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Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:5-6
One of the tricks our mind tries to play on us is the interpretation of Scripture to meet its preferences, and prejudices. This is perfectly normal… for the carnal mind.
But, we have the mind of Christ. We are empowered and responsible to think differently.
Consider Psalm 37:5-6. My carnal mind would prefer “commit your way to the LORD” to mean, “Here is my plan God, please bless it.” My carnal mind will pursue this line of thinking, hidden away in my subconscious. To avoid this deception, I must be diligent in my suspicion of the way my mind is thinking.
Jesus came to help us with that. His expression of Psalm 37:5-6 is “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It is important to note that Jesus made them disciple makers. That’s a lesson for another time. The point here is that God’s planning process is a following and making process.
Let me be clear: Failing to follow Jesus will result in the failure of God’s plan for you. Refusing to be made is a refusal of His plan.
You are not making disciples if the disciples you think you are making are not, themselves, making disciples.
I have been communicating this word of encouragement for years now. Someone finally challenged me on it – his conviction being that making disciples is reserved for a select group of Christians, that have been given a select group of gifts.
As I understand it, his concern is that I am encouraging disciple makers to expect others to pursue areas of giftedness that God does not have for them. I highly respect this man’s opinion and concern; and recognize that others may share it.
Our conversation has caused me to reexamine my position. I hope you will consider the following.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
The Great Commission means a lot of different things to different people. Some haven’t thought much about it. Others have assumed that their teachers and preachers were experts in its meaning.
I don’t expect you will make that mistake with me. In fact, I strongly encourage you to consider the meaning for yourself. Does our Lord’s commission – given with all authority in heaven and on earth – apply to you (and to everyone you are discipling)? Read the rest of this entry »
God showed Himself faithful and in charge, in 2016. Of course, this has always been the case; He was just more obvious about this past year.
- God handed the Spanish version of The Map Maker over to the Betania Baptist Church for publishing and distribution in Ecuador.
- God sent me to Ecuador to encourage and train Pastors and Workplace Leaders in Workplace Ministry; and surprisingly assigned me to serve as Dr. James Long’s dental assistant while I was there.
- God used Adam Simpson (and his team) to create a Farsi audio production of The Map Maker parable, Somebody’s Adventure – to encourage and edify Workplace Leaders in the Middle East.
- God sent me to Jordan to serve Syrian refugees, with the most dynamically loving church I have ever experienced. Please call me if you would like to hear more.
- God assigned another book project – The Lost Foundations. This has included online teaching and video recording of the lessons – something new for inLight.
I am confident that God is using each of these assignments to advance His kingdom in ways beyond our imagination. He is also using this ministry to shape the lives of Workplace Leaders literally across the globe, through our connections on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Locally, leaders in whom we are investing are making disciples that are making disciples – the most exciting thing to me.
Please be in prayer for the items above; that they would continue to bear fruit for our Father’s kingdom.
I hope to return to Ecuador and the Middle East in 2017, finish The Lost Foundations project, and become more active encouraging, edifying and equipping Workplace Leaders through social media. We will, of course, continue to focus on our local mission field – discipling those that God has placed in positions of authority for His kingdom.
Please pray for God to fill us with wisdom and spiritual understanding, that we might please and glorify Him in every good work. Read the rest of this entry »
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