The need for dreamers and visionaries has never been greater. Anxious and uncertain people eagerly desire a genuine dream and vision.
Few passages of the Bible are as thrilling as the exciting prophecy for our day, quoted by the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost at the birth of the church:
"It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions." (Joel 2:28)
The Spirit of God is given to lift us from the mundane and inspire and motivate us for the great possibilities that alone exist with our Father through His Son Jesus. A major focus of those dreams and visions is the Great Commission - winning and making disciples: "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh Will be delivered" (Joel 2:32)
We indulged in a little dreaming in church yesterday. We considered the power of "compound interest" in terms of disciple making and envisioned the possibilities. A band of twenty disciple makers would grow to six hundred and forty in five years if each one discipled just one person for one year and trained them to be reproducing disciples. The numbers jump exponentially over ten, fifteen, twenty and twenty-five years. The logistics for that kind of growth in a local church becomes daunting, to say the least (where do over 1 billion disciples gather for worship?)
The bottom line for such a dream and vision isn't numbers; it's faithfulness. The prime mission given to every believer is that of making disciples - thoroughly training kingdom citizens to become responsive and obedient to the word of God and the God of the word. Herein is found our greatest personal joy and fulfillment as well as our fullest obedience.
There are voices today lamenting the rise of radical Islam and the implications of an oppressive Islamic world. The people of God are Spirit-inspired to envision a multiplying throng of obedient disciples who enlarge and enrich the kingdom of God in advance of the return of Jesus to planet earth. Wholehearted obedience to this divine vision is the need of the hour.
So, who is that one person the Lord has placed in your life to be your yearlong "discipling project"?
Steve
Few passages of the Bible are as thrilling as the exciting prophecy for our day, quoted by the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost at the birth of the church:
"It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions." (Joel 2:28)
The Spirit of God is given to lift us from the mundane and inspire and motivate us for the great possibilities that alone exist with our Father through His Son Jesus. A major focus of those dreams and visions is the Great Commission - winning and making disciples: "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh Will be delivered" (Joel 2:32)
We indulged in a little dreaming in church yesterday. We considered the power of "compound interest" in terms of disciple making and envisioned the possibilities. A band of twenty disciple makers would grow to six hundred and forty in five years if each one discipled just one person for one year and trained them to be reproducing disciples. The numbers jump exponentially over ten, fifteen, twenty and twenty-five years. The logistics for that kind of growth in a local church becomes daunting, to say the least (where do over 1 billion disciples gather for worship?)
The bottom line for such a dream and vision isn't numbers; it's faithfulness. The prime mission given to every believer is that of making disciples - thoroughly training kingdom citizens to become responsive and obedient to the word of God and the God of the word. Herein is found our greatest personal joy and fulfillment as well as our fullest obedience.
There are voices today lamenting the rise of radical Islam and the implications of an oppressive Islamic world. The people of God are Spirit-inspired to envision a multiplying throng of obedient disciples who enlarge and enrich the kingdom of God in advance of the return of Jesus to planet earth. Wholehearted obedience to this divine vision is the need of the hour.
So, who is that one person the Lord has placed in your life to be your yearlong "discipling project"?
Steve
posted by steve @ 11:21 AM
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