The greatest gift I have ever been given by the Lord, save for my salvation, was when I was given some eternal perspective by him that really shook me and destroyed me in high school. I remember it well. The epiphany came to me right after reading in "Revolution in World Missions". Think about it: what if you were given a revelation as to how much longer you had to live? Would you live any different than you are now? Would you stop concerning yourself with others opinions of you and side with Peter when he said to "judge for yourself whether it is better in your sight for us to please men or to please God." (Acts 4:19). Psalm 39:4 is the cry of my heart so often."LORD, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am."Dear God may all of my days be comforted by the thought of my eternity and tortured by the thought of others.
It is true that part of my generation is on fire for Jesus, suffering all things for the sake of the Gospel. The other part is asleep. Only by God's grace am I starting to wake up little by little. May I never boast that I woke myself up. No, Jesus is my great awakening, and O how He longs for the bride to be purified; a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:14). Thus, the function of my ministry is both for encouragement and exhortation. If any of my messages that God has given me will help us to realize the LORD's holy calling in our lives, then may I continue to preach. Otherwise, I just feel like I'm wastingeveryone's time.
Jesus Christ is real. I wonder how much we believe that. Growing up I often thought, "If Christ is who He says He is, and if He did what He said He did, then my whole life must be totally and absolutely consumed with Jesus." Of course, I did not and do not always live as if it were so. If heaven, and perhaps more importantly hell is real, why do I find more Christians in front of an xbox than in front of a lost soul pleading with them for their eternity?
Christians, why don't our hearts ache for the lost? Why don't we weep for the ignorance of this world? Can anyone take me to the verse in Acts where all the disciples "hung out"? No, their lives were moment by moment absorbed with prayer, fasting, genuine fellowship, serving and witnessing. This is not a lofty utopian goal. It will take broken hearts, much prayer and the Holy Spirit's beautiful and pivotal activity. I am young, I know this. I am also not claiming to have uncovered the great forgotten truths of the bible. There is nothing new under the sun that I have been thinking about. All I know is that my heart longs for the bride to be unashamedly bold for the name sake of her bridegroom. All I know is that we are all as Christians going home soon enough and we must redeem the time. All I know is I don't want to be guilty of another man's blood (Ezekiel 3:17-19). Hopefully something in this cacophony of writings and thoughts will spur some believer on to good works, so they will obey Christ's commandments and therefore abide in his love (John 15:10).
I have been praying that God would rid me of cynicism, and I don't believe that any of what I said is in a cynical spirit. In fact, if what I said wasn't founded on the Word of God, shoot me an email and we'll talk. I'll finish with this: I was led to a scripture the other day that I want to be true in my life. May it be true in yours as well.
"I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O LORD, You know.I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation." Psalm 40:9-10