El Roi – He sees you

El Roi – He sees you

ByAnna Holland

Distant. Uncaring. Unaware.

This is how many people who believe in, but don’t really know, our great God describe Him. These words could not be further from the truth. Our God is a God who truly sees us in our weakest, and strongest, moments.

One sweltering day, our God met a young woman in her greatest time of need. She was a slave – abused physically, mentally, and emotionally. She had become pregnant and had no one to turn to in her agony. As she ran from her place of torment, she found herself in a wild desert. Hungry, tired, and thirsty, she collapsed by a small spring of water and assumed this would be the place she would die. As terrible as this situation was, returning seemed a worse fate – and to top it off, no one would care that she died. It was here, in her hour of deepest despair, our Heavenly Father Himself came to Hagar and comforted her with a promise of a future. (Genesis 16)

It was during this encounter that God was given a name. El Roi – The God Who Sees Me. No where else in Scripture does a human give God a name. No man, no prophet, no spiritual leader; it was only a woman, a slave, an Egyptian, a woman who would bear a son whose descendants would plague God’s people to modern day. Yet, God met her in her desperation, and she is granted the honor of giving God a name as she melted in His presence. She named Him from a description of a very important aspect of our living God. A Name that would echo through eternity as He meets us in our times of need. What does this mean for us today? Who is El Roi?

The same yesterday today and forever. There are very few things our God cannot do, but one of those is to change. He cannot change! That means that the God who met Hagar in the desert is the same God who sees us today. He sees your pain. He sees your heartache. He sees what holds you captive. He desires to show you His promise that He will never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) His promises for you are found in His Holy Word. I encourage you, no matter where you find yourself, to open the Bible and discover His promises for you, and then hold onto them. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you personally – He SEES YOU and He wants to meet you!

It doesn’t matter where you come from or what you have done. Hagar was not part of Abraham’s household; she was an Egyptian slave purchased by Abraham for Sarai. It does not matter if you do not have a spiritual heritage rooted in God; He is ready and waiting to meet you and begin a line of spiritual heritage with you. It does not matter how you have acted in the past. Hagar was treated poorly because she became arrogant and flaunted to Sarai that she had gotten pregnant when Sarai could not. I am NOT saying that she should have been treated poorly. However, I do find it interesting that El Roi tells Hagar to go back and submit to her mistress. I think this almost correlates to how Jesus met so many men and women, and after seeing and meeting them where they were, He said, “Now go and sin no more.” He sees us, in our sin and dirtiness, and still desires to bring freedom and hope to us.

God honors even those who do not seem ‘fit’. I find it very interesting that God purposed that this story, and this name, was included in the Bible. He made sure that the giving of the name El Roi was attributed not only to a slave, but to a woman. In a time when women were seen as nothing more than property, our God elevated not only a woman, but the lowliest of the women. Throughout Scripture, we see how God points out women leaders – and many times they are much less than perfect. Prostitutes,

Gentiles, adulterers; the Bible is full of stories of women who seemed less than worthy, but OUR GOD SAW THEM!

I want to draw your attention to one final story.

It is another hot day in a wilderness at another water source, Jacob’s Well. A woman is found here, in the heat of the day, drawing water. She is an outcast. People look down on her. She is living in sin – even in the eyes of a sinful city. On this day, however, her life would change because of an encounter with our God. We don’t know all that went through this woman’s mind as she was met at the well by Jesus. What we do know is that on this day our God would announce Who He truly was. Jesus would tell this woman, “I am He (the Messiah)…” Just as God was named El Roi by a woman, it was to a woman He would meet that He would announce for the first time that He (Jesus) was God. He would announce to this woman of ill repute that He came to save ALL, not just those deemed worthy; that His name would be proclaimed on every mountain and in every valley. One of those Names is El Roi.

I pray that you are able to truly understand even a sliver of the love that our Father has for you. Hold tight to the name El Roi as you believe that He truly sees you!

Below is a video I found incredibly powerful; I pray that it ministers to you as it did to me.

