For God so loved the WORLD...

This is John 3:16 in Waray, the language of the people that I ministered to in the Philippines in 2007. Many Americans forget about the world because we have so many material possessions to keep us occupied. God loves all people, even the one's that it takes five planes, two vans, three boats, and a few miles of hiking to get to. One day during that trip, I had the incredible privilege of sharing the story of the prodigal son with a dozen people who had NEVER heard it. Only one of them had ever held a Bible! Jesus says in Matthew 9:37, " The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." God loved you, me, and everyone else so much that He sent His Son to die for us. What have we done for Him?

Now, Jesus is calling us out to take "the gospel of God's grace" to all of the world. There are people in America, Philippines, and every place in between who have NEVER heard. What are you going to do about it? Will you continue to sit in your comforts content with your life now or will you die to your personal desires and comforts to share the love of Christ with the lost and those waiting for someone to come tell them?

The Ezra 710 Challenge

The gracious hand of God was on him, because Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the LORD, obey [it], and teach [its] statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Ezra 7:9b-10 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)


Has the idea of studying the Word of God ever overwhelmed you? Do you ever get confused about how to study it or even where to start?

The Ezra 710 Challenge is a simple call to read God's living Word every day. That's it! Whether it's one verse, one chapter, or one book of the Bible, take some time each day to get to know the awesome and mighty God we serve.

So, what's the point? The more faithful you are to reading the Word, the more you will long to read. The more you read, the more you will desire to tell and teach others about God. As a result, God will be glorified, as His Word is spread, and you will be blessed, as you seek and wait upon Him.

Are you ready to take The Ezra 710 Challenge?

Wake up, Church!

“Think of the awful fact nineteen hundred years after Jesus Christ died on the Cross “for the sins of the whole world,” hundreds of millions are still living and dying without ever having been told a word about it! Think of those vast solid areas…where the task of evangelization has not merely to be finished, but has at this late date yet to be begun! Think of a thousand tribal languages into which not a word of the Book of Life has yet been translated! Nor have the existing missionary forces more than barely touched the fringe of the total need in field after field that we call “occupied.” The huge proportions of the unfinished task of missions even in this advanced day are nothing less than staggering, and how anyone who has experienced the blessings of Christ’s salvation can view the situation without deep conviction and concern is beyond our understanding.”

-Robert Glover- (The Bible Basis of Missions 1946, pp. 193-194)

How much longer, God...?

Many times when things are going bad I will ask "How much longer, God...?" Recently, it has been more like "How much longer, God, until I will just get out of the way and let you be God in me?"

How many of you have heard the verse "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us"? Many believers read that and feel a little something special inside, but is that all of that passage? The second half of that verse from Psalm 67:1-2 says, "...that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations." When God made the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12, He did not say that He would only bless Abraham, but that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

When every believer says yes to the call of Christ to follow Him, we are saying that our life and our wants are secondary to God's desires and God's plan. Yet, we so often fall back on that old nature to satisfy our desires and wants. We want God to bless us and make everything great so we can live a happy life. There is nothing wrong with asking for those things, but we must not forget that the reason to ask is not for our blessing alone but so that God's kingdom may be spread to all peoples and nations. Being a follower of Christ is not about only receiving the blessings of God, but it is using those blessings to bring others into His kingdom.

What is keeping you from getting yourself out of the way and letting God move in you? Is it sin, friends, family, the "American dream"? As a believer, we must DAILY die to ourselves and to everything else keeping us in the way of God doing a great work in us and through us. Identify those things in your life that are hindering you and ask God to help free you from them. Get in the Word and spend time with the Father in prayer and He will show you how to get out of the way and then what He wants you to do after that.

John Willis Zumwalt says in his book called Passion for the Heart of God, "Mission agencies can look across the earth and know where these unreached nations and peoples live. Imagine this! We know what we have left to do to get the Good News of Jesus Christ to every nation on planet earth! These are exciting times. We can look at the world and say, 'The Good News hasn't been there yet.' Well, let's go! That is where we are in history."

Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." God has an ultimate plan that ends with someone from "every nation, tribe, people and language" (Revelation 7:9) surrounding His throne worshiping and praising Him. As far as I can see, it is all pretty simple. We know where the people are who have never heard the Good News before, and we know that they must hear before God's plan can be complete.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:1-2


In the 10/40 window there lives:

* 1/3 of the world’s population (2 billion people)

* Over 3,000 people groups that have never even heard of Jesus

* 85% of the world’s poor

* Many in this area have never heard the name of Jesus

The shocking truth is that ONLY 1.25% of all missions’ resources (money, trips, and missionaries) go to this part of the world. (http://mattsetliffe.com/missions/)