even if it means helping you get a job! Problems and worries about finances are usually only a surface excuse when it comes to obeying God to go. In your heart you know He'll make a way for you!


12) "But I don't have any special talents or abilities that would qualify me to be a missionary."
Then you're just the person God is looking for! Sure God can use nurses, teachers, accountants, and mechanics on the field, but it always blesses God to greatly use the one who seemingly has nothing to offer. It is this person who has the opportunity of purely representing Jesus in the endless "common" tasks that are part of the daily life of a missionary. "When I am weak, then I am strong." (II Cor. 12:10; also see I Cor. 1:26-31)


13) "But how could I commit myself for years and years to go to the field without having a chance to see what it would be like?"
It is true that in past generations a foreign missionary had to make almost a lifetime commitment before he could go to the field. Then in most cases, he had to go to college for at least four years, and then seminary for two to four years before he could even begin his missions training and service. But today there are missionary organizations that have short-term programs for people who want to receive training and find out what serving God in other countries is like. These programs last from a few weeks to a few years in length. So now there is an opportunity to "take a look" before making a much longer commitment.


14) "But God wants me to stay in this country and prosper. The reason the rest of the world is so poor and unconverted is because their heathen religions and idolatry have caused them to live in ignorance and poverty, without God's blessing."
This has to be THE most selfish reasoning I've ever heard for not going - and I've heard it! Of course they live in ignorance and poverty, that's just the reason you should go - to bring the enlightenment that comes from knowing the truth about Jesus, and to bring them the true riches of knowing Christ. If you don't believe that the reason God has blessed you with abundance in this country is so you can be a blessing to others - then you have never understood the Gospel of Jesus Christ! "Freely you received, freely give." (Matt. 10:8)


15) "I'm just not ready to make that kind of a sacrifice and commitment."
Ah! That's just the point. That's probably the underlying reason for almost every one of the above objections. In fact, you might just as well have said, "I'm not willing." You need to decide whether or not you are a disciple of Jesus - that is the question. If you are His disciple, then "you are not your own...you have been bought with a price." (I Cor. 6:19-20) And if you truly love Him, then you will not feel bondage, you will feel incredible excitement at being chosen to represent Him in the world! To be a servant of Jesus Christ, an ambassador, a missionary, is the highest calling a man or woman can attain to!

Now what are you waiting for??

Creed

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

I believe that He who suffered was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and on the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven where He sits at God's mighty right hand
I believe that He's returning
To judge the quick and the dead of the sons of men

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

I believe it, I believe it
I believe it
I believe it, I believe it

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church
The communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
I did not make it, no it is making me
I said I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and
not the invention of any man

I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it, I believe it
I believe it



All copyright belongs to Third Day. This is their lyrics.

The Vision

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn't even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.
They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.
What is the vision ?
The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers

choose to loose
that they might one day win
the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground
The whisper of history in the making
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing…
This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.
The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ?
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man
with groans beyond talking,
with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and
with great barrow loads of laughter!
Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive

inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.
Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.
Don't you hear them coming?
Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.
How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the vision of 24/7 Prayer. I did not write it, however everytime I read it, I am moved by the words. It paints a picture of a Christian that is totally abandoned to himself and in love with his God. One that is totally in love, that he/she would do anything for God at whatever cost.

I dare you to read whats ahead. Only those who are serious should proceed.

This is the type of Christian that needs to rise up within our generation. Our parents have come from an extremely blessed generation, and I feel that we take for granted many of those blessings. Let us as a generation of young people never forget that we are in a battle for our lives and out very souls. I sense that our generation, has grown numb to the realities that Christians have to face. we have grown numb or choose not to face those realities. While the blessings of God are not a bad thing, we have taken it so much for granted that we begin to believe that God is there as a Santa Clause figure, to give whenever and whatever we ask.

This is a plead to my generation, let us RISE UP! Let us no longer be an apathetic generation that takes for granted the gift that Christ gave us, or the blessings God offers us. Let us rise up and throw off the chains of laziness. Let us desire to know God more. If we are to know God more, then we have to cry out to Him. We have to search for Him. We can longer choose to please the world if we are to truly know God. In our quest to know Him more, we are promised that if we "Cry out to Me and I will show you great and mighty things which you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3)

Let it be clear though, that searching for God will lead to knowing Him. The more we know Him, and His love for us, will only compel us even more to obey Him. This is where the rubber meets the road. Many of us "know" God though not many in our generation have been compelled to follow him outside of their comfort zones. Where is the dedication, perseverance, and passion in our generation that has been so clearly expressed in that of our parents, grandparents, and of many great Christians that have come before us? What will our generation be known for? Will it characterized by laziness? A sense of apathy perhaps? Maybe an overall blatent disregard for the things of God?

Who are the ones of our generation that will break the mold that is so being quickly set of conforming and catering to the world? When is our generation going to hop off the coat tail of our parents and seek God on their own?

Let me challenge you today to do just that. Jump off the coat tail of your parents relgion and seek God on your own. The more you seek Him, the more in love you will find yourself. Soon His presence will be so exhilirating and intoxicating you won't sit still. You will be compelled to throw off the chains of the same old routine and shake things up in your life. This will have a great ripple effect among your friends and those you come into contact with. Who cares if your friends make fun of you or you stand out like a freak because you won't participate in their mundane, evil activities? I dare you to take a stand for God...sure you will stand out like a sore thumb, but at least people know where you stand. The more you live your life for God and not for man, the more attractive you will become...the more God's light will shine through you. Soon you will notice that your friends will come to God, not because of you and your amazing tactics to present God in a "cool, hip and subtle" way, but because of the utter sense of worth and complete abandon for God. Forget trying to fit in with the world. Forget being subtle, people are going to hell in hand baskets everyday...where is our sense of urgency? Forget being politically correct or trying cater to every single feeling.. Your message will offend the flesh. Just fyi, the world is going to hate you (I didn't say it, Jesus did). However, since your a freak, an utterly hopeless, crazed maniac who is in love with the One who sent His One and Only Son to die for you, it shouldn't matter what the rest of the world thinks.

Its your choice...you can choose to dabble in with the world and with Christianity, but heads up, you're Satan's little toy. Those types of people are disgusting, they are sickening, and are an utter embarrasment to Christianity. I dare you to throw down and rise up and refuse to let Satan use you any longer...it will be more than you can handle, but God is on your side. Put on your armor! Face the enemy..no longer skirt behind religion and excuses. The time has come for us to make a difference as a generation. No longer say you aren't ready, or you will wait til summer time to go on missions. Seek Him and your life will never be the same. I dare you to fall in love...if you do you will be consumed in His fire.

Be dangerously pure, leave the minimum integrity to one side, and become the sold out person living for a sold out God.

He gave us His best who are we to not give Him ours?

Be dangerously attractive.

Memorial Day

On this day I would like to remember the sacrafice made by our forfathers and our troops. This is a day to honor their memory and all that they stood for. Thank you for protecting us and doing your duty, even though it cost you the ultimate sacrafice. For those who still serve, thank you. We will never know the pain or the loss that you have had to go through for our freedom. Thank you does not even seem enough to show the grattitude of a thankful nation. We will always be in your debt. You guys are amazing!







Thank You!