Attitude of Gratitude and Thankfulness
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Attitude of Gratitude and Thankfulness

ByJonathan Livesay

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Since the beginning of time, we as His children have been called to offer up thanksgiving to Him for what He has done for us. In Scripture, there were many times when God did great things for the Israelites, and they offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to the Lord. During this time, most forms of thanksgiving presented to the Lord were burnt offerings. They built an altar as a reminder of what God had done for them. Abraham offered up a burnt sacrifice to the Lord after He provided the ram to be sacrificed instead of Isaac. (Genesis 22:3-19)

Another great way to offer thanksgiving to the Lord is through our worship. The children of Israel often offered up songs of thanksgiving. Many of the Psalms, written by David, are songs of thanksgiving to the Lord for what He had done for Israel.

Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” In this Scripture, we see that giving thanks to the Lord is key to being able to come into His presence – to see the Lord move wherever you are.

The Bible says that when Solomon was finished building the temple, everything was prepared. Then, the trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. (2 Chronicles 5:13)

As you worship, remember that it is important to give thanks for the things God has done for you.

One day when I was in college, I was driving home on a major interstate in downtown Dallas. Suddenly, the car to my left veered into my lane. I had to swerve to miss him, but then I swerved to get back into my lane. I overcorrected and ended up turning completely around, crossing four lanes of speeding traffic without being touched!

When my car finally stopped, I was facing the wrong direction in the left lane with a big truck headed my way. I truly have no idea how this truck stopped, other than the hand of God! But it did about thirty feet from hitting my car. The driver then got out and blocked traffic for me, allowing me to turn around and get moving in the right direction.

I took the next exit and found a place to park. As you can imagine, my heart was racing, and I just needed to calm down for a few minutes. You better believe that I was thanking God for helping me through that!!

This is simply one example when God helped me through something, miraculously saving my life. But there were many other times when I asked God for something – healing for myself, healing for my family, or needing direction in a circumstance… and He didn’t provide an answer or a miracle. During those times, it’s important to remember to give thanks to God.

It blesses God when we give thanks and worship Him in ALL circumstances – even in the times where we don’t get the answer from Him that we want. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego told King Nebuchadnezzar that God could deliver them from the burning furnace, but “even if He doesn’t,” they would still not bow down and worship the golden statue. (Daniel 3:16-18)

There have been times in my life when I’ve had to lean into those words – “even if He doesn’t”… I can honestly say that in my life, every time I walked through difficult times, He has always been faithful to bring me out of those circumstances.

Even now, my wife and I are believing God for a child. And we feel like He has given us this desire. We have desired a child since we were married almost eight years ago. We have gone down the long road of fertility treatments and have had four miscarriages. However, when we started to pray that God would change the desires of our hearts to His desires for us (that’s a whole other blog in and of itself), things changed for us. We began to desire adopting a child.

It has been a long road, but we have tried our best to be thankful in every part. Even the tough times. Because we know that God is still faithful. I’ve seen God bring the right people to us at exactly the right times to help us. We are so very thankful to God and our family and friends for helping walk through this with us. And we are thankful for what God still has for in store for my wife, Amber, and me!

I often hear people say that they are “seeking the will of God.” Well, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Paul tells the church in this book that giving thanks in ALL circumstances IS  God’s will for us. God has a direction for you to go and has something in store for your life. But it is also God’s will for us to give thanks in every circumstance we walk through. If we can do that, then we will not only be able to come into the courts of praise before the Lord, but we will also be able to see God move in ways that we may not have seen before.

As we come into this time of thanksgiving and as you go to visit and spend time with family, remember where thanksgiving came from. Thanksgiving is so closely related to worshiping God. And remember to give thanks to God in all the circumstances that you find yourself in now!

Storms on the Horizon
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Storms on the Horizon

ByMiles Phelps

The skies are dark. The boat begins to rock back and forth. The waves toss the boat higher and higher. The boat begins to fill with water. The questions begin to consume their every thought. Why are we facing this storm? I thought God had called us to move? I thought Jesus wanted us to go to the other side? The small waves turn into massive breakers that are about to tear the boat apart. Jesus’ disciples look at each other, and the situation goes from bad to worse. They look back at Jesus being tossed all over the place, yet He’s fast asleep. They ask themselves, “Why isn’t Jesus dealing with this storm? Why is He still sleeping?” They say to each other, “I don’t think we’re going to make it out of this one alive!” Then they all begin to scream in unison, “WE’RE GOING TO DIE! JESUS, HELP US!!!”

I’m sure that day, when the storm was raging, they were sure it was the end. This was no ordinary storm. It was a demonic storm. One that was sent to destroy them. Why was this storm sent on this day? There were unreached people. In particular, there was one tormented soul destined to receive freedom and become a great proclaimer of the Gospel to people who were unreached and lost in spiritual darkness.

This month, our Joshua Nations blogs are focusing on spiritual warfare. The month of October is a heightened time when the world focuses on ghosts, goblins, horror movies, fear, and death. For some, this time of year is a fun time for kids as they dress up as their favorite cartoon character, superhero, or movie star. For others, this is a very dark time full of fear and despair. I’m not here to preach to you about my convictions about Halloween (psst… I hate the holiday! Did I just say that?!) But I want to share about the real spiritual battle we are fighting.

When I was a child, I had a very acute awareness of the spiritual realm. I grew up in a family where the spiritual realm was talked about, and the battle between Jesus and satan, as well as angels and demons, was well-known. For most of my childhood, I was tormented by the dark side of the spirit realm. I saw many demons and lived in terror of the dark; I hated the nighttime. I fought the spirits of depression, hopelessness, anger, lust, rejection, death, and suicide. It wasn’t until I turned to Jesus during my senior year in high school that I found freedom. And boy, did I get free!

Then, my spiritual eyes were opened to the Kingdom of light. It was beautiful! Visions and dreams from God. Encounters with angels. Powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit from holy laughter, losing my ability to stand and having gifts and freedom imparted to me, and speaking in tongues uncontrollably for hours, just to name a few. I stepped into the authority Jesus had given me to cast out demons and lead people to freedom from demonic oppression. Thank You, Jesus, for the Holy Spirit!

Back to our story (See: Mark 4:35-5:20). Jesus had called the disciples to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He laid down in the back of the boat and went to sleep. As Jesus often does, He didn’t reveal to them the play-by-play plan of what was going to happen. He simply told them to get in the boat and go to the other side. Many of our assignments from God are like

this. They require faith, trust, and obedience. And you can pretty much count on it – there are going to be some barriers, spiritual roadblocks, and hindrances that try to stop us from accomplishing the mission. When attacks come, and they will come, we need to stay faithful to the call and not get off course.

Jesus rose from His deep sleep and rebuked this demonic storm. He also brought a word of correction to His disciples for not taking authority over the storm, because He had already trained them to overcome this type of demonic attack. By this time, He was expecting more out of His disciples. He had removed the metaphoric “training wheels” and was now calling them to do what He had taught them.

When they arrived on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they were met by a demon-possessed man, a man living among the tombs. He was yelling with hate-filled rage. There were self-inflected cuts all over his body. Through demonic powers, he broke chains people had put on him to try and stop him from terrorizing the community. Jesus and His disciples arrived on the scene with a mission. Jesus knew who He was coming for, and He was coming to set him free!

We don’t have much of the back story on this man. We don’t know how or when the demons entered him. We just know their time was up! It was deliverance time! The man was set free when Jesus commanded the demon (called Legion because there were many demons) to be cast out of the man and into a herd of pigs. A great miracle happened. The man was freed and returned to his right mind. He was found at the feet of Jesus learning from Him. Jesus calls him to go to the Decapolis (a ten-city region) and share with the people his story of deliverance.

This is an awesome story! A story of God’s love for the hurting, broken, and tormented. The man is freed and then sent out. I believe this is a strong representation of what we’re called to do locally in our cities, as well as globally in foreign missions. We’re called to go and free those in spiritual chains then release them into their role in the Great Commission!

There are many lessons to be drawn from this story.

The primary point I want to make is for us to recognize the reality of the spiritual battle that’s going on all around us. The storms we face are meant to be spoken to, rebuked, and cast down. Those who are tormented by demons, maybe even out of their mind, are called to be free in the name of Jesus. Once more, some of those who are in the worst bondage will become mighty spiritual warriors for Jesus when they are freed.

When the man in this story received his freedom and a little training from Jesus, he was then sent out on a mission to bring freedom to ten cities. He wasn’t a seminary-trained, Christian professional. He hadn’t been ordained as a minister. He was simply a man who was freed in Jesus’ name and sent on a mission.

Let’s overcome every demonic storm!

Let’s set the captives who are tormented and lost in darkness free!

And let’s send those people out on mission to free others!

Check out this video from the land of the Gadarenes now called Kursi in Israel:

THE VALUES OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE
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THE VALUES OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE

ByEmmanuel Shikaputo

A woman’s husband plus three strong men brought Pamela tightly bound in chains to my house for prayer. Pamela had lost her mind and had become violent. When they entered the house, I told them to undo her chains. They were hesitant because they knew the condition under which she was suffering. I insisted they do this because I knew the Name by which I spoke… It is the Name of Jesus! A few minutes later, I declared to Pamela that she was freed. Jesus had destroyed the chains of bondage inflicted against her by the enemy, satan. She knelt down and started to praise God.

This is spiritual warfare.

The importance and value of spiritual warfare is to understand and recognize the enemy is fighting against us relentlessly. But there is good news! The enemy is no match against our spiritual weapons, which are mighty in God to pull down all forces of darkness (1 Corinthians 10). The Bible says that the devil roars like a lion seeking whom he may devour. Did you notice that he roars “like a lion,” but he is not one. That means he is a cheater and a liar, portraying a deceptive picture that he is stronger than the child of God. And this lie rings in the minds of Christians as if true.

Let’s look at the values of spiritual warfare in order to gain our rightful position of victory over the enemy in Christ Jesus our Lord. From the book of Ephesians chapter 6, we learn that we have been given the armor of God that we put on to stand against all strategies of the devil. You may ask, “Why do we have to fight or stand against the enemy?” The devil has been jealous of you as a child of God since your inception.

In Isaiah 5:1, it shares what the Lord has done for you:

Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard
My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill.

Do you think the enemy will be happy with you when the Lord showers all these blessings on you? In his rage, he comes to steal, kill, and destroy all that the Lord has for you. The visible world and the spiritual world are parallel to each other. The spiritual realm is not made up of flesh and blood, but spiritual forces that we contend with. Here are a few things we need to know and remember.

We have superior fire power.

The Bible says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but powerful in pulling down the strongholds of the enemy. Pamela, who came for prayer, was in bondage. But there was a stronger power that set her free. The one who has bigger fire power wins the war. We submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God, resist the devil, and he will flee from us. We cannot look for non-spiritual solutions when the battle is in the spiritual world.

Praise is power in the mouth of a child of God.

The enemy puts people in chains – all manners of bondage. Lives are tormented in the mind, in their bodies, including circumstances that surround them. You are in prison. Paul and Silas were thrown in prison for preaching the Gospel in Philippi. At midnight, they lifted their voices in praise unto God, which actually was spiritual warfare. What follows is mind blowing! God sends an earthquake that shakes the

foundations of the prison, and it breaks the chains of all the prisoners who were with Paul in that prison house. Doors that were tightly shut, flung wide open. They were set free! Spiritual warfare sets prisoners free. Jesus said, “I came to set captives free.” (Luke 4:18)

The enemy trembles at the Name of Jesus.

When the Lord Jesus went to the cross, was buried, and rose again from the dead, he was given a Name above all other names. His Name has power over that which is in heaven, that which is on earth and everything under the earth. This is the very Name that has now been conferred upon us to engage the enemy in spiritual warfare. In Luke 10:19 Jesus said, “I give you power over all the power of the enemy and NOTHING shall by any means hurt you.” In giving us His Name, Jesus said in Mark 16:17, “In my name you shall cast out devils.”

The values of spiritual warfare bring freedom to our lives and our beloved ones. We are not trying to win the battle. We have superior power over the enemy that gives us victory all the time. Stand up, strong child of God! You have the Name of Jesus! Victory is ours when we engage in spiritual warfare!!

Those who are called vs. the hireling
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Those who are called vs. the hireling

ByJason Holland

Over the course of 20 years of full-time ministry, another 5 years or so of volunteer ministry, along with growing up as a third-generation minister – I have noticed a few things. One of those things that I would like to discuss today is that of “The Calling.” Briefly, I will contrast those who have been called to ministry and those who are hirelings.

There is the one who is called by God to ministry:

This person experienced a catalytic moment in their life that led them from one position to another. This moment could have happened in a variety of manners such as a dream, vision, prophetic word, an overwhelming burden for a perceived need, or a coordinated set of circumstances that point the person towards serving in some form or function.

The person who is called by God offers themselves to respond in obedience to the leading and direction of the Lord. Scripture makes it clear – “to obey is better than sacrifice.” The called person is asked by God to be an obedient person. Obedience to whatever God directs is key to this person’s success. If the called person deviates from a life of obedience, you will see their influence and effectiveness wane. Should that person continue down that path of blatant disobedience, or even distracted obedience, their fruitfulness will altogether be forfeit.

On the other hand, we have the hireling. What is a hireling?

This person is one who has been hired to fulfill a role. The hireling often has special skills, experience, or charisma that engages others around them. The hireling seeks positions that fit their skillset and then serve in such positions. They are a hired hand, a contractor, a ministry mercenary. These people can easily be perceived as exceptional in their roles. Their success is not built on the Lord, rather it is built on their own accomplishments or skills. Their success comes from acquiring more knowledge, developing new skills, and gaining new experiences. Without prophetic insight or discernment, it can be difficult for many well-intentioned Christians to evaluate or determine if a person is a hireling or if they are truly called and anointed by God.

Maybe you are more confused now than when you started reading this article! Don’t misunderstand me.

The need for a person called by God to pursue additional education, skills, experience, and grow in new ways cannot be understated or minimalized. However, this desire to mature and excel should be an outgrowth of their love for the Lord and in response to His calling. The hireling, conversely, seeks more so that they can achieve higher levels of income, status, and influence – not necessarily to do more for the Lord.

Interestingly, the hireling does not necessarily seem to have the ups and downs of success and failure, health and suffering, or growth and stagnation that may seem to be consistent with a person who is called by God. Why would that be? A hireling is seeking their own success, and that success is not contingent upon their obedience to God. Success is achieved by their own strength. Therefore, the more they do or the harder they work – often the more perceived success is in their grasp.

At this point you might be wondering, should we prefer the hireling over the called person?

Absolutely not! To follow a hireling is to follow a man. Sitting under the leadership of a hireling will not deepen your relationship with God. Being mentored by a hireling will not bring you success in terms of Scripture.

“There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21
God’s counsel, His word, and His calling are what will stand!

As I have experienced, served, and observed decades of ministry, I have found that there are many hirelings out there leading churches and ministries. I have also observed that many of these “hirelings” didn’t start out that way. Most of them began their service in ministry – in response to a call from God. However, through distraction and a loss of focus, these men and women began to no longer serve a call, but to serve a position. Having lost sight of the call and serving the activity of ministry, these people often do not realize that they have made “ministry” their god. Sacrificing their call on the altar of ministry success, these folks surrender their lives to the role of a hireling.

But, does it have to end that way? No.

For the last 24 years I have traveled to 72 nations. In many of these nations, the Lord asks me to challenge the leaders with a message about the call of God. He asks me to invite or urge them to return to the call and stop serving the activities of ministry, as well as the goals of numbers, dollars, and buildings. He calls them back to a life of simple obedience to His calling.

There is one other kind of a hireling.

This person is one who never was called by God. This person may be a so-called believer, but they are misplaced in their role. For this person, there was something attractive about ministry. Some stated that it seemed like a good profession to help others. Some even have confessed that they like the idea of working only on Sundays and spending the rest of the week doing whatever they want (clearly, they have no grasp of the realities of ministry).

This hireling should not be involved in ministry at all. These are the kind of people who we now find as false teachers, motivational speakers, and self-help teachers. They are often consumed with financial gain. These are the people that have never had their faith stretched, their theology challenged, and the devil comes after them. Does this mean that this hireling is exempt from attack of the enemy or free from failure? Again, the answer is no. However, I have observed that the hirelings do not typically endure the difficulties and hardship of serving the Lord and pursuing God through obedience like those whom God has called.

A man or woman who is called by God is on a different path. I recall several instances over the years in which the Lord called me, gave direction to the calling, and on occasion, would refine the calling with new specifics or directives. This calling has been reiterated in some form or fashion since I was very young. It is my responsibility to be faithful and obedient to this call of God.

I have observed in my own life, and the lives of others, that when you begin to drift from the call and pursue your own aspirations the fruitfulness and effectiveness in life begins to slip away. Why is that? I believe it is either an intentional or unintentional journey away from what God has anointed the person to do. To live and operate in the anointing of God is much preferred over anything else. It is the only way to live and minister. Without the anointing, we are worthless! Those who are called by God can attest to this truth.

I have preached with the anointing, and I have preached without.
I have led ministry with the anointing, and I have led without.
I have implemented plans and strategies with anointing, and I have implemented without.

Let me tell you, I don’t want to do ANYTHING without God’s anointing, in response to His calling.

So then, where do we go from here?

