You Can Bring Revival Every Time You Visit Someone In The Name Of Christ

Posted on May 8, 2014 by tdillmuth

WLO_visitrememberYou have undoubtedly heard of revivals such as the Great Awakening, the Methodist Revival , or even the Moravian Revival with Count Zinzendorf. But are you familiar with the revival that takes place every time you practice Christian visitation?

Revivals are often described in terms of a “visitation from God.” J.I. Packer said, “Revival is the visitation of God which brings to life Christians who have been sleeping and restores a deep sense of God’s near presence and holiness.”

To be honest, most visitations that we practice today do not bring revival of any sort. Going over to a friend’s house to watch the game or visiting your parents for a home-cooked meal isn’t really restoring a deep sense of anything related to God.

True Christian visitation, however, is an embodiment of 1 Corinthians 5:20 which says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

When you visit others in the name of Christ, you bring God’s care – His eyes, hands and touch to people who need it most.  When you visit others in the name of God, God is visiting through you. Don’t misunderstand, you don’t become God in any way, but as His eyes, His hands and His feet you represent God’s care and compassion to the world around you.

This is exactly what Moses did when God sent him to free the people of Israel. God heard the cry of the people of Israel, He saw their suffering (Exodus 3:7), so He sent Moses to bring them out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10). He sent Moses to be a part of a revival . . . He sent Moses to visit the Israelites on His behalf.

Do you want to be used by God to start a revival? You don’t have to be a dynamic preacher or top-leader in a dynamic ministry. You only have to be willing to visit others as a messenger available to God.

If you viewed each and every one of your opportunities for Christian visitation as an opportunity for God to spark revival in someone’s life, how would you visit differently?

  • Would your attitude change in anyway?
  • Would you look for more opportunities to visit?
  • Would you make your actual visit more about Christ and less about the weather?
  • Would you seek to understand and experience God’s holiness in your own life while helping others to understand and experience it?
Posted in Visiting and Remembering | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

North Korea Blames Its Human Rights Problems On Christian Missionaries

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Pastor Foley

SUSA-KoreanNorth Korea responded to the United Nations Human Rights Council (re: human rights abuses) by focusing specifically on discipleship bases reaching North Koreans in Northeast China:

There are in the northeastern area of China so-called churches and priests exclusively engaged in hostile acts against the DPRK. They indoctrinate the illegal border crossers with anti-DPRK ideology and send them back to the DPRK with assignments of subversion, destruction, human trafficking and even terrorist acts,” it said.

The importance and significance of this cannot be overstated: North Korea is choosing to publicly blame Christian missionaries for its human rights problems and internal difficulties.

From a field standpoint, the situation facing North Korean work in Northeast China is tight and getting tighter. Don’t expect China to do nothing. If North Korea is pointing to missionaries operating in China as a source of potential North Korean instability, and if it is alleging that China is the host, then missionaries can expect an increasing crackdown on churches and discipleship bases reaching North Koreans.

From a public perception standpoint, expect that North Korea will more and more seek sympathy and support from the general global public by striking an anti-Christian chord.

Keep an eye on this. It is the most important development regarding Christian ministry to North Korea in the last decade. And of course please continue to pray for us and the others operating discipleship bases across Asia.

Posted in North Korea, persecution | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Is Jesus’ Most Frequent Saying Your Most Frequent Thought?

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Pastor Foley

WLO_searchingscripturesYou do know what Jesus’ most frequent saying is…right?

It’s one of the few that’s recorded in all four gospels. In one of the gospels, it’s even required twice.

Matthew 10:39–“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”

Matthew 16:25–“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

Mark 8:35–“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Luke 9:24–“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

John 12:25–“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Do you love your life today? Are you seeking your life today? Are you seeking to save your life today? Have you found your life today? Are you on a collision course today to lose your life for Christ?

If Jesus is quoted as saying this more frequently than any other saying, are you thinking about these questions often enough? Would anyone (including yourself) deduce from your life that this is the question Jesus most frequently put to his followers?

Posted in Bible, persecution | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment