To my brothers and sisters in America and throughout the whole world:
I
want to encourage you with this note. You may feel like our Christian
kingdom, the Church, is losing ground in the world. You are right to be
concerned. We do indeed have little strength. We are losing the fight
on many fronts. But the time we live in does not represent the end of
our Church; it represents a rebirth of our Church. Though we have
little strength, it is our Father in heaven that created the earth, and
He dictates everything that goes on therein. If you will give me your
attention for a few minutes, for the purpose of advancing God's kingdom,
I want to describe some of the work that is before us as a church.
With the power of the Holy Spirit, and in perfect Christian unity, may
we do great things to the glory of God.
Knowing the Bible
It
is so essential that we as Christians know God's word. So that other
people can hear the truth from us, and for ourselves to actually know
the truth, having knowledge of what the Bible actually does say and what
the Bible actually does not say is a foundation of the Christian life.
A Christian with a good knowledge of God's word is a secure and
steadfast believer. How, my beloved, will you recognize a false
doctrine if you do not know God's word? How will you lead the lost to
Christ if you do not know the truth yourself? Strengthen yourself.
Strengthen your faith. Strengthen your ministry. Read the Bible.
I
won't tell you that there is a right and wrong way to read the Bible;
simply read it. Read it one page a day; 20 pages a week. Read front to
back; back to front, or start somewhere in the middle. Whatever way
works best for you. But read it, and take to heart what is written in
the Bible.
Apologetics
This is
especially for the men of God. Expect to be challenged on your
beliefs. But don't run from it, rather invite it. If you are educated
and aware of the evidences that support your beliefs, particularly the
Bible itself, then there wouldn't be the slightest lack of confidence.
This will go a long way towards advancing the kingdom of God. A good
place to start is with those evidences that support the Bible, primarily
manuscripts, archaeology and prophecy. There's many books, websites
and apologists to discover (I'll leave the pleasure to you).
Abortion
Here
is a fight we face right here at home. I know we are on the same page
when it comes to abortion, so I won't say much. I will just say this:
It is an all-fronts war. Please, if its something you can apply
yourself to, join in the battle. There's no secret to winning and
ridding our societies of this wickedness other than shear will-power and
speaking out.
The hurting, helpless and hungry
There
is always something a Christian can devote his/her life to. Running a
food bank. Visiting those in prison. Helping communities recover from
natural disasters. Defending the persecuted. Medical supplies, clean
water, blankets, clothing, shelter and food for the needy. Each
individual Christian cannot do all of these things, but that is why we
operate as a church. Find something you can do; let your brothers and
sisters pick up the rest. If we apply ourselves to be more active and
obedient in our faith, then I am convinced we can do all of these things
and more on a global scale.
Politics
Christians
must be more involved in politics. If you look at some of the things
listed above, you see that there are some things we cannot do without
using the force of government. Lets take this for example: If we want
to protect our Christian brothers and sisters in Africa or Asia from
violence, then we must be involved in our own government. It certainly
does not do us any good to abandon politics, which is what some
Christians have done. How about abortion? That is another political
issue in which we must be involved in politics to effect a change in the
law.
Reclaiming society's institutions
Something
I did not mention, but is foundational to the Christian life, is making
disciples of all nations. I should not need to mention it; it should
be something that all Christians are always conscience of. Going beyond
disciple making (which is advancing the kingdom of God), I want to
point something out: The church has lost basically every institution of
society. We have lost the media completely. We have lost most
colleges/universities. We have lost much of the justice system.
Politicians only pretend to be Christian, and much of the business world
has forgotten what morals are. We have lost any grip on these
institutions that we once had. Now I'm not saying we go out and reclaim
these institutions right away; that would be practically impossible
(without a miracle from God). I'm saying that we should set it as a
long-term goal that we will reclaim every one of these institutions.
Hollywood will one day be ours. We should one day practically own the
media. The colleges and universities should be overrun with
Christians. If we do the things above - make disciples, train ourselves
and be more involved - and we put our trust in God, then one day we
certainly will regain these institutions.
So
if you have a talent, put it to use. If you have compassion for the
weak and poor, find an outlet. If you find yourself a good debater,
apologetics or politics or both may be where God wants you. If you love
to teach, the colleges and universities need more Christian
professors. If you enjoy the spotlight, sneak your way into the media.
If you have a zeal for the unborn, there is much activism still to be
done. In whatever you do, do it for the Lord. Pray constantly. God is
with you. Your brothers and sisters are with you. We are one. We
will win this fight, because God gives us strength.
Thank you for reading. God bless you. God bless His Church. May the Holy Spirit guide you with passion and wisdom.
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