2008-11-25T11:27:36-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com http://www.gospel.com/feeds/topics/mission http://hutchcraft.com/A-Life-That-Matters/Radio-Program/Veteran-s-Day-Unchanged-Orders-8139 2008-11-25T11:27:36-05:00 That’s actually why you and I belong to Jesus Christ today because of an unbroken chain of people who obeyed His original orders. Someone got to us with the message of a life that matters and an eternity in heaven. It started with Jesus and eleven men on a hillside. He gave this order, “You shall be My witnesses. Go and preach the Good News to all creation,” (Acts 1:8) and they did. They faithfully passed on the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection for us and they passed on the orders and the orders remain unchanged. http://hutchcraft.com/Motivational-Articles/The-Mission-You-Were-Made-For/Getting-Through 2008-11-13T15:41:10-05:00 In Matthew 13 of the Bible, Jesus says, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up” (verses 3-4). That seed never stood a chance. In verse 19 Jesus explains that “when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.” This doesn’t say they didn’t want the Gospel or that they rejected it. It says they didn’t understand it. http://hutchcraft.com/Motivational-Articles/The-Mission-You-Were-Made-For/Words-From-Higher-Up 2008-11-13T15:23:41-05:00 Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” An ambassador is an interesting role. They drop in on the prime minister of a country to which they are sent and they deliver messages straight from the president. If you know Christ, you are His ambassador. http://hutchcraft.com/Motivational-Articles/The-Mission-You-Were-Made-For/The-Price-Is-Right 2008-11-13T14:43:02-05:00 Luke 9:57-60, 62 of the Bible says, "As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.' He said to another man, 'Follow me.' But the man replied, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' ... Jesus replied, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.' http://hutchcraft.com/Motivational-Articles/The-Mission-You-Were-Made-For/A-Basketful-of-Earth 2008-11-13T13:27:25-05:00 According to the Bible, we are all immigrants. Earth is our Ellis Island. We have seventy years here that are just the preparation for billions of years, but the quality of the billions of years is determined by how we live the seventy. If we are just immigrants passing through earth, why are we setting up so much stuff here on Ellis Island? Jesus addresses this issue of accumulation. http://hutchcraft.com/Motivational-Articles/The-Mission-You-Were-Made-For/When-Lifeguards-Forget-The-Beach 2008-11-13T12:51:15-05:00 Those who know Christ are God’s lifeguards. You are assigned to rescue other dying people as you were rescued. Maybe you tend to get in your lifeguard station—church—and stay there. You have lifeguard meetings, lifeguard songs, lifeguard offerings, and lifeguard equipment, but maybe you forget to go to the beach where the people who need you are. http://hutchcraft.com/Motivational-Articles/The-Mission-You-Were-Made-For/No-Contact-No-Transfer 2008-11-13T11:52:27-05:00 You cannot reach others if you don’t know them. Much research shows that the first year after people become Christians, they know a lot of lost people from their old life. Five years into their Christian lives, they have virtually no contact with non-Christians. All the salt is in the saltshaker and all the light is blazing together in one corner, while most of the world is totally dark. We disappear into the Christian life and lose all our meaningful contact with people who have not heard the life-saving message of Jesus Christ. http://hutchcraft.com/Motivational-Articles/The-Mission-You-Were-Made-For/Soaking-the-Soaked 2008-11-13T11:33:38-05:00 A Christian from the former Soviet Union once said, “The problem with American Christians is, you are overfeeded.” He’s right. We are very blessed. We are soaked with blessings that no Christians have ever had before. ... We have Christian everything—radio, TV, rallies, conferences, trips, concerts, and seminars. It’s almost all for us. We are already stuffed, but we line up for another helping of blessing. We are already soaked, but we turn on the sprinklers for more showers of blessing. http://ied.gospelcom.net/lostkey.php 2008-11-09T09:59:59-05:00 Most of us have a lost key story. In English, we sometimes use the word ‘key’ quite loosely, for instance ‘keys to improving your garden’. The implication is an optional addition to a reasonably successful effort. But with real keys, it is all or nothing. Without the key, you are powerless, stymied, stuck. http://ied.gospelcom.net/engel-scale.php 2008-11-09T09:47:30-05:00 The basis of the Engel Scale is the assigning of a numerical value for the degree of spiritual understanding that a person, or group, has reached. This chapter from 'Tell it Often, Tell it Well', explains the Scale in detail.