MEM

By Michael Boldea Jr.

Mark 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

You can tell a lot about the spiritual wellbeing of a church or congregation by reading their mission statement. For the uninitiated, a mission statement is a formal summary of the aims and values of a particular ministry or church, their core goals, and aspirations.

Some churches still have the preaching of the Gospel in their mission statement, but many have replaced it with flowery, less biblical pabulum such as community outreach, self-improvement, self-realization, and self-esteem.

I’m not saying there shouldn’t be more than one thing in a mission statement, whether it be for a church or a ministry, but the principal thing should be identical across the board, unchanged from congregation to congregation, because, without this one thing, we are of no benefit to the kingdom of God.

When Jesus sent the twelve out two by two, although He gave them power over unclean spirits, although it was within their authority to anoint the sick and watch them be healed, their mission statement had a singular purpose: to preach that people should repent!

(Mark 6:7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two… Mark 6:12 So they went out and preached that people should repent.)

That’s it! That was the charter; that was the mission statement; that was the vision and the aim, to tell people that they should repent. What the people did with the message, how they responded to the call, was entirely on them.

Their mission was not to push a certain denomination; their mission was not to showcase their abilities or compel people with their well-rehearsed testimonies; it was to call men to repentance. Everything else flowed out of the principal thing, the principal task they were commanded to carry out. If they had cast out demons and healed the sick without calling men to repentance, though noble on the surface, they would have failed in their mission.

Nowadays, men glory in the irrelevant and altogether ignore the essential.

You can watch countless hours of evangelists and preachers, heads of international ministries and pastors of star-like fame drone on about their jets, their pets, their homes, and their jewelry, yet none dares bring up the subject of repentance.

You can hear leaders of some of the largest churches in the world tell you to look in the mirror and lie to yourself until you believe the lie. They insist that God’s only desire is to make you happy and that soon and very soon the wealth of the wicked will be transferred to the righteous, but of repentance not a peep.

When it comes to calling men to repentance, they are silent!

We have inverted the message of Christ to such a degree, wherein we focus on the things He deemed irrelevant and not worth pursuing, disregarding the one thing He commands, His apostles to preach unashamedly and unabashedly.

It’s not a mystery why church attendance is down, or why more churches than ever are shutting their doors. It’s not a mystery why more people than ever are disillusioned with their spiritual growth and just throw in the towel, repentance was never preached to them as the principal thing, and they’ve just grown weary pursuing other avenues to the destination that only repentance can lead us to.

2 Timothy 4:1-4, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."

It is easy to see the modern-day church in its gradual slide from the days of the apostolic church. Over the past three issues we have reviewed the end-time condition of seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. The clear call to these churches, by its Head Yeshua (Jesus), is to hear, to repent and overcome their glaring shortcomings. The call is not only for the world to repent but also to the church. We need a continual examining of our own lives in the light of God’s Word and a sensitivity to the leading of His Spirit. The good news is that thru repentance we are forgiven and empowered to walk in Christ’s righteousness. Our lives will be a living witness of God’s Kingdom to those around us. Blessed be His Name.

For the Church of God - "Go and make disciples".

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

Proverbs 22:17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, apply your mind to my knowledge;

"As long as you live, you will be subject to change, whether you will it or not - now glad, now sorrowful; now pleased, now displeased; now devout, now undevout; now vigorous, now slothful; now gloomy, now merry. But a wise man who is well taught in spiritual labor stands unshaken in all such things, and heeds little what he feels, or from what side the wind of instability blows."
― Thomas ΰ Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Queen Victoria

From a former Muslim:

Then one day He decided that fear made no sense. "I was tired of fear and I asked myself a question: ‘If I believed in Jesus and this is true and He grants me eternity, why should I fear?’ So, if they came then to kill me, I was ready to say, ‘Welcome.’ God changed my extreme fear to extreme boldness."

****

Richard Wurmbrand, about fear:

"Our models are Christians who have conquered fear."

It is a triumph not only to confront a terrible death for Christ’s sake but also to accept the daily affliction in our homes and places of business, to bear without complaint poverty, sickness or any other suffering.

****

Psalm 23 "He restored my soul. …I will fear no evil."

****

About a Christian woman in Russia:

She was arrested and beaten several times, but still she said, "Whoever fears can do nothing in Russia. He has become a hostage of this devilish power…"

Fear is the greatest enemy of candor. Out of fear, many of us conform to the opinions of others instead of following our conscience. In the West, too, society demands that we be something other than what God calls us to. Christians like the Russian woman teach us to overcome fear.

When things in our lives are hindering us from being creative, the bold and fearless think about

1. T-shirts from the company outing that you grudgingly attended two weeks before you were let go.
2. The times you messed up.
3. The need to know how it all turns out.
4. Plastic garden pots.
5. Dried-up tubes of glue. Dried-up anything, really.
6. A single sock, glove or earring. Its mate is not coming back.
7. Thinking you must have all the answers.
8. Sheets, towels or pillows that are torn, chewed or just bum you out.
9. People who remember the bad times, not the good ones.
10. Old college furniture.
11. Wire clothes hangers.
12. Clothes that no longer fit.
13. Clothes from a departed loved one. Someone else needs them now.
14. Thinking that if you let go of the memorabilia, you will lose the memories.
15. Souvenirs from bad vacations.
16. Old parking tickets.
17. Bank statements, unless you need them for tax purposes. Shred.
18. Bills more than one year old. Keep shredding.
19. Fear that you are not rich enough, smart enough, and good enough.
20. Energy-sucking comparisons with other people.

Remember: "What surrounds us is a reflection of what we are."

Not all items verified by MEM

Do you dare to speak for God? For it is a fearful thing to speak for the Living God and represent Him to those around you. This is something to be done soberly and carefully, for it is the ultimate subject of conversation and has profound eternal implications. Yet the greater question is whether you dare not speak for Him. For He has given us the great commission to preach the gospel to every creature. This is not for a select few, but for every believer. You should strive for diligence and accuracy, but you can only speak according to your own understanding. Being unable to do this perfectly is not an excuse for not doing it at all. For you have a powerful ally in this task. The Holy Spirit is in favor of this task and will give you the right words and work with them to make them effective in the hearts of those who hear you. Blessed are those who preach the gospel of the good news of God’s kingdom.

You practice economy of effort in learning by interpreting new information according to what you already know. Did you have an established viewpoint, a perspective on the world before you came to a saving knowledge of the truth of the gospel? Hopefully there are some elements of Biblical truth in what you already know, yet you should resist the temptation to fit the gospel into the understanding you already have. The gospel message is superior to your previous understanding. Conform yourself to it rather than trying to make it conform to you. This is a part of the process of laying down your life, and picking up your cross daily, and following Christ.

(Adopted from a blog post by Dale Cresap)

Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalm 133:3 … For there the LORD commanded the blessing -- life forever.

Blessed be YHVH (Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High…)