Let us evaluate ourselves first and foremost. Be sure that you are indeed only responding to God in obedience and not seeking position in your own selfishness. Confess and repent as needed. Secondly, we should look at those whom we follow, read, and listen to. Are these leaders operating in response to a call from God, or does it seem they are seeking their own success and promotion due to selfishness? I know this is a sensitive thing. Don’t go running to this person and call them a hireling! If the Lord leads you to discontinue reading their book or listening to their podcasts, then do so.

As I conclude this “short” post, let me share one final thought.

Just because someone is not doing ministry the way you think they should, this does not necessarily make them a hireling. I have observed Christians tearing down other Christians far too many times. There are some well-known Christian pastors, authors, evangelists, worship leaders, etc. that may seem to be shallow or seeker sensitive. Don’t classify them as hirelings because they may not have the depth you want. Often these men and women are serving a specific demographic that you may not fit within. They are reaching an audience that you and I may not be able to reach. Don’t throw stones at them. Don’t tear them down. Pray that God would use them to reach the lost and the broken whom we may not be able to reach.

Let’s pray that all of us do only what God asks of us.
Nothing more and nothing less.
Obedience is the key to fruitfulness and success.

Stay the Course
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Stay the Course

ByVilly Böhmer

I find myself grappling with a trend that I’ve seen happening in the Church for the last few years.

When I reference the Church, I don’t have a particular church in mind. “Church”, in this context, is the global church, the church around the world, or the Body of Christ. I’m not singling out a particular person or church as I’m writing this blog. The trend that I am talking about is people leaving the Church. Not just a few people here and there, but people leaving in droves…

Some are hurt or disappointed by the Church or leadership. On this subject, there is little that you can tell me that I haven’t experienced. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but when it comes to Church, I’ve seen more than most. Church split? Lived through it. Abuse and manipulation from church leadership or fellow church members? I’ve received these types of attacks often!! Observing moral failure or financial mismanagement? Sadly, I have witnessed this more times than I can count…

The only thing that I can equate a church split to is a really messy divorce. I saw family and friends during this time get so preoccupied and disillusioned with the things of God, that they turned their back on the God of things. Many of them have never returned, vowing never to go back to church, ministry, or God.

What I find really interesting is that they blame God for what has transpired – as if man had no hand in the whole ordeal!

It’s too convenient to forget that God is not the One who causes these things… Unfortunately, it’s His kids (who are so far from perfect and still struggle with sin) who are most often the perpetrators of these hurtful situations.

Covid, in my view, was a huge catalyst in people withdrawing from the Body of Christ. I’d like to think that Covid took the “Church” out of the four walls – that it took it back into the homes where families can sit around the dinner table at night. Then, after sharing a home-cooked meal, they study Scripture together. That is my utopian thoughts on the matter! I know some friends who have done just that and replaced Sunday church with a healthy Bible study at home. But, the reality is that the vast majority of Believers are not doing that.

Does the Church have a part to play in what is happening? Absolutely! The majority of churches have become a big show. The focus is on the dimmed lights, smoke machines, the right music and – of course – we have to be careful not to offend anyone in the way we conduct our services. Pursuit of presence has been forfeited for convenience.

Mathew 24 talks about a time when there will be a great falling away, where offense and betrayal and hate will abound, and that the love of many will grow cold. This is the portion of Scripture which talks about the Signs of the Times and the End of the Age. Is this the time in which we find ourselves? If so, what are we as “the Church”, as the children of God, supposed to do?? I may never have all the answers, but I know that the author of the book of Hebrews says in chapter 12 that we should fix our eyes on Jesus, to consider Him and to not grow weary and lose heart!!!

As for me and my house we will buckle down and do the work of the ministry with more fervor than we have before. Our assignment and mandate as the Church, or the Body of Believers, does not and has not changed! Matthew 28:18-20 is still applicable! We are still commanded to make disciples of ALL nations, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach these disciples to observe all the things He commanded!

And while we carry out this Commission, we must remember a few things:

Ensure our lamps remain FULL of oil and that we anticipate His return (Matthew 25).
Pursue an even deeper, more intense relationship with our Savior.
Take every opportunity to make Him known to those with whom we come into contact.

In the end, my primary motivation (regardless of if I have been in or out of full-time ministry) has always been that when I finally stand in front of Jesus one day, I will hear the words:
“Well done good and faithful servant…” Oh, what a glorious day that will be!